Alone and Infinite

[Executioner, your follower Kurozumi has been affected by Orochimaru's experiments, gaining +1 to his strength.]

[Executioner, your follower Kurozumi has been affected by Orochimaru's experiments, increasing his maximum chakra by 50.]

Li Xia inexplicably closed the notification box.

Since yesterday, Black Charcoal has been sending out notifications from time to time.

Sometimes it's a detriment, sometimes it's a gain, but overall it's more of a gain.

After thinking for a moment, I opened the team channel, adhering to the principle of being sparing with words and absolutely not letting Dog Hall earn an extra point.

Li Xia: ?

Black Charcoal: Meow!

Li Xia: Hmm

Awoo, who had been lurking and watching the chat the whole time, was completely bewildered. Wait, was its cat language proficiency level 10 fake?

It can recognize the sound of a meow, but how does the boss understand the written word "meow"?

"I don't understand either."

Li Xia calmly looked at the curious Aowu and said:

"However, there's no need to understand it. If there's an unexpected situation, there's no need to save Hall Points. Just explain the situation clearly."

Sending only a meow indicates that Heitan feels there is nothing to report.

Since that's the case, there's no need to investigate further; things will become clear once we meet.

Oh, so that's how it is?

Aww was shocked, but surprisingly, he found it quite reasonable.

After the brief call ended, Li Xia returned to the training ground with Aowu.

At this moment, Hyuga Neji and Hinata were resting under the shade of a tree.

Hinata Takayuki quietly explained the key points of Gentle Fist that they hadn't understood that morning.

"grown ups!"

Upon seeing Li Xia, the three of them quickly stood up, their eyes filled with indescribable respect.

The man in front of me was simply a monster; he had learned most of the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist in just one morning.

How terrifying is this?

Li Xia casually tossed over a few bottles of frozen Naruto-themed cola.

"Filial piety, soft boxing. Let's stop here for now. You have a lot of work to do."

"Yes! Thank you, sir!"

Hyuga Takashi lowered his head, a hint of gratitude rising within him. As a Jonin, his mission was indeed very heavy.

Especially recently, he was on duty guarding the village, so he's basically off duty now. It's okay if it's only for a short time.

If it goes on for too long, the village will definitely punish them.

Watching Hinata Takashi's figure disappear, Awoo asked curiously:

"Boss, aren't we going to learn Soft Fist anymore?"

Li Xia, the Gentle Fist Master, sighed.

When he first started learning, he had high hopes for Soft Fist.

The more he listened, the more disappointed he became. The so-called Gentle Fist was just a method based on the Byakugan to strike the enemy's chakra nodes.

There are no special techniques involved, not even the legendary Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms that are touted as miraculous in the Hyuga family.

It is a rapid attack that involves continuously striking acupoints.

Simply put, it involves gathering chakra in one's hand, aiming at the chakra flow point, and then channeling one's own chakra into it.

It hinders the enemy's chakra flow.

Because the chakra flow path is different when a ninja uses different ninjutsu.

Therefore, without the aid of the Byakugan, it is difficult to hit accurately; this is the nature of Soft Fist.

But this is a gentle fist.

Li Xia rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit tense. His soft fist couldn't penetrate the armor or other protective gear to deliver chakra!

That's how useless he is!

At first, he didn't quite believe it, after all, it was a secret technique passed down by the Hyuga clan, it shouldn't be this weak.

After confirming it several times, Awoo delivered the final, fatal blow.

It went and looked up the original work—when Neji fought the Sound Four, it really was like that.

As for the Twin Lion Fist, it's the 'Gentle Fist Supreme Secret Technique' that adds chakra attribute transformation.

Li Xia's assessment was: all show and no substance!

The slight increase in attack range and damage from wrapping energy around your hands is less practical than wearing knuckle dusters.

The only thing that could bring Li Xia some comfort was the "Return to Heaven" technique in the Soft Fist style.

But it's only a little bit.

【Gentle Fist - Reversal of Fortune】

[Skill Type: Skill-based Active Ability]

[Skill Cost: 100 - ? ? per second (one-quarter of maximum energy, not less than 100 points)]

[Skill Cooldown: 5 seconds. Can be forcibly continued to be used. Each use increases the cooldown time by 500%. Can be used consecutively up to 3 times.]

[Skill Effect: 360-degree defense with no blind spots; forms a circular shield with a fixed defense level of 2 times the current level based on the energy consumed.]

[Return Defense Stats: Energy Consumption * Rotation Speed ​​per Second]

[Description: One of the Hyuga clan's secret techniques, hailed as absolute defense, but in reality, it's an extremely energy-intensive skill.]

