Konoha’s White Fang Shines

Chapter 12: Taiji vs. Jūken

Kurenai couldn't refuse Genma's kindness and accepted his proposal to secretly train with the sword.

In fact, this could have started long ago. As a member of the Yūhi clan, one of Konoha's great families, pre-ninjutsu education was rigorous.

Techniques like shuriken throwing and taijutsu had already been practiced to a high level.

Therefore, seeing Kurenai tirelessly hitting the shuriken center and often getting her hands cut by the blades, Genma had made up his mind.

In these days of Genma's arduous training, Kurenai worked even harder.

Besides Might Guy, who often had bandages on his hands, only Genma and Kurenai remained in the class.

After school that day, Genma brought Kurenai to the playground.

"Come, hold it, hmm, gripping this hand, the other hand needs to move down a bit. Good, just right, eyes facing forward."

In fact, Genma and Kurenai had been a couple for a long time, but Genma had never hugged her, at most just touched her small hand.

But even just touching her small hand made all of Genma's cells cheer.

It's no wonder, as he had never held a girl's small hand before; it was very fresh.

Having spent almost every day and night together, Genma's changes were naturally noticed by Kurenai, but she didn't understand why Genma was so excited. Yet, when training with the sword, she didn't want to be distracted, so she just let him do it.

After guiding Kurenai through the first basic sword technique, Genma let her practice on her own.

Without the sword, Genma had to start practicing the well-rehearsed Taijutsu.

Taijutsu, unlike ordinary techniques where further improvement becomes difficult after reaching a certain point, allowed Genma to gain different insights every time he practiced punches.

He always remembered what his master said: while punching, contemplate the essence of each move.

Although he didn't have much combat experience, he still had many exquisite ideas.

Because Kurenai was beside him, slow-paced punching was naturally unsuitable, so his Taijutsu was several degrees faster than that of old men and women.

The soft-style punches, at an appropriate speed, with Genma's proficient understanding, gave a feeling of a martial arts master.

"Wow, what kind of punch is that? It looks really good~"

"Isn't that Jūken? Is that person from the Hyūga clan?"

"No Hyūga clan emblem, probably not."

While many people were amazed by Genma's punches, a boy wearing a white, loose coat with a prominent flame emblem on his back approached Genma.

The boy had pure white eyes without pupils, and his delicate features made his eyes even more noticeable.

"Hey, that person is the real Hyūga clan member. That flame-like emblem is their family crest, I've seen it before."

"Really? Could that guy without the Byakugan also be a Hyūga clan member?"

"Is that Hyūga clan member? He looks like a person from a great family~"

As the playful crowd stopped and watched Genma eagerly, more and more people began to observe. Genma, engrossed in his Taijutsu, finally noticed.

"What kind of punch are you practicing? Why does it resemble my Hyūga clan so much?"

As the boy approached, his tone was very unfriendly, but Genma didn't feel it and instead responded with a gentle smile, "Taijutsu. It is said that Taiji predates Jūken, and Jūken was created by drawing from the essence of Taiji. Taiji and Jūken are somewhat related."

The boy saw Genma's kindness and the nice way he spoke, so his tone softened a bit, "It is indeed somewhat different, but as you said, practicing Taijutsu like that would expose part of Jūken."

Such a question, Genma had never thought about before, after all, not everyone who secretly learned Jūken could become talented.

Especially in Jūken, the pinpointing of pressure points, which is heavily reliant on the Byakugan.

Ordinary people, to judge the pressure points through clothing, need at least ten years of immersion in studying the points.

Therefore, Genma didn't care about people secretly learning Jūken, nor did he think Taijutsu was ridiculously powerful.

Using an opponent's strength against them, "four ounces move a thousand pounds" is only usable against someone stronger than oneself.

Using it against someone much weaker is purely a waste of time.

"But others don't have the Byakugan. Even if you learn Jūken, what can you do?"

When mentioning the Byakugan, the boy seemed to get angry, as his family had a high success rate in activating their eyes, but even as a third-year student at the ninja academy, he still hadn't activated his own.

Now, without the Byakugan, being mentioned by someone who can perform Jūken-like attacks, his anger flared.

"Stop talking nonsense. Since you said Jūken originated from Taijutsu, let me teach you. But if you lose, you're not allowed to use this technique again."

Seems like the boy didn't intend to give Genma a chance to refuse; he immediately charged at Genma.

Kurenai, wanting to help with the sword, came up but was stopped by Genma.

"It's okay, this isn't the first time, I can handle it."

"But…"

Before Kurenai could continue, the boy was already in front of Genma, delivering a palm strike.

But Genma reacted quickly, squatting down and sweeping his opponent's lower body.

After all, the boy had been studying for three years, and a sudden side somersault dodged the attack.

"Good speed, but not enough."

