"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
In an instant, Hinata moved like a bolt from the blue, her figure swift as the wind, rushing straight to Naruto's front, striking palm after palm.
Accompanied by the sounds of shadow clones being popped, Naruto's clones dissipated one by one.
---
"Hinata's progress is immense!"
Hiashi watched his daughter's techniques from afar, his expression filled with shock.
He had no choice but to be shocked.
Training in the Gentle Fist was divided into three stages: the initial stage with Thirty-Two Palms, the mid-stage with Sixty-Four Palms, and the advanced stage with One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. Ordinary Hyūga clan members could only reach Thirty-Two Palms. Those with slightly better talent might manage Sixty-Four Palms. As for One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms... there were definitely fewer than five people in the Hyūga clan today capable of using it.
The Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist emphasized striking multiple chakra points on an enemy's body in the shortest possible time.
Once the human body reached a certain level, improving further was not a matter of a little difficulty. It was tremendously challenging.
Natural talent was crucial.
"Hikari really has a sharp eye, noticing Hinata's potential. In just half a year he's brought about such a huge change—impressive." Jiraiya sighed.
Compared to her previous self, the current Hinata could easily overwhelm a dozen versions of her former self.
However...
Compared to Hinata, Naruto's progress wasn't as significant.
Currently, Naruto was only able to skillfully use the Rasengan, and his taijutsu was just a bit stronger than before.
---
"Alright, that's enough! Stop!"
On Hikari's order, Hinata and Naruto halted.
Naruto's chakra was abundant—enough to create shadow clones in large numbers. Meanwhile, under Hikari's training, Hinata's physical abilities had improved greatly. Her chakra reserves were ten times what they used to be—enough to sustain prolonged combat.
Under these circumstances, with neither side wanting to kill the other, continuing to fight would only be a matter of stalling for time.
"Naruto! Your progress is mediocre."
Sasuke stared coldly at Naruto, eyes filled with disappointment.
His chosen rival had actually fought a woman to a standstill—Sasuke found that intolerable.
"Sasuke, don't act all high and mighty! If you're not convinced, fight me!" Naruto glared back, eyes blazing with competitive fire.
In terms of taijutsu, Naruto had talent, but facing a pure taijutsu specialist like Hinata, he was still at a disadvantage. Moreover, when striking at Hinata, Naruto held back quite a bit.
So ending in a draw felt normal to him.
"My target is Hikari-senpai. You're nowhere near qualified." Sasuke's gaze slid past Naruto and fixed on Hikari.
After half a year of training, Sasuke felt he was ready again.
He had fully mastered the three-tomoe Sharingan. And on top of Chidori, he'd developed another advanced form—Chidori Current.
"Sasuke! You need to beat me first before you earn the right to challenge Hikari-senpai!" Actually, Naruto wanted to spar with Hikari too—but compared to that, he wanted to teach Sasuke a lesson even more.
"Naruto, you just finished sparring with Hinata—rest and recover first." Hikari reached out and pulled Naruto back a bit. He knew Sasuke was the type hard to persuade.
Sasuke felt he'd mastered enough to stand face-to-face with Hikari. Naturally he wanted to fight again—even if he lost, he could measure the gap.
And if he won? Even better.
"Good! I've been waiting for you!" Seeing Hikari step forward, Sasuke immediately activated his three-tomoe Sharingan. His right hand began weaving hand signs.
*Ox, Horse, Monkey, Horse, Rabbit!*
"Chidori Current!"
The chirping of hundreds of birds rang out as Sasuke's body cloaked itself in lightning, his right hand thrusting fiercely toward Hikari.
This was a technique enhanced with Chidori's piercing power—one strike could pierce through a boulder the size of a house.
"Move!"
Hikari extended both hands simultaneously—one grabbing Naruto, the other grabbing Hinata—and tossed them to the side clearing before quietly sidestepping.
With the dynamic vision of his three-tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke instantly locked onto Hikari's new position. He abruptly halted, pivoted, and lunged at Hikari again.
If this had been an ordinary Chidori, Sasuke's attack wouldn't stop until it pierced his target.
But this was Sasuke's modified form—Chidori Current—which boosted offensive power while allowing quick directional shifts by relying on superb visual tracking. He could launch follow-up attacks continuously.
"Very good technique."
Hikari couldn't help but admire Sasuke's talent.
Even without guidance, Sasuke managed to develop Chidori Current on his own. Combined with his three-tomoe vision, his combat potential could already stand out among jōnin.
Hearing Hikari's praise only filled Sasuke with humiliation. His three tomoe spun faster. He was furious with his own weakness—furious that he failed to protect the Uchiha's honor and allowed Hikari to "insult" him again and again.
In the center of his three-tomoe Sharingan, a faint black line seemed to appear—as though trying to connect the tomoe together.
Sasuke attacked again—faster, sharper.
To everyone else, it looked like a bolt of lightning flashing back and forth among the forest shadows.
"So strong, Sasuke!" Naruto was shocked—and unsettled.
Compared to Sasuke now, Naruto felt utterly outmatched.
"Not bad at all."
After being chased for more than ten minutes, Hikari casually landed in the training field. Sasuke followed, panting heavily.
Maintaining Chidori Current for that long drained even Sasuke to his limit.
"Why do you keep running?" Sasuke glared at Hikari, clearly dissatisfied.
What he wanted was a real fight—not some boring contest of who could evade longer.
"This fight is meaningless." Hikari looked Sasuke up and down, nodding in satisfaction. "Your strength has reached its current peak. To advance further, you need real combat."
"Real combat?" Sasuke frowned.
Like the Chūnin Exams?
Perhaps seeing through Sasuke's thoughts, Hikari said, "I mean actual killing. Peace in the shinobi world is only on the surface. At the borders of several countries, there are still many bandits and robbers. Those are the opponents I've chosen for you."
"Can they even be considered opponents?" Sasuke scoffed. "I want battles against powerful shinobi, not bandits."
As everyone knew, most bandits were ordinary people. Even if there were shinobi among them, they were rogue shinobi at best, with the strongest being chūnin level. Sasuke naturally disdained them.
"Underestimating them will get you killed." Hikari smiled. "Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke—training ends here for today. Tomorrow at 8 a.m., meet me at Konoha's front gate. I'll let you see real blood."