"I also have a condition! If you lose, leave Hinata alone and don't bother her again!" Hyuga Hiashi sneered.
He didn't believe the boy in front of him could possibly be a threat. Even if Kaito knew the Great Ball Rasengan, how many times could he use it with the chakra reserves in his body?
So Hiashi agreed without hesitation.
"Deal," Kaito responded calmly.
He didn't hesitate—if he defeated Hyuga Hiashi here, the Hyuga clan would no longer interfere in his relationship with Hinata and the others. That alone would save a lot of future trouble.
On a nearby rooftop, Kakashi silently watched the scene unfold below and shook his head with a sigh. Others might not know Kaito's strength—but he did. Or rather, he couldn't figure it out at all.
If Kaito could take down Zabuza in a few moves, then Hyuga Hiashi didn't stand a chance. Not to mention, Kaito clearly had cards he hadn't yet revealed.
Knowing his personality, Kakashi was certain—Kaito wouldn't fight a battle unless he was absolutely sure of victory.
"Chief Hiashi... you've basically signed your daughter over yourself," Kakashi muttered under his breath.
"Boy! Prepare yourself!" Hiashi shouted, his hands snapping into motion.
With his palms extended, an invisible formation field expanded around him, covering the deserted street completely.
The range of it was several times larger than what Hinata could produce.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Palms! You're already in my range—you won't escape now!" Hiashi declared, his voice cold and confident.
His ten fingers flashed like lightning as he launched rapid, pinpoint strikes!
Chakra burst from his fingertips, like bullets flying toward Kaito's points.
This was Hiashi's modified version of the traditional Eight Trigrams technique. As long as his opponent was within the formation, he could strike with precision and even enhance his attacks through spatial manipulation.
But Kaito remained still. His right fist tightened.
Crackling.
Scarlet lightning crackled along his arm, wrapping it like a cloak of red thunder.
Without warning, he slammed his fist into the ground.
Boom!
The earth trembled violently, a quake-like force exploding outward from the impact point!
The street beneath Kaito shattered in an instant, web-like fissures crawling across the pavement, surging outward along with arcs of red lightning.
Chunks of concrete and stone burst upward from the street as the entire block buckled under the force.
Nearby buildings were annihilated by the shockwave, reduced to rubble in seconds.
Hiashi's chakra bullets were instantly deflected by the flying debris.
In the next moment, dust and debris filled the air, obscuring everything around Kaito in a thick, blinding cloud.
"What just happened? I can't see anything!" gasped one of the onlooking jonin, stunned by the destruction.
Whoosh!
A blur shot into the sky from the dust cloud—a figure surrounded by chakra, veins bulging around the eyes. Byakugan, fully activated.
"You think this smoke can stop me? My Byakugan sees through everything!" Hiashi called out proudly.
"Let's end this. Eight Trigrams – Vacuum Palm!"
His palms surged with chakra as a compressed wave of force shot outward, clearing the dust instantly.
But Kaito stood completely unfazed.
He smiled faintly. "Yes. Let's end it."
With a subtle motion of his hand, a massive red thunder dragon emerged behind him.
It radiated overwhelming power, its very presence distorting the space around it.
It roared silently, like an ancient beast from myth, and the air crackled with its approach.
Hiashi's eyes widened. The dragon opened its jaws—and devoured the incoming Vacuum Palm in an instant.
Kaito gave the command mentally, and the thunder dragon shot skyward like a flash of red lightning, then circled to strike.
Hiashi hovered in mid-air, without footing—and now, without a plan.
An ominous chill spread through him. His instincts screamed at him—danger.
Without hesitation, he funneled all the chakra in his body.
"Eight Trigrams – Rotation!"
A spinning chakra dome exploded outward, forming a solid barrier of energy.
Boom!
The thunder dragon collided with the barrier—and shattered it instantly.
Hiashi was blown backward like a ragdoll, crashing into the far side of the street—the only spot left untouched by Kaito's initial punch.
The entire exchange had lasted only seconds, too fast for most to even follow.
As the smoke and dust slowly settled, the battlefield was finally revealed.
A crater at least 100 meters wide stretched across the area, bottomless and seething with arcs of red lightning.
Inside the pit, red serpents of energy slithered and snapped, their sheer power making the air feel electric.
At the very center stood Kaito, unmoving, calm, completely unharmed.
Across the crater, Hiashi was disheveled and bruised, staring at the boy with a complicated expression.
In just two moves, the head of the Hyuga clan had been completely overwhelmed.
Even worse—Hiashi realized Kaito had been holding back.
The dragon's final blow had dissipated at the last second, clearly controlled. If Kaito had let it land with full force, there would be no Hyuga patriarch left to stand.
Looking into the crater and seeing the lingering red lightning, Hiashi's heart trembled.
Each bolt carried with it a threat far beyond normal chakra.
This wasn't just ninjutsu. It was something else entirely.
And for the first time in a long while, Hyuga Hiashi was afraid.
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