(Yesterday At The Hospital; Three Hours After The Hyuuga Meeting)
It was late into the evening hours and all visitors and guests were being asked to leave and return to their homes. Meanwhile in the intensive care unit, Neji was in one of the recovery rooms, sitting up on his recovery bed after the doctors who cater the the Hyuuga Clan operated on his body. The operation took several hours considering the external and internal damages and injuries Hinata inflicted on the once proclaimed Hyuuga prodigy. Though many of Neji's injuries were healed, he still had bandages around his head, body and arms, and his paralysis now was from his waist down to his feet. From what the doctors explained, it would last for three weeks, and by then Neji would be able to walk freely again. But until then, he would be confined to a wheel chair.
As silence engulfed the room, Neji thought back to everything that happened with regards to his match with Hinata. For the life of him, Neji couldn't make sense out of how the events that occurred in his match took place. He replayed the events a number of times trying to understand Hinata's sudden change and seemingly bizarre upgrade in prowess to the point that she completely outmatched him, the Hyuuga prodigy.
"I don't understand it. It's not adding up. Hinata-sama has always been the most disgraceful failure but her skills and caliber in our clan's Juuken was even more advanced than my own," Neji contemplated, "Every match she had with Hanabi-sama always ended with Hanabi-sama as the victor. Hinata-sama never showed signs of improvements until her last match with Hanabi-sama, but even that wouldn't have been close to enough to challenge my own skills and abilities."
"After my father died protecting the Main House, my hate for Hinata-sama and the rest of the Main House became my driving force to push me to practice and train, often times to exhaustion. Despite the fact that I was born into the Cadet Branch House, I was always praised by my clansmen for my keen knowledge and expertise in the Juuken arts. I was always looked at and praised as a genius, a prodigy of my clan. My talent with my Byakugan was never questioned. With it, I was able to see and decipher hidden secrets and truths others didn't have the capacity to see and unlock."
"Back then at the ninja academy, I was respected by my instructors and peers for always coming out on top and besting my sparring partners in all of my matches. My intelligence and skills I developed and honed during my time at the academy got me to graduate as my class' Rookie of the Year, as my class' strongest Genin. After being placed in my own Genin team with Tenten and Lee, I continued to develop and strengthen my skills, mind and body, looking for ways to further tap into the Juuken's fullest potentials. I sought to become only the best with no regard to my family or teammates."
"While this was so, Hinata-sama, the clan heiress, was looked upon as the clan's worst and greatest disgrace and rumors was heard about her possibly being replaced with Hanabi-sama as clan heiress. While I disapproved of Hanabi-sama's attraction and romantic interest in Naruto, I still had to respect her developing prowess and ability to grasp her prized Juuken arts which I thought was more advanced than Hinata-sama's."
"I always thought I knew everything there was to know about Hinata-sama and her lack in truly coming to understand the Juuken arts and the full potential of the Byakugan. She would always cower before others and lose easily in any fight because of her shy and gentle nature, lacking any form of confidence and repeatedly running away crying because of her failures. I always believed that fate handed her down that permanent future and life regardless of her efforts to defy what was decided for her. I thought that I was always right, that my Byakugan saw the truth."
"I believed this so much so that when we were paired to challenge each other in the preliminaries, I was certain that I would prove to Hinata-sama and everyone there that she was a weak unchangeable failure and that she always would be."
"But that didn't happen; and in one swift motion, she struck and humiliated me before my sensei and peers and the Hokage, totally catching me off guard. After I acknowledged what happened, I felt such a rage that I wanted nothing more than to see Hinata-sama dead at my feet and with every fiber in my being I sought to make that happen. But instead, Hinata-sama beat me to a bloody pulp and left me helpless and paralyzed on the arena floor at her feet. And to add insult to injury, three times during our match she showed me mercy and requested that I forfeit."
"She completely destroyed not only what I once believed I knew about her, but also the idea that I was the clan's genius and prodigy when in truth, she was the hidden genius and prodigy all along. Even now, I find it hard to believe and accept how despite all of my best efforts to reach my peak, Hinata-sama easily beat me, while holding back against me and not once was I able to land a single blow on her. It was like our roles were entirely reversed. The shame I feel even now is too much to bear."
Neji then thought about Naruto and the amount of time Hinata spent with him over the years. As he did, Neji started thinking about all the reports he heard about Naruto's recent exploits and his sudden unexplainable abilities and caliber that would have taken years for any ninja to develop.
"Hinata-sama imitated and copied Naruto in every way and completely deceived the Byakugan with her illusion and pretense in being a failure and disgrace. And I was too blind to see through her masterfully played deception and she used my pride and belief in fate as instruments against me to throw my perception and judgment off, and I allowed it to happen."
He then thought about Hinata's outburst against the clan elders and the Main House members who badmouthed Naruto. He noticed the strength and resolved in her tone and mannerism but he refused to acknowledge it. But then Neji thought about all those times Hinata spent with Naruto despite what everyone in the entire village were saying about both Naruto and her for being so close and attached to him. Hinata demonstrated tremendous courage and strength to openly defy not only her clansmen who spoke badly and looked down on both her and Naruto but also the majority of the villagers who hated Naruto.
"Hinata-sama said that she learned a great deal from Naruto. Then that would also mean that Naruto himself was training her in secret over the years; under all of our noses. But if they were always this strong, why did they hide it? Why would Hinata-sama willfully choose to be scorned with disdain by our clan? How were they able to defy their fate and change their futures from the failures they were meant to be?"
