His sinews coiled like dragons, his muscles knotted like vines across his skin. With every breath, the ridges and lines of his physique grew sharper, more defined.
Satori Hyūga suddenly thrust his right hand forward.
A blow brimming with force sent a shockwave rippling through the air.
The surge of energy erupted like a shockwave within a short radius.
BOOM!
The opponent was caught off guard and blasted backward, crashing violently into the wall.
"This strength doesn't seem like something that could take down a Guard Ninja… Could there be another enemy?"
Frowning, Satori Hyūga stepped forward, one foot after another.
Though small in stature, he radiated the oppressive menace of a predator about to strike.
"Kondō! Are you alright?"
Another ninja hiding in the shadows saw this and instantly rushed out.
He was stunned by Satori's sheer physical might, as if witnessing something out of a dream.
Could this really be the same Hyūga clan known for the refined technique of Gentle Fist?
Witnessing Satori's skills firsthand, he dared not engage him in close combat. Instead, from ten meters away, he began hurling kunai.
Nine kunai hurtled toward Satori along bizarre, unpredictable trajectories, coming from every direction.
Wrapped around each blade were thin strips of light-yellow Explosive Tags.
Though Explosive Tags may seem unremarkable, their destructive power is formidable—capable of wounding even a Jonin.
If struck, even a Kage-level ninja would suffer considerable damage.
This was the fatal weakness of the high-offense, low-defense ninja system: they couldn't withstand normal attacks, and once injured, they bled like anyone else.
Thus, real battles among ninjas emphasized tactics, assassination, and doing whatever it took to win.
No matter how strong you were or how many techniques you had, if you carelessly got hurt, it meant you could be killed.
Flashes of fire lit the air like lightning, turning the ground into a warzone torn apart by explosions.
The battlefield was now pockmarked and smothered in smoke—an undeniable testament to the devastating power of the Explosive Tags.
"Did we kill him?" Bei Gongcheng scanned the smoke for Satori's figure while pulling up his teammate's body.
With such a loud commotion, the Konoha Police Force and Anbu were likely already alerted. If they didn't escape soon, they'd be trapped here.
As the smoke slowly cleared, a lone figure stood motionless within the crater, like an unshakable sculpture.
"What?! The Explosive Tags didn't work?!"
Bei Gongcheng's eyes widened in shock—his body froze for a split second.
He hadn't expected anyone to survive the explosion of multiple tags completely unharmed.
Normally, any ninja encountering an Explosive Tag would either dodge or pray for luck if they couldn't escape.
"Could this really be the strength of the Hyūga Main House?"
Unable to make sense of this impossible scenario, Bei Gongcheng attributed it to the abilities of the Main House.
The Hyūga Main House kept to themselves, shrouded in secrecy within Konoha. Few knew the true extent of their abilities.
In the ninja world, gathering intelligence was second nature to most shinobi. And when facing someone whose information couldn't be obtained, every ninja became cautious, terrified of a sudden downfall.
But facing an opponent who had just graduated from the academy, Bei Gongcheng felt like he was about to be crushed.
The boy's abilities seemed endless; his strength was overwhelming. He was matching two Jonin—men like himself—blow for blow.
Had he known this from the start, he wouldn't have taken on this mission at all.
Now that things had escalated so much, he doubted he could even escape.
This place was Konoha—the Village Hidden in Leaves—one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, the most prosperous and powerful hidden village.
Konoha was now at its peak. Though it hadn't yet reached the height seen later during the Third Great Shinobi War, it was still incredibly strong.
Many powerful veterans from the elder generation remained, while rising stars such as the Sannin and Hatake Sakumo were emerging.
"What? Thinking of leaving now?"
Satori Hyūga saw the hesitation in their eyes and smirked. He took out a Chakra Supplement and drank it.
As soon as it went down, his slightly drained presence gradually returned. His strength surged through his body, his muscles becoming increasingly defined.
Earlier, he had used [Rotation], releasing a surge of chakra from his pressure points, completely deflecting the explosion's force.
With both his chakra and physical strength replenished, once again, his power surged.
"Since you came here, stay."
"Two Jonin—I'll use you for some experiments."
High-quality test subjects like Jonin were rare finds. And these ninja had dared to come after him secretly—no one would object if he captured them.
His funds were growing steadily, and he'd already begun preparing his own laboratory. Their arrival was like a stroke of luck.
Even Orochimaru's supply of test subjects ran low, and Satori didn't feel right constantly asking for more—he had to rely on himself.
[Eight Gates Formation. Open!]
He raised his hand and tapped several points on his body. A shocking wave of energy burst forth from him.
The first four of the Eight Gates burst open in rapid succession—Satori's strength and speed saw a massive increase.
To any observer, it would have been clear that chakra was surging wildly within his body, being extracted and funneled into powering his frame.
"How can he be this strong? Aren't you just a seven-year-old kid?"
"This much chakra—is he already at the level of an elite Jonin? Could he possibly be a Jinchuriki?"
A terrifying realization hit both men at once.
According to legend, shortly after the Five Great Villages were founded, Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, had distributed eight Tailed Beasts among the other villages, leaving the strongest—the Nine-Tails—in Konoha.
Each beast was formed from unfathomable amounts of legendary chakra, possessing terrifying might.
Given the sheer amount of chakra this child possessed, perhaps he really was one of those legendary Jinchuriki.
Satori launched forward like a cannonball, hurtling toward them. Aware of others approaching, he wanted to end this quickly.
"Not good! [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!]"
"[Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!]"
A massive surge of wind-natured chakra blasted forward, trying to intercept Satori's charge.
But as the technique approached, Satori faced it head-on, clenched his fist, and drove it straight into the blast.
With a loud *boom*, the gale shattered apart.
The violent wind scattered in all directions, causing surrounding objects to rattle noisily.
Yet at the center, Satori Hyūga remained completely unaffected by the wind, his powerful physique as smooth and radiant as jade.
Facing the sudden earthen wall before him, Satori's chakra-infused body surged forward.
Dirt exploded outward—the earthen wall crumbled in an instant.
Satori's physical strength was comparable to steel. His entire body flew like a cannonball, closing in rapidly on the two escaping figures with crushing momentum.
"You're not going anywhere."
With a wide sweep of his hand, invisible waves of qi surged outward from Satori.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several small bursts of [A Flick of the Finger, A Surge of Qi] shot out like bullets, striking the two fleeing figures.
The greater Satori's physical strength and chakra reserves, the more devastating the power of each [A Flick of the Finger, A Surge of Qi].
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