Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Elastic Treasure
"Plea-please guide me," Opening the Byakugan, assuming the stance of the Gentle Fist.
Hinata, who is usually too shy to look directly at Uchiha Kage, finally got a good look at the boy in front of her.
Messy but just right handsome black hair, a handsome face that makes people feel like a spring breeze when smiling, and those red lips and white teeth...
Hinata, who had finally gotten serious, shyly lowered her eyelids after looking directly at Uchiha Kage for a while.
'Ah! No, no, what am I thinking?', Scolding herself in her heart, Hinata finally regained her spirit and raised her head.
"Ninja combat training, second group, begin!", Iruka, seeing the two who had already stood in the center of the field and made the opposing signs, while noting something in his notebook, shouted the start.
Having Uchiha Sasuke fight Naruto, and having Hyuga Hinata face Uchiha Kage, were both the intentions of the higher-ups.
The purpose was to test the levels of the Uchiha, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Hyuga clan.
'Sure enough, Sasuke is more powerful, Kage-san is only comparable to Sasuke in shuriken throwing.'
Seeing Uchiha Kage and Hinata, who usually has little presence in class, fighting fiercely, even somewhat at a disadvantage, Sakura finally found an opportunity to glance proudly at Ino beside her.
Since both have boys they like, these two girls almost compare themselves every day.
"Kage-san is handsome, but his talent in ninjutsu is much worse."
"Exactly, if it weren't for his face, where could he compare to our Sasuke-kun."
Seeing Sakura start, the rest of the girls who like Sasuke also took the opportunity to belittle Uchiha Kage.
"It doesn't matter, my Kage-kun only needs to be handsome and gentle," Facing the belittlement from the girls, Ino appeared calm on the surface.
But in reality, she had already cursed them in her heart many times.
At the same time, she was also secretly worried.
'Hinata, as expected of the Hyuga clan, is so good at the Gentle Fist, will she hurt Kage-kun later?'
"Hmph, the Uchiha are all arrogant guys, now they're getting a taste of their own medicine," Naruto glanced at Uchiha Kage, who was still handsome even while "getting beaten," and then at Sasuke, who was clearly concerned but pretending not to care about the situation in the field.
"That's still better than you, dead last."
Sasuke frowned, 'Kage may not have much talent, but he shouldn't be this weak.'
'Looks like I'll have to train him hard tonight.'
———
'This time the opponent is actually Hinata?'
'This is great.'
'If I can get Hinata's ninja fragment, maybe there's a possibility of unlocking the Byakugan?'
Based on the feeling after absorbing Naruto and Sasuke's ninja fragments, Uchiha Kage felt this possibility was quite high.
Although in the later stages of the ninja world where mechs are everywhere and nuclear bombs are thrown around casually, the Byakugan is indeed not very strong, but in the early stages, the Byakugan has many uses.
And in the future, it might even evolve...
Watching the girl gritting her teeth and charging at him with her stance, Uchiha Kage felt like a treasure mountain was rushing towards him.
Especially the girl's chest, bulging indeed like it's hiding treasures.
'I must make her drop a fragment!'
"Please be careful," Regaining focus, shaking off the thoughts of Uchiha Kage's handsome face, Hinata, getting into the state, fought more and more seriously.
Gentle Fist Technique!
Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!
Facing the fierce Hinata, Uchiha Kage could only avoid her sharpness, continuously retreating.
'Stance, technique are both good, just the momentum is a bit weak,' Uchiha Kage, while dodging the girl's Gentle Fist, evaluated Hinata's level in his heart.
'And, not flexible enough in application.'
Seizing an opening, Uchiha Kage elbowed Hinata's arm, immediately disrupting her Gentle Fist sequence.
The Gentle Fist Technique uses the palms and fingers to inject chakra into the opponent's meridians, causing disruption, damaging the opponent's meridians, and even harming internal organs.
And once a seal is struck, the opponent can't use chakra anymore, becoming completely at the mercy of the attacker.
It's considered a top-notch taijutsu.
But Uchiha Kage already knew the principles and force application methods of the Gentle Fist, so he quickly figured out how to counter it.
Strike the opponent's force-applying arm, prevent the opponent's palms and fingers from hitting your body, and then look for an opportunity to counterattack.
'However, this match only needs to go until Hinata drops a ninja fragment, as for winning or losing...', Uchiha Kage muttered to himself in his heart, while glancing at the girl's fingertips.
