The Hyuga Clan's training ground.
"Brother Makoto, I give up, I admit defeat."
Hyuga Tetsu said, slumping to the ground and waving toward Makoto, who was not far away.
Makoto, after the sparring session, was also slightly out of breath.
"I didn't expect you to be so strong even without the Byakugan, Brother Makoto."
Hyuga Tokimasa remarked from the sidelines.
"Well, after all, Makoto is a chunin. Beating the two of you kids is easy." Iroha scoffed.
However, Makoto didn't find it as easy as Iroha suggested.
This was the first time he had fought since his rebirth.
The combat experience from his past life was nothing more than a memory to him now.
If it had been the original Makoto, he could have taken down Hyuga Tetsu in an instant, even without the Byakugan or Gentle Fist.
"Then let's take a break." Makoto said, rubbing his sore forearm.
He had taken a hit earlier and now felt a strange sense of obstruction when trying to use his arm.
The group gathered under the shade of a tree, with Makoto and Tetsu each grabbing their water bottles to hydrate.
The Hyuga Clan's training ground was as large as three or four sports fields.
It was located near the edge of the village, right next to a dense forest.
But aside from the few of them, there was no one else here.
Most of the Hyuga Clan's ninjas had gone to the front lines, and the only people around Makoto's age still in the village were Iroha and Natsu.
Iroha was standing beside Tetsu, guiding him and pointing out the weaknesses he had exposed during their sparring session.
Makoto quietly listened, leaning against the tree trunk.
A few clouds drifted across the sky, and the wind rustled the leaves, making a gentle sound as the dust on the ground swirled and settled.
After a while of resting, Makoto set down his water bottle and stood up to stretch his limbs.
"Tokimasa, want to give it a try?"
He looked toward the other slender boy, Tokimasa, who had long hair tied back with a hairband, with strands falling at either side of his face.
"Me?" Tokimasa responded in surprise.
"What's the matter? You want me to spar with Iroha instead?"
Makoto asked with a faint smile.
Iroha was still recovering from a serious injury and was in no condition to fight.
"It's just a sparring match. What are you scared of, kid?" Iroha slapped Tokimasa on the back.
"Fine," Tokimasa hesitated before standing up to accept the challenge.
He knew he wasn't really a match for Makoto and was a bit worried that he might lose badly.
The two of them took a few steps forward and stood facing each other in the open area.
Tokimasa made the first move, forming a hand seal.
Makoto couldn't help but laugh and made the same hand seals to signal that he was ready, then took his stance.
The pain in his forearm hadn't completely faded, but it didn't affect Makoto's desire to fight.
Unlike the dullness of physical training, the clash of fists and the exchange of techniques in a real battle was much more interesting.
"Does Brother Makoto always train this hard?" Tetsu, sitting under the tree, couldn't help but ask.
"Well... I guess so," Iroha replied somewhat vaguely.
He and Makoto weren't particularly close, and he didn't know much about Makoto.
They only interacted because they were from the same clan, but recent events had given Iroha a deeper impression of this clan brother.
Makoto was already engaged in combat with Tokimasa.
Tokimasa's fighting style was similar to Tetsu's, and the techniques they used were all familiar to Makoto.
This made the fight increasingly easy for him, as it felt like he was slowly integrating the combat memories from his past life.
"Ah!" Tokimasa suddenly cried out in pain, falling to the ground and clutching his right forearm, his face twisted in agony.
Seeing this, Makoto quickly rushed over to check on him, and Iroha and Tetsu also hurried over at the sound.
"How are you?"
Tokimasa was helped to sit up, and his entire right forearm was bright red.
Iroha looked at the scene with a mixture of concern and doubt.
"Ugh..." Tokimasa sucked in a breath, clearly in a lot of pain.
Makoto glanced at his own right hand, noticing that the knuckles were also covered in red marks, with a pain that felt like having punched a wall.
"Sorry, Tokimasa. I was just trying to see if I could hit the pressure points. I didn't control my strength well," Makoto apologized.
"How did you hit the pressure points?" Iroha asked.
Makoto raised his clenched fist to demonstrate.
"..." Iroha was speechless.
In Gentle Fist, you didn't strike pressure points with a whole fist.
The chakra pathways in the human body were so delicate that even a slight misalignment could be disastrous.
