61-65

Chapter 61: The Sun-Chasing Style  

Boom—!  

A roaring waterfall crashed against the jagged rocks below, sending up sprays of foam across their polished surfaces.  

Standing atop the sheer cliff, Hikari anchored herself with chakra clinging to the moss-slick stone. Her hands formed claw-like seals, palms facing outward—  

—then she yanked.  

Shhkk—!  

Already condensed chakra erupted into violent wind pressure, like two invisible hands tearing the waterfall apart from above and below.  

Splash—!  

The curtain of water split under the force… yet Hikari felt no triumph.  

Her lips pressed thin, face drenched—whether from sweat or the waterfall’s mist was unclear.  

Tens of tons of water, every second. To oppose that crushing force with wind alone…  

The strain made her body tremble, her chakra hemorrhaging from the effort. Then—  

Stab!  

A sharp pain shot through her hand’s chakra pathways. Her fingers twitched—  

CRASH!  

The waterfall broke free, obliterating the rocks below in a thunderous deluge.  

Panting, Hikari watched the chaos.  

Wind Release’s power hinged on two things:  

• Precision—focusing twin currents to a razor’s edge.  

• Burst Output—releasing enough force to split a waterfall in an instant. 

Now imagine that power… against human flesh.  

Add micro-level control?  

Kazama Koshi once described the legendary pinnacle:  

"If you could unleash hundreds of tons of pressure on a single cell … that’s the supreme realm of Wind Release. A storm that cuts all things ."  

Hikari scoffed at the fantasy.  

"Who has time for fairy tales spun by wind-ninja who trained themselves insane? ‘Supreme realm’? Please. Give me Six Paths Senjutsu any day."  

She’d master Wind Release just enough, then fuse it into Kekkei Mōra. Truth-Seeking Balls beat hypothetical "realms" any time.  

As her stinging palms healed (thankfully, shadow clones didn’t disperse from minor injuries), she glanced down at her real body—slowly weaving chakra through the air like some old man doing tai chi in a park.  

Hah—!  

Her palms pushed forward, chakra threading through meridians with needle-like precision.  

Gentle Fist was the opposite of conventional taijutsu.  

Normal taijutsu enhanced the body—chakra fueling raw power, kinetic chains maximizing force (see: Might Guy’s Strong Fist).  

The Kaguya Clan’s "Dance of the Camellia" blended grace and lethality—elegant sweeps hiding bone-shattering strikes. (Kimimaro’s sword-dance was a branch of this.)  

But Gentle Fist?  

No brute force. Just strike acupoints → chakra disruption → fight over.  

Its core? Speed. Accuracy. Chakra like a coiled spring—touch, and internal devastation follows.  

Yet as Hikari trained, she realized:  

• Strong Fist = pure power.  

• Camellia Dance = balance.  

• Gentle Fist = surgical strike. 

But the Hyūga’s secret? It demanded the Byakugan… but wasn’t bound to specific movements.  

So why not merge them?  

Using the Kaguya style’s fluidity, she could fuse Strong Fist’s power + Gentle Fist’s precision → her own style.  

The Sun-Chasing Style.  

Add Wind Release to Eight Trigrams Air Palm? Now it’s nin-taijutsu fusion.  

Ideas bubbled like the rapids below.  

One day… this style would propel her into the Kage-tier.  

(◕‿◕) 

Chapter 62: Severing the Void – First Form  

The Forest of Death.  

Beneath the cliffs of a cascading waterfall.  

The evening light spilled through the trees like overturned honey, the canopy filtering the last scattered flecks of gold. Sparrows flitted among the branches, their chirping a feeble attempt to dispel the creeping chill of the mist.  

A shadow clone standing atop the cliff vanished, its chakra exhausted.  

Gritting her teeth against fatigue, Hikari shifted into the Eight Trigrams stance, her hands dancing like butterflies.  

At intervals, she unleashed what appeared to be a deceptively light Gentle Fist strike.  

Deep-blue chakra trailed in elegant arcs through the air, blending with her fluid movements—less like a combat technique and more like a mesmerizing, deadly dance.  

Had Neji been present, he would have been stunned.  

What Hikari was executing wasn’t the Gentle Fist at all—but an unknown taijutsu style that incorporated its chakra principles. Every strike fused chakra and physical prowess seamlessly.  