The wounds from practicing the Gentle Fist on wooden stakes were truly heartbreaking to see.
'Huh?'
'The fragment finally dropped, but, why did it come out from there this time...'
'Previously, Naruto's ninja fragment directly fell onto the open ground, but this time Hinata's fragment got stuck in her own chest?'
Another elbow disrupted Hinata's Gentle Fist, Uchiha Kage looked at the ninja fragment appearing on the opponent's chest, feeling happy but also a bit strange.
'Kage-san is really amazing...'
Seeing her Gentle Fist being resolved one by one by Uchiha Kage, Hinata felt both anxious and impressed.
'But, it's so strange, if he had used a bit more force just now, I should have lost my balance and fallen, but he just gently blocked, and then started dodging again...'
'Is he letting me win? But... why?'
With more and more distracting thoughts, Hinata's Gentle Fist also started to become more and more disorganized.
But in the eyes of others, Hinata's offensive became more and more fierce, and Uchiha Kage was left with only the skill of dodging.
'Good opportunity!'
Seeing a big opening, with her middle gate wide open, Uchiha Kage quickly pressed a hand on Hinata's chest.
"Ah!", The latter instinctively let out a scream, then pushed the guy who attacked her chest away with the Gentle Fist.
'Thud!'
The knocked-away Uchiha Kage heavily hit the trunk of a big tree near the field, then fell to the ground covered in dust.
"Su-Such a powerful Gentle Fist, I admit defeat."
'Hinata-chan's strength is really something...'
The Uchiha Kage on the ground couldn't help but have blood spill from the corner of his mouth.
But, the ninja fragment was finally obtained without any danger.
'And...'
'I have to say, Hinata-chan's treasure is really elastic.'
———
'Can I really activate the Byakugan?'
After absorbing the ninja fragment dropped by Hinata, Uchiha Kage was pleasantly surprised to find that he could now activate and deactivate the Byakugan at will.
'Now I finally have some ability to protect myself.'
Remembering when he first arrived here, not only could he not activate the Sharingan, but he also had almost no chakra, feeling lost and terrified, Uchiha Kage couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
'But...'
'There's still a long way to go before I can truly stand firm here, and even do as I please.'
'So for now, I still need to develop stealthily, don't be reckless.'
Fortunately, the Byakugan obtained from absorbing ninja fragments doesn't require the face to show veins and the pupils to turn white, only consuming chakra to activate, so it's not easy to attract attention.
Getting such a convenient and considerate Byakugan for nothing, Uchiha Kage was in a very good mood today.
'But, so this is what the real Byakugan's vision is like...'
A 360-degree no blind spots view within a one-kilometer radius, but all in X-ray-like black and white photos.
The people seen are all skeletons and chakra, definitely not usable for any indecent purposes.
'I really wronged Hinata-chan before.'
.
.
.
The sun sets in the west.
At the time of school dismissal, because it was just a rest day, a large group of parents gathered at the entrance of the ninja school to pick up their children.
"Hinata-sama, the clan leader is waiting for you."
"Understood."
Hinata, while following the Hyuga family guard who came to take her home, looked at Uchiha Kage walking outside the crowd.
'Although after the previous match, Kage-san insisted that he was fine, and kept encouraging me. But...'
But thinking about the blood he secretly wiped from the corner of his mouth, Hinata couldn't help but worry again.
"Kage-san must be injured, saying he's fine... maybe he's starting to dislike me more and more in his heart."
'In the future...'
'If there's another chance, I should let him beat me up to vent his anger.'
"Hinata-sama, what did you just say?"
"No, nothing at all!"
Shaking her head to dispel the guard's doubts, Hinata withdrew her gaze, starting to worry about what her father wanted to talk to her about later.
———
"Hey, why are you alone too? Where's that guy Sasuke?"
As if there was a dividing line from the noisy school entrance, Naruto, sitting alone on a worn-out swing under an old tree, was looking at the lively crowd with a very inexplicable look.
"And you, why aren't you going home yet?", Uchiha Kage also didn't know why he walked over to Naruto.
Maybe it was because the look in Naruto's eyes just now was very much like that of a homeless puppy, he really couldn't ignore it?.
"I...", Naruto was just bored and saw a lonely figure nearby, so he started a conversation.
Only he didn't expect this guy to be different from others, actually responding to his words, instead of treating him like air or avoiding him like a monster.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/ZenonTL
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.