While Kurenai was still thinking, Hyūga Asuka had already launched both palms forward.
The Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms was an incomplete version of the Hyūga Clan’s secret technique, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
But the principle was the same.
Once the first palm landed, the rest would follow like a torrential storm until all thirty-two strikes were completed.
Anyone struck by the technique would have their chakra flow sealed, leaving them unable to move or resist.
“Heh!”
Kazan wasn’t afraid.
Even if he was only a Shadow Clone.
The Garp Template had given him more than just physical potential and talent.
It had also granted him the battle instincts and combat talent of one of the strongest fighters in the One Piece world.
“I’ve already seen this move before, Birdie!”
Facing Hyūga Asuka’s palm strike, Kazan clenched his other fist and struck first with an overwhelmingly dominant punch.
“Fist Bone!”
“Impact!”
Kazan was forceful to the extreme.
Even against the Hyūga Clan’s secret technique, he chose to collide with it head-on.
BOOM!
His punch blasted out, whipping up a violent gust and sending dust flying from the ground.
“Whoa! What is that?!”
“Is that really taijutsu?”
“Kazan’s a monster! No wonder he beat Kakashi!”
That one punch left Asuma and the others frozen in shock, forcing them to raise their arms against the powerful wind.
This wasn’t remotely like the taijutsu they knew.
With destructive power like that, they would have believed it if someone told them it was a C-rank Wind Style ninjutsu.
As for Hyūga Asuka, he was blasted several meters backward.
His strongest technique, the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, hadn’t even touched Kazan before being broken apart by a single punch.
“You’ve improved too, Kazan!”
Hyūga Asuka’s expression was grave, but there was no surprise in his eyes.
Only someone like this was worthy of making him go all out.
After his previous defeat, Asuka had spent his entire hospital stay thinking about the battle, reviewing it over and over in preparation for today’s revenge.
And Kazan—
Just like him, he hadn’t become arrogant after winning.
Instead, he had grown even stronger.
That meant Kazan acknowledged him as an opponent.
“Last time, he fought me without even using chakra. But today, he consumed a large portion of his chakra just to throw one Galaxy Impact and break through my Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms…”
Wait.
Hyūga Asuka’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
“Why is there so much less chakra in your body?”
Disbelief spread across his face, gradually turning into anger as a certain possibility occurred to him.
That punch had been no weaker than the Galaxy Impact Kazan used against him before.
But back then, Kazan had thrown it with pure physical strength.
He hadn’t used chakra at all.
Asuka widened his Byakugan.
His vision pierced through Kazan’s skin and locked onto every trace of chakra inside his body.
“Your chakra is several times lower than before… almost like it’s been split into multiple portions!”
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!
Hyūga Asuka was the son of a great clan.
Naturally, his knowledge far exceeded that of ordinary students.
And the Hyūga Clan possessed this technique as well.
“In other words… in other words…”
“Kazan! You actually dared to fight me with nothing but a Shadow Clone?!”
He roared furiously.
His face flushed bright red, as though he had suffered an injustice so great that snow ought to fall in the middle of summer.
“A Shadow Clone?”
“Did Asuka just say this Kazan is only a Shadow Clone? I didn’t hear that wrong, did I?”
“No, you heard him correctly.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Of course it is. The Hyūga Clan’s Byakugan isn’t an ordinary pair of eyes!”
The spectators immediately erupted.
None of them had imagined that the Kazan in front of them was merely a Shadow Clone.
He looked no weaker than Hyūga Asuka.
If anything, he seemed stronger.
And now they were being told this wasn’t even Kazan’s real body?
Everyone stared at Kazan as though waiting for him to admit it himself.
“You cataracts and red-eyes really are troublesome.”
Kazan stood in the center of the field and lowered his fist.
The perceptive abilities of those two clans were truly astonishing.
Their eyes could see through almost any deception, even without evolving all the way into the Rinnegan or Tenseigan.
“He actually admitted it…”
Uchiha Jō clenched his fists.
He wanted revenge even more badly than Hyūga Asuka did.
After all, no clan was prouder than the Uchiha.
Senju Tobirama had once described the Uchiha as a clan that truly embodied love.
Their power originated from their emotions, and they cared about one another more deeply than anyone else.
Jō had originally intended to carefully observe this “clash of titans.”
That way, he could gather information both to stay ahead of Hyūga Asuka and to prepare for his own revenge against Kazan.
The brief exchange between them hadn’t disappointed him.
Even after only a few moves, both had displayed strength far beyond that of the other students in the class.
And yet…
And yet…
Uchiha Obito, who had already regained consciousness, stared blankly.
“This is… just that guy’s Shadow Clone…”
The Kazan standing before him was already so strong that Obito felt a sense of helplessness.
Just like Kakashi before him, Kazan seemed like an opponent Obito couldn’t defeat even if he gave everything he had.
But this wasn’t even Kazan himself.
It was only a clone.
Was the world of geniuses really that far beyond his reach?
“Kazan is so strong…”
Nohara Rin exclaimed in amazement.
In truth, none of them had ever personally seen Kazan fight seriously before.
Not against Kakashi.
Not against Uchiha Jō.
Not against Hyūga Asuka.
Rin and the others had only heard from other people that Kazan had beaten all three of them badly.
They had thought today would finally be their chance to see his real strength.
But in the end, this was only a clone.
Everyone knew Kazan was a taijutsu specialist.
A mere Shadow Clone possessed only part of his chakra and lacked that peerless physical body.
So how much of Kazan’s true strength could it possibly display?
Kazan’s silent admission fell over the field like Garen’s Demacian Justice, silencing everyone present.
A moment later, the chūnin instructor finally came back to his senses.
His face rapidly flushed red.
“KAZAN!!!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs, practically beside himself with rage.
Using a Shadow Clone to attend class?
That was disrespectful to him.
Disrespectful to the Ninja Academy.
It was practically blasphemy against this sacred institution!
He was absolutely going to teach that little brat a lesson.
“Tch. Knew this would happen.”
Kazan’s Shadow Clone scratched his head as he watched the furious teacher storm toward him.
Then, under everyone’s gaze, he formed a hand seal and voluntarily dispelled himself.
Poof!
Smoke burst outward as the clone vanished.
“Better leave this kind of troublesome mess to the original.”
The teacher froze for a second.
Then he became even angrier.
“You’re not getting away, Kazan! Just you wait!”
As for continuing the practical combat assessment?
He had no intention of doing that anymore.
After telling the students to spend the rest of the period freely, he stormed straight toward the Hokage Building.
He was going to report Kazan personally.