Unconsciously, Hikari had already mastered the fundamentals of the Gentle Fist.  

But instead of progressing to the Sixty-Four Palms, she merged its principles with the Shiraha-ryū techniques—imbuing each motion with the elegance and lethality of the Kaguya clan’s dance.  

A flick of her wrist.  

Her glowing palm pressed lightly against the trunk of a tree.  

—Hummm!  

A flash of light.  

Hikari paused for half a second before leaping aside.  

—Crack!  

From within the banyan tree came the sound of something splintering apart.  

"Chirp-chirp-CHIRP!"  

The sparrows nesting in the branches shrieked in terror as the canopy shook violently, sending them scattering into the sky.  

—Groan… CRASH!  

The massive banyan tree slid downward from the point of impact, collapsing under its own weight.  

—BOOM!  

The falling trunk smashed into the ground where Hikari had stood moments before, kicking up a storm of dust.  

—Whoosh!  

A sudden gust of wind erupted, swirling around her and scattering both the dust and the sparrows that had been preparing to unleash their… less-than-dignified counterattack.  

Hikari stepped through the settling debris, her Byakugan scanning the severed stump—inspecting the results of her training.  

What she saw:  

The point of impact was shattered, the wood pulverized by sheer force.  

But only the first third of the trunk had been crushed—the remaining two-thirds had been cleanly severed, the cut so smooth it looked polished.  

A grin spread across Hikari’s face.  

This was exactly what she had envisioned for her "Sun-Chasing Style."  

Born from the Shiraha-ryū’s balance of hard and soft, this technique combined:  

• The brute force of strong fist,  

• The precision of gentle fist,  

• And wind-natured chakra driven directly into the enemy’s body. 

Like hammering a nail:  

• Strong fist was the hammer.  

• Gentle fist was the nail.  

• And the wind chakra? Pure devastation. 

Hikari didn’t care about pressure points—she knew that razor-sharp wind pressure, forced through the body’s meridians, could shred muscles, veins, and even bone.  

Of course, such power came with drawbacks.  

Nothing was perfect.  

The prerequisites for mastering the Sun-Chasing Style were brutal:  

• Byakugan-level chakra control,  

• Wind-nature transformation mastery,  

• And Shiraha-ryū’s physical dominance. 

In the entire shinobi world, only two beings could meet these conditions:  

• Hikari herself,  

• And Kaguya Ōtsutsuki (still sealed away). 

But even after fulfilling the prerequisites, the training itself was monstrously difficult.  

A single, seemingly casual strike required multitasking on three or even four levels—demanding extreme stamina, mental focus, ocular prowess, and chakra control.  

That "one perfect strike" she’d just landed?  

The result of minutes of buildup—and countless failed attempts.  

Luck had played a big part.  

And in real combat? No enemy would stand still like a tree, waiting for her to charge up.  

The Sun-Chasing Style was still in its infancy. Only through relentless refinement would it mature into a true taijutsu流派 (ryūha, "school").  

Hikari still had a long way to go.  

But once perfected?  

It would surpass even the Lightning Release Chakra Mode of Kumogakure—perhaps even the pinnacle of nin-taijutsu.  

And this technique’s name?  

"Sun-Chasing Style: Severing the Void – First Form."  

A fitting title for a move that fused everything she had.  

"The hardest part is just beginning."  

With the foundation of her nin-taijutsu now laid, Hikari’s mood was euphoric.  

The thrill of growth dulled the exhaustion of three straight days of training.  

(Why three days? Her water and wind clones had dispersed—meaning she was now feeling all that accumulated fatigue at once.)  

Physically, her Shiraha-ryū-enhanced body could handle more.  

But her chakra reserves were the bottleneck.  

After learning the Eight Gates and using the Gate of Life to harness her body’s natural energy, her base chakra had reached mid-tier jōnin level.  

Splitting into two clones—each training chakra-intensive wind and water techniques—pushed her to her limit.  

Any further, and she’d have to force open the Gate of Injury, trading lifespan for chakra.  

"Trading life for power…"  

With no immediate threats and her chakra still growing, she saw no reason to take such drastic measures.  

As fatigue gnawed at her, her Byakugan’s power flared.  

"Physical Domination."  