Neji then thought back to his last conversation with Hinata:
"This can't be," Neji said with denial, "Fate had this fight decided. It had your future as an unchanging failure decided."
"We're responsible for our own futures and the decisions we make in life niisan," Hinata said, "It's time you start understanding that and start taking charge of your own future and free yourself of the hold the idea of fate has on you."
As Neji thought about this, the door to his recovery room opened, revealing Hiashi stepping into the room. Neji's gaze turned away as his uncle closed the door behind him and approached Neji's bed.
"Why are you here?" Neji asked with a neutral tone.
"I received Sandaime-sama's detailed explanation about your thorough defeat to my eldest daughter and the condition she placed you in. Even now it's hard to believe despite seeing the proof in front of me," Hiashi commented.
Neji remained silent, presently having nothing to say.
"I'm sure that while you were here, you've been doing a great deal of thinking while trying to make sense out of what happened today during your match with Hinata," Hiashi said.
"I have," Neji admitted, "Though I managed to put the pieces together-"
"You can't believe how Hinata managed to defy what you thought was fate and invalidate everything you once believed about both her and yourself," Hiashi correctly deduced. Neji looked at him briefly and then turned away.
Hiashi calmly continued, "Be honest with yourself Neji, it was your own actions and unjustifiable hate for my eldest daughter that led you to where you are now. Though my daughter effectively deceived all of us through her pretense and hid her true skills from us, your contempt and disrespect for her was no pretense, and I'm also aware that she did try to make peace with you several times though you rejected it with disdain while belittling her with everything opportunity you had. Tell me Neji, was it truly fate that led to where you are now?"
"No," Neji admitted to Hiashi's logic, "And I couldn't draw any other conclusion about Hinata-sama's sudden rise in power, speed and strength except Naruto's influence and private training."
"And that Neji is the truth, and Hinata herself admitted that to me and everyone today. It still disturbs everyone in our clan how Naruto has so much insight about our fame Juuken. I'm amazed at how he's effectively using this to teach and train both of my daughters."
"What makes you suspect that Hanabi-sama is being secretly trained by Naruto also?" Neji inquired.
"Call it "father's intuition" considering how loyal and strongly attached both of my daughters are to Naruto. And after listening to what Hinata explained to me and the rest of the clan and your defeat to her and the condition she put you in, I wouldn't put it pass Hanabi to want that kind of training from Naruto especially after learning how the clan's proclaimed prodigy was completely humbled. As Hyuuga, we have spent many years following many of the traditions our clan's ancestors had put in place. However my daughters chose out of their own free will to follow a new and different path rather than allowing traditions and the idea of fate to dictate their every actions," Hiashi stated with the same calm demeanor, "and the same was true of your father."
At hear this Neji turned to Hiashi with a sharp glare though it did nothing to affect Hiashi.
"What are you talking about? My father died protecting the Main House," Neji retorted.
"There's more to what happened on that occasion than you know. I waited until the right time to tell you because if I had told you then you wouldn't have believe me one bit. And I found your defeat to my eldest daughter to be the perfect occasion to explain what really happened before your father's death," Hiashi replied before he took out the scroll that Hizashi left for Neji to read with his own eyes. Neji took and opened the scroll and began looking into it and found his father's authentic handwriting in the scroll.
Before Neji began reading deeper into the scroll, Hiashi explained, "As you're aware of, after killing the Kumo ambassador for attempting to kidnap Hinata, Kumo demanded that my body be handed over to them as retribution. I was willing to die believing that my death would prevent Konoha from entering into another war with Kumo, though it was clear that Kumo was really after the Byakugan.
"However, Hizashi volunteered to die in my place and allow his body to be sent instead with the Caged Bird Seal sealing off his bloodline limit permanently. I for my part was absolutely opposed to the idea of my younger twin brother taking my place and leaving you alone. But before I could argue further and prevent my brother from carrying out what he intended to do, Hizashi swiftly disabled and immobilized me with a single blow.
"While I was immobilized, Hizashi told me that he wasn't sacrificing himself to serve the Main House, but because he and I were brothers and that he wanted to choose for himself for the first time what he wanted to do with his life in order to protect his brother, niece and son. He said that choosing how he wanted to die and disobeying the customs of the Main House was his way of going against the idea of fate and making a decision about his own destiny all together.
"I decided not to tell you that your father volunteered to die in my place until I felt that you would be mentally ready to accept the truth over the belief that the Main House was responsible for Hizashi's untimely demise. That moment came after you lost to Hinata earlier today in the preliminaries."
Neji after listening to Hiashi's words, looked and read into the scroll his father left behind for him. In his final words, Hizashi explained that his choosing his own destiny in how he would die was his first act of freedom he had and that he felt liberated to the use his own free in that manner to protect his brother and family. Reading further into the scroll, Neji read Hizashi's encouraging words to not allow the blind misconceived idea of fate to govern and ruin his life and that he should decide for himself what kind of destiny he would have regardless of being a Hyuuga born into the Cadet Branch House.
After reading the scroll, Neji turned to Hiashi. The clan leader said, "I hope you now have a clearer and better understanding of the truth concerning what happened to your father and what he wanted for you. I wanted to tell you this not as the Hyuuga clan leader, but as your uncle and your father's brother. I wanted to tell you my brother's final words."
Neji then saw Hiashi get on his hands and knees before he bowed his head towards the floor. Hiashi then said, "That's the whole truth."
