Chapter 7: Nagato Vs Inojin
Despite being a simple and friendly spar, both contestants were glaring at each other as if they were eternal enemies. The atmosphere was tense, filled with pressure, as both of them approached the spar with the utmost seriousness, treating it like a real battle.
"Ready... start!" Shino-sensei's voice commanded, and both of them shot toward each other like missiles.
Nagato summoned a kunai from his glove's storage seal, using it to block Inojin's sword with ease. He tilted the kunai to deflect the sword and then made a swift slash at Inojin. Inojin leaned back, narrowly avoiding the attack, which cut through a few strands of his hair.
Without losing his composure, Inojin swiftly sheathed his sword and planted his hands on the ground. He used the leverage to push off the ground, aiming his leg toward Nagato's face. Nagato leaned back, narrowly avoiding the kick. He seized Inojin's extended leg and threw him to the ground.
Regaining their footing, both of them exchanged smirks. The students were shocked to witness such Taijutsu mastery, The clan kids were mildly surprised.
The most surprised of all was Boruto, as his brother had never displayed this level of Taijutsu in their sparring and training matches.
"You're good," Nagato complimented his opponent as he took a stance, the Hyuuga clan's martial art, the Gentle Fist. "But I'm sorry, you're gonna lose."
Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on the feeling he got the first time he used the Byakugan, but he couldn't grasp it.
"Haha, that's something you would say," Inojin remarked as he also took a hand-to-hand stance, remembering his dad teaching him this.
'One final try,' Nagato thought as he once again closed his eyes and tried to feel the sensation from that time when he used the Byakugan, unconsciously sending chakra to his eyes. As he opened his eyes, his right eye turned a pure white with a small shade of teal color inside.
A small force was sent in front of him as he used the Byakugan, slightly sending the air reeling. Inojin couldn't help but shiver slightly as he gazed into Nagato's Byakugan.
The students, including clan kids and even the teacher, were shocked to see Nagato use the Byakugan. Boruto smiled; he had a hunch that he awakened the Byakugan when he saw that shadow, so he thought his brother might've awakened it too.
Sarada was not that surprised; he told her there was a possibility that he had the Byakugan too, but seeing it and hearing about it were different things entirely.
"Sorry, Nagato, but I'm gonna use my experimental scroll!" Inojin said as he unfurled a scroll and made a hand sign, "Beast scroll: Scorpion!" And a large, almost ten-meter-long scorpion appeared.
It had scales all over its colorful, graffiti-like body, and its tail was incredibly sharp. This caused another round of shock among the students, and even Nagato was surprised by this unexpected development. He also remembered that Inojin didn't possess anything like this in the show.
Even though it was incredibly huge, it also has its weak points and Nagato could clearly see that with his Byakugan, which made it easy.
Jumping away as the spot he was standing on a second ago was cracked by the scorpion's tail, Shino-sensei's voice rang in their ears, "Nagato! Inojin! The spar is over, so stop it!" Inojin attempted to use a hand sign to stop the scorpion, but it didn't seem to work, causing him to panic.
"Inojin! Don't panic now; I'll take care of it!" Reassuring Inojin, he leaped upwards and over the scorpion. It attempted to strike him with its tail, but he threw a kunai at its head, disappearing and reappearing while clutching his kunai.
Taking another kunai with an explosion tag attached, he hurled it into the scorpion's open mouth just as it tried to bite him.
Nagato vanished once more and reappeared beside a confused Inojin, placing his hand on Inojin's shoulder. Together, they disappeared again and appeared next to Boruto.
In the next moment, the scorpion exploded into a colorful spray of graffiti, showering paint everywhere. The result was that every student and the teacher ended up drenched in paint from head to toe.
"To the teachers' room after cleaning yourselves!" Shino-sensei's voice rang out in the yard once more.
Kakashi was reading his book atop the Academy's roof when he heard the commotion down in the yard. He observed the fight with keen interest, especially focusing on Nagato's use of Taijutsu and the Dojutsu he displayed.
Kakashi even witnessed the use of the Flying Thunder God technique again, albeit not from his Sensei but from his grandson. He couldn't help but sigh in admiration, recognizing Nagato as a true genius, which was quite a compliment coming from a genius himself.
He turned back to his book with a slight smile hidden by his mask, making a decision - he would take Nagato as his disciple and teach him everything he knew, well almost.
★
Hyuuga clan compound.
Currently, Hyuuga Hiashi was looking at his son-in-law as he arrived along with Hinata. He also brought his cute little grandkids with them.
"So, you awakened your Byakugan, huh?" Hiashi's sudden seriousness in tone surprised his grandkids, as he had always spoiled them. He didn't regret his past, but he would spoil his grandkids in place of their mother whom he couldn't spoil.
But it doesn't mean that he will not be strict and cold when the time demanded it of him. He will train his grandkids to be like Hanabi, strong-hearted individuals who can endure anything.
"Yes, I awakened it during the Academy, and I consciously activated it during my spar with Inojin," Nagato nodded and answered his grandpa's question seriously.
"Byakugan is good for you, but don't get complacent with that, there are powerful foes even Byakugan can't see," Hiashi said as he remembered Pain, Pain had destroyed the entire village in a single second.
If not for Naruto, a guy who was called a failure and was shunned by the whole village, who fought Pain and saved them, everyone would've died that day.
'I just hope that this generation will be peaceful and that it will last. I don't want them growing up in a war-torn place like the past,' he thought solemnly as he looked at the smiling faces of his grandkids.
If only he knew.
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