The boy coldly shouted, advancing again, preparing for close combat with Genma.

Using Jūken in the most advantageous way is in close combat, where it's harder for the opponent's legs to execute techniques. The boy seemed to understand how to use his own strengths.

Of course, Taijutsu isn't much different; attacking while the opponent is trying to grab you was exactly what Genma intended.

The opponent seemed eager to defeat Genma, coming at him with palms.

Genma observed the attack trend, grabbed the boy's hand, and using chakra concentrated on his toes, dragged the opponent back quickly.

"Wow!"

The boy lost his balance badly, being directly dragged to the ground by Genma.

After doing all this, Genma let go of the opponent.

The boy, who had been knocked down by two moves, looked very unpleasant, with his teeth nearly splitting apart. Unexpectedly, the veins around his eyes suddenly bulged.

"Activated the Byakugan? It activated, hahaha, you little brat, you're facing me with the Byakugan now, surrender."

The Hyūga clan can indeed activate their Byakugan when provoked. Unexpectedly, it was at this time, making Genma feel a bit uneasy.

However, the boy's speed was similar to Genma's, and since the boy had just activated his Byakugan, he might not have used it to point out pressure points, so the outcome was still uncertain.

Compared to before's relaxed demeanor, Genma now was seriously adopting the starting posture of Taijutsu.

Seeing Genma's continued obstinacy, the boy charged again.

"You reckless fool."

Another palm strike came, but Genma clearly felt the air vibrating. This was probably due to chakra release combined with extraordinary speed; getting into close combat might result in disadvantage.

And Genma wasn't a rigid person. Knowing that his strength wasn't in Taijutsu, he began to fight and retreat.

While retreating, he used shuriken to harass the opponent.

After being chased once, as he retreated swiftly, he returned a shuriken to the opponent. Chased again, he threw another shuriken.

When chased a third time, he quickly threw a shuriken and rapidly formed a hand seal.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

"Wow, it's so hot, so hot."

The Great Fireball hit the boy accurately, but because of his clan's power, Genma deliberately aimed the attack at the lower part below the jaw.

"Huh~ that Hyūga clan person lost, feels so average~"

"Hearing that the Hyūga clan lost is really unexpected, who was the one who defeated him?"

The boy extinguished the fire himself and stood up like a beggar, many people began to point and laugh at him.

Realizing his speed wasn't faster than Genma's, continuing to fight would probably only result in being ridiculed again.

Looking fiercely at Genma, while enduring the pain in his body, he stood up.

"You wait, I will tell my clan about this. You wait and see, you'll be retaliated against."

Genma didn't feel any fear, as someone had done the same to him before, but nothing happened.

"Actually, before you, someone else also fought me because my fighting style resembled Jūken. Do you know Hyūga Hirome?"

"Hyūga Hirome? The boy who has already graduated, I heard his strength is almost reaching Chūnin. He's a rare talent in the clan."

But now, he had also activated his Byakugan. Being two years younger than Hirome, this boy would certainly have potential to surpass.

After patting the black and gray clothes off himself, the boy seemed to calm down, his eyes gaining more confidence.

Originally, Genma thought he would fight again, but unexpectedly, he turned around and prepared to leave.

"My name is Hyūga Hashiriko. I will surpass Hyūga Hirome one day. Also, you will inevitably lose to me."

Genma felt helpless; this Hyūga clan boy seemed a bit hot-blooded, and future days might be tough.

However, Hashiriko decisively withdrew, indicating he still had some sense of proportion. Although much weaker than Hirome, it was still not bad.

"Oh, by the way, Hyūga Hirome has also mentioned me to your clan, but your clan hasn't reacted. Also, if you want to challenge me, you can have one chance every day. Although I don't want to waste time, practicing against the Hyūga clan should be a rare opportunity."

The Hyūga clan didn't target Genma naturally because of Master Stre's influence. With various ancient secret techniques and the efficacy charts of silver needles for pressure points, the Hyūga clan almost warmly welcomed Genma and Master Stre.

At this time, Genma's attitude wasn't bad, but hearing Hashiriko's words, it almost sounded ironic.

"Hmph, I'll be back."

Leaving a harsh remark, Hashiriko walked away.

Having just witnessed Genma easily defeat Hashiriko, Kurenai's long-held anxiety was relieved, and she came over to Genma.

"Genma, you also fought against the Hyūga clan before. How did you win back then?"

"Ah, back then, actually it wasn't because I was strong, but because I had better stamina. You see, Might Guy's father used to train me insanely."

Genma pointed to Might Guy, who was running laps, suddenly recalling the days when Hashiriko chased him around.

Back then, being fast and having good endurance, his mind was unshaken.

Suddenly, he felt he needed to improve his speed more, as in the future, if he couldn't fight, escaping would be necessary.

End of Chapter 12