Neji was completely shocked by Hiashi's humble gesture, especially after reading his father's scroll and hearing the truth behind what really happened on the occasion his father died. The young Hyuuga closed his eyes, absorbing everything that was revealed to him as he allowed a few tears to run down his face. It was at that moment when Neji completely rejected his belief in fate and decided to do what he could to fix his past mistakes and make amends and peace between himself and Hinata.
Hiashi stood back up and faced Neji again.
"I'll take leave now and retire for the evening as I must prepare for a most important clan affair tomorrow," Hiashi said before making his way to the door.
"May I ask what this affair is?" Neji inquired.
Stopping at the door just before opening it, Hiashi answered with his back facing Neji, "Tomorrow, I'm to challenge Hinata in a one-on-one match. The entirely clan with the exception of you will be present. I intend to battle my daughter as my equal."
"Hiashi-sama, my father was the only person who was equal and on par with you," Neji replied. Hiashi then said, "I'm aware of that. Since my eldest daughter completely surpassed you, the proclaimed Hyuuga genius and prodigy, I want to see for myself her potential, as the clan heiress, to surpass both me and your father."
With that said, Hiashi opened the door and exited the room, leaving Neji with his thoughts. As Neji sat there, he allowed what Hiashi just told his to sink into his mind. Strangely enough, Neji found himself wishing Hinata the best of luck and wishing he could be there to see his cousin's match with her father.
(Present Time; At The Hyuuga Courtyard)
Everyone from the Hyuuga Clan both Main House and Cadet Branch House were present around the arena floor as Hiashi and Hinata rushed to meet each other as they commenced their match.
Hinata's indigo hair was flowed with the wind as she ran to toward her father. Father and daughter clashed fists and streams of blue chakra swirled around them as they punched and blocked with resounding bangs. The onlookers watched in shocked and wonderment as the duo's fists sped up into blurs and chakra flashes. The clan elders and members of Main House were stupefied and speechless at Hinata's performance.
"It's amazing," Ko said in amazement, "She's on par with Hiashi-sama's Juuken if not more."
"I can't believe this is actually neesan I'm seeing in action against father!" Hanabi marveled with admiration.
"Hinata may have improved tremendously but Hiashi hasn't began going all out yet," one of the elder Hyuuga observed, "From the look of things, I say he's trying to gauge her."
"A wise strategy, though Hinata doesn't have the same amount of experience and prowess as her father," another Hyuuga elder stated.
Even though what the two Hyuuga were saying was true, the fact of the matter was that Hiashi actually was having a hard time hitting his daughter because her speed and evasion skills had improved greatly. Soon though he saw an opening as he blocked a strong punch from Hinata and her balance tilted slightly to her right. His two fingers a blur, he shot forward to strike at her tenketsu points on her arm.
Time seemingly slowed for Hinata as she saw Hiashi's fingers aimed precisely towards the chakra points on her arm. Dropping down into a crouch, she swept her leg at her father's feet, hoping to trip him. Hiashi however jumped backwards and as Hinata jumped upright he thrust his palm forward towards her midsection. Hinata narrowly evaded the attack as she swiftly sidestepped away from it to the left.
I have to be careful against father. If I miscalculate his moves and speed I'm done for, Hinata contemplated. She saw Hiashi racing forward with his right fist drawn back and in her Byakugan vision she saw his fist glowing blue with chakra.
"Hakke Kūshō (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm)!" Hiashi yelled out as he thrust his fist forward. Seeing the danger, Hinata retaliated, "Hakke Kūshō!"
The two colossal air shells collided with a great impact. The explosion from the two identical opposing attacks forced the two Hyuuga backwards as dust swirled into a huge cloud around the arena area. The Hyuuga audience watched intently, trying to peer through the cloud of dust.
"When did neesan that jutsu?! Father never taught it to either me or neesan!" Hanabi asked aloud to no one in particular as she eagerly watched the match. Hiashi, along with the other clan members, was just as surprised to see Hinata execute that same attack with the same amount of stength. Nevertheless, Hiashi wasn't detered and readied himself again before looking for a chance to ambush his eldest daughter despite the dust cloud they were in.
Hinata shaded her eyes as she tried to see through the dust that obscured her Byakugan.
As sight was being granted back to Hinata, she saw Hiashi running through the dust cloud with a glowing palm. He spun around her in a blur and aimed to strike her back hard. She blocked the attack right before his left palm went under his right arm and struck her in the gut, knocking her off her balance briefly as she was pushed backwards. Hiashi took the opportunity to follow up by trying to shut off her chakra points again. But Hinata dropped and rolled away before performing a forwards kick into the air and standing herself back on her feet in front of a small rock.
Before she was able to doing anything further, Hiashi was suddenly upon before he struck a number of vital chakra points on her body. Hinata was unable to hold back her cries of pain as her body vibrated with the force of Hiashi's attack. After receiving the final blow, Hinata fell over with a hollow thud and burst into a cloud of smoke.
"What!?" a shocked Hiashi exclaimed as he and everyone tried to make sense out of what just happened. But before anyone could decipher what took place, the small rock in front of Hiashi's feet suddenly burst into a small smoke cloud and without warning, Hinata, who was crouching on the floor, leaped into the air and thrust her clenched right fist upward and collided it hard directly into her father's jaw in one swift Juuken enhanced uppercut.
Everyone's mouths dropped as eyes widened as they watched Hiashi soar backwards off his feet as a small splash of blood came forth out of his mouth. Before he was allowed to hit the ground, Hinata rushed in and followed up by striking several chakra points around his body. She then jumped and brought both of her legs together to her breasts and with strong amount strength she shot both of her legs forward and delivered a chakra enhanced kick into his chest cavity thus adding to his injuries as he was thrown backwards with some distance through the air again.
