Chapter 101: The Hyūga's Secret Technique!
Nara Keisuke released the [Shadow Neck Binding Technique]. The lacquer-black hand gradually detached from the medical kunoichi's soft body from top to bottom.
Shizune took small, shuffling steps back to stand beside Uchiha Shisui and Hyūga Retsu. Then, feeling uncomfortable, she silently moved a short distance to the side.
Due to her elder relative (her uncle, Dan Katō), after graduating from the Ninja Academy, Shizune had not been immediately placed on a team to become a professional ninja like her other classmates. Under Tsunade's arrangement, she had directly entered Konoha's Medical Department after graduation to continue her in-depth study of medical ninjutsu.
After much difficulty, by relying on her achievements in medical ninjutsu and the reduced difficulty of promotion during wartime, Shizune became a Chunin. Just as she was fantasizing about which team she would be assigned to and which ninja she would fight alongside...
Hyūga Retsu, Uchiha Shisui, Nara Keisuke. The appearance of these three new teammates and a new captain brought an immense amount of psychological pressure to the young medical kunoichi. It wasn't that Shizune was belittling herself, but that she saw the situation too clearly. With her skill and medical level, how was she worthy of being teammates with these three...
Shizune felt that all she could do now was to improve herself as much as possible, and try her best not to drag her companions down in future missions. At the very least... not to drag them down too much.
"Through the combat tests just now, I've gained a general understanding of everyone's skill level." Nara Keisuke looked at the three subordinates standing in a neat row before him. "But that was one-on-one. Would you all like to practice some teamwork?"
Faced with the squad leader's question, Uchiha Shisui and the other two exchanged a look and nodded silently. The three of them knew where the team's "flaw" lay. Although they were all Chunin, and Shisui's strength was even comparable to a Jonin's, in the end, this was still a newly formed team. The level of coordination between the members was far from sufficient.
Considering that for a long time to come, as long as nothing unexpected happened, they would all be partners who shared weal and woe, it was very necessary to promote and enhance the tacit understanding and coordination among the team members.
After half a day of drills and coordination, Nara Keisuke took the initiative to signal an end to the sparring. "The regular drills are about done." He looked at the three panting figures before him. "The rest of the work will basically need to be done during actual missions. Is everyone free now to grab a meal together?"
A squad leader was different from a Jonin sensei. Keisuke viewed his relationship with Shisui, Retsu, and Shizune as more like colleagues at work.
Hearing the captain's suggestion, Shisui took the initiative to nod. "I have plenty of time. You can count me in."
"I don't have anything else to do either," Shizune replied.
Hyūga Retsu's tone was concise, but she asked a question that cut straight to the point: "How will the meal be paid for? Are we splitting it?"
"Since it's our first meal together, it'll be my treat," Keisuke said very generously. "Next time, we can all split it evenly."
The three team members agreed to their captain's words.
"Captain," Retsu said calmly. "I have a large appetite. I can pay for my own meal."
"No need," Keisuke waved his hand, not minding at all. "I've seen plenty of ninja with big appetites. Let's talk about where to eat. What do you all want?"
Uchiha Shisui: "Grilled fish."
Shizune: "Fried rice."
Hyūga Retsu: "Fried chicken."
Fried chicken? Keisuke looked at Hyūga Retsu with a strange expression. He hadn't expected such a cold-looking young girl to be partial to a high-calorie food like fried chicken. But considering what she had just said, he put aside his strange feelings. "In that case..." Keisuke looked around, recalling the Konoha food map his research had produced. "Let's go for ramen. Ichiraku Ramen is the closest."
It was not yet the peak dining hour. There weren't many customers in the small shop. Nara Keisuke's group of four smoothly occupied a row of seats near the counter.
"Tonkotsu ramen, with an extra well-done fried egg," Keisuke ordered first.
"Vegetable ramen, thank you." This was from the polite Uchiha Shisui.
"Brown rice." Shizune was very particular about her rice.
"Captain." Hyūga Retsu looked at Keisuke, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Order whatever you want," Keisuke said, waving his hand and gesturing for her to go ahead.
"Alright..." Retsu's brow relaxed, and she decided she would treat him next time. "A large bowl of Miso Chashu Ramen."
The steaming hot, fragrant ramen was quickly served. Keisuke stirred the broth, burying the egg at the bottom. While eating, he called up his virtual panel.
From the skill tests just now, he had successively obtained three [Shinobi Secret Scrolls] from his three subordinates. Two C-rank, one B-rank.
Keisuke habitually weighed the value of the three scrolls and first pulled out Shizune's C-rank one, preparing to use it as sacrificial fodder.
[Opening...]
[Contents of this C-rank Secret Scroll: Technique]
[C-rank Technique: Tongue Spit Needle]
[Technique Description: An unexpected needle stab will instantly pierce the opponent.]
[Technique Effect: No hand signs required. Place a short needle under the root of the tongue in advance. When necessary, the needle can be instantly launched, and the chakra released from the oral chakra point can be used to finely adjust the needle's trajectory.]
[Technique Evaluation: Words with barbs.]
Looking at this C-rank technique on the virtual panel, Keisuke somewhat mechanically stirred the noodles in his bowl. 'That's it? How is this thing worth a C-rank evaluation?'
