The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms unleashed countless palm strikes, weaving them into a precise and tightly constructed net.
The Morning Peacock was even more overwhelming.
Duy’s rapid punches compressed the air so violently that friction produced a storm of flames, resembling a true meteor shower filled with destruction and savage power.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Palm winds and flaming fists collided, producing a series of sharp, densely packed explosions.
The air distorted unnaturally.
The training ground split apart, while clouds of dust rose only to be instantly swept away.
The spectators hurriedly retreated.
Arashi, who understood the Morning Peacock’s power, ran faster than anyone else and remembered to scoop up Guy, who was still cheering in place.
Inabi and Tekka retreated while staring intently at the battlefield.
Their Sharingan spun rapidly, refusing to miss a single detail.
Even Itachi stopped writing.
He stood upon a tree branch and gazed at the battle, his unusually mature face displaying genuine shock for the first time.
The Gentle Fist emphasized precision and technique.
Every strike from Hizashi’s Sixty-Four Palms targeted a weak point within the flaming fists.
With minimal force, he shattered attacks that appeared overwhelmingly powerful.
However, Hizashi possessed only sixty-four palms.
How many punches had Duy released?
A hundred?
Two hundred?
The Morning Peacock was simply too fast.
Each time Hizashi destroyed one flaming fist, two more immediately descended upon him.
They were not separate punches arriving one after another.
They were a simultaneous rain of fire.
“Haaaah!”
Hizashi roared as chakra surged throughout his entire body.
Veins bulged around his Byakugan, yet the intricate net he had created continued collapsing beneath the flaming fists.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Duy released an earthshaking roar of his own.
The Morning Peacock accelerated again, multiplying and rising toward its absolute peak.
It resembled a true peacock spreading its magnificent tail.
Hizashi’s pupils suddenly contracted.
He watched helplessly as his palm winds were swallowed by the fiery fists and his defensive net was utterly destroyed.
The remaining flames continued toward him without losing momentum.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Duy reduced the force of his final attacks, but several flaming fists still struck Hizashi directly.
Having exhausted all his strength, Hizashi could no longer defend himself.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward like a kite with its string severed.
His forehead protector snapped loose and fell away, exposing the ominous Caged Bird Seal upon his forehead.
His Byakugan deactivated as he crashed heavily onto the ground.
Even that did not stop him.
The enormous impact sent Hizashi sliding across the earth for more than ten meters before he finally came to rest.
His earlier dignity as a nobleman had completely vanished.
He lay sprawled on the ground like a battered sack.
“Hah!”
Only then did Duy lower his fists and release the Eight Gates.
His body swayed, and his legs trembled violently.
His fists were blackened and cracked, with blood dripping between his fingers.
However, he remained standing.
Duy was the undeniable victor.
The immense backlash of the Eight Gates could not truly be eliminated.
One could only strengthen the body through relentless training and endure the damage directly.
Fortunately, Duy was capable of opening the Eighth Gate.
Using only the Gate of View was not enough to seriously injure him.
After catching his breath, Duy hurried toward Hizashi in concern.
“Are you all right?”
As he approached, Duy secretly felt relieved.
Fortunately, he had not interpreted Arashi’s request to use his true full strength literally.
Even without opening the Gate of Death, the Daytime Tiger might have reduced Hizashi to nothing.
Hizashi remained lying on the ground in a daze.
When he saw Duy’s heavily injured hand reaching toward him and the same brilliant smile on his face, his throat suddenly tightened.
“I…
lost.”
“I accept my defeat completely.”
The moment he admitted his loss, something he had always believed in seemed to shatter within his heart.
Yet he felt little grief or reluctance.
Instead, he experienced an inexplicable sense of freedom.
When the two men clasped hands, each of the three Uchiha displayed a different expression.
Only Guy laughed wildly in Arashi’s arms.
He jumped down like an energetic young donkey and charged into his father.
“Dad, that was so youthful!”
“Oof!”
Duy was still suffering from the backlash of the Eight Gates.
He could hardly withstand Guy’s charging tackle and was immediately knocked onto the ground.