Hinata flipped backwards on her hands to catch herself from the kick she made and landed gracefully on her feet as her father hit the arena floor and rolled and skidded on his back twice before coming to a harsh landing on his injured chest. He was left in a daze and in much pain as Hinata stood on her feet in her standard Juuken ready-to-fight pose, refusing to let her guard down against her father.
Both Main House and Cadet Branch House were utterly baffled and speechless by how Hinata effectively struck and knocked down her father and drew first blood out of him.
"Neesan that was amazing! You lured father into an ambush with Henge and one Kage Bunshin!" Hanabi praised excitedly and a bit loudly, having never seen their father taken down in any fight before until now. Though the match was far from over, the event that transpired was still astonishing.
"Kage Bunshin? When did Hinata learned that B-class kinjutsu?" a young male Main House Hyuuga asked.
"How else? From Naruto no doubt. He must have helped her strengthen and increase her chakra reserves in order to execute that jutsu," Kō explained, "I'm taking it that while in the dust cloud with our vision obscured, she made a kage bunshin as a substitute for herself before she henge'd herself into that small rock on the floor Hiashi-sama stood in front of."
"But that's not the traditional way we fight," one Hyuuga elder said.
"Then perhaps it's time we learned to adapt and change from deeply intrenched traditions," Hanabi replied, "Because as we all saw just a moment ago, neesan effectively knocked down father because Naruto-kun taught her to adapt and create new methods and styles to infuse and apply into our Juuken arts. She was able to hide from father's Byakugan during their match as she led him into an ambush! Now who among us can say that?"
There was no refuting Hanabi's words as her observation was precise and accurate. A moment later, Hiashi started pulling himself together and gradually stood back up as he shook off the dizziness from his head. He took in deep gasps of breaths while trying to ease the pain he was still feeling from Hinata's attack and the result of some of his chakra points being shut off. He soon stood back up to face Hinata as blood was seen coming out of both ends of his mouth with his breath stabilizing again.
"It's been a long time since I've seen my own blood and felt any physical pain while being hurt this bad," Hiashi stated, "I have to congratulate you for accomplishing such a feat."
"You fully intended to fight me as your equal and I no way took that as an empty threat," Hinata stated, "And I won't let the fact that I managed to hurt you go to my head, father."
"Such modesty," Hiashi remarked, "I will admit that I'm surprised at how you managed to hide from me in spite of the fact that I was using my Byakugan."
"It is true that the Byakugan possesses a near 360 degree sight range; however there is a blind spot to the Byakugan, which I utilized to catch you off guard," Hinata explained with a guard still up.
"How very clever; very few from your age group in our clan have ever figured that out and located it," Hiashi admitted and praised before becoming serious again, "Regardless, I won't go down so easily this time."
Hiashi got ready to fight again. Without wasting another second, he ran over to her and Hinata for her part did likewise to meet up with her father. Again they engaged in heated combat in blurring motion. In spite of this, everyone could see how fast Hinata's palms and legs were, they could feel the shocks of chakra as Hinatai's strong hands collided with her father's. Even her footwork that made her look like she was dancing around the arena floor was precise and efficient with no mistakes. This Hyuuga Hinata displayed no hesitancy of any sort.
Soon though, Hinata backed away a reasonable distance from her father. Hiashi took the opportunity to gather his remaining strength and chakra to ready himself for whatever his elder daugher was going to throw at him. But what he and everyone saw next was unexpected. Positioning her arms in a right angle position, Hinata channeled chakra into her fists and moments later, two large blue shrouds of chakra in the form of lion heads appeared and shimmered around her fists. The audible roaring of her chakra gave the impression that the lion heads themselves were roaring like lions. Hiashi and everyone there were shocked to see this original new form of Juuken.
"What form of Juuken is that?" Hiashi inquired.
"Jūho Sōshiken!" Hinata said with a determined expression, "A new Juuken I created."
Everyone was now whispering and talking amongst each other about what they just saw and heard. Hanabi was completely speechless as she just looked at Hinata with awe.
Jūho Sōshiken? This must the what Sandaime-sama was talking about yesterday when he briefed me about Neji's defeat and the new Juuken that Hinata created and used against Neji, Hiashi thought carefully before he asked calmly with a tone and look of interest, "When did you invent that new Juuken?"
"Only recently," Hinata said with a confident grin and then declared, "Now get ready!" Hinata charged at him with a loud battle cry, "Haaaaa!"
Hinata rushed forward and fired an eye-blurring barrage of punches at Hiashi. The clan leader ducked and circled, guiding Hinata's arms away, knowing better than to try to block the chakra lion heads.
He's too fast, he's keeping up with me! Hinata thought, I have to speed up!
Magnificent! Hiashi thought proudly despite his serious outer expression, When I said I would challenge Hinata as my equal, part of my reasons for doing so was to intimidate her while testing the strength of her resolve to meet my challenge. I never thought she'd actually have the capacity to push me this hard! I only wish she never hid this from me.
Hanabi and several others held their breaths in wonder as Hinata's fists became nothing but blue ribbons of chakra.
Hinata-sama...What amazing progress you have made in taijutsu and in Juuken! You're certainly not the timid little girl you used to be anymore, Kō thought proudly he and the others stared into Hinata's fierce expression. Hiashi, after a couple of minutes, eventually found an opening and capitalized on it.
