Hearing Kai's words, the members of the Hyūga clan instantly tensed up. They assumed the Gentle Fist stance, encircling him.
"Hand over the Byakugan, or face the consequences!"
A playful smirk appeared at the corner of Kai's mouth.
"Consequences? Oh, I'm curious to see what they might be."
Even as a Jōnin, Kai had never feared the combined attacks of the Hyūga clan and Danzo. Now, as a Kage-level ninja, he was even more confident.
Gentle Fist: Sixty-Four Palms!
Gentle Fist: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!
Noticing that some Hyūga clan members couldn't even execute the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, Kai sneered in disdain.
"What a bunch of rabble," he thought. "And they dare to bark in front of me?"
"Well then, let me play with you," Kai said with a grin.
He raised both arms, palms open, and began to move.
One palm, two palms, four palms... His arm movements became faster and faster, to the point of blurring.
Eight palms!
Sixteen palms!
Thirty-Two palms!
Sixty-Four palms!
One Hundred Twenty-Eight palms!
In just a moment, Kai executed the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, each strike landing precisely on the pressure points of the Hyūga clan members!
The Hyūga clan members were stunned. They recognized the technique immediately—it was the Hyūga clan's most powerful Gentle Fist technique, Gentle Fist: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!
"Mitarashi Kai, how... how is it possible for you to know our Gentle Fist technique?!"
The Hyūga clan members were in disbelief. The Gentle Fist was a secret technique of their clan, impossible for outsiders to learn. Without the Byakugan's ability to see chakra pathways and pressure points, the technique's power would be reduced to nearly nothing.
However, Kai, who possessed the Byakugan and had a deep understanding of the Gentle Fist's principles, had no trouble mastering it.
"And that's not all," he said with a sly grin.
Chakra erupted from every tenketsu on Kai's body. He then began to spin, forming a dense, pale blue chakra barrier around himself.
"Rotation! That's Rotation! A secret technique reserved only for the Hyūga clan's main branch. How can you possibly know it?" one Hyūga member shouted, his voice trembling.
To Kai, Rotation was merely a simple technique of projecting chakra externally. Once he understood the principle of releasing chakra from all tenketsu, developing Rotation was straightforward.
Otherwise, in the original story, even Hyūga Neji managed to develop Rotation on his own.
Rather than calling Hyūga Neji a genius of the Hyūga clan, it would be more accurate to say that the rest of the Hyūga clan were mediocre. Despite possessing such a powerful kekkei genkai, they hadn't produced a single Kage-level ninja and still dared to call themselves Konoha's greatest clan. What a joke.
Kai's actions didn't stop there. He wasn't using Rotation just to show off to the Hyūga clan. That wasn't his style.
The chakra forming the Rotation in front of him darkened from pale blue to deep blue, becoming increasingly concentrated. Finally, the Rotation seemed unable to withstand the immense chakra infusion and exploded!
The pure chakra shockwave rippled outward, creating waves of air that spread in all directions, centered on Kai.
Gentle Fist: Explosive Rotation!
The Hyūga clan members surrounding Kai were thrown into the air by the shockwave, landing dozens of meters away.
The explosion also destroyed Kai's tent, reducing it to shreds of fabric and splinters of wood.
The commotion in the camp immediately caught the attention of Mitarashi Shishio, the battlefield commander. Within moments, he arrived at the scene.
Seeing the Hyūga clan members sprawled on the ground and Kai standing calmly in the center, Shishio quickly pieced together what had happened.
Relieved to see Kai unharmed, Shishio then felt a headache coming on. In less than half a day, Kai had managed to beat up both the Uchiha and Hyūga clans.
On the Water Country battlefield, the Uchiha and Hyūga clans made up nearly 70-80% of the forces. From now on, Shishio knew his orders would likely be met with resistance.
Shishio had anticipated that the Hyūga clan would confront Kai over the Byakugan in his possession. Putting on a stern expression, he scolded:
"This is outrageous! With the war against the Mist still ongoing, you're causing trouble within our own ranks. Mitarashi Kai, you are hereby relieved of your position as frontline combat team captain. Your fate will be decided by the Hokage after the Water Country campaign."
"Frontline combat team captain? What nonsense is that?" Kai thought, inwardly rolling his eyes. "If you're going to come up with an excuse to absolve me, at least make it believable. I've only been here for a few hours, and I'm already a captain? Do you think the Hyūga clan are fools?"
Faced with his uncle's antics, Kai could only feel helpless.
As expected, the Hyūga clan members, who had just arrived, were not satisfied with Shishio's light dismissal of the matter.
"Mitarashi Shishio, what do you mean by this?"
"Mitarashi Kai attacked our clan members. He must be severely punished!"
"Yes, he must—"
Before they could finish, Shishio's expression darkened, and his aura as an elite Kage-level ninja was fully unleashed. The killing intent permeated the air, silencing the Hyūga clan members and sending chills down their spines.
"I said, this matter is settled. Does anyone have a problem with that?" Shishio asked coldly, his gaze sweeping over the group.
The Hyūga clan members, intimidated by Shishio's overwhelming presence, fell silent.
For the first time, Kai truly felt the strength of his uncle. Without activating his Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Kai knew he stood no chance against him.
"Truly formidable," Kai thought. "No wonder he's the head of Konoha's Anbu."
"Alright, if there's nothing else, return to your posts and prepare for the upcoming battle against the Water Country," Shishio said, retracting his aura.
"Hmph."
Although still dissatisfied, the Hyūga clan members reluctantly dispersed, cowed by Shishio's authority.
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