Chapter 23: Saori Makishima Faces Hinata Hyuga

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(I just remembered, Fangyuan usually updates around nine o’clock, two chapters, begging for comments; a monologue is so awkward.)

“It’s nothing, thank you. Could you help me find out why I’m being arrested, and who’s doing it?” The young lady actually blushed and turned her head shyly as she spoke.

“Er, alright. Stop playing dead, or else I’ll—”

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. Lately, for some unknown reason, those at the top are desperate for money, so they’ve been squeezing us low-level people and small gangs. We’re about to starve, so we took the risk of kidnapping wealthy residents living here. Just looking at this lady, you can tell she’s rich, so we thought we’d extort a bit. Absolutely no other intentions.” The man in black was a coward; frightened, he confessed everything.

“Er, what does the young lady think?” Qi glanced at the tall girl whose face was still flushed.

“Mm, thank you. Let’s leave the villains to the police. I’ve already called them. I don’t know your name, so I can properly thank you for saving my life later.”

“Heh, no need. It’s nothing, my name is Qi. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.” Qi struck the man in black unconscious with a quick motion and turned to leave.

“Wait, lifesaver, please wait. Is it my attitude? I tend to be shy, I don’t like people seeing my face, I’m afraid of eye contact, it’s not for any other reason. If possible, I’d like to invite you to stay so I can properly thank you. I forgot to introduce myself: my name is Saori Makishima. You can just call me Saori.” Saori kept her head down, cheeks red, and spoke softly. Qi could tell she was trying hard to raise her voice.

Qi smiled and shook his head, “It’s a small matter, don’t dwell on it. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.” With those words, he dashed out of the courtyard, disappearing into a deserted corner and soaring skyward.

The mountain was already before him. Oddly, he didn’t even know its name, though it had suffered a disaster for no reason. Just as the madman had described, the mountainside was now flat, as if sliced cleanly.

Troops surrounded the mountain, apparently blocked by some barrier. Qi barely glanced at them before rushing to the mountainside. At the center stood twelve boys and girls, all around fifteen or sixteen, occasionally exchanging words, looking like old friends.

Seeing Qi descend from the sky, they all turned their attention to him. “Next, let’s talk about the rules for the challenge. The twelve here are ready for a full fight. Challenger Qi, you may choose the order of opponents. The battle ends when one side admits defeat or loses consciousness. After each fight, Qi may challenge again at any time. Defeated participants will be revived in full health, so fight to the death—you’ll come back anyway. Let the challenge begin.”

The twelve warriors’ eyes burned with fighting spirit, clearly enticed by some promise from the madman. Yet their voices seemed unable to reach outside. Qi studied them carefully and noticed names above their heads.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, Rock Lee, Tenten, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino. Why are there only first names but no surnames? Qi muttered to himself. Each had their unique traits, but after some consideration, Qi shamelessly chose the shy Hinata.

He’d just met the bashful Miss Saori; now another shy girl appeared. Wasn’t this fate? Most importantly, people who are shy are easier to bully.

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Hinata stepped to face Qi, speaking softly, “Please take care of me.” Then she adopted a fighting stance. Several behind her cheered, though their voices did not reach him.

Is she a close-combat expert? Qi smiled faintly, “Let’s start with hand-to-hand then,” and dashed forward.

“Byakugan.” Hinata called out softly. The veins around her eyes bulged, and she charged forward, her speed only slightly slower than Qi’s.

Qi raised an eyebrow. He’d already suspected her eyes were special; now it was confirmed. The two collided, exchanging blows at close range, where Qi had the advantage.

His speed and strength were superior, but after prolonged fighting Qi sensed a strange energy in Hinata’s punches and palms, trying to penetrate his arm’s pressure points. Yet, with his mastery over his own body, the energy failed to enter, ground down and absorbed by his muscles.

Qi smiled knowingly; this must be her technique. Hinata and Neji’s pupils contracted—in the Byakugan’s vision, they saw this inconceivable scene as well.

“Rotation!” Hinata cried out.

Qi felt a powerful rotational force swirling around Hinata, deflecting his punch and sending him flying. He flipped midair and landed steadily, facing Hinata from afar, his eyes filled with wonder as he recalled her ingenious move.

