Uchiha Kaien paid no mind to Hyuga Hizashi's astonished look.
Seeing Hizashi rush at him, Kaien didn't retreat in the slightest.
Before, he could toy with Hizashi even without taking things seriously—now that he had activated his Sharingan, it wasn't even a contest. He was going to crush him.
Every Uchiha who awakens the Sharingan ends up arrogant and proud.
They trust their eyes, trust their skills, and bloom brilliantly amidst danger. That's what Uchiha-style taijutsu is all about.
When paired with the Sharingan, it's like dancing on the edge of a blade—one wrong step and you're cut—but the delayed slash only highlights the elegance of their technique. A true spectacle was about to unfold.
Hizashi took the stance of the Eight Trigrams, but Kaien didn't hesitate—he launched into the air and kicked straight at him.
The fierce strike cut through the air with such force that Hizashi was forced to raise both arms in defense.
Chakra-enhanced, Kaien's kick sent a surge of heat through Hizashi's arms and pushed him back several steps.
Up in the stands, Namikaze Minato's eyes were glowing. He muttered excitedly to himself.
"Kaien's move is so cool! I'm calling that one the 'Soaring Knight Flash Burst Tempest Kick'!"
Kaien, still mid-fight, caught wind of Minato's latest naming spree and nearly lost it. He wanted nothing more than to go over there and kick him instead. No one else could name techniques this ridiculously.
But Kaien wasn't about to let up—he kept the pressure on, pressing Hizashi with relentless taijutsu.
Sharingan versus Byakugan—the clash made their physical battle all the more thrilling.
Kaien's dazzling assault had the watching students cheering nonstop.
When they saw him activate the iconic Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, their admiration skyrocketed.
In the arena, Hizashi was cursing under his breath. Ever since Kaien activated his Sharingan, his fighting style had gotten even bolder, more aggressive, and sharper than their last spar.
He mentally blamed his older brother for all of this—he never even got a chance to land a single Gentle Fist strike, let alone counterattack.
Unsurprisingly, the result was a total victory for Uchiha Kaien.
"Uchiha Kaien wins. Perform the seal of reconciliation."
Kaien looked down at the fallen Hizashi, reached out two slender fingers, and pulled him back up, forming the reconciliation seal in the process.
"You'd better get some extra training in. Next time, I might just copy your taijutsu and beat you with your own moves. Then we'll see if you still call the Hyuga the greatest clan in the Leaf."
Kaien winked and flashed a mischievous grin.
It was a little Uchiha quirk—defeating someone at their own specialty made victory that much sweeter.
Hizashi could only return a bitter smile. Looked like more training was in his future. What a pain. Still… Kaien's soft hands might've been the one small comfort in all of this.
Well, at least everyone knew it was Hyuga Hiashi who lost to Uchiha Kaien—not him. Nothing to do with Hyuga Hizashi at all.
After successfully convincing himself, Hizashi returned to his usual composed expression, offered a polite thanks, and stepped off the platform.
"Next match—Namikaze Minato versus Hyuga Hizashi."
Yamakawa Taiga read out the names for the next round.
Hizashi perked up immediately. His big brother was about to face Namikaze Minato, whose Body Flicker Technique was absurdly fast. This fight was going to be drawn out for sure.
Win or lose, Hiashi definitely wouldn't look as pathetic as he did. Which meant, once they got home, Hiashi would probably get scolded worse than him. A win-win.
Wearing a schadenfreude-filled grin, Hizashi watched his brother walk onto the stage.
Hiashi, for his part, wasn't too bothered. He'd much rather face Minato than Uchiha Kaien—at least Minato had the decency of a gentleman.
Kaien, though… getting beaten up by him felt like getting struck by a bolt from the blue. Hiashi still had no idea what he'd done to deserve it.
How could someone who looked that good be so violent?
Still, as the future heir of the Hyuga clan, he couldn't back down. Losing was fine—but surrendering? That would be a disgrace. So the formalities had to be observed.
"Let's have a good match, Minato."
"You too, Hizashi."
'So it really is true—only Uchiha Kaien could tell us apart.'
With that lingering doubt in his heart, Hyuga Hiashi stepped forward to face Namikaze Minato.
...
"Namikaze Minato wins. Seal of reconciliation."
Their match ended with Minato's victory, and the two of them left the field gracefully.
Yamakawa Taiga called out a few more matchups after that, but the results were starting to give him a headache.
Nara Shikaku surrendered immediately after being paired with Inuzuka Tsume.
Akimichi Choza, after getting hit with Yamanaka Inoichi's Mind Body Switch, didn't resist at all—just chalked it up to trust between friends.
Then there was the fight between the Aburame clan's bug-user Shibi and Uzumaki Kushina… pure chaos. Kushina's chakra overwhelmed the insects so much they just gave up and laid flat. No way they could keep up.
"Final match—Namikaze Minato versus Uchiha Kaien."
After a short rest, both stepped back onto the field. This was it—the fight for top of the class. The one everyone had been waiting for.
First and second place stepping into the ring.
It was also why Hiashi didn't feel too bad about losing to Minato. After all, Minato's teacher was the Third Hokage's own student. The Hyuga were a conservative clan—losing to someone like that wasn't shameful at all.
Kaien and Minato didn't jump into it right away. Minato glanced at Kaien, clearly concerned about his condition. He knew better than anyone how Kaien's body was doing.
"Kaien… are you sure you're up for this?"
"Of course I am. I barely used any chakra dealing with the Byakugan."
"Phew, good. Because I'm coming!"
With that, Minato darted forward, activating his Body Flicker Technique and closing the distance in an instant!
Close-quarters combat would let him control the tempo. If Kaien was allowed to keep his distance, it'd turn into a ninjutsu barrage—exactly the kind of battle Minato wanted to avoid.
He knew full well that Kaien's chakra reserves outclassed his, so he needed a plan. Fast.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo