[Hyūga Honnō]

Hon hasn’t seen her in ages… not like this. Not in such comfortable conditions, succeeding the less than grievous demise of the previous heir who had caused him so much pain. Every time he thought about her, a delicate tone… a loud, delicate whistle from a well-crafted dragon flute echoed in his head. And with that, he began daydreaming of visions from the past…

They’d known each other since the Academy. They both had an interest in music – Hon enjoyed whistling with the flute, and Hitomi was like a phoenix who brought peace and prosperity through her erhu. Hon had very few, pleasant memories from the past as many of those delightful images were burned to ash by Urashi’s activation of this accursed seal on his forehead… but times had changed. And they were still changing – he just had to keep up.

That was why Hon had spent more time developing new Taijutsu than mastering more of the Main Branch’s Gentle Fist techniques that had been hidden away from the Branch members for centuries. It was like a silent protest, a rebellion by himself… that he would evolve the Gentle Fist far beyond the capabilities of the Main House.

But about Hitomi… nobody else could make his face grimace in bashful demeanor other than her. It was clear to him and his heart that she was someone special. He wanted to aid her in her new duties and her new responsibilities, and it’d have to start with something that every Hyūga was familiar with – sparring.

So he awaited her, but not at the flat grounds or inside a dojo… he waited for her right outside of the door to her private quarters. A little too eager to meet up with her again, unbeknownst to even himself. But they’d promised today’s spar to each other, if not for old times’ sake.

[Hyūga Hitomi]

Hyūga Hitomi

Most people would have been surprised to see someone standing outside of their private chambers without warning, even shinobi. Especially newly made clan heads that had a lot to prove and were teetering on the edge of a wider clan schism than had ever existed. Shigure's disappearance so soon after taking the clan's reins in the way he had meant that the Hyūga were still unstable, they hadn't reached any form of equilibrium and now someone who wasn't in the direct line of Urashi had been instated instead of his daughter. Not to mention the return of his niece who had been a possible alternative to Shigure back when they were kids.

Hitomi was on unstable ground and so she had turned to one of the few she knew she could trust entirely, besides her twin. 

That was why she had asked for Hon-nii to help her train and set herself up as the undisputed leader of the Hyūga, she needed to get stronger quite quickly or she was going to risk losing everything she had worked for during Urashi's reign and more openly since the man's death.

Which meant that she had briefly activated her Byakugan to see where Hon-nii was, and thus had her moment of shock in private where he wouldn't see. It was generally considered incredibly rude to activate the kekkai genkai and look at clan members, but it was technically permissable for the head so... she didn't feel guilty. Gathering up what energy she had, the young Hyūga stepped out and inclined her head to her older clanmate.

"Hon-nii, shall we head to the private training ground?"

Word Count: 272
Tags: Hyūga Honnō
Training: 1/8

[Hyūga Honnō]

Hon wasn’t the most expressive Hyūga in the clan. Mostly carrying heavy eyes, a heavy mouth, sort of hanging low on his face in a slight angle from sheer… burden. For a long time, he’d felt very burdened – and burdens weigh you down, no? Hitomi would know the feeling, too… for she, too, had been extremely burdened by the clan’s previous antics and current tensions. That was why he was here to help her with everything that he got.

His face… didn’t change upon Hitomi’s exit. Not upon her fair, white eyes, nor upon her black hair. Yet, Hon always felt some sort of weight gather in his chest upon thinking about her. Hopefully, he wasn’t feeling guilt about the time they’d spend invisible to each other…

And despite that… despite Hon’s absence… she called him so casually. An obvious member of her clan, her family. That was why Hon knew that everything would work out, no matter what she had in store. But enough about that.

"Mhm,” Hon nodded, diligently leading Hitomi out to the nearby training grounds that the clan’s compound had scattered around – flat grounds of smoothened, sandy ground that functioned perfectly as natural fighting platforms. Hon continued to step forward upon reaching the area, making space from his soon-to-be sparring partner before turning around, his dark-blue haori flickering in the gentle winds blowing over. "I’ll be your sparring partner today, Hitomi,” he stated, having skipped honorifics unknowingly, "Unfortunately, I… haven’t mastered enough of the Jutsus reserved for the Main House yet. Forgive me.”