"Hakke Kūshō (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm)" Hiashi called out as he precisely pinpointed Hinata's vital points with his Byakugan and released a high-speed palm thrust. A "vacuum shell" compressed using the Juuken was formed to attack Hinata's vitals, which would blow her off her feet with tremendous force.
Hinata saw the danger at almost the last second and hurriedly brought her left fist, enshrouded with her lion head chakra, forward to counter her father's attack. The collision resulted in another explosion causing both Hiashi and Hinata to be thrown far apart from each other through the air by the force of the ruptured attacks. Both father and daughter balance and skidded off the ground before coming to a hard landing. Hinata though coughed up some blood from her mouth since she took a harder hit from the explosion. She lied there on her back seemingly unconscious as her Jūho Sōshiken dispelled from around her fists. Her Byakugan also deactivated.
Hiashi soon pulled himself together and summoned enough strength stand back up again. He panted as his Byakugan deactivated from tiredness and slowly walked forward cautiously as he approached Hinata's inert form. The elder Hyuuga acting as referee also stepped forward to see if the match was over and stared down at Hinata for a brief moment.
Hanabi stared intently at her sister, Come on neesan! You can't let it end like this!
"I declare this match won by-" the elder stopped his declaration as he suddenly saw Hinata slowly getting back up and pulling herself off the ground.
I think I understand how niisan felt after I cratered his body into the floor yesterday during our preliminary match, Hinata thought while getting back up. It was clear that she was really injured but her eyes were hardened and furious.
"I'm...not...done yet...father!" Hinata gasped out. She stood up right despite the pain and added, "I won't lose that easily! Nor will I give up that easily! That's my nindo!"
Hinata grinned crookedly at her father with a drip of blood running from both ends of her mouth. She felt a sharp pain from her left shoulder briefly but she focused her body and will to bear with it. A moment later, she channeled chakra into her right arm and formed another lion head around it. Hinata decided to reserved her chakra for her Jūho Sōshiken into one arm since the chakra coils in her left arm took a major hit from the last attack she countered, though the injury was only temporary.
Hiashi, seeing that the match wasn't over, reactivated his Byakugan with Hinata doing the same thing. He charged forward at Hinata and once more they engaged in a fierce Juuken duel. The duo wove across the cracked arena floor with streams of chakra flowing from their pounding hands in their deadly taijutsu death dance. The speed and fluidity they were moving at were as two A-class Jounin.
Hanabi held her breath as the rest of the onlookers leaned forward to watch the clan leader and heiress battled it out for supremacy. The ferociousness of the battle was most unreal for all of the Hyuuga there, but none more so than for the Main House. Hinata added her legs and feet into their Juuken bout as she threw swing and ax kicks, and knee attacks at her father, a couple of which landed blows on him and her chakra enshrouded right fist managed to hit Hiashi a couple of times thus hurting him harder than her left fist.
Hiashi's years of experience in combat and war gave him an edge and advantage as several strikes made it to Hinata's body, adding further to her injuries. Still Hinata wasn't discouraged as she pressed on. Just as Hinata jumped away to rethink her strategy...
"Kaiten!" Hiashi yelled before spinning at an astounding speed with a dome of ckakra forming and enlarging. Hinata was struck hard from the spinning attack of chakra, launching her further from her father and onto the ground with a thud. The Hyuuga heiress shook the dizziness out of her system as she stood back up to see her father assume a stance that she had seen countless times.
"You are now in my field of divination," Hiashi declared with a hardened tone. Hinata's hands moved in poetic motion in front of her with her Jūho Sōshiken still in effect.
"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!" Hiashi yelled out as he spun on a glowing green yin-yang with Hinata at the edge. His fingers became deadly streaks as he rushed and aimed to strike many chakra points on her body. Meanwhile Hinata was repeating her poetic hand pattern over and over and over again until her hands started picking up speed in near blur vision.
"Shugo Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Protection of Trigrams Sixty Four Palms)," Hinata countered with a glowing green yin-yang of her own underneath her with her hands moving at incredible speed while blocking each of Hiashi's strikes. Hanabi and everyone else around the arena looked on with widened eyes as they watched history in the making: a new ground-breaking jutsu that could protect a target from the Hyuuga's most devastating attack. The entire clan watched in awe as Hinata blocked and countered every last one of Hiashi's deadly attacks accurate timing and speed.
As soon as the attack and the defense against the attack was done, both father and daughter jumped away from each other. Hiashi was left speechless at the event that just took place.
I didn't expect this level of caliber from Hinata at all despite my declaration to challenge her as my equal, Hiashi thought, When did she have time to study and create such moves and Juuken styles to counter against those of my own and the clan?
Hiashi was so deep into his thoughts that unwittingly left an opening in his guard and by the time realized this as he was about to rectify his mistake, Hinata went and capitalized on it as she appeared behind him and rammed her left palm into his exposed area on his back. The attack sent Hiashi off his feet causing him to slide on his chest. Hinata then leaped high into the air and concentrated additional chakra into her right fist, increasing the amount of strength in her Jūho Sōshiken. Aiming her right fist directly at her father, she thrust herself down into his direction.
Hiashi turned in time to see the danger and quickly rolled out of the way just before Hinata's seemingly roaring lion head attack plunged into the ground and cratered it with tremendous force as it created a large and wide spider web shaped crater that blew dust and debris into the air with a shock wave blasted through the ground. The blast force harshly pushed Hiashi further away from Hinata as he felt the brute shock wave from the impact.
