[Read up to Chapter - 103 on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
.
.
.
.
Konoha Village Training Ground No. 1 — the same group from the earlier council meeting had now gathered here.
On the field, Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi stood facing each other, eyes locked with sharp intensity. Without wasting a moment, both launched into action.
'Byakugan!'
With a burst of chakra, Hiashi's white eyes flared open, and the veins around them bulged, giving him a fierce, almost menacing appearance.
'Sharingan!'
Fugaku's Three Tomoe Sharingan spun into focus.
He quickly formed hand seals, launching a roaring fireball toward Hiashi.
'Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!'
The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist style was known throughout the shinobi world. As long as Fugaku had any sense, he would avoid close combat with Hiashi.
'Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!'
A sharp burst of chakra exploded from Hiashi's palm. The vacuum shockwave collided with the fireball mid-air, dispelling the flames instantly.
Though Gentle Fist was a taijutsu style, the Eight Trigrams Air Palm proved that the Hyuga could strike from a distance as well.
It was like watching someone open the Seventh Gate of the Eight Inner Gates and unleash the Daytime Tiger.
As kunai and shuriken flew toward him, Hyuga Hiashi swiftly dodged them all. With his Byakugan granting a 360-degree field of vision and no blind spots, he effortlessly avoided every projectile.
"Nice! Well played! Hiashi-dono, try to strike him down the middle!" Kanzou called out with an amused grin.
Then, turning just as enthusiastically, he shouted, "Fugaku! Stop throwing shuriken like an idiot—use a Fire Style jutsu and burn him alive!"
The spectators around them were speechless.
Who was Kanzou actually supporting?
Truthfully, he wasn't supporting anyone.
Did it even matter to him who won? No—not at all. His proposal hadn't been to genuinely oppose Fugaku's appointment as ANBU Commander. Kanzou just wanted a good show.
The outcome meant little to him—he simply wanted to see them fight.
After all, the Gentle Fist style was incredibly powerful in close combat. With the Byakugan capable of seeing the chakra network and 361 specific chakra points throughout the body, it was a deadly tool in the right hands.
Using the Gentle Fist technique to strike specific acupoints could block the flow of an opponent's chakra. And once a ninja lost access to their chakra—unless they were a master of pure taijutsu—they were effectively crippled.
Whether it's genjutsu, ninjutsu, or even some advanced forms of taijutsu, chakra is essential. Even the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist techniques require chakra to function properly.
"Tch, getting chased around like that is pathetic," Kanzou scoffed, watching Fugaku struggle under Hiashi's relentless assault.
Still, Kanzou wasn't truly impressed. Though it looked like Fugaku was on the defensive, Kanzou knew he hadn't taken any real damage. In contrast, Hiashi was burning through his stamina.
Fugaku's occasional counterattacks with Fire Style jutsu forced Hiashi to constantly respond—either deflecting with Eight Trigrams Air Palm or shielding himself with Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.
Both techniques were powerful—but extremely chakra-intensive.
And now, with another Fire Style attack flying toward him, Hiashi had no choice but to halt his pursuit and once again spin up his Revolving Heaven to block the incoming flames.
As the flames slowly faded, Fugaku suddenly appeared in front of Hyuga Hiashi.
'Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!'
Hiashi launched a relentless barrage of palm strikes toward Fugaku.
Bang—!
The Fugaku he struck vanished in a puff of smoke—it had only been a Shadow Clone.
"Damn," Hiashi muttered.
Before he could react, he felt a wave of scorching heat behind him. Danger closed in, but it was already too late to dodge.
Boom!
A massive fireball detonated, engulfing Hyuga Hiashi in flames.
When the fire cleared, Hiashi stood there battered and scorched, burn marks covering his body. If not for his strong Hyuga physique and the chakra he instinctively used to shield himself, he would have suffered critical injuries.
"What a waste," Kanzou mocked from the sidelines. "Even with the Byakugan, you still got tricked by a Shadow Clone."
