As Garaga charged toward her, Hinata remained calm, simply raising her hand in response.
With just a thought, a repelling force stopped Garaga in his tracks.
The massive snake's body arched, clearly straining with all its strength to lunge at her. However, the immense repelling force blocked its advance, preventing it from getting closer.
Hinata's palm then shifted, and the repelling force became a pulling force. With a simple move, she redirected Garaga's charge, sending him flying off to the side in a smooth arc.
As the heiress of the Hyuga Clan, Hinata had grown up with the philosophy of Gentle Fist, and naturally, she understood the concept of "using four ounces to move a thousand pounds"—a technique that relied on redirecting an opponent's force.
Watching this play out, Akira silently nodded in approval of her smooth, taijutsu-inspired moves.
Garaga, however, grew even more furious. Letting out another enraged roar, he lunged at her again.
Hinata continued using the combination of pulling and pushing forces, similar to the techniques used by Pain's Deva Path. Each time Garaga charged at her, Hinata skillfully redirected him, causing him to crash into the ground over and over.
One time. Two times. Three times...
Each time, Garaga missed his target and found himself sent crashing elsewhere. At first, Garaga had been furious, but after being thrown a dozen times, even his stubbornness couldn't hide the truth—he was no match for Hinata.
The invisible force that deflected him time after time was impossible for him to counter.
After being thrown a dozen times, Garaga began circling Hinata, searching for an opening or a weakness. However, he no longer dared to recklessly charge at her again.
"Hinata, if you pluck Garaga's reverse scale, he'll become much more docile," Takitsuhime called out from the sidelines.
At these words, Garaga's entire body tensed up in alarm.
Hinata glanced toward Akira, her expression questioning.
"It's up to you," Akira replied with a smile, offering no further guidance.
"I think pulling out his reverse scale would hurt him. If it's part of him, it should stay that way," Hinata said softly, her kind nature showing through.
"I told you—it's your choice," Akira responded with a smile, showing support for Hinata's decision.
He then glanced at Garaga's reverse scale, feeling a sense of curiosity.
Snakes didn't typically have reverse scales—only dragons did. Yet here was Garaga, a snake with a reverse scale, and the only one in Ryūchi Cave at that.
That was strange, to say the least.
Akira didn't care much about how Boruto tied into the original Naruto story, but since Garaga was the summon of Boruto, he supposed that the snake must have some unique traits.
Garaga, meanwhile, had been thoroughly humbled by Hinata's demonstration of power. Seeing that she had no intention of pulling out his reverse scale, Garaga let out a quiet sigh of relief and even felt a glimmer of gratitude toward her.
"Well? Are you willing to become Hinata's summoning beast?" Akira asked once Garaga had calmed down.
After a brief pause, Garaga nodded. "I am."
"Good. It seems you've gained yourself a powerful ally," Akira said, nodding in approval.
With that, Akira deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan, and the bestowed Sage Mode faded from Hinata. As her Sage Mode disappeared, the Tenseigan also receded, and her eyes returned to their normal Byakugan state.
With her chakra now synced with Garaga's, Hinata had accomplished her goal of coming to Ryūchi Cave.
"Hinata, if you ever need help, you can summon me as well," Takitsuhime suddenly offered, stepping forward.
"Really? Thank you so much!" Hinata responded, astonished by the generous offer.
The three priestesses were the second-highest-ranking beings in Ryūchi Cave, just below the White Snake Sage, and each one had Kage-level strength. Having Takitsuhime as a potential summon was an incredible boon for Hinata.
"Well, well, it seems Takitsuhime is quite accommodating," Akira remarked, somewhat surprised by her offer.
Of course, Akira was pleased with this development.
Now, Hinata had two powerful summoning options—Garaga and Takitsuhime.
Afterward, the three priestesses inquired about the White Snake Sage, and upon hearing that the sage was currently contemplating the path of transformation into a dragon, they expressed their delight.