Her nervous system’s pain signals were blocked at the brain.  

Only the high of progress remained.  

She wasn’t the type to suffer needlessly.  

Thanks to her bloodline, she could revel in the rewards of training without enduring its agony.  

"The more I train… the more I want to train."  

A dangerous thought crossed her mind:  

"Wait… is this how Guy-sensei got addicted?!"  

The Eight Gates’ Second Gate (Gate of Rest) also nullified fatigue.  

Suddenly, Might Guy’s habit of random push-ups and frog jumps all over Konoha made too much sense.  

"Oh no… am I turning into him?!"  

A shudder ran down her spine.  

She quickly grabbed her discarded cloak, throwing it over her shoulders.  

The last thing she wanted was to end up in a green spandex jumpsuit, frog-hopping through the village beside him.  

If that ever happened, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki wouldn’t be the only one trying to end the world.  

"Maybe I should take a break tomorrow…"  

Just as she considered it—  

"Hikari!"  

Neji’s voice rang out.  

She looked up to see him sprinting through the trees, Byakugan active, two scrolls in hand.  

In seconds, he landed before her.  

"Here! The Gentle Fist: Rotation and Eight Trigrams Air Palm! "  

His face was alight with pride as he thrust the scrolls into her hands.  

"Already?!"  

Hikari grinned, immediately unfurling them.  

Neji’s efficiency put Hinata’s to shame.  

"Study the Air Palm later. For now, I’ll help you practice the Gentle Fist’s pressure-point strikes."  

"Sure."  

She nodded absently, already absorbed in the scrolls’ secrets.  

As for that "break" she’d planned?  

Gone—vanished into the wind.  

Chapter 63: Exposed  

Chirp-chirp—!  

A sparrow hopped along the edge of the desk, its shrill cries piercing the air.  

Sweat-drenched and dressed lightly, Sawada Fūka tilted her head, listening intently. Her finger pressed down on a perfume bottle—  

Psssh—  

A fragrant mist sprayed out, masking the pungent odor clinging to her skin.  

Sparrows were the most common creatures in Konoha.  

Common means inconspicuous. Perfect for espionage.  

"So… a ‘female monster with cloth over her eyes’ destroyed your friend’s home?"  

Fūka’s brow furrowed as she deciphered the bird’s language.  

Translating avian speech was not easy. Too many chirps, too much profanity.  

Chirp!  

The sparrow’s tone softened slightly, as if calming down.  

"Then a ‘human with white eyes’ showed up, gave her two scrolls, and they… danced in the woods?"  

Fūka scribbled notes, piecing together the clues.  

White eyes? That screamed Hyūga clan.  

Cloth-blindfolded "monster" who could snap tree trunks? In Konoha, only one person fit that description—Kaguya Hikari, the so-called "genius" adopted by Might Guy.  

Rumors said she’d hospitalized a jōnin instructor during the Academy entrance exam.  

"Silver hair?"  

Peck! The sparrow nodded vigorously.  

Confirmed.  

Fūka replaced "monster" with "Hikari" and "white eyes" with "Hyūga", drawing a line between them.  

Kaguya Hikari met a Hyūga, received two scrolls, and… "danced."  

She circled "danced" and "scrolls."  

Then it hit her.  

They weren’t dancing—they were training!  

No hand seals meant taijutsu, and the Hyūga’s signature style was—  

Gentle Fist.  

Hikari was learning the Hyūga’s secret art. In the Forest of Death, no less. Was she stealing it?  

Fūka’s pulse spiked.  

Everyone knew: Gentle Fist required the Byakugan.  

So either—  

• Hikari found a way to bypass the Byakgan’s requirements…  

• She had the Byakugan all along. The blindfold was a ruse. 

Logic said Option #1 was likely. The Hyūga guarded their bloodline fanatically—even siblings were branded with the Caged Bird Seal. A "stray" Hyūga was near impossible.  

But if it was Option #2…?  

Fūka’s heart hammered.  

This could be her ticket out of the shadows. That monster Juugo, who destroyed her village—he’d finally pay.  

Thump-thump. Excitement flushed her cheeks.  

With a clatter, she yanked open her desk drawer, pulling out a squirming bag of mealworms.  

Chirp! The sparrow dove in, rolling gleefully in the wriggling pile.  