Even so, he embraced his son and laughed joyfully.
The nameless anger within Hizashi had already faded.
Yet as he watched the father and son, bitterness and longing emerged once again.
‘Will I ever be able to hold Neji and laugh so freely?’
“You can while you’re with me.”
Arashi’s words suddenly struck directly into his heart.
Hizashi shuddered.
For an instant, he felt as though Arashi possessed greater insight than even the Byakugan.
How had the man seen through his thoughts?
Fortunately, Arashi did not continue pressuring him.
He simply applauded as he approached.
“That was magnificent, Duy-san.”
“Once the Fourth Hokage’s standing army is established, I will ask you to serve as its chief taijutsu instructor.”
“Chief taijutsu instructor…”
Duy smiled honestly.
“I never imagined a day like this would come.”
“Thank you, Advisor Kaeda.”
“No.
This is entirely the result of your own efforts.”
Arashi’s expression became serious.
“Not a single drop of your sweat or moment of your hard work was wasted.”
“Now is the time for all of it to shine.”
“This is youth!”
The moment those two crucial words appeared, Duy and Guy transformed into hot-blooded fools again and embraced each other.
“Youth!”
‘Chief taijutsu instructor…’
Hizashi now genuinely respected Duy.
He believed the man was perfectly suited to such a position.
However, he then remembered that his brother and Hiruzen were secretly planning to bring down Arashi and prevent the standing army from being established.
For a brief moment, Hizashi nearly warned him impulsively.
However, he immediately regained control and tightly closed his mouth.
He merely joined the three Uchiha in applauding.
“Duy-san, you’ve exhausted yourself today and shouldn’t lead the training.”
Arashi spoke with concern.
“The same applies to you, Hizashi-san.”
“I apologize for injuring you on your first day, but I personally believe this was a meaningful experience.”
“It was indeed extremely meaningful.”
Hizashi bowed slightly.
“I’ll accompany Duy-san to the medical center and return home to recover.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll also participate in the training.”
“That would be best.”
Arashi smiled and watched the two leave.
“Then we should depart as well.”
“Advisor Kaeda!”
Tekka and Inabi spoke excitedly.
“Duy-san may be resting, but even without anyone leading us, we still intend to complete all one hundred laps!”
Duy’s strength had clearly shaken them.
They desperately desired the power of the Eight Gates.
Their initial contempt had transformed into a voluntary request to continue training.
“That’s perfectly fine.”
“I intended to send a shadow clone with you anyway.”
Arashi placed a hand on Guy’s shoulder.
“Besides, it’s not true that no one can lead us.”
“We still have our young instructor here.”
“We’re counting on you, Guy-sensei!”
Tekka and Inabi abandoned every trace of arrogance.
They dropped to their knees before Guy in the classic pose of someone pleading, “Coach, I want to play basketball!”
“We want to learn the Eight Gates!”
“Then start running!”
Still only a child, Guy burst into delighted laughter.
“You must first build a body capable of completing one hundred laps around the village!”
“After that, you need five hundred push-ups, five hundred sit-ups, and five hundred frog jumps!”
“Only then can you begin learning the Eight Gates!”
“Ohhh!
Youth!”
At that moment, the two Uchiha youths were completely infected by youth.
Just as everyone prepared to depart, a small hand rose into the air.
Itachi’s young face turned red.
“Advisor Kaeda, I-I would like to learn as well…”
“Then join them.”
Arashi smiled.
“You can use the Shadow Clone Technique, can’t you?”
“Send a clone with me to the office and leave your real body here to train.”
“But I should warn you—the training is extremely harsh.”
“Tekka and Inabi act as though they’re dying every single day.”
“I will endure it.”
Itachi nodded seriously.
“Then…”
Arashi had already joined the group when Guy excitedly raised his fist.
“Let’s go!”
“Youth!”
“No, no!
We have to use my slogan here!”
“Uh…
all right.”
The entire group began running.
At the same time, Arashi’s familiar chant echoed through the village once more.
“Work ourselves half to death like dogs, but when they curse us, we’re not allowed to bark!”
…