Shigure was supposed to teach him the rest… but for now, he’d only mastered the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fist among the techniques of the Main House. "But I haven’t been slacking.”

[Hyūga Hitomi]

Hyūga Hitomi

Dressed in her far less formal fighting attire, Hitomi was a speck of colour in the usually monochromatic Hyūga clan, whose everyday attire, at least amongst the main family, was primarily whites and browns. She followed behind Hon-nii to one of the training grounds, a gesture with a handseal activating the fuuinjutsu that ringed the grounds and prevented others from seeing what went on within. Few had access to such techniques, but Hitomi now had the right to look through even the most restricted of the Hyūga texts.

And she didn't want any of her detractors to know what she was training, she couldn't show any elements of weakness.

Honnou's lack of honorific would likely have gotten him punished via his seal had he been speaking to many of the main family even a few months ago, but the ban on using the Caged Bird Seal had gone into place as soon as Shigure had taken the role of clan head, and reinforced by Hitomi's own declaration. She would not tolerate such a thing being used any longer... not that she was inclined to do something so cruel for simply using her name.

"I don't need you to teach me the Sōke techniques Hon-nii, I can work those out myself, but I need help practicing them and putting them into action. I've been the clan's chief medic for almost all of my career as a shinobi, but my taijutsu is not as advanced as others, and I don't want them using it against me now, not while my position of Clan Head is still so new," she admitted, stretching her limbs out and getting into a ready stance.

"And if you happen to learn some of the Eight Trigrams techniques while serving as my training dummy, well, surely that was an accident," she added with a slightly crooked grin of mischief that would likely transport him right back to their childhood.

"Hajime"

Word Count: 322
Tags: Hyūga Honnō
Training: 2/8

[Hyūga Honnō]

Ah… fair enough. Hon could 100% be a punching bag – it was one of his prime traits in the clan, after all, beyond the dark humor behind the statement. He liked testing himself against others, and having others test themselves against him. It was how he molded Itsuki into a highly skilled shinobi who could deal with Taijutsu specialists despite his shortcomings in the physical field.

As Hitomi took a stance, so did Hon – the latter’s stance started with both palms stretched forward, then one palm lowered to point down, while the other palm was raised above his head as his legs spread to solidify his stance. Hitomi gave him a sly grin that sent him years back into the past, reminded of the more carefree nature of his dear childhood friend… no, at this point, she was more than that. At least, deep within… but circumstances kept things as is for now.

So all Hon could do was as she beckoned. His limbs went limp for a brief moment, arms flickering with the wind, almost as if his form was turning into a transparent fog… and he advanced in a zig-zag formation towards Hitomi, making use of the Wind Step to appear like a phantom, much to the recognition of his undesired title.

However, his attempt was merely to close the distance and await Hitomi’s first strikes. She was the one who was practicing techniques, not him… he was merely here to watch and learn, and supply a training dummy. He wouldn’t make it easy, though – someone of Hitomi’s caliber would more than likely be able to pinpoint his physical location among the mirage-like movements within the Wind Step.

Jutsu(s) and SAs Active:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Fuippo [Wind Step]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: None
DESCRIPTION:
The wind step is a maneuver used to dodge many simpler attacks as well as intimidate the opponent. The user will move their body at high speeds while applying a layer of chakra over their body. When performed correctly, it gives their body the appearance of visible wind while also allowing them to attack from multiple directions, allowing them to multiple blows within a few seconds. However, the user still retains some small amount of visibility to the opponent which can cause them to be countered by someone with enough skill in fighting taijutsu users (have to be taijutsu secondary at least).


