"If you want to gain freedom, you must first possess the matching strength, Hinata!"
At the usual Hyūga clan training ground, Hiashi stood opposite Hinata, speaking to her with sincere gravity.
Everyone desires freedom, but freedom is something only the strong can truly possess.
Freedom without strength is merely something bestowed by the strong—it can be taken away at any time.
Hinata looked at Hiashi with a smile on her face. "Otō-sama, if you're trying to say that your strength surpasses mine, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed!"
"Are you saying your strength is greater than mine?" Hiashi did not get angry at Hinata's words. He simply gazed at her and assumed the Gentle Fist stance.
Hinata likewise assumed her stance. "Otō-sama, please make your move!"
"Very well!"
Hiashi felt that today he needed to teach Hinata a lesson, to let her know that her father was by no means an empty name.
The Gentle Fist was a style that was easy to learn but demanded exceedingly high mastery to reach its heights.
As the clan head of the main house, Hiashi had comprehended the Gentle Fist to a very high realm. He did not believe that Hinata, once considered a failure, could surpass him in such a short period of time.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"
The two unleashed their techniques almost simultaneously. To be more precise, Hiashi moved first, but Hinata followed him, her speed even slightly faster. Their attacks landed at the same moment.
In an instant, their movements were like perfect copies of each other. Wherever Hiashi struck on Hinata, she countered with the exact same palm strike. After the full thirty-two palms, Hiashi's technique had not affected Hinata in the slightest.
This time, Hiashi's expression changed.
He considered himself to have mastered such a technique to perfection, yet Hinata had managed to react later but strike first, executing the exact same moves simultaneously. This meant her mastery of the Gentle Fist surpassed his own.
Only those who truly understood the Gentle Fist would know how difficult this was.
The Gentle Fist was not a slow style; it pursued extreme speed in an instant.
When executing the Thirty-Two Palms, one must strike the opponent's chakra points within a constant timeframe to inflict sealing damage. To end in a perfect stalemate like this required one person to be superior in strength.
Clearly, Hiashi was not the superior one now.
Thinking this, Hiashi took a deep breath and attacked again.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
This time, the result was identical to the last.
The same technique, the same power, the same speed—it was as if they had been carved from the same mold.
And this time, Hiashi's face truly changed.
The man usually as steady as a mountain, unfazed even if the sky fell, was now looking at Hinata with unprecedented seriousness for the first time.
"Your strength...?"
Hiashi could hardly believe it. In just half a year, Hinata had become proficient enough to use the Sixty-Four Palms—a technique only a select few Hyūga experts could perform.
"Otō-sama, are you very surprised?"
Hinata looked at Hiashi, her expression unchanged.
Only now did she realize that she had always been capable of the Sixty-Four Palms. It was her lack of confidence that caused hesitation when executing the moves, making her appear weaker.
"I am indeed surprised, but my strength as your father is far more than this!"
Seeing Hinata act so boldly, Hiashi felt he could no longer hold back. He needed to let his daughter know that a father would always be a father, and a daughter, for now, was still just a daughter.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"
This time, the situation differed from the previous two. The One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms was currently the highest Gentle Fist technique Hinata could perform, so she could not fully control the speed and power with perfect ease.
Palm after palm.
Hiashi felt as if he had suffered a bitter defeat, his mouth tasting of ash.
With every clash, his palms felt like they were striking steel. Once again, Hinata blocked all of his attacks perfectly, but several of her strikes landed on him.
Because she had held back her power, Hiashi only felt slight discomfort.
Physically, it was bearable, but his heart felt as though it had been heavily struck. He stared at Hinata, unable to recover for a long time.
'Is this my daughter?'
'Is this still my silly, adorable little girl?'
The Hinata before him was so gallant and heroic, her strikes so clean and decisive—this was exactly the daughter he had dreamed of.
Her current strength had surpassed the younger generation. Even among the existing elders of the Hyūga clan, few could compare to her.
She was a qualified heir to the main house.
'But... why I don't feel happy?'
Looking at Hinata, Hiashi silently examined his emotions. He realized he was not as joyful as he had imagined—in fact, there was a faint sense of loss.
"Otō-sama, let's end it here for today. The next time I announce my decision, I hope you will support me." Hinata did not wish to continue.
Whether it was the Thirty-Two Palms, Sixty-Four Palms, or One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, these techniques were primarily for subduing enemies. Sparring like this allowed for an easy conclusion without major consequences.
But the advanced Gentle Fist techniques—like Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm or Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher—unleashed far greater power and created much louder disturbances.
If others heard them, they would discover Hinata's true strength, which would be detrimental to her current plan of lying low.
She did not want to step into the Hyūga clan's spotlight yet. She needed to continue disguising herself as the unqualified main house heir until she possessed enough strength to knock down everyone who stood in her way.
For now, Hinata felt her strength was still insufficient. She needed to train for a while longer.
However, she believed that day would not be far off.
Hiashi watched as Hinata left the training ground, a feeling of emptiness welling up inside his heart.
The thing he had hoped for had finally happened—his daughter now possessed extraordinary power beyond ordinary people. But she was no longer the soft, fragile girl in his heart.
In fact, Hiashi found himself missing the old Hinata—the one who acted like a little white rabbit in front of him, too timid to even speak loudly.
Looking up at the moon in the night sky, Hiashi suddenly found it extraordinarily beautiful. Gazing at it, he felt as though he were seeing his own younger brother... Hizashi.
"Hizashi, Neji has grown up now, and Hinata has grown up too. They are living well, and they will only get better from here."
"To be honest, I truly regret it so much. Sometimes I wonder why the one who died back then wasn't me."
"Hinata can stand on her own now. She is my eldest daughter, just one year younger than Neji. Seeing her like this, I suddenly feel that being a father isn't all that joyful."
"She has someone she likes now. I really want to drag that brat here and give him a thorough beating, but I can't—I absolutely can't!"
"I can't even defeat my own daughter anymore. What a failure I am!"
Muttering like this, in a voice only he could hear, Hiashi gazed at the moon for a long, long time.