Hanabi and others paled with a look of fear at Hinata's strength. Though she wasn't Tsunade, but what happened gave them a reminder of that legendary Slug Princess.
To think that I foolishly used to believe that I was superior to neesan and she allowed me to believe that. I'm more than certain that our father would have died if he took a direct hit from that attack. I better be careful in how I spar with neesan for now on. Had she been fighting like this in the past, I would have been killed, Hanabi thought with a measure of fear as she watched her older sister pull her fist out from the ground it was literally buried in. Her Jūho Sōshiken had dispelled after the impact.
Hinata then turned to her father and charged at him. Hiashi flipped back up and rushed at her. She threw a swing kick with her left leg at him but he caught it. She then jumped and swung her right leg at his head but Hiashi dodged it and lifted Hinata off her standing foot and swung her around couple of times and then tossed her from him.
But Hinata managed to catch herself by landing on her hands and flipping backwards once as she stabilized herself. She barely had time to block a direct chakra enhanced Juuken punch from her father, which knocked her off her balance as Hiashi brought and swung his left leg at her, sending her away from him and down to the floor. Hurrying over to her, he raised his right leg up high and brought it down hard on her. But Hinata burst into a cloud of smoke from under his feet.
"A kage bunshin!?" Hiashi said in surprised, "But when did she-"
Hiashi didn't have to to finish his question as Hinata suddenly appeared in front of him and delivered a Juuken palm strike to his mid section with her right hand. Hiashi staggered back a bit as he held where he was struck with his mind racing through possible ideas on how to take down his daughter. Truth be told, Hiashi expected a good fight but this was proving to be more than he counted on and he admitted to himself that he underestimated Hinata.
What kind of training did Naruto put my daughter through to get her to advance and become this strong and fast? Hiashi thought with amazement as he looked at Hinata who stood her grounds confidently, I've been trying for years to get Hinata to become the strong and firm heiress I always envisioned her to be. But I always thought that her gentle nature and kind spirit which she inherited from her mother was her greatest weakness.
Hiashi thought back to all the times he had spent training Hinata when she was a young child. He thought back to her faulty how stances were, how she was inefficient in her timing and lack proper coordination. He recalled the amount of times he harshly reprimanded her for her failures in learning and performing their family Juuken arts and how Hanabi was even more adept in it than she, Hinata, was.
He remembered how the clan elders looked at Hinata with scorn and derision because Neji was considered a genius and clan prodigy while she was considered a dishonorable and utter failure that should be replaced as heiress with Hanabi. He recalled all those times Hinata would run off in tears from listening to his and everyone's brutal and callous words about her. And all this was before she became friends with Naruto, the ninja who completely changed his daughter and succeeded in molding Hinata into the Juuken fighter standing before him.
Hinata wasn't a bad student...I was a bad teacher, Hiashi thought with a measure of shame.
Meanwhile an elderly female Hyuuga from the Main House contemplated, In the past, Hinata was a useless, cowering heiress whom we used to believe had no potential to be a clan leader. We even believed that Hanabi would be Hinata's replacement in time. It's hard to believe that Hinata hid these talents from all of us this entire time.
What's even more shocking is that Uzumaki Naruto is the one responsible for Hinata's outstanding improvements and accomplishments. I don't know how he did it or how he knows what he knows about our Juuken style in order to properly train Hinata, but I must praise the Uzumaki for succeeding where her father and the rest of us have failed in molding Hinata into the strong heiress we envisioned.
Many other Main House members and some Cadet Branch House members were sharing similar thoughts about Hinata. They all recalled how she used to be and how she was once treated by them with little regard. But they also recalled how part of the reason for that was because Hinata herself deceived them into believing that she was still that same sluggish and timid heiress who was unable to learn and master their prized Juuken arts. The Main House felt that it was shameful that Neji was a prodigy of their arts whereas their heiress proved to be an incapable failure. How far from the truth they were and Hinata's brutal bout with her father was testifying to this.
Soon though Hinata noticed an opening in Hiashi's guard and without warning she charged in and struck hard with her palm, striking chakra at the chakra point she saw. Hiashi winced and shifted slightly, bringing his palm forward to guide Hinata's palm off course, his fingers ready to dive into a pressure point to shut off her chakra points.
Sensing the danger, Hinata quickly adjusted to the situation.
"Kaiten!" Hinata cried out as she began to spin at blurring speed creating a large spinning dome of chakra that formed around her. Hiashi, being too close to Hinata, was struck dead on by the attack with tremendous force, sending him flying back off his feet far from Hinata. Being too close to Hinata's attack led to three of his ribs being badly bruised and fractured with his right arm taking a brunt end of the attack leading it being knocked out that was before he plunged into the arena floor, forming a crater of his own from the impact which added more injuries to his body.
Hinata soon stopped spinning to see the that was damage done as her attack not only formed a large circular crater around her but her father took the brunt end of her attack. By this this, the entire arena floor, which was a considerable size, was reduced to a demolished war torn landscape.
"Kaiten!?" Hanabi asked in surprise, "When did neesan learn and master that?"
This whole time we consider Neji as a genius and the clan prodigy. But even he wouldn't have been able to battle and topple Hiashi-sama this hard, a female Cadet Branch member thought in disbelief.