As the sage's loyal priestesses, the transformation of the White Snake Sage would benefit them greatly as well.
With that settled, Akira and Hinata continued to stroll through Ryūchi Cave.
The three priestesses, sensing the couple wanted some alone time, wisely excused themselves.
"Why did you offer to be Hinata's summoning beast?" Ichikishima Hime asked Takitsuhime after they had walked away.
"Yeah, I thought we agreed that we all wanted to be Akira's summons?" Ichikishima added, puzzled.
"I simply liked Hinata's strength and her kind nature," Takitsuhime answered casually.
"That's it? Well, I guess that makes sense," Ichikishima Hime responded, nodding in understanding.
However, Tanshin Hime remained suspicious, eyeing Takitsuhime warily.
Was she really helping Hinata just because she found her likeable?
Snakes weren't known for their kindness, so the idea of liking a gentle person didn't quite fit. Of course, Ichikishima was quick to accept the explanation, but Tanshin Hime was more skeptical.
Still, there was no solid evidence to prove Takitsuhime had ulterior motives, so Tanshin Hime kept her suspicions to herself.
"You two are so naive," Takitsuhime thought to herself with an inward smirk.
Though they hadn't spent much time together, Takitsuhime had already noticed that Akira was quite loyal to those he loved.
If she wanted to have any chance of getting closer to him, she needed a different approach.
Perhaps, through Hinata, she could gain favor.
If she could win Hinata over, her chances of getting what she wanted from Akira—including his powerful bloodline—would increase significantly.
At least, her odds would be better than those of Ichikishima Hime and Tanshin Hime, who were both still direct competitors for Akira's attention.
As Takitsuhime kept her thoughts to herself, Akira and Hinata walked hand in hand, continuing their conversation about the Tenseigan.
"So, what other abilities do you have with the Tenseigan, besides controlling repelling and pulling forces?" Akira asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Other abilities? I don't think I have any others right now," Hinata replied, shaking her head.
"So, it seems the Tenseigan can only manipulate repulsion and attraction at the moment?" Akira mused to himself, piecing together what he had learned.
"Could it be a chakra limitation?"
He suspected that Hinata's current chakra reserves were too low to fully unleash the Tenseigan's true power.
It was also possible that she had only just awakened the Tenseigan and still needed time to unlock all of its abilities.
However, Akira leaned more toward the idea that her chakra levels were simply too low, limiting the Tenseigan's potential.
For example, the creation of Truth-Seeking Balls—a hallmark of Six Paths-level power—wasn't something she could accomplish yet.
In the original story, Toneri Ōtsutsuki quickly mastered powerful Tenseigan techniques after awakening the eye, without needing years of training.
"Akira, is the Tenseigan really that powerful? Does it have many different abilities?" Hinata asked, intrigued.
"Yes, the Tenseigan is incredibly powerful. In fact, its abilities surpass even the Mangekyō Sharingan," Akira confirmed with a nod.
In his opinion, the Tenseigan was on par with the Rinnegan in terms of overall power.
"It's stronger than the Mangekyō Sharingan?" Hinata gasped in shock.
She knew how powerful the Mangekyō was—every wielder of that eye had Kage-level strength at the very least.
In fact, the current Uchiha Clan only had a handful of Mangekyō users, which was considered a rare and remarkable occurrence in the clan's history.
Yet here Akira was, telling her that her Tenseigan was even stronger than the Mangekyō?
"Once your chakra reserves grow large enough, you'll understand the full extent of the Tenseigan's abilities," Akira reassured her with a smile.
"You're right. My chakra isn't even enough to fully maintain the Tenseigan, so it's too soon to think about all of this," Hinata agreed, nodding obediently.
And so, the two of them continued chatting as they wandered through Ryūchi Cave.
Suddenly, Akira sensed a strange, irregular fluctuation in the natural energy around them...
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Next bonus chapter if we reach 700 Powerstone
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 285+ at patreon.com/Emik01.