Once it flew off, Fūka drafted a new report.  

Did Hikari have the Byakugan? She couldn’t confirm.  

Didn’t matter.  

Kumo’s brass craved the Byakugan. Even a hint would trigger a retrieval mission.  

If they captured her and she did have it? Mission accomplished.  

If not? No loss.  

After all…  

Fūka smirked. "I’m just a powerless civilian. How could I possibly arrest a ‘monster’ who smashes trees?"  

Her pen flew across the page, cipher-text buzzing with anticipation.  

This time, the report wasn’t about the Uchiha or the Hyūga.  

The headline?  

"Kaguya Hikari: A Bloodline Traitor?"  

Konoha Memorial Stone  

The evening wind howled as a cloaked figure knelt, placing flowers before a grave.  

His orange spiral mask hid all but a single, blood-red eye.  

Squelch.  

Something bulged from the earth—a withered venus flytrap peeling open.  

"Tobi—"  

"Call me Madara."  

Uchiha Obito didn’t turn, but his Sharingan pulsed.  

"Oops~" White Zetsu’s tone was mock-innocent.  

Obito ignored the jab. "Report."  

"The Uchiha are revolting. Fugaku’s lost control—they’re planning a coup."  

"Good."  

His tomoe spun faster.  

The Uchiha were unpredictable. Any one of them could awaken the Mangekyō and jeopardize the Moon’s Eye Plan.  

Eliminating them was the only guarantee.  

He’d already killed his sensei. There was no turning back.  

"And Itachi?"  

"Hesitating." Black Zetsu’s voice oozed from the shadows.  

"Tch. So much for ‘preserving the Uchiha’s honor.’"  

"Well, slaughtering your family is hard—"  

"Shut up." Black Zetsu cut off White’s blabbering.  

Obito’s voice turned hollow as space warped around him.  

"Tell him to hurry. I’m out of patience."  

With that, he vanished.  

The Zetsu duo exchanged a glance before sinking into the earth.  

--- (•̀ᴗ•́)و 

Chapter 64: Kumogakure  

Three days later.  

Land of Lightning, Kumogakure. 

ANBU Base Training Grounds.  

"DOUBLE LARIAT!!!"  

"RAAAAH!!!"  

Amid thunderous roars, two towering figures—cloaked in crackling lightning like storm gods—charged at each other.  

ZZZT—BOOM!  

The ground split under the force of their collision as their electrified arms clashed. Blue arcs of Lightning Release Armor flared between them, so intense it rivaled the sun itself.  

"HAAH… Now that’s a warm-up!"  

The ANBU Captain, Yotsuki Takeshi, exhaled as the lightning around him dimmed. His muscles, stiff from days of desk work, finally felt alive again.  

"Tch. Sitting in that damn office rusts my bones! Fuckin’ paperwork—who the hell thought makin’ me handle intel was a good idea?!"  

WHACK!  

A calloused palm smacked the back of his skull.  

"Who’re you callin’ ‘hell’?!" roared Yotsuki Yuu, his white beard bristling. The elder’s oak-brown muscles dwarfed his son’s, veins coiled like ancient tree roots.  

The usually brash Takeshi instantly shrank like a scolded pup. "N-Not you, old man! I meant—"  

"Weakest in the clan, yet you bitch the loudest!" Yuu’s voice boomed across the training grounds. "I fought for the Third Raikage’s title! And you? Stuck pushin’ papers ‘cause you lost to every damn cousin in the trials!"  

Takeshi glanced around, flushing as nearby ANBU snickered. "Dad—save the lectures for home—"  

**"Your Lightning Armor’s weaker than a toddler’s static! You want respect? Earn it!"** Yuu jabbed a finger at his chest. "Next clan tournament, if you’re still ANBU Captain, I’ll lariat you into next week!"  

Just as Takeshi’s face turned tomato-red—  

"Captain!"  

A lithe female ANBU agent sprinted over, her mask tilted to hide a smirk. "Urgent missive from ‘Beast.’"  

Saved! Takeshi nearly wept. "Ah! See, Dad? Duty calls—"  

"Duty my ass! Your assistant handles your ‘duty’!" Yuu scoffed but stepped back, crossing arms like a boulder. "Read it here. Then we’re sparring again."  

