As a guard of the Hyūga Clan, Hyūga Kōsuke considered himself fairly experienced and knowledgeable.
As for why Naruto had no scratches whatsoever—
There was only one explanation.
The brat had genuinely dodged his attack and moved beneath the wall on his own.
Under the vision of the Byakugan, crude techniques like the Substitution Technique or Body Flicker Technique were impossible to miss.
So how exactly had he done it?
"Hey, brat."
The look in Hyūga Kōsuke's eyes changed.
Although he still found it difficult to believe, he had no choice but to admit—
He had underestimated this kid.
"Quit calling me brat, brat! Hey, mister, my name's Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna become Hokage someday!"
Naruto looked up and loudly corrected him.
"Hokage?"
Hearing Naruto's declaration, Kōsuke instinctively wanted to laugh at such an absurd dream.
But he stopped himself.
Instead, he slowly activated his Byakugan and spoke while Naruto stared at him in confusion.
"Just so we're clear, I've got no grudge against you, and I don't care about your dreams."
"But…"
"I'm curious about your abilities!"
It was practically a sneak attack.
Before Naruto could even react, Kōsuke had already circulated chakra through his body and explosively lunged forward with a fierce palm strike!
There was no movement the Byakugan could not perceive.
Just how had this brat dodged his earlier grab?
He would use these eyes to uncover the truth.
This palm strike contained his full strength.
There was absolutely no way the brat could withstand it!
At that exact instant—
Naruto suddenly pulled out another shuriken from behind his back.
"Ugh!"
Meanwhile, inside the courtyard, the battle was already approaching its conclusion.
Neji's palm strikes were fierce and relentless.
Hinata couldn't even fully defend herself, much less counterattack.
His attacks came like a violent storm.
The moment Hinata failed to block one strike properly, Neji's palm broke through her defense and slammed into her shoulder, causing her to lose balance and collapse onto the ground.
"So it ends here?"
Neji stopped attacking and calmly waited for the referee's judgment.
It was always like this.
Every time Lady Hinata of the main family fell, the clan matches ended there.
She never possessed the courage to stand back up.
"It… it's not over yet…"
Yet Hinata shakily pushed herself upright once more.
Pain was written clearly across her face.
Although there were no visible injuries, the Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist specialized in damaging internal organs and chakra points.
Even if Neji and Hinata were merely children and hadn't infused their attacks with chakra, the nature of Gentle Fist itself remained unchanged.
No external wounds did not mean Hinata wasn't hurt.
On the contrary—
Her entire body ached intensely from internal injuries, and even standing had become difficult.
"Compared to before, you've developed at least a little fighting spirit."
Seeing Hinata stand again, Neji prepared to continue—
BOOM!
The courtyard wall suddenly exploded apart.
A figure violently crashed through and landed directly in the middle of the arena.
"What happened?!"
"An enemy attack?!"
"This is the Hyūga main estate! How could there possibly be an enemy attack?!"
The crowd instantly descended into chaos.
However, the Hyūga Clan was filled with elite shinobi.
The very moment the wall collapsed, several figures immediately rushed forward to protect Hinata and Neji while the remaining experts swiftly restrained the intruder.
To the Byakugan, the dust cloud from the shattered wall meant nothing.
"Cough cough! It's me!"
The black figure offered no resistance and hurriedly identified himself.
"Hm? Kōsuke? What are you doing?"
Once everyone saw the intruder clearly, they all froze.
It was none other than Hyūga Kōsuke, the same guard who had gone to stop Naruto earlier.
Kōsuke himself looked utterly confused as he stared at the crowd.
"Why're you all surrounding me?"
"You're asking us why?"
One of the older clan elders frowned.
"I should be asking why you smashed through the wall!"
"Weren't you watching that child? Why were you fighting someone?"
"Me? Smash the wall?"
Kōsuke looked completely dumbfounded before hurriedly turning toward the broken wall.
"How is that possible? I was clearly attacking that brat and then— huh?"
He stared at the giant hole in the wall in utter disbelief.
Outside the opening, Naruto stood perfectly unharmed while energetically waving at him.
"Ohhh! Thanks, mister! It's way easier to watch now!"
Completely ignoring the countless Byakugan staring at him, Naruto craned his neck around excitedly before his eyes lit up.
He spotted Hinata standing among the crowd.
"Yo yo yo, Hinata! Did the match finish? Did you win?"
"Naruto-kun, are you okay?"
The moment Hinata saw Naruto, she immediately felt relieved.
Even the pain throughout her body seemed to lessen.
But before Hinata could move toward him, Hyūga Hiashi had already appeared before Naruto.
Those imposing Byakugan eyes calmly looked down at him.
"What? I followed your instructions and stayed outside."
Naruto hurriedly explained after feeling creeped out beneath Hiashi's gaze, as though his entire body had been seen through.
Hearing Naruto's response, Hiashi lowered his gaze toward Naruto's feet.
Indeed—
He was standing outside the wall.
It was just that the wall no longer existed.
But that wasn't what concerned Hiashi.
Previously, whenever he had encountered Naruto in the village, his Byakugan had always seen two conflicting chakra sources inside the boy—
Naruto's own chakra and the Nine-Tails' chakra clashing against each other.
But now…
Why had Naruto's chakra become so pure and overwhelming?
Could the Fourth Hokage's seal somehow strengthen itself as the Jinchūriki aged?
Looking at the shattered wall and the still-bewildered Hyūga Kōsuke, the famously cautious Hyūga Clan Head experienced something unprecedented.
For the very first time—
A child not even five years old made him feel a faint sense of danger.
Perhaps…
This child would not grow into what the Third Hokage desired.
His potential might be far more terrifying than anyone had imagined.
"Today's clan matches will end here."
Hiashi turned toward the crowd and calmly announced,
"Neji wins the final match."
"And Kōsuke, report to my room afterward."
"The rest of you may leave."
"Yes."
Although confused, nobody questioned the clan head's orders.
"Naruto-kun, was it?"
Hiashi then turned back toward Naruto, his expression remaining composed.
"Our clan now has internal matters to discuss, so we won't be inviting you to participate further."
"Ahahaha… yeah, of course…"
Naruto scratched his head awkwardly.
Even a child could understand he was being politely kicked out.
Besides, after all this commotion, it was already afternoon—
And his stomach had started growling again.
Hiashi ignored Naruto afterward and instead walked over to Neji.
Nodding lightly, he spoke in a calm voice.
"You performed well."
"I don't deserve such praise."
Neji showed no sign of being moved by the clan head's approval.
Instead, his face remained indifferent, with even a faint trace of disdain hidden beneath it.
"Hinata, your friend did come here to cheer you on."
Hiashi gently patted his daughter's head.
"I'll prepare a return gift later. Deliver it to him for me."
Then, after finishing his instructions, he said something Hinata had never expected to hear.
"You did fairly well today."
"Father…"
Hinata froze in place.
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