He copied Hinata’s stance, imitating the motion, channeling his spiritual energy in place of her odd chakra. The first attempt failed, but he already felt the gist. Neji’s face changed dramatically, seemingly exclaiming “Impossible,” though no one outside heard it. Hinata’s eyes widened at his mimicry, but after a brief pause she charged forward, refusing to let him steal her clan’s secret technique.

Qi was just getting the hang of it when Hinata rushed him. Qi grinned, unfurled his wings, and took to the air, practicing the move overhead. Hinata had no way to reach him, so she kept throwing shuriken. At first Qi dodged, but after a few tries, he mastered the feeling and perfectly used Rotation to deflect the shuriken. He beamed with joy—this was his first skill using spiritual energy, no longer just fuel for his body.

Moreover, he felt Rotation’s defense was quite good, though he was only at the first layer of Qi training, with scant spiritual energy, so its effect and frequency were limited. But Qi believed it would become one of his main defensive techniques in the future.

Qi was delighted, but Hinata’s face was a bit aggrieved; her clan’s secret had been learned right before her eyes. How could she explain this when she returned? And now Qi, with Rotation, would be even harder to deal with.

Qi descended, grinned at Hinata, and attacked again. Hinata set her stance, and as Qi entered her zone, she moved suddenly: “Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!” A continuous flurry of palm strikes swept toward Qi.

Qi was undaunted, using Taiji to parry, drawing circles to neutralize her attacks, and constantly stealing her moves to store in his memory for later reference. Hinata’s face was calm; her continuous Eight Trigrams Palms combined with Gentle Fist sealed acupoints—normally, if she touched the enemy’s body, the fight would be over. Yet this opponent was immune to Gentle Fist, lowering her effectiveness by more than half.

Though chakra couldn’t seal his acupoints, the sheer force of repeated strikes gradually numbed his pressure points, causing Qi’s speed and strength to decline.

Qi’s expression didn’t change; he tried to shift his arm’s pressure points, but still couldn’t avoid being struck. Trying to dodge was futile now, and he found himself at a disadvantage.

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“Ha!” Qi unleashed double his strength, jumping back out of Hinata’s range. Hinata was ready; as Qi moved, she stepped in, “Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!” Using the force and momentum gained from her previous attack, she executed Rotation. Caught off guard, Qi felt a numbness in his chest, a metallic taste in his throat, and was sent flying more than ten meters.

Hinata was delighted; through her Byakugan, she saw that her Rotation’s chakra had forcefully entered and sealed his chest acupoint. But her smile faded quickly—even with the acupoint sealed, Qi could crush and absorb the chakra, making it nearly useless, except for immobilizing him for two seconds. The physical blow was more effective.

Qi wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled. The injury wasn’t serious and would heal in moments. He was pleased—sparring with different opponents really taught him a lot and greatly increased his combat experience. “Again!”

The battle continued. He didn’t use overwhelming strength to bully the girl, nor did he employ special attacks, just traded blows, back and forth, far more organized and enjoyable than fighting those dead rats.

Ten minutes passed; both fighters were breathing hard. Qi’s spiritual energy, already depleted from previous uses of Rotation, was exhausted. Hinata still had some chakra, but not much.

The sun was high; a gentle breeze stirred the girl’s hair, swaying in the air. The two paused and looked at each other.

“Hinata, your moves are almost all out—I’m going to use my trump card.” Qi steadied his excitement, never having enjoyed a fight so much.

The girl said nothing, adopting her stance as a silent challenge: bring it on, weakling. Qi mused that the three sharp-tongued girls he’d met lately must have brainwashed him; how could such a shy girl say something like that?

He exhaled deeply, his momentum rising—double combat power activated. “Whoosh”—his shadow flashed before Hinata.

“Cannon Fist!”

A flash of red, his right fist burning from friction with the air, the bone armor on its surface sizzling, shot toward Hinata’s forehead like a real cannonball.

Hinata’s gaze was resolute: “Rotation!” The impact echoed, yet neither was thrown back, locked together.

“Close in, triple strength.” With a twist, balance broke. Hinata was flung away, fainting ten meters off.

Qi, victorious. Hinata turned into white light and returned unharmed to her eleven companions.

He sat down where he was to recover spiritual energy and physical strength. As time passed, Qi let out a long, joyful howl. He had broken through.