“Byakugan!”
The veins around Hyūga Kiyoshi’s temples bulged.
His pale eyes focused completely on Sora as he shifted his feet apart and assumed the stance of the Gentle Fist.
Only five minutes had passed since Sora’s fight with Uchiha Yū.
There was still plenty of time remaining on his current 50/50 activation, so Sora had no intention of wasting his second use for the day.
Nor did he immediately attack.
Before techniques like the Eight Gates became known, the Hyūga clan’s taijutsu genuinely deserved to be called the strongest in Konoha.
Sora currently possessed combat power equal to Hashirama’s, but there was still one problem.
Kaio-ken x2.
The technique could temporarily double all of his combat capabilities—
but every activation placed an enormous burden on his body.
At most, Sora estimated he could use it one more time before his body reached its limit.
So there was no reason to recklessly rush forward.
If his attack somehow failed and the backlash crippled him instead…
that would be embarrassing.
Kiyoshi made the first move.
“Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!”
Chakra condensed within his palm.
He thrust it forward.
BOOM!
A massive blast of chakra shot toward Sora in a straight line.
Its speed was almost like lightning.
And its power was equally terrifying.
“High-Speed Movement!”
WHOOSH!
Sora instantly shifted five meters sideways.
The chakra blast tore past him.
BOOOOM!
It struck the wall surrounding the training ground, blasting a huge hole straight through it.
The attack continued beyond the wall and smashed down several trees behind it.
If that had struck an ordinary person directly—
they would have died instantly.
But Kiyoshi had already used the attack as cover.
The instant Sora dodged, he closed the distance.
One palm shot toward a tenketsu on Sora’s body.
“Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!”
Kiyoshi immediately unleashed one of the Hyūga clan’s strongest taijutsu techniques.
After witnessing Sora crush Uchiha Yū, he had absolutely no intention of testing the waters with weaker attacks first.
He was going all out from the beginning.
Unfortunately for him—
Sora was currently using the abilities of Son Goku, a warrior whose entire life revolved around combat.
In Sora’s eyes…
Kiyoshi was simply too slow.
And too weak.
Sora effortlessly slipped past the first palm.
Then he smiled.
“Don’t fight me at close range.”
The moment those words left his mouth—
Sora stepped forward.
He appeared directly in front of Kiyoshi.
One fist came forward.
Kiyoshi’s instincts screamed.
An overwhelming sense of danger flooded through him.
“Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!”
He immediately spun.
Chakra erupted from every tenketsu across his body, forming the Hyūga clan’s supreme defensive technique—
Rotation!
At the same instant—
Sora activated his trump card.
“Kaio-ken…”
“Times Two!”
Power surged explosively through his body.
And before overwhelming strength—
even the strongest defense could be broken.
CRACK!
CRACK!
Kiyoshi’s palms moved at terrifying speed within the Rotation.
One struck Sora’s fist.
Then the other.
But the result was horrifying.
The bones in Kiyoshi’s hands fractured one after another.
Neither his Gentle Fist nor the dense rotating chakra surrounding him could stop the punch.
Then—
BOOM!
Sora’s fist smashed directly into Kiyoshi’s chest.
A white figure shot backward.
Everyone watching suddenly experienced an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu.
Kiyoshi flew straight out of the training ground.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
More than a dozen trees snapped apart in succession.
And then—
the white figure disappeared into the forest.
Silence.
Someone finally murmured,
“Again…”
“That same punch.”
Another person’s expression was grave.
“Even Rotation, the technique called the Hyūga clan’s absolute defense, couldn’t stop it.”
“And that was Hyūga Kiyoshi using it.”
“He’s already close to Kage level…”
WHOOSH!
Tobirama disappeared.
A short while later, he returned carrying Kiyoshi.
He placed the injured man in front of the Hyūga clan head.
Mito immediately stepped forward and examined him.
“Both arms have multiple shattered bones.”
“Several bones throughout his upper body are fractured as well.”
“His lower body is unharmed.”
She continued checking him.
“Rotation absorbed a significant amount of the impact.
His internal organs are fine.”
“With proper treatment, the fractures should heal in about half a month.”
“He’ll recover.”
Someone from the Sarutobi clan muttered,
“So his injuries aren’t that serious.”
“Looks like Uchiha Yū was simply too weak.”
“…”
Most of the people present no longer wanted to speak.
At the beginning of the night, everyone had looked down on Sora.
Now?
Getting punched into the forest and only needing half a month to recover had somehow become something worth bragging about.
Something was seriously wrong with this picture.
The Hyūga clan head glanced at his unconscious son.
Oddly enough, much of his previous resentment toward Sora disappeared.
Compared with Uchiha Yū…
Kiyoshi had gotten off lightly.
Yū would need six months to recover.
His son only needed half a month.
In some ridiculous way—
the Hyūga had beaten the Uchiha.
The thought actually made the clan head feel a little better.
Sora stood in the center of the training ground and looked around.
“Anyone else?”
No one answered.
Sora stretched his back.
“I’m old.”
“I can’t stay up too late.”
“If anyone else wants to fight, hurry up.”
He glanced around casually.