There was an eerie silence as Hinata stood and held herself while trying to bear the soreness and piercing pain her body was experiencing as fatigue was starting to take effect. She carefully approached her father's body but stood from safe distance seeing as the referee approached Hiashi. The referee started to count down at Hiashi but by the time he got to nine Hiashi stirred and opened his eyes again. He sat up and gradually stood back up with the use of his left arm seeing that his right arm was out of commission. The pain he was dealing with with his fractured ribs and arm was an experience Hiashi hadn't felt in a very long time though he never had a fractured arm or fractured ribs before. It shocked everyone there to see the condition Hiashi was put by Hinata, the once considered dishonorable clan failure and disgrace.
Before a word could be said, Hiashi, moved at a speed Hinata failed to catch. He reappeared in front at her and with his only functioning left hand he thrust it into her right shoulder, effectively dislocating it. Hinata screamed from the sudden attack as she staggered back several steps. She grabbed her limp arm as she collapsed to her right knee shakily. Despite this she looked back at her father defiantly but before she could stand back up and continue fighting, another sharp pain stabbed her through her wounded arm. The referee started the countdown as Hinata struggled against the pain.
I was careless and let my guard down! What on earth did father do to me when he dislocated my right shoulder? This pain is unbearable! Hinata thought as she carefully considered what transpired. She then realized that in the last blow her father delivered against her, he struck and knocked out a both vital chakra point and pressure point in her shoulder. She focused chakra to rest of her body and found that a sizable amount of it was depleted during her match.
No point in enduring more damages than I already did, Hinata considered as her eyes turned to the side where a large pond was, I could resort to water manipulation and take father out with it but without the use of my right arm, it would be harder to pull off with only one useable hand. I think it would be in my best interest to save my water elemental Juuken as a future trump card seeing that no one but Naruto-kun is aware of it.
While holding her limp arm, she relented and stayed her ground quietly as she deactivated her Byakugan. By that time, the countdown finished.
"This match is over. I declare Hyuuga Hiashi the winner of this match," the elder referee decreed, though the referee was forced to wonder if Hiashi's victory was an absolute fluke considering how hard Hinata was battling him. Oddly enough, Hinata expected to hear jeering comments and remarks of disappointments about her defeat from members of the Main House. But what happened next was something Hinata wasn't prepared for:
Hanabi started clapping and cheering for her older sister. This example was soon followed by the rest of the members of both houses as they all stood up and applauded Hinata loudly for her tremendously improved performance, strengths and resilience. Despite Hiashi's victory, which came at a steep personal cost to his well being, the audience praised and cheered for Hinata.
The sight Hinata was seeing was almost unreal, but it was actually happening. It was something she always dreamed of and wanted for a long number of years: acceptance and approval from her family and clan. So many emotions was racing through the heiress from disbelief to shock, joy, excitement, and exhilaration. She almost forgot about the pain in her shoulder.
"Th-They're...c-cheering for me! Everyone is actually pra-praising a-and cheering for me!" Hinata stuttered to herself happily as she wasn't able to hold back the joyful tears that were now pouring down her face. For Hinata, their applause and approval of her was her victory.
"What a formidable fighter our heiress has become," one of the elders acknowledged, "I see now why Neji lost so badly against Hinata. Even her father was forced to become much more serious than usual."
"She hid this amazing talent and strength from us so well; it's still hard to believe though I saw it with my own eyes," a young Main House woman commented.
"I didn't think she would last this long against her father and hurt him this bad," one awestruck Main House male member said as he and many others applauded Hinata.
"Hinata-sama indeed came a long way from how she used to be," Kō complimented, "But I never imagined that her improvements came this far! Had that been me fighting her, I'd have surely lost."
Hanabi hurried over to Hinata and aided her up her feet. The younger sibling was careful not to agitate Hinata's wounded right arm or her other injuries. Hinata looked into Hanabi's silver eyes that were warm and approving.
"You were incredible neesan!" Hanabi praised, "I see you weren't joking when you said you lived through Naruto-kun's training!"
"I'm amazed I managed to live through this also," Hinata remarked before wincing from the pain her body was going through.
Hiashi, while holding onto his fractured ribs, went over to his two daughters. Standing directly in front of Hinata, Hiashi said, "Hinata, despite me being the winner of our match, I believe that you're the true victor in all this."
Hinata was about to say something but Hiashi raised his left hand, keeping Hinata from speaking. Hinata kept silent as Hiashi continued, "So many from our clan deemed you as be a hopeless failure and useless heiress. And shamefully as your father I did for a time as well. But through your association and training under Uzumaki Naruto, not only did you prove me and everyone wrong about you but you've improved enough to hurt and push me this hard. You will, if you already haven't, surpass me and all other past Hyuuga members before you as you have surpassed Neji. You're a true genius and prodigy.
"I've also realized something in the times I have watched you grow: your kindness and gentleness, which you inherited from your mother, is your strength as a ninja, not your weakness. Your kindness and gentleness allows you to realize when it's time to stop, to understand the hearts of your comrades, family and those closest to you. It's part of your ninja way and who you are, I see that now. So don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."
For the first time, Hiashi gave Hinata one of his rarest smiles, a smile Hinata thought she would never see.
"I'm proud of you Hyuuga Hinata, my daughter. Well done," Hiashi praised.
"Thank you father. But someday, I'll challenge you to a rematch," Hinata replied with a smile of her own.
"I look forward to that day," Hiashi said before turning to Hanabi, "I expect nothing less out of you Hanabi. In the future, I will want to see what fruits your secret training with Naruto will produce."
Hanabi and Hinata gasped in shock after hearing what their father stated. Before they could question him on how he knew that...