-----------------------------------------------------

Byakugan
Every member of the Hyūga clan possesses the Byakugan, and so does Hon – even though he’s a member of the Side Branch, his eyes are just as refined and honed to perform their duties as those of a Main Branch member. They grant him a near 360-degree vision around himself; the exception being a blind spot/angle at the back of his head through his optic nerve. When his eyes are activated, Hon can see through solid objects, pinpoint areas of interest around him in almost an instant and protect himself from stealth users who hide behind objects or simply attempt to sneak up from behind. A total range of 6 kilometers around him can be covered by his field of vision.

As other Byakugan users, Hon can see chakra in its pure form as white-greyish flares inside or surrounding shinobi and/or their equipment. He can see the entire Tenketsu system inside a shinobi’s body – along with every Tenketsu that they have down to terrifying detail. Hon's eyes are sharp enough to distinguish the chakra of two or more different people present, see through invisible chakra constructs, see if someone's caught under a Genjutsu, and tell if microscopic organisms are present by bursts of chakra escaping them.

Ninjyūken
Ninjyūken is a specialized branch of Jyūken that utilizes Nature Transformation by meshing it with the Gentle Fist Techniques. It grants Hon the ability to channel Elemental Chakra through his limbs and add a Nature Transformation into his clan’s famed Taijutsu Style – this is usually done by making good use of one's Chakra Control, which is already a requisite for mastering the Gentle Fist. For instance, this allows his ordinary Gentle Fist strikes to release small, electric charges from his attunement to Lightning Release Nature; each strike can cover the area in a loud, bristling sound akin to a hundred bees buzzing about, with electric discharges travelling in the air. If channeling other chakras, such as Fire Release or Wind Release, he can even leave burn marks or amplify the air cannon forces usually resulting from the techniques. This adds a wilder density to his Gentle Fist Style, sacrificing the secrecy of such soft blows with more direct firepower - it is easier to witness the damage and danger he holds when fighting compared to any other Hyūga.

Enhanced Aerial Combat
Hon excels at performing combat while extended midair, whether that be by jumping up in the air or falling from a tall place. It pays a homage to his great kinesthetic sense, acrobatic skills and great effort to be able to overwhelm his opponents, who often are not able to hit as hard while panicking about their missing footholds. While Hon cannot exactly fly, he’s an expert at meeting combat in the middle of tree-jumping, descending from great heights, or simply jumping above the heads of his opponents or forcing them up in the air – his homefield.

Enhanced Speed
Hon has been rapid and fast on his feet from an early age, and every Hyūga is aware that the Gentle Fist’s greatest strengths are its subtlety and speed. His movement speed is absurd, and it aids him both when travelling and when in combat. He’s extremely skilled at overwhelming or outpacing his opponents with blinding speed, always making sure to move faster than his foe at any point during a fight or attempt to do so.

Enhanced Chakra Control
Almost every Hyūga has learned a great deal of Chakra Control. Hon, like many others, has practiced the Gentle Fist for so long that his Chakra Control is incredible. With a limited supply of chakra, he can spend it with zero waste, and he can easily find out what amount of chakra is needed for a Jutsu in no time. This allows him, for instance, to use Tree-Climbing and Water-Walking for much longer periods of time compared to shinobi with the same pool of chakra (but less control of theirs), and it also grants his Gentle Fist Techniques that extra cutting edge and surgical precision in density that is needed to exploit the façade of its soft, almost painless-looking blows. It lets him channel chakra through objects and weapons with ease, as well - especially weapons who are already imbued with Chakra-Conductive or Chakra-Reactive materials.

[Hyūga Hitomi]

Hyūga Hitomi

Veins bulged around Hitomi's eyes as she activated her Byakugan, keeping it mostly at combat level rather than the far more intense close vision she used in medical examinations. Watching as Hon darted around the training field, Hitomi prepared herself to launch into her own attack, moving closer until she felt that she was within range to begin.

"Jūkenho: Hakke Sanjūni Shō!" she declared, normally she would never be silly enough to announce what she was about to do in a fight, but she was training with Hon-nii, and helping him to pick up the techniques of the Main Family at the same time, because there was no reason he shouldn't be able to learn them.

Suddenly leaping forward, the younger Hyūga lashed out twice "Hakke Ni Sho", another two strikes and then the attack speed began increasing "Yon Sho", four more times "Ha Sho", eight more "Ju-roku Sho", and finally sixteen consecutive strikes, "San-ju-ni Sho!" Adding up to a total of thirty two strikes, with the last sixteen all occurring within the same time frame it had taken for the first two.

Each of the strikes was aimed carefully at key tenketsu in his body, though whether he would be hit was a whole different matter. She was genuinely trying to strike him though, hoping to practice her aim with a target that was hard to track and hard to touch, while also demonstrating the perfect form of the technique.

As the clan head, she couldn't be less than perfect, lest the elders and traditionalists find enough fault to try and dislodge her.

Word Count: 264
Tags: Hyūga Honnō
Training: 3/8
Jutsu Used:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Hakke Sanjūni Shō [ Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palm]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
DESCRIPTION:
Essentially a simplistic version of a much more powerful maneuver of the Gentle Fist . However it seems to be quite effective on it’s own. It was born from the difficulty to perform the last sequence of its parent technique. It is used to close off the flow of chakra through thirty-two chakra points of the opponent’s Chakra Pathway System, eliminating their ability to use chakra for some time and make it difficult for them to move. This is done by delivering quick strikes to the enemy in a sequence.

[Hyūga Honnō]

Hon’s blurry form soon confronted Hitomi’s swift approach, finding himself suddenly standing within the Eight Trigrams. He could see the circles below him clear as day… and once a target was within range, the user could unleash the Hyūga clan’s mightiest sign of supremacy within Taijutsu. Hitomi’s declaration only further made that claim clear – he was facing the Main House directly.

With his veiny eyes wide-open, Hon intercepted the first two strikes with parrying palms of his own, but the true power of the Eight Trigrams presented itself as Hitomi kept accelerating her palm strikes. The first two palms were launched in a moment, and in the same span of time forward, four strikes were met by his palms. Once Hitomi released eight palm strikes in the same interval of time, Hon was hit directly – regardless of his physical speed and his years of reflexive training, such quick acceleration was almost impossible to intercept completely.

At this rate, it would’ve been necessary to employ a barrier, but Hon couldn’t draw any seals when at close quarters, and he wasn’t knowledgeable in the Palm Revolving Heaven. Therefore, his body flew back, lifting his feet off the ground at Hitomi’s thirty-two strikes at blinding speed – after flying a couple meters, he landed on his feet and forcefully braked his knockback, bending forward at the pain that surged through his chest…

But he quickly began doing something that Hitomi might’ve not witnessed in the clan before – with his two thumbs, he began pressing onto a couple certain Tenketsus on his chest. One located at the center of his diaphragm, and one located above his right pectoral region. "Tenketsu Myōshō…” he uttered in respect of her declaration from earlier – since Hitomi’s Byakugan was also active, she would see that two of the Tenketsus that Hon pressed onto with his thumbs began to open up again despite the resulting concealment from her Thirty-Two Palms. He sent chakra from his thumbs into the Tenketsus and forced them open… and the chakra ran through the other Tenketsus, forcing them open as well.

"I’ll be fine… I invented this technique to deal with many things,” Hon reassured his childhood friend before straightening his back, looking back towards Hitomi as he was surprisingly able to move yet. Perhaps it was because that not all of the strikes had landed, but it was nonetheless an achievement. Hon was actively challenging the Main House, and he felt like going further.

This time, Hon relied on his movement speed to launch straight forward, flickering through the wind while raising both palms to thrust forward at Hitomi’s center. That flurry of strikes reminds me of… Hakkeshū Shōha! Let me try it out. With the Eight Trigrams Sect Palm Wave as a start, he'd test out if he, too, had the skill to accelerate as fast as her, should this attack land.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Jūken: Tenketsu Myōshō [Gentle Fist: Tenketsu Mantra Palm]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
REQUIREMENTS: Byakugan, Chakra Control SA
DESCRIPTION:
This technique focuses on turning a simple, precise palm strike from the Gentle Fist into a skill that alters the flow of chakra within the Tenketsu being struck by it. By striking a Tenketsu with this technique, the user's chakra is poured into the target's chakra system via the microscopic Tenketsu like a 'pump', pushing the flow of chakra and accelerating chakra flow inside of the target. By doing so, the target's Jutsus require -3 less handseals than usual for the next 3 posts - capping at minimum 1 handseal for a Jutsu.


NAME: Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sect Palm Wave [Jūkenhō: Hakkeshū Shōha]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: N/A
HANDSEALS: 0
REQUIREMENTS: Chakra Control SA, Movement Speed SA
DESCRIPTION:
A combo technique that requires the user to be able to move with great speed. The Hyuuga uses a two-handed Gentle Fist attack as the initial blow on the opponent, then does the same for a total of five extra times from all angles while dancing around, before dashing in front of them and charging chakra within her palms and striking their foe with a palm wave. Unlike some other techniques from the Hyuuga clan, this technique aims at the chakra network to destroy the opponent's chakra, causing less internal damage in comparison.

[Hyūga Hitomi]

Hyūga Hitomi

She hadn't quite expected Hon-nii to be hit quite so hard by her strikes, having trained almost exclusively with Urashi until his untimely (as in, far too late) death, the newest clan head was used to being on the opposite end of any beatdown in a fight between clansmen, so for her strikes to be so successful was... an odd feeling. Watching him get back up and proceed to casually reopen his Tenketsu had her greyish-white eyes widen slightly.

"Ne... Hon-nii, you're going to have to teach me that trick later!" she declared, the hint of her younger self slipping out in the tone and wordchoice of that statement. This wasn't a Clan Head to a subordinate, or Main Family to Branch Family, this was a little sister who had seen an older sibling do something cool and she wanted to try it too.

Her attitude shifted back far more seriously as he struck out at her. Not able to recognise the technique that the older Hyūga was unleashing, Hitomi instinctively panicked a little, her arms coming up to spin around her in a blur, the Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō carefully shaped to avoid forming the far more damaging chakra blades that it was meant to, instead being used to form a web of defensive chakra that would prevent Hon-nii from making contact with her body. With her arms blurring fast enough to appear as though she had far more than two at any one time, she would be able to hold off the other's attack long enough to calm down.

"Ano, that was Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō," she said sheepishly after they had parted once again, "with your flexibility it's probably a really good one for you to pick up."

Word Count: 289
Tags: Hyūga Honnō
Training: 4/8
Jutsu Used:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō [Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms]

RANK: B

CHAKRA USAGE: Medium

CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu

DESCRIPTION:



A dual functioning jutsu in which the user creates a gigantic shield of chakra around them that serve a dual purpose: to defend them from attackers (to the smallest to the largest) and to deflect and cut the enemies. To create this shield they should emit strong blades of chakra while they move their arms precisely creating the strong net that creates the skin of the dome. The final creation will be that of an strong barricade that keeps enemies at bay while serving as an "absolute defence” effect similarly to one of it’s parents technique: The Eight Trigrams Revolving Heaven.

[Hyūga Honnō]

Flashes upon flashes of their younger selves continued to phase into the field. The more they fought, the more it felt as if time had truly turned backwards, reverting the two Hyūgas into their Academy class selves – a soon-to-graduate Hon along with Yusaku, being pestered by the ever-curious twins Hideki and Hitomi. Hon wouldn’t lie – impressing them once in a while with a new Fūinjutsu that he’d learned was… fun. There was something about achieving their awe above all else that drove him to do more.

But despite the eccentric friendship they shared at the Academy, a Branch member would always remain a Branch member. It was never allowed to grow beyond that… until now. Hon, for the first time in his life, felt the freedom to grow stronger, not just to protect the Main House, but to protect those he…

Her arms’ movement was… odd. He thought that she was applying, perhaps, that dome Taijutsu – the Eight Trigrams Palm Revolving Heaven, right? No, upon slamming his palm upon a solid surface, a wall-like net of chakra that had been weaved from Hime-sama’s fine-tuned Chakra Control, he realized that it wasn’t the correct Main House Taijutsu… but a new one. One he’d never seen before.

Against her blur-like movements, even when Hon attempted to palm strike the net multiple times, he was unable to find any weak spots – it was almost airtight, a perfect shield as some would say. It ended, instead, with his palm strikes launching him back from her, once again at a distance and still standing on his feet, but with sore palms that he began stretching out.

"… Shugohakke…” he pondered over her display. A sort of protective version of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms… there was something poetic in it. It protected the Eight Trigrams, the very symbol of the Main House, and yet it was wielded so efficiently by the clan’s current heir. He needed that technique… but would it require mastery of the offensive version first?

At least, he could try. Hon’s Chakra Control was nothing to scoff at, either… although not nearly as fine-tuned as Hitomi, he began taking a deep breath and concentrate. He saw it clearly – lines of chakra escaped the Tenketsus on their fingertips, continuously lingering in the air as airtight, steel-like webs. He began releasing chakra threads from his fingertips as well, but first after… elongating his arms, turning them soft and malleable like serpents.

Then, he flung them around his front, stretching his arms further until he could reach all around himself with them. He felt confident that he’d cracked the code…

…

HOW DARE YOU STEP INTO OUR REALM?

Whitened with shock, Hon stopped all of his actions and… froze for a moment. Turning around, he could’ve sworn that he heard his mother berate him with all her might, but… while some elders were discreetly paying attention along some curious youngsters, his mother was… uh… there she was. Sleeping, far away from this field. She couldn’t see him…

But he looked mortified for a brief moment, before resting a hand on his forehead to calm himself down. "Hitomi… sorry, I zoned out. Could you… show me that Jutsu again? I believe I can pull it off.”

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Nan Kaizou [Soft Physique Modification]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General] / Hijutsu
ELEMENT: N/A
DESCRIPTION:
Originally developed for spying activities, this technique can be done after some surgery and actual body modification. The user dislocates their joints then controls their softened body with chakra, allowing them to stretch and twist any part of their body at any angle, elongating and even coiling around their opponent. This can also be used to make the user's body more malleable and snakelike. People particularly skilled with the technique can utilize it for movement as well, being able to slither along the ground or wrap around a tree much like a snake.

[Hyūga Hitomi]

Hyūga Hitomi

For a moment it really had felt like they were kids again, Hon-nii still had the greater reach with his stupid long limbs, and Hitomi was feeling more free and relaxed than she had in quite some time, though it seemed that both of them were spooked out of it soon enough. Her by his unexpected technique and him by something that had him glancing around the area. Taking a breath of her own, the younger Hyūga also examined their surroundings, frowning deeply as she realised that there were some kin who were watching them.

It was rude to use the Byakugan on each other, and she flared her chakra in the direction of each person that she spotted watching them in reprimand, a little flash that would block out their view for a split second. That done, she formed a single handseal that activated the seals around the training area, blocking it from view with a shield of chakra specifically designed to do that. It could be seen out of, but not looked into, as this was the head's personal training ground.

She had forgotten she now had control over these seals.

Shaking her head slightly to clear it, the young woman let out a slight sigh and returned her attention to Hon-nii. "It's ok, I got distracted too, here, watch. Don't attack this time though as I will be using the combat version of the technique, and don't want to hurt you," she explained, taking the stance once more.

Gathering chakra into her hands, Hitomi began to move, her arms blurring into nearly nothing as she wove a net of chakra so carefully and so finely that nothing would get through it, her movements so precise that by the time an old 'thread' began to disperse she was already applying a new one. Honno would see that this time however the threads were more ribbon-like... no, more blade like, able to slice whatever they touched rather than simply block them like she had done before.

"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō serves as a defence, but it's a very aggressive defence," she explained as she wound the technique down and came to a stop, stretching out slightly to alleviate any tension, "do you see any points I can improve so far? I need to get better at Jyuken before someone challenges me..."

Word Count: 391
Tags: Hyūga Honnō
Training: 5/8
Jutsu Used:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō [Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
DESCRIPTION:
A dual functioning jutsu in which the user creates a gigantic shield of chakra around them that serve a dual purpose: to defend them from attackers (to the smallest to the largest) and to deflect and cut the enemies. To create this shield they should emit strong blades of chakra while they move their arms precisely creating the strong net that creates the skin of the dome. The final creation will be that of an strong barricade that keeps enemies at bay while serving as an "absolute defence” effect similarly to one of it’s parents technique: The Eight Trigrams Revolving Heaven.

[Hyūga Honnō]

… Thankfully, Hitomi was quick to reinforce the barrier surrounding the field, allowing them a bit more privacy than before. Hon was still confused as to what made him freeze up like that… he could’ve sworn that he heard the reprimand of his mother smash into his face, but apparently not.

Still, the sealing Jutsus that held up this barrier… it was definitely an old creation. And most likely, the one who maintained its existence was his father, so Hitomi’s mastery of the seals and their uses was brought forth by Hirohito’s cooperation. His father was actively supporting the new head… good. Hon was content with that.

Hon nodded and stood still, simply ready to watch Hitomi perform the defensive Taijutsu once more. Such a fine Jutsu… such fine-tuned control… they appeared like unbreakable threads of chakra in the air, very much akin to razor-sharp Ninja String Wires. But afterwards, she asked for pointers to improve her technique, which… Hon was genuinely struggling to find out. Cupping his chin, he thought even further as to what exactly she could improve, since she asked so sincerely… but…

Something snapped in his head. A realization. He simply let go of his chin and glared at her with a darkened hue over his eyes, stating: "… Your challengers will not be so kind, Hitomi. They will exploit any weaknesses you have… but there’s no point ruminating over such obvious things. I believe that’s something you need to work with.”

Yes… those words might as well have been aimed at himself – why was he so worried about the opinions of the remaining, ‘conservative’ Main House shinobi? Why was he afraid earlier? Simply put, to hell with their ignorant pleas for reversion, their ignorant complaints, their ignorant ways and their ignorant, simple worldview! Merely thinking about it caused Hon to freeze up – and he would’ve died then and there, just like that! Any enemy shinobi would’ve capitalized on such an opening! Simply put… the truth was…

"You think too much. Don’t think-" he revealed, both to his lifelong muse and to his humiliated self as he began swinging both arms out, "Simply do. Do before anyone else does – that’s how you get better! That’s how you get ahead of them! That’s… that’s what my old sensei taught me.” He had begun to produce a real, solid net of chakra around himself with his arm movements, releasing fine, thin lines of chakra from his fingertips and rebuilding those strings the moment his all-seeing eyes saw the threads weakening.

Then, he pushed both hands to each side, and the net spread out as a wave and dissipated. "Until your body can do it before you put your mind to it… let’s continue sparring. I will help make you stronger – bet on it.”

[Hyūga Hitomi]

Hyūga Hitomi

"I need to become strong enough with the clan's style that the more traditional members will respect me as head. I don't want us to end up violently feuding over the direction of teh clan," she admitted, frowning slightly to herself as she considered the older Hyūga's advice, looking at her hands for a moment in frustration, "I can crush a boulder with a single finger, but I cannot even complete the one hundred and twenty eight palm technique. I need to go beyond even that, I need to be able to complete the Eight Trigrams Three Hundred and Sixty One jutsu, only the truly foolish will contest me then."

She had been looking forward to expanding her medical skills now that she had broken free from Urashi's restraints, instead she was needing to bolster her clan based skills simply to alleviate the tension and derision she experienced from some of the more stubborn old fools. This was supposed to be Shigure's job, she was only meant to help, but then he'd vanished and left her to pick up the pieces. If she ever found him again she'd be giving him a piece of her mind.

Shaking her head slightly to break herself out of her thoughts on the matter, the woman got herself into a ready stance for the Gentle Fist, silently initiating the next round of sparring. She'd do this as much as she had to in order to get where she needed to be.

Word Count: 247
Tags: Hyūga Honnō
Training: 6/8
Jutsu Used:

SPOILER: Click to show

N/A

[Hyūga Honnō]

The traditionalists… were still being quite a nuisance, hard to accept the new changes in the clan. But these changes were brought forth by a victorious shinobi, Lord Shigure, and their patron had been executed. Battled his own son. And if they dared blame Lord Shigure’s ways… or Hitomi’s dreams…

Hitomi needed strength. Strength, skill, speed and precision that would completely overwhelm her adversaries and bring lasting peace, choke out the tensions in the clan and make the kids rest at ease once more. And with that, he’d have to help.

Hitomi reflected upon her current strength, indirectly calling attention to her Chakra Enhanced Strength – which Hon thought had already granted her a huge edge over the soft-bodied Hyūga. Nay, she knew better than anyone how terrifying their clan’s strength was, and she more than anyone else knew that a Kinjutsu… might not be enough to tip the scales. Their clan was a heavy one, and oh so proud were they of its legacy. Even the likes of Hon.

He took a similar stance for the Gentle Fist. No more words had to be exchanged between two life-long, kindred spirits – he was still adamant to wipe unneeded, panicking… mindsets away from her. To let this weight on her shoulders lighten, so that she could move faster. Sharper. And without restraint. Only then would her strength and skill explode in her favor… worries, fears, and panic all aimed to weigh you down, in the end.

His arms swaying around his front, gathering thin lines of chakra that were released from his fingertips, allowed him to manifest a chakra net that began bending into a hemisphere, bulging towards Hitomi’s direction. "I like this technique. When all the weight’s off your shoulders… then you can truly grow stronger,” Hon commented before charging in a straight line towards Hitomi, using the manifested net like a ram.

[Hyūga Hitomi]

Hyūga Hitomi

Hitomi watched as Hon began to mimic her use of the Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō, the man already showing a solid grasp of how it worked as he came towards her. "I like it more than Kaiten, more subtle, more controlled," she admitted, it having been the reason she had focused learning this one rather than the more common defensive jutsu of the main branch. She'd have to learn Kaiten properly now too... but not yet, for the moment it was improving her skills with the Jyuken, so that none could challenge her by the older laws of the clan.

Older laws Urashi had done away with, but that had become more relevant once someone not of his direct line became clan head.

As Hon came towards her though, she couldn't quite figure out a way through the technique he was using. Even with his rudimentary version of it, he was still a more skilled Taijutsu user than she was, and openings were closed off too quickly for her to truly take advantage of them. Perhaps the only real chance she had was to slip around behind him, where his less flexible nature would make it harder to reach spots at his back.

Darting towards the older Hyūga, Hitomi would skirt the edge of his defensive jutsu, her own attention looking for any point on his body where she could get a strike in, block a tenketsu or disable or limit his arms further, anything to get an advantage.

Word Count: 248
Tags: Hyūga Honnō
Training: 7/8
Jutsu Used:

SPOILER: Click to show

N/A

[Hyūga Honnō]

Hitomi aimed to move around his Protective 64 Palms in a flexible manner, visibly challenged by his quick grasp of the technique she introduced to him. And while Hon could tap into his Soft Physique Modification for evasion, he slowly admitted that it wasn’t the purpose of this spar – he aimed to master a Gentle Fist Technique, not his already inhuman flexibility. If anything, if he couldn’t adjust to Hitomi’s advance, then Nan Kaizou would turn into a clutch, a weakness rather than a tool to grant an edge in combat.

But he’d try his best to leave no openings. However, as Hitomi made her way around the edge of his Jutsu, she’d be able to spot that most of his focus was on the area above him, not around his legs. Hon was a frequent practitioner of aerial combat, so maybe it was a bad habit messing with his performance. Or maybe it was because he was genuinely having a bit of fun. Hitomi’s company always brought back pleasant memories, and he couldn’t lie to himself – couldn’t she just stick with him forever?

"… H-Huh?”

With widened eyes, he lost focus for a brief instance – while a net of chakra was over his face, it was also hiding a very rare presence of redness on Hon’s cheeks that he quickly tried to shake off, sealing his fate.