“Actually, why don’t all of you who still want to challenge me come at once?”
“We can finish everything in one go.”
Silence.
The Senju obviously weren’t going to undermine their own Hokage.
The Uchiha had already lost.
The Hyūga had already lost.
And both had lost to a single punch.
Who else wanted to test whether their body was tougher?
Even the Akimichi clan, whose taijutsu was among Konoha’s strongest after the Hyūga, hesitated for a moment…
before quietly lowering their heads.
They weren’t confident that they could survive one of those punches.
Hashirama finally raised his voice.
“No one else?”
“Then I’ll count down from three.”
“If no one steps forward, Elder Hatake’s position on the Elder Council will officially be confirmed.”
“Three!”
“Two!”
No one moved.
“One!”
Still nothing.
And with that—
Hatake Sora officially became a member of the Konoha Elder Council.
At almost the exact same moment, the ten-minute duration of his 50/50 activation ended.
The tremendous power inside his body rapidly disappeared.
[Beginning random ability retention…]
[Ability acquired: Afterimage Technique.]
[By moving at extreme speed, the user can leave behind an afterimage resembling a clone, confusing the opponent.]
Sora’s expression nearly collapsed.
Seriously?
An ability with basically no offensive power?
What a useless reward.
Then an intense wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over him.
His back involuntarily hunched again.
The abrupt weakening of his presence did not escape the eyes of the shinobi surrounding him.
Several people immediately began thinking.
Something’s wrong.
Could that strength come from a secret technique that temporarily overdraws his life force?
So his power is explosive but can’t be maintained for long…
Everyone formed their own theories.
But the outcome had already been decided.
Besides, no one could be certain Sora wasn’t deliberately pretending to be weak.
Two quasi-Kage-level shinobi had already been blasted out of the training ground.
No one wanted to gamble their life on a theory.
Soon afterward—
everyone dispersed.
…
Uchiha Compound
The Uchiha clan head stood beside his unconscious son.
Coldness filled his eyes.
He looked toward a figure hidden in the shadows.
“Watch Hatake Sora at all times.”
His voice was quiet.
“He did this to my son.”
“That old bastard cannot be allowed to remain.”
…
Hyūga Compound
“Father.”
A young Hyūga respectfully addressed the clan head.
“Should we avenge Elder Brother?”
“After tonight, our Hyūga clan’s reputation as Konoha’s strongest taijutsu clan is gone.”
The Hyūga clan head remained calm.
“No.”
“Konoha is entering a turbulent period.”
“There’s no need to rush.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Madara Uchiha is dead.”
“The Uchiha clan will inevitably try to stabilize its position and preserve its prestige inside Konoha.”
“That means conflict with the other clans is almost unavoidable.”
“We’ll wait.”
He paused.
“Sometimes, a loss isn’t necessarily a loss.”
“It may become an opportunity.”
Then he looked toward the room where Kiyoshi was recovering.
“When Kiyoshi wakes up…”
“Have him visit Elder Hatake.”
…
The next day, the establishment of the Konoha Elder Council became official.
With both Sora and the Hatake clan head occupying positions on it, the Hatake clan’s prestige inside Konoha rose dramatically.
At the same time—
the name Hatake Sora began spreading among Konoha’s shinobi.
Sora himself couldn’t have cared less.
At that moment, he was sitting inside the Hatake clan head’s home…
eating.
His barbecue meal from the previous night had been interrupted by the meeting and two consecutive fights.
Naturally, he was hungry.
There weren’t many people seated around the table.
Hatake Suiin.
His wife.
And a small boy around four years old, sitting obediently beside his mother and staring curiously at Sora.
Sora continued eating.
“Where are your other two sons?”
“Why didn’t you call them back to eat with us?”
“They’re both away on missions.”
Suiin glanced at his youngest son.
Then he looked toward Sora somewhat hesitantly.
“Great-Uncle…”
“Um…”
“What do you think of Sakumo?”
Sora paused.
“Sakumo?”
He looked at the child again.
“Hatake Sakumo?”
For the first time, genuine surprise flashed through his eyes.
So this little kid is…
the future White Fang of Konoha?
One of the most formidable shinobi Konoha would ever produce.
“Yes.”
Suiin nodded.
“Sakumo is only about four years old, but he’s extremely intelligent.”
He looked at Sora almost like a student waiting for his teacher’s evaluation.
Sora quickly returned to his usual calm expression.
“I can see that.”
“He has excellent potential.”
Suiin’s eyes immediately brightened.
He hesitated for a moment.
Then finally asked,
“In that case…”
“Would you be willing to take Sakumo as your student?”
“Huh?”
This time, Sora genuinely froze.
I’m going to become the future White Fang’s teacher?
Then another thought occurred to him.
Technically, he was already the boy’s ancestor.
Becoming the White Fang’s master on top of that…
actually sounded pretty impressive.
Sora turned toward little Sakumo.
He reached out and gently rubbed the boy’s head.
A smile appeared on his face.
“White Fang…”
“Want to learn the Dugu Nine Swords?”
“White Fang?”
Suiin and his wife exchanged confused looks.
They had never heard that name before.
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