"It's best we head to the hospital for some healing and medical treatment right now. Evidently Neji will be having some company today," Hiashi said as he turned to started on his way to the other Hyuuga members there.
"I never knew father had a sense of humor," Hanabi remarked.
"Neither did I. Let's enjoy it while it last," Hinata suggested before they followed behind their father. While doing so, Hinata looked to her right and saw Naruto from a distance, hiding among the trees and plants. It was clear to Hinata that Naruto was watching her match the whole time. Naruto nodded and smiled at her before he burst into a cloud of smoke.
As always, Naruto-kun was with me and watching over me, Hinata thought happily.
"It was Naruto-kun. He was here this whole time," Hanabi said lowly only for Hinata to hear.
"Yes he was," Hinata agreed.
(Meanwhile In The Outskirts Of Konoha)
Naruto took a moment to absorbed and interpret everything his spy clone eyewitnessed and sent back to him just now. After a couple of minutes, Naruto opened his eyes again and grinned to himself.
"Looks like everything went well for Hinata-chan though she held back," Naruto commented to himself, "But now that I have a better assessment of how far my past training have brought her, I can better plan my new training for her."
"That's nice and all Naruto-kun, but what about me!?" Karin snorted with her arms crossed over her breasts, "It's always Hinata-chan this Hinata-chan that, or something about Hanabi-chan!" Karin's tone then turned to a pleading tone, "But what about me!? What about my needs!? When will I get some of your personal time and attention to satisfy my own needs?!"
"...Karin knock it off!" Honoka sighed in annoyance while trying to deal with her fellow female Uzumaki who to her dismay was just as big, if not an even bigger pervert than Naruto.
Naruto snickered audibly at their antics and the way all three of them interacted. Being with his brethren Uzumaki made Naruto very happy and after a harsh and burdensome experience he and Karin went through during the first parts of the Chuunin Exams and the Preliminaries and everything that happened afterwards from his meeting Jiraiya for the first time to his argument with Hiruzen, Kakashi and Jiraiya at the Hokage Tower, Naruto wanted nothing more than to be with his two favorite Uzumaki girls for what he considered a family outing while they got to know each other.
"Don't worry. Everything will be taken cared of in good time and I'll worry about Hinata-chan's preparation for the Chuunin Finals later. Right now, there's something I've been meaning to investigate and I want you both with me as I strongly feel you three should be a part of this."
"What are we looking for exactly Naruto-kun?" Karin asked in her more calm and collected tone as they resumed their trek through the woods and up the hills.
"Last night after my unpleasant chat with Jiraiya and Jiisan, I recalled seeing a particular picture in our Uzumaki Photo Album. I want us to locate the lost and forgotten relics of our ancestors before I have to return to meet with Jiraiya later today to give him my reply about accepting whatever new training he's offering to me," Naruto explained.
"So you actually forgave that old bum?" Karin asked with a measure of surprise.
"I haven't exactly forgiven him but I'm not consumed by my anger against him anymore. Besides I'm not going to pass up what Jiraiya is offering me if it means advancing myself from where I stand in my current abilities. But for now, I'll put that concern aside for something of more importance," Naruto replied.
The three continued their journey through the eastern outskirts of Konoha. After another hour and a half of walking, Naruto suddenly experienced a most familiar sensation through his being, except it wasn't towards of particular person. Karin and Honoka saw the anxious expression on Naruto's face.
"It's here! I can feel it. It's here, it's so close," Naruto said with a look of excitement in his expression. Before Karin could ask Naruto what he was talking about, he grabbed both Karin and Honoka by the hand and just as before, the sensations and phenomenon he was experiencing was shared and interchanged between the three of them. Honoka and Karin gasped upon understanding what it was Naruto was experiencing within his being as they felt their hearts racing.
Not giving them time to fully soak in what he shared with them, Naruto ran through the woods with them being pulling along at a surprisingly fast speed.
"Naruto-kun I'm just as excited as you but you're running too fast!" Karin whined.
"You're an Uzumaki! This should be nothing for you!" Naruto teased with a large smile pasted on his face. And as soon as he said that, they came to a stop as they arrived at their intended destination. Honoka released Naruto's hand and took out her scroll that had the Uzumaki Photo Album sealed inside of it. After releasing the book, she turned to the exact page that had the picture of how what they were looking at originally looked like when it was in its prime and glory.
"We found it!" Honoka said happily through shed tears, "A piece of our lost inheritance! We really found it!"
"Regardless of its horrid condition, this landmark is sacred grounds in memories of our fallen brethren and ancestors," Karin stated with a few shred tears of her own which she wiped away.
"Sacred to us indeed," Naruto agreed. Standing before the three Uzumaki was the ancient remnant of what remained of the once sacred temple that now lied in ruins. Though the entrance portal was blocked with debris what stood above the blocked entrance was still visible and quite noticeable. It was a large spiral engraved into a blank circular stone. To anyone else in Konoha, that rundown decayed building was of no use, but to Naruto, Honoka and Karin, it had so much more meaning: it was the lost Uzumaki Mask Temple.
After a careful and secret search, Naruto and his two distant cousins in their expedition have found the lost Uzumaki Mask Temple. What new secrets will they find and possibly unlock in the forgotten ruins of their ancestors? How will the Hokage and the rest of Konoha react when they learn what was found by the three Uzumaki? And after a fierce match between Hinata and Hiashi, Hinata finally won her clan's acceptance and approval of her despite her defeat. But how much did Hinata really hold back from revealing to her father and everyone else who witnessed the match? Find out next time.