[Executioner, this skill has been incorporated into your own skill set and can be viewed selectively; it is not listed as a separate skill panel.]

It has high defense, but it consumes a lot of energy.

After the energy is released, it takes a few seconds to calm down the body.

It is destined to be used only in emergencies and cannot be used as a regular skill.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Li Xia looked at the two still very young Neji and Hinata:

"Take a break, then start practicing with me this afternoon!"

Baguazhang, also known as Youshen Baguazhang, focuses on palm techniques and footwork.

In the constantly resetting derivative worlds, Li Xia teaches without any pressure. On the contrary, the process of teaching others allows her to thoroughly review what she has learned.

not to mention.

His gaze swept over the two of them. If nothing unexpected happened, Neji and Hinata would be summoned by Hiashi Hyuga tonight for a thorough interrogation.

And right now, someone is definitely looking at us with disdain.

That old bastard Riji is not someone to be easily fooled.

However, time is limited, only a dozen days in total, and I also have other things to do.

After careful consideration, Li Xia decided to use only a simple coaching method and 'energy'.

He looked at the two children sitting upright in front of him and slowed his speech, saying:

"What I'm going to teach is also Baguazhang, but it's completely different from the Baguazhang of the Hyuga clan. It's not a single move, but a whole system."

Li Xia adopted a stance, his fingers forming a palm, but not tightly closed; it had a somewhat open yet not quite open feel.

"Baguazhang has eight basic stances: double palm change, single palm change, following the momentum palm, turning palm, turning back palm, groin strike palm, body rubbing palm, and body kneading palm."

As he spoke, he demonstrated the moves, his hands flying around his sides, pushing, squeezing, pressing, and kneading, his body moving up and down like a ghost, giving a sense of agility just by looking at him.

"The footwork in Baguazhang should not be large. It should be like walking in mud and water. Be light, steady, and careful, and don't let the mud and water splash on yourself."

After finishing his fight, Li Xia straightened his stance and looked at the two people who were staring intently at him, asking:

"How much of the routine I just performed did you remember?"

Neji replied without hesitation, "I've memorized it all!"

Hinata, standing beside her, timidly whispered, "I've memorized it all."

You've written everything down?

Li Xia was taken aback for a moment, then realized that as a ninja, one's mental and intellectual attributes would not be low. Intelligence does not mean IQ, but it does provide a boost in certain situations, especially when performing dynamic memorization.

"You guys do it once and let me see."

Feeling relaxed and happy, Li Xia simply sat down under the shade of a tree and watched the two fight.

Neji slowly extended his hand, preparing to assume a starting stance.

'whoosh'

He felt a numbness in his thigh, and his body involuntarily swayed.

Then Li Xia's voice was heard: "Don't back down, raise your thighs, sink your hips!"

Neji looked in the direction of the sound and discovered that several small pebbles had appeared beside Li Xia at some point.

Just as I was wondering, I saw Li Xia pick up a pebble and flick it with his finger.

Hinata, who was not far away, also cried out in surprise.

"Raise your arms, but don't deviate from the midline, which is your spine!"

Neji was somewhat shocked. Throwing a pebble with that kind of force wasn't difficult; he could do it too. But it was only a pebble the size of a soybean that could be launched with such speed and force.

The power of those fingers is terrifying?

"Whoosh!"

Another pebble flew by, and Neji instinctively tried to dodge, but he found that the pebble seemed to have anticipated his movements and hit him squarely.

"Why stop? Keep going!"

"Yes!"

Neji dared not be distracted and began to slowly practice his punches according to the fighting style he remembered.

Every now and then, pebbles would fly over and correct their movements.

Neji remained silent, but Hinata next to him soon had tears in her eyes; it was unclear what the young girl was thinking about.

While crying, she continued to fight, which allowed Neji to see something different in Hinata for the first time.

As the sun gradually set in the west, Neji gasped for breath, sweat dripping down his face.

Practicing stances alone is undoubtedly tedious and boring. Every time he wanted to stop, his gaze would unconsciously drift towards Hinata.

Upon discovering that this person, whom he had thought was 'useless,' was still persisting, he swallowed back the words of rest that were on the tip of his tongue.

And so, until only half of the sun remained hanging in the sky, the dim, golden sunlight spread across the earth.

Li Xia said lazily:

"Alright, that's enough for today."

Neji finally let out a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Li Xia who was stretching, hesitated for a moment, and then said:

"Sir, is this kind of practice really useful? Why do I feel like it doesn't have any effect?"

Useless?

Li Xia glanced at him:

"Turn your eyes off it."

Neji was confused, but he still focused his chakra towards his eyes.

Roll your eyes, open!

The whole world turned black and white as he watched Li Xia walk to the giant tree.