Takeshi sighed. His father, despite his age and old war wounds (courtesy of Ōnoki’s Iwa forces), refused to retire. Doctors warned him to rest—*"Ten more years if you stay still"*—but the old bull wouldn’t listen.  

"I’ll die training, fighting, or on a mission—not sniveling in bed!"  

Even the Fourth Raikage deferred to him. Who could argue?  

"Two reports, sir," the assistant said, handing over decoded scrolls. "One arrived last night, the other this morning. Priority markings."  

Takeshi skimmed—then grinned.  

"The Uchiha and Konoha are at each other’s throats?"  

"Worse," the agent added. "ANBU have their compound locked down. Not even a sparrow flies out unchecked."  

"HA! Serves ‘em right!" Takeshi slapped his thigh. Since Hashirama’s era, Konoha had lorded its "strongest village" title over them. Finally—karma.  

"Shame we can’t snatch a few Uchiha for breeding. Those Sharingan eyes…" He licked his lips, recalling his father’s war stories. Almost as good as Byakugan.  

The assistant cleared her throat. "Second report—about Byakugan." She tapped the scroll. **"‘Beast’ located a wild Hyūga-blooded female. Young. Fertile."**  

"…Eh?"  

Yuu’s ears perked up. The old warrior turned, eyes sharp as lightning.  

(•̀ᴗ•́)و 

Chapter 65: Kumogakure (Part 2)  

"A wild Byakugan?"  

Yotsuki Takeo was equally stunned.  

He tossed the intel on the Uchiha back into his assistant’s arms and immediately flipped through the second report, his head lowered.  

The Byakugan had always been Kumogakure’s most coveted kekkei genkai.  

Bar none.  

There were plenty of reasons for that.  

Setting aside its strategic value, the Byakugan’s abilities synergized perfectly with Kumo’s Raiton Chakra Mode.  

The Raiton Chakra Mode was a B-rank nin-taijutsu developed by the Second Raikage. By saturating the body with highly refined lightning-natured chakra, the user could train their physique to near-immunity against Raiton attacks.  

Once mastered, it maxed out speed, strength, and defense—earning its reputation as the ultimate Raiton jutsu with no weaknesses.  

Of course, something this powerful wasn’t easy to learn.  

If anyone could master it, the title of "strongest hidden village" would’ve changed hands long ago.  

Channeling volatile lightning chakra through the body? One misstep, and you’d be reduced to charcoal. The Yotsuki clan only managed it thanks to their natural resistance to Raiton.  

And the jutsu’s difficulty rating?  

It wasn’t based on the average shinobi.  

B-rank—that was the Yotsuki’s standard.  

For other Kumo ninja, what they trained was just a watered-down version: Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Armor). Not the true Raiton Chakra Mode. It wasn’t that the Yotsuki hoarded the secrets—most shinobi simply couldn’t handle it.  

Back when the clan first shared the technique, half of Kumo’s trainees ended up electrocuting themselves to death.  

At that rate, Kumogakure would’ve turned into Kirigakure—the "Village of the Bloody Mist."  

But… the Byakugan could solve all of Kumo’s problems.  

Its unparalleled chakra control would allow for precise manipulation of Raiton nature transformation, making the training process safe.  

Instead of risking self-destruction, average shinobi could first undergo gradual conditioning—letting a Byakugan user stimulate their bodies with controlled lightning chakra.  

Once their resistance improved, the rest of the training would be smooth sailing.  

Kumo didn’t just want the Byakugan’s observational prowess—they needed it as a safety switch, a way to mass-produce Raiton Chakra Mode users.  

Imagine it.  

An entire army, all wielding Raiton Chakra Mode.  

That would be unstoppable.  

With that power, Kumogakure would dominate the shinobi world—no one could stand in their way.  

"Is the Byakugan real?"  

Yotsuki Yuu watched his son silently gripping the report, his own impatience gnawing at him.  

The Byakugan’s importance to Kumo was immeasurable—especially if the wielder was a fertile girl.  

Even ten Yotsuki Yuus and ten Yotsuki Takeos combined wouldn’t be worth half as much as her.  

This could change the world.  

"I’m not sure if it’s real—"  

Takeo scanned the report again. It was full of maybes, possibilities, and assumptions.  

