It was already noon.
Ryuji walked from Konoha Hospital back to the Hyuga Clan Compound, lowering his head to glance at the palm wrapped in bandages. With the body's growing self healing ability, the wound on his hand had already fully closed on the way to the hospital.
To avoid drawing attention, he had cut his palm again himself. Even so, the Medical-nin at the hospital still remarked that such strong recovery was rare. Of course, that was not the only reason Ryuji did it.
While thinking, Ryuji arrived outside a Training Ground and looked up, spotting a figure surrounded by several people who treated her with obvious respect. It was Hyuga Aoi, the daughter of an elder from the Hyuga Clan Main Family.
Her long black hair shimmered in the sunlight, and the healthy rose color of a sixteen year old girl's cheeks still held a trace of baby fat. Yet her pale eyes were sharp and cold, like blades.
"Get lost!"
She kicked the kneeling Branch Family member in front of her without mercy, while the person only let out a muffled grunt and endured the pain without daring to show even the slightest dissatisfaction. Hyuga Aoi shot him a look full of disgust.
"Trash," she said, sweeping her gaze over the other Branch Family members. "All trash. Not one of you dares to fight back, and Father actually sent useless people like you to protect me?"
The surrounding Branch Family members all lowered their heads, their posture respectful and humble, not daring to refute her in any way. That elder of the Main Family had only one daughter, and years of indulgence had shaped her into someone willful and overbearing.
If that were all, it would not be unusual, since many children of the Main Family were like this. The problem was that she loved to fight and compete, always wanting to leave the village for the battlefield, which the Branch Family saw as reckless and the Main Family saw as inviting suffering.
This time, after her request to leave the village was rejected again, she wanted these Branch Family members to use their full strength to spar with her. But how could they dare, since she had not yet reached the age to learn the Curse Seal, and injuring her by mistake could still earn them torment under that seal from her father.
Compared to that pain that reached into the soul and made life worse than death, being insulted or beaten a little now meant nothing. If Hyuga Aoi wished it, they would even kneel down and bark like dogs.
"Wait," Hyuga Aoi said, frowning as if she noticed something. "Isn't someone missing?"
At her words, several Branch Family members lifted their heads slightly and exchanged brief looks, all realizing who was absent. After a short silence, the Hyuga member who had blocked Ryuji that morning spoke first.
"Lady Aoi," he said respectfully. "It is…"
"Lady Aoi, I am here."
Before he could finish, a familiar voice rang out, making his body stiffen as the bruised pain in his abdomen seemed to return. Hyuga Aoi turned her head with a frown and saw Ryuji approaching.
"So that's who's missing," she said coldly. "It's you, you useless thing."
Ryuji ignored her mockery and only raised his bandaged hand, lowering his head slightly. "Sorry, Lady Aoi. My hand is injured, so today I may not be able to…"
A sharp sound cut through the air. He instinctively tilted his head aside as a fist brushed past his ear, the wind of the strike lifting his tied back black hair.
Ryuji calmly raised his eyes and met a pair of emotionless pale eyes. "Enough talk," Hyuga Aoi said in a flat tone. "Let me see whether you trash have improved at all."
As her words fell, she pulled her fist back and turned it into a palm, pushing toward Ryuji's chest. In the next moment, his figure withdrew with steps that looked almost floating, like leaves carried away by the wind.
A trace of surprise flashed in Hyuga Aoi's eyes as veins rose around them. She set her stance, the true opening posture of the Gentle Fist.
In the next instant, her right hand became a blur, three fingers together as they aimed for Ryuji's left shoulder. Watching this, Ryuji sighed inwardly.
This was troublesome. He did not want to stand out so early, but kneeling and acting like a dog was not an option either.
He had endured three years to gain a chance to change his fate, and continuing to kneel now would make those years meaningless. So, did he want to stand, or did he want to earn "money"?
"I want to stand, and earn the money too."
With that decided, Ryuji slowly closed his eyes. As expected, he entered that state of total focus again, shutting down sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, leaving only mental perception.
With a sudden motion, his body spun and leaned back. Hyuga Aoi's fingertips skimmed past his nose and struck the wooden post behind him, leaving a palm print more than an inch deep as splinters scattered and landed on his lashes.
Her fists and palms came one after another, fast and sharp, yet to Ryuji they felt unbearably slow. The blood in his body surged with heat, allowing his movements to keep pace with his thoughts.
It was as if he alone moved at normal speed within a stretched timeline. He drifted freely through it, while everything else dragged behind.
"What is going on?"
Seeing every strike avoided even with Ryuji's eyes closed, Hyuga Aoi's pupils tightened and excitement appeared on her face, though her movements grew increasingly rushed. Ryuji could "see" that beneath her fierce attacks, she exposed her side with every turn.
In the next moment, seizing that opening, his raised palm curved lightly from his chest and caught her wrist, his other arm bracing hers as force twisted along bone and tendon. There were two sharp sounds in an instant.
One was a joint dislocated, and the other was set back in place. The motion was smooth and practiced, leaving her only a brief flash of pain before she could even cry out.
Before she could recover from her shock, Ryuji moved again. His body trembled almost imperceptibly as a clear force traveled from his spine through his muscles to his arm, snapping it like a whip toward Hyuga Aoi.
A loud crack rang out, like bamboo bent to its limit and released, and a thin mist burst into the air. The strike landed on the arms she raised to block, sending her staggering backward several steps, on the verge of falling in an ugly heap.
That would be too messy to deal with.
Ryuji sighed, reached out, and grabbed Hyuga Aoi by the collar, yanking her upright without ceremony. "Had enough, Lady Aoi?"
He opened his eyes and looked at her trembling gaze, lowering his voice with a sharp edge. "If you truly want to go to the battlefield, then you should at least understand this."
"On land soaked with blood, and within this cruel clan, you live because many lives were given in sacrifice. Those who live must be worthy of that sacrifice."
"Unfortunately, in my eyes, you are not."
With that, he released her and pushed her away. Ignoring the shocked, fearful, and stunned looks around them, Ryuji gave Hyuga Aoi a small bow and turned to leave.
With his back to her gaze, his expression remained calm as his steps carried him outward. The moment he stepped out of the Training Ground, the sound he had been waiting for rang in his mind.
A chime sounded, followed by a notice stating that his lie was judged as insincere and misleading, causing strong emotional fluctuation and self doubt in Hyuga Aoi, and granting him three hundred Reality Points.
"…Tch, that's slander."
The smile on Ryuji's face vanished as he muttered, "I am not capable of deceiving women."
After that joke, his eyes shifted and caught a familiar figure running out from another residence, a young face filled with resentment. It was Neji Hyuga.
"Oh, look at that," Ryuji said with a narrowed smile. "My protagonist has appeared."