A muffled thud echoed out.
The sound of flesh hitting the hard wooden floor was piercingly loud inside the empty Training Hall Number One.
Hinata’s tiny body flew like a kite with a snapped string, struck squarely on the cheek by Neji’s merciless Gentle Fist.
The immense impact sent her tumbling four or five times across the polished floor until she lay sprawled in the corner, motionless.
Deathly silence instantly fell over the room.
In the seat of honor, Hiashi’s perpetually ice-cold, seemingly emotionless face instantly cracked.
His mouth twitched violently as he brought a large hand up to cover most of his face.
Unbearable to watch.
Simply unbearable!
Hiashi’s heart bled in a frenzy: It’s one thing for this girl to be slow in everyday life, but how could she not even try to dodge in combat?!
Neji didn’t use full force, but a strike to the face still hurts!
Beside him, Hizashi turned deathly pale, his heart clenching tightly.
“Hinata!” he cried out, stepping forward without thinking to check on her injuries.
She was the delicate, three-year-old eldest daughter of the Main House!
Neji was far too heavy-handed; if he had caused any real damage, Hizashi couldn’t atone for it with ten thousand deaths!
Just as Hizashi was about to rush out, a powerful hand clamped down on his shoulder.
It was Hiashi.
Forcing down his own heartache, Hiashi turned his head away, refusing to look at his daughter on the floor, and hissed through gritted teeth, “Step back!”
“Brother!” Hizashi turned sharply, his pure white eyes full of anxiety.
“Hinata is only three, Neji’s palm strike—”
“I said, step back!” Hiashi coldly cut him off, his voice carrying the unquestionable authority of the clan head.
“Combat is combat!
The Hyuga Clan does not need greenhouses!”
Hizashi ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
Though he stopped in his tracks, his eyes stayed glued to Hinata, muscles tense, ready to disobey orders and save her at a moment’s notice.
Standing in the center of the training hall, Neji frowned slightly.
He looked at his hand, then at the motionless Hinata in the distance, a trace of disappointment welling up in his heart.
Is this the heir to the Main House?
So weak she couldn’t even take a single strike from me.
However, just as everyone thought the battle was over, a monstrous rage was boiling inside the Hinata lying on the floor.
Damn it!
You actually hit me!
Hinata roared in her mind.
I was a 1.8-meter-tall macho man in my past life, and getting turned into this stubby-limbed little loli is frustrating enough!
But you little bastard actually dared to strike lethally?
Is my flawless, delicate little face something you can just punch?!
The next second, an unimaginable scene unfolded.
The Hinata who was lying there suddenly thrust her waist upward, her legs blurring through the air.
Smack!
A perfectly executed, incredibly crisp kip-up!
Hinata landed steadily.
One chubby little hand covered her slightly reddened left cheek while the other pointed directly at Neji, her chest heaving.
“Damn you!” Hinata yelled, her voice milky-sweet but filled with furious exasperation.
“You’d actually strike a girl as cute as me!
And in the face!”
The moment she said this, the atmosphere in the room became incredibly bizarre.
But it wasn’t over.
Hinata was done pretending.
You think I’m a sick cat if I don’t show my stripes!
If I don’t beat the crap out of you little brat today, my name isn’t Hyuga!
Hinata took a deep breath, and the chakra inside her body surged wildly.
“Serious Mode,” engaged!
Those pale blue eyes, which had always been in a state of passive perception, suddenly burst with a terrifying, radiant light.
Six Eyes—at the maximum output this three-year-old body could handle—fully activated!
Boom!
An invisible yet piercingly sharp pressure swept across the entire room with Hinata at its center.
Even the tiny dust motes floating in the air halted for half a second under the weight of this aura.
Hiashi’s hand froze against his face.
His Byakugan widened to their absolute limits, pupils trembling wildly.
Hizashi gasped, feeling a jolt of electricity shoot from the soles of his feet straight to his crown, his scalp tingling.
Neji felt it most profoundly.
He unconsciously took a half-step back, his bandage-wrapped hands trembling against his will.
A storm raged simultaneously in all three of their hearts: Is this still the soft, squishy little girl who couldn’t even stand up straight a moment ago?!
This imposing presence, this outrageously precise chakra control—it was like an ancient beast had just awakened!
After a brief, dead silence.
“Forgive me, Hinata-sama!” Neji bit his lip hard, suppressing his shock, and stepped forward once again.
He was the genius of the Branch House; he absolutely could not be cowed by the aura of a three-year-old!
Pushing his Byakugan to the limit, Neji’s palms fluttered, whipping up fierce gusts of wind as he rained down attacks on the tenketsu surrounding Hinata’s body like a violent storm.
Facing Neji’s frantic assault, Hinata was indeed flustered at first.
No matter how fast her soul reacted, this toddler body couldn’t keep up the pace.
Thud!
Thud!
Hinata took two more hits to her arms, forced into a continuous retreat.
But in less than ten seconds, the tide turned.
Under the maximum output of the Six Eyes, Neji’s proud, high-speed Gentle Fist was reduced to slow motion and clear chakra trajectory lines.
Left!
Right foot powering up!
Next is an attack on my ribs!
Hinata’s brain whirred like a supercomputer.
She stopped trying to tank the hits and began dodging with incredibly minute movements.
Neji thrust a palm at her chest; Hinata pivoted slightly, and his hand brushed harmlessly past her clothes.
Neji shifted to a horizontal sweep; Hinata ducked sharply, dodging it by a hair.
From the initial one-sided beating, to barely evading, and now moving with absolute ease!
She was even using the gaps in Neji’s forms to parry and counterattack!
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
The two figures blurred past each other, the crisp sounds of clashing fists echoing all around.
The more Neji fought, the more alarmed he grew, his forehead coated in cold sweat.
How is this possible?!
he roared internally, his proud self-esteem suffering an unprecedented blow.
Every single one of my attacks, even impromptu feints, she reacts to half a second in advance!
It’s as if she completely sees through my thoughts!
Gritting his teeth, Neji funneled chakra wildly into his right palm, attempting to take Hinata down in one fell swoop with his strongest strike.
However, in that absolute 0.1-second opening where Neji’s old force was spent and his new force hadn’t yet peaked, Hinata’s pale blue eyes flared.
Caught you!
Hinata stomped her right foot against the floor, launching her tiny body out like a cannonball.
She didn’t use any flashy Gentle Fist techniques; instead, she clenched her chubby little fist, twisted her waist, and poured her entire body’s strength unreservedly into her right hand.
BANG!!!
A heavy, deafening boom.
Hinata’s tiny fist smashed squarely into Neji’s left cheek.
An immense shockwave erupted.
Neji’s four-year-old body stiffened, his feet left the ground, and he was sent flying backward!
Hinata had blasted Neji away for the very first time!
But she had absolutely no intention of stopping.
Think you can run after punching me in the face?
Not a chance!
Hinata pushed off hard with her legs, pouncing directly on top of him.
Thud!
Neji had barely hit the floor before Hinata was already straddling him.
Clamping her stubby legs tight against his waist, Hinata raised her fists and rained down a frenzied barrage on Neji’s face.
“That’s for hitting my face!” Smack!
“That’s for hitting so hard!” Smack!
“I’m going to teach you how to treat a lady today!” Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
Hinata’s fists rained down as dense as a downpour.
Neji was completely dazed; his hands flailed wildly to block, but Hinata pinned his arms down with a bizarrely effective grappling technique, leaving him completely helpless to watch those tiny fists continuously grow larger.
It continued until Neji’s originally handsome, aloof little face was swollen high, covered in black and blue bruises, transforming entirely into a certified pig’s head.
In the seat of honor, Hiashi’s Byakugan were bulging so wide they nearly popped out of their sockets, his jaw practically hitting the floor.
Beside him, Hizashi’s mouth gaped wide, frozen in place like a stone statue.
Hiashi and Hizashi were absolutely dumbfounded!