The operative codenamed "Beast" hadn’t even seen the Byakugan firsthand.  

At best, this was an educated guess. At worst? Pure speculation—zero hard evidence.  

Takeo licked his thick lips, conflicted.  

Kidnapping someone from Konoha was no small feat. Even if they succeeded, it could shatter the fragile peace and spark the Fourth Shinobi World War.  

Not that Kumo feared war—but starting a global conflict over unverified intel?  

How would history remember that?  

"The Great Sparrow Conspiracy: Kumogakure Declares War on Konoha!"  

Even rhymed.  

"Give it here. Let me see."  

Yuu snatched the Top Secret report from his son’s hands.  

The female assistant opened her mouth to protest—then wisely shut it.  

"Is this intel reliable?" Yuu asked after rereading it twice.  

"Extremely. ‘Beast’ is our most valuable spy in Konoha. She was the one who provided the intel for the last Byakugan theft attempt three years ago."  

The assistant answered smoothly.  

She oversaw ANBU intelligence—Beast (Fūka) had been her discovery. She’d personally arranged the girl’s infiltration into Konoha, even securing approval from Takeo to promise revenge as incentive.  

Her trust in Fūka was absolute.  

Yuu nodded, his aged eyes scanning the report once more.  

"The Byakugan is too critical to ignore—even a hint of its existence demands action. Inform the Fourth Raikage immediately. This is his call."  

"Understood."  

Takeo adjusted his collar and strode out of the training grounds.  

Behind him, Yuu watched his son leave, his gaze sharp with unspoken clarity.  

Raikage’s Office  

Takeo arrived swiftly and handed the report to the Fourth Raikage—A.  

No pleasantries. Just business.  

"Cousin, what’s the plan?" Takeo asked as A stroked his beard, deep in thought.  

"Plan? What plan?" A’s golden mustache bristled as he glared at his less decisive relative.  

"About the Byakugan!"  

"You said it’s the Byakugan. So we act. Assemble a team."  

"Just like that? Shouldn’t we confirm it first? If this starts a war—"  

"Deny everything. Simple."  

A shrugged like a seasoned thug.  

"Konoha’s drowning in internal strife. Even if we do provoke them, can they fight back? If we don’t strike now, we’ll miss our chance."  

Beneath his brutish exterior, A had a razor-sharp mind.  

He recognized the golden opportunity these two reports presented.  

Konoha was weak—plagued by infighting. Adding external pressure?  

They’d collapse.  

But…  

Who to send?  

A pondered the logistics.  

The girl’s file mentioned her defeating a jōnin at six years old—a prodigy rivaling Minato Namikaze, if not surpassing him.  

Capturing her would require at least three jōnin to be safe.  

But why stop at one prize?  

If they were risking war, they might as well go all in—not just the Byakugan, but the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki too.  

Even if the girl wasn’t a Hyūga, snatching a genius and a tailed beast would still be a win.  

But tailed beasts were unpredictable.  

To guarantee success, they’d need elite jōnin—Kumo’s finest. Problem was, most were either high-ranking assets or his own relatives.  

Sending them on a suicide mission to Konoha?  

…Not ideal.  

Weak teams would fail. Strong ones? Losing them would hurt.  

Scratching his scruff, A—usually a man of action—found himself hesitating.  

BAM!  

The office door slammed open, startling him.  

He was about to roar—until he saw the towering figure entering.  

Instantly, his anger fizzled into exasperation.  

"Uncle… what are you doing here?"  

"Father?" Takeo blinked.  

Yotsuki Yuu marched in, his wrinkled face carved with determination.  

"Leave us. I need to speak with the Raikage alone."  

Takeo stiffened at the formality—his father was dead serious.  

"Then, Cousin… should I start assembling the team?"  

A waved him off.  

Once Takeo was gone, A studied his uncle—the old man’s eyes burning with the vigor of youth.  

He already knew what was coming.  

Before Yuu could speak, A cut in:  

"You want to go to Konoha."  

"Hah! You get me!"  

"It’s a death sentence."  

"I’m on borrowed time. Better to die fighting than rotting in bed. If I bring back the Byakugan—"  

Yuu thumped his chest, the sound echoing.  

"—worth it."  

The lion-like elder stood tall, his gaze blazing.  

(◠‿◠)