Tokimasa remained silent, biting his lip in pain.
"It's just one punch, why does it look like you're about to cry?" Iroha said, "Look, even Makoto's hand is injured."
"To make up for it, I'll treat you to lunch," Makoto said.
Upon hearing this, Tokimasa immediately wiped away the tears that were about to fall and asked, "Are we having barbecue?"
"Ramen."
"..."
Hearing this, Tokimasa silently covered his forearm and furrowed his brows tightly.
"Ugh... it really hurts!"
Makoto couldn't help but laugh and didn't let him down:
"Alright, let's have barbecue then."
Tokimasa immediately stood up.
"Brother Makoto, I'm fine now. Let's go eat. I'm actually a bit hungry."
Iroha couldn't resist making a comment: "Tokimasa sure knows how to act."
Tetsu also chuckled at the scene.
Makoto glanced again at his injured hand.
The Gentle Fist's technique of hitting pressure points was meant to direct chakra into the opponent's body, damaging their chakra pathways and internal organs.
Typically, chakra is released from the fingertips, but when Makoto threw the punch earlier, he had released chakra from his entire fist.
Since he couldn't see the chakra pathways, he tried to see if he could deliver an "all-around strike."
This resulted in both damaging the enemy and injuring himself.
"Brother Makoto, are you alright?" Tokimasa asked.
"I'm fine, let's go eat."
The group chatted and laughed as they left the training ground.
Makoto thought that some of his assumptions could be worth testing.
In the original story, Hinata's technique, Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists, seemed to operate on a similar principle, where chakra undergoes a change in form and is then applied to both hands to enhance striking power and expand the area of damage.
However, all techniques of the Hyuga Clan require the Byakugan to assist.
The Byakugan allows precise chakra placement, ensuring each move and strike achieves optimal effect.
Makoto's idea, though potentially feasible, was much more difficult than the usual Gentle Fist techniques.
After eating barbecue with Iroha and the others, Makoto went to the market alone to buy some ingredients and seasonings, then returned home to prepare some snacks.
It was just simple fried potatoes and chips—things that were sold in this world as well.
Makoto packed the snacks into a box and sent them next door to Ayari's house.
"Did you make this?" Ayari asked, feeling a bit incredulous when she saw the snacks.
"Try it and see how it tastes."
Ayari hesitated for a moment, then picked up a piece of the potato chip and popped it into her mouth.
It was crisp, salty, and spicy—quite flavorful.
"Mm! It's actually pretty good!"
She immediately took the box from Makoto and sat on the sofa, enjoying it seriously.
Today, she wore a short skirt, and her long white legs swayed right in front of Makoto.
"What are you looking at?" Ayari glared at him.
"Your legs." Makoto replied honestly.
Ayari grabbed a nearby cushion and threw it at him.
Makoto caught it and held it in his arms.
"Do you need something from me?" she asked afterward.
"Could you help me find some more books?"
Makoto asked directly, without any formalities.
"Have you finished the ones I found for you before?" Ayari asked in surprise.
"I've finished them."
Ayari pondered for a moment, then said, "If you're just looking for something to pass the time, I can find you some novels."
Makoto shook his head.
"I've actually read through everything, including those professional medical books. I've understood them all."
Ayari was quite surprised.
The knowledge in those books wasn't shallow, and it was hard to believe this kid could grasp it so quickly.
"What else do you want to read?" she asked.
"Any books on chakra, anything you have would be fine.
Also, I'd like to see some introductory books on sensory and medical ninjutsu,"
Makoto said slowly.
Ayari nodded. "Got it."
The books she had previously found for Makoto were picked randomly, otherwise, she wouldn't have sent him such specialized texts.
Seeing that Makoto was serious about reading, Ayari decided to pick out books for him carefully next time.
The box of potato chips was quickly finished, and Ayari was very satisfied.
The flavor was quite different from the packaged chips sold in stores.
"When did you learn to make something like this?"
"I saw a snack stall selling fried potato chips earlier and thought it looked interesting, so I watched for a bit. After that, I tried making it myself."
"Didn't expect you to have a knack for this."
Makoto smiled lightly. "If you like it, I can make it for you often."
Ayari snorted. "Does that mean I'd have to run errands for you every day?"
End of chapter
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