It wasn't that he hadn't seen garbage C-rank ninjutsu before. Take the [Corpse Demon Kiss] for example. It could absorb others' chakra, but it had a "very long" casting time and could only be used "mouth-to-mouth," with extremely harsh conditions. But at least its effect was quite powerful. Keisuke could reluctantly accept it.
Then there was the legendary "merciful jutsu"—the Great Fireball Technique. Also C-rank, it might not be able to kill anyone, but at least it could start a fire. But this [Tongue Spit Needle]...
'I can't just throw a hidden weapon with my hand? I have to spit it with my mouth?'
Keisuke watched as a bowl of ramen slid past him and landed in front of Hyūga Retsu. 'And take your Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist. You have to poke with your fingers. Can't you just stab with a kunai? Would poking a few dozen or a hundred pressure points do more damage than stabbing a few dozen or a hundred holes with a kunai?'
Keisuke retracted his gaze and looked back at his own bowl. 'Sacrificial fodder. This must be sacrificial fodder!'
With the [Tongue Spit Needle] as fodder, Keisuke temporarily skipped over Retsu's C-rank scroll and instead opened Shisui's B-rank one. 'It has to be fodder!'
[Opening...]
[Contents of this B-rank Secret Scroll: Technique]
[B-rank Technique: Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation]
[Technique Description: Turn all of creation to ash! No resistance, no escape!]
[Technique Effect: Form the Horse seal, transform fire-nature chakra into scorching flames, and spew them out from the mouth in one breath, creating a powerful firestorm that turns the surroundings into a stunning sea of flames.]
[Technique Evaluation: I've burned out completely, only white ash remains...]
'Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!?' Keisuke blinked. This did indeed seem to be a fire ninjutsu produced by the Uchiha clan, although he hadn't seen Shisui use it in the battle just now. However, the problem was... wasn't Fire Release the legendary merciful jutsu? Were there any cases of it actually killing a ninja?
Keisuke did know one thing. Even the [Great Fire Annihilation] used by Uchiha Madara hadn't killed anyone... if it weren't for dozens of Kiri ninja skilled in Water Release jointly using a Water Formation Wall to block it.
'Compared to other fire jutsu, this one has one advantage: it's a single-sign jutsu!' A single-sign jutsu was not as good as a no-sign one, but at least it was much better than some of the other fancy-hand-sign jutsu.
But even so... 'I already have [Searing Migraine] and can use my [Nature Mask] to release fire jutsu. I don't need a single-sign, large-area, high-power fire ninjutsu...'
Keisuke comforted himself, 'Sacrificial fodder. This B-rank scroll is also sacrificial fodder.'
Clinging to a last shred of hope, the faithless Nara Keisuke opened the final C-rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll].
[Opening...]
[Contents of this C-rank Secret Scroll: Technique]
[C-rank Kekkei Genkai Technique: Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]
[Technique Description: The Hyūga clan's secret, super-speed palm strike that uses compressed air to strike the enemy.]
[Technique Effect: Instantly mold the chakra in one's arm, compressing and storing it in the arm's pathway system, and then releasing it at super-high speed through the palm's chakra point. The vacuum cannonball, which has been powerfully compressed and contains the power of the Gentle Fist, possesses extremely strong piercing and destructive power.]
[Technique Evaluation: It's just a straight-armed slap. How much damage can one slap do?]
'Gentle Fist?!' Keisuke's eyes lit up, the previous bad luck swept away by this secret technique. 'It really is the Gentle Fist! [Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]!'
As mentioned before, thanks to the human chakra pathway model provided by the Lazy System, Keisuke theoretically possessed the basic conditions for using the Gentle Fist! (Chapter 31) It was just a pity that his physical constitution was too weak at the time, and his main energy could only be focused on ninjutsu development, leaving not much time for taijutsu training. In addition, the Gentle Fist was a secret not to be passed down outside the Hyūga clan, and the difficulty of obtaining it was extremely high. Unless Keisuke were to attack the Hyūga clan and forcibly farm their combat missions...
However, the Hyūga clan's Byakugan and Gentle Fist, for the Nara clan's shadow techniques, or rather, for any substance composed of chakra, could be described as a "natural enemy." Through the Byakugan, they could see through the chakra composition of an attack ninjutsu; through the Gentle Fist, they could cause damage to the chakra technique's structure. This was the powerful essence of the Hyūga clan's secret technique!
Although Keisuke did not possess the "Byakugan" and could not bring out the full power of the "Gentle Fist," obtaining it was still a great help to him.
Satisfied, Keisuke closed the panel. Then he saw another full bowl of ramen slide past him. He turned his head and saw Hyūga Retsu taking small, ladylike sips of her noodles. He revealed a gentle smile. "It's alright, take your time, no rush."
"Captain," Shizune's small voice sounded in his ear. "Hyūga-san is already on her 18th bowl..."
18 bowls...
The smile on Keisuke's face stiffened slightly. How did she do it? I wish I could eat that much too!
19 bowls, 20 bowls...
Under the secret observation of Keisuke, Shisui, and Shizune, Hyūga Retsu ate until her 29th bowl before she finally put down her chopsticks with satisfaction.
"Phew..."
The people who let out a sigh of relief were not just Keisuke's squad, but also the owner of Ichiraku standing behind the counter.
"Since we've finished eating, let's rest for a bit," the squad leader said. "Then we'll go to the Hokage's Office together to get a mission."
(End of Chapter)
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