Thud!
Hiashi was suddenly kicked aside. The next moment, a kunai was pressed against his throat.
"You lost, Hyuga Hiashi," Fugaku said coldly, staring down at his defeated opponent.
Hiashi clenched his fists in frustration. The battle had been short, and he hadn't managed to injure Fugaku even once. His only moment of advantage came during a brief exchange at close range—but it didn't last long.
"That should be enough, right?" Hiruzen asked, turning toward Kanzou.
Kanzou began walking toward the centre of the training ground. Noticing this, Hiruzen's brows furrowed.
"What's he trying to pull now?" Jiraiya muttered.
"If he makes a move on Uchiha Fugaku, stop him immediately," Hiruzen whispered to Jiraiya, unsure of Kanzou's intentions.
But Kanzou didn't approach Fugaku. Instead, he walked over to Hiashi and looked down at him.
"Even when given a chance, you proved useless. What a disgrace, Hyuga Hiashi-dono… You really are a worthless failure…. Aren't you?"
"Uchiha Kanzou, that's enough," Hiashi snapped, glaring at him.
"What? You can't handle being called what you are—a worthless failure, as I said earlier?" Kanzou replied with a mocking grin.
Kanzou raised his foot and delivered a harsh kick to Hiashi, sending him flying over ten meters. Hiashi hit the ground and felt a few bones crack.
That single kick earned Kanzou 2,000 Evil Points.
As Kanzou stood there like a schoolyard bully, Hiruzen and the others watched in confusion. They had expected Kanzou to target Fugaku—yet instead, he had turned and kicked Hiashi without warning.
Hiashi had truly suffered enough today.
"Not bad. Your strength's improved," Kanzou said, turning to look at Uchiha Fugaku.
Though Kanzou had just called Hiashi a disgrace, he was still an Elite Jōnin. The fact that Fugaku defeated him without sustaining a single injury meant his power had clearly grown.
"It's all because of you," Fugaku replied coldly.
"If that's the case, shouldn't you say thank you for the gift…? Come kneel down at my feet, kiss my shoes, and say 'I am grateful to you for Cucking me, Kanzou-sama.'" Kanzou ordered with a mocking smile.
Fugaku's expression darkened… and without another word, he turned and walked away from the training ground.
"Oh… leaving already? And here I was thinking we'd catch up for old times' sake," Kanzou called from behind.
"By the way… you should've told me you were about to become the ANBU Commander. Had I known in advance, I would've brought a gift."
He paused, then smirked.
"What? Curious what the gift would've been? A green hat, of course. It'd suit you perfectly—goes well with that ugly green face of yours. And I would've even asked Mikoto to weave it herself… a green hat, personally sewn by Mikoto, just for you.
Now that would've been a brilliant gift, don't you think, Cuck-san—ah, I mean, Fugaku-san?"
Hearing Kanzou's idea of a gift personally sewn by Mikoto, Fugaku nearly spat blood from sheer rage, puff… but managed to gulp it back down at the last moment and stormed off at an incredible speed.
He didn't want to remain in front of Kanzou any longer—afraid that if he stayed, he wouldn't be able to control himself and might lash out.
Right now, he wasn't a match for Kanzou.
If he fought him now, he would only suffer a humiliating defeat.
What mattered most at the moment was securing the position of ANBU Commander.
Only by becoming the ANBU Commander could he gain the standing necessary to challenge Kanzou.
Otherwise, he wasn't even qualified to stand on the same battlefield.
Watching Fugaku leave, Kanzou complained to the beaten-up Hiashi under his feet, "He just left… Hiashi-dono, can you believe the audacity of that guy? Here I want to give him a gift… that too personally sewn by my wife… but he just left… didn't even bother to agree to catching up…"
Hiashi wanted to cry bitterly, 'Yes, I can believe it… now please let me go…' but not a single word escaped his lips.
.
.
.
.
Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Read up to Chapter - 103 on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]