Your Samehada Is Impressive, But Now It's Mine

The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, a taijutsu style utilizing the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, is a secret art pursuing ultimate speed and precision. Each palm strike corresponds to one of the body's thirty-two major chakra points. Thus, mastery of the Gentle Fist begins with the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, which can then be expanded to Sixty-Four Palms, One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, and beyond. Uchiha Ying had effortlessly mastered the Sixty-Four Palms variation of the Gentle Fist he'd learned from Hinata.

"It's useless. Without the Byakugan's insight, the chakra imbued in the Gentle Fist can't accurately target an opponent's chakra pathways, let alone seal their tenketsu." Itachi Uchiha parried Kurenai Yuhi's taijutsu assault while simultaneously critiquing Ying's Gentle Fist. A hair's breadth deviation meant a complete miss; it was nothing but for show.

"Hinata, is he right?" Though puzzled by Itachi's avoidance of genjutsu and ninjutsu, Kurenai was too preoccupied to dwell on it. Like her two students, her attention was riveted on Ying.

"Yes…" Hinata nodded, confirming Itachi's assessment. Yet, her Byakugan clearly saw each of Ying's Gentle Fist strikes land precisely on Kisame Hoshigaki's chakra points. Was Ying simply lucky, or were his eyes… No, no, Ying's eyes were clearly black. How could they possibly be the Byakugan?

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"No effect whatsoever?" Ying's surprise attack, a torrent of Eight Trigrams Palms, had connected with Kisame, forcing him to retreat, but failing to inflict any real damage.

"Impressive Gentle Fist. Even the Hyuga I encountered during the war weren't this adept." Kisame, too, was surprised to see a Uchiha wielding the Byakugan's signature taijutsu with such accuracy. Had he not absorbed some of the chakra directed at his chakra pathways and tenketsu, distributing it throughout his body, he would have been sealed.

"Perhaps with a bit more force, you could seal my tenketsu." Kisame, regaining his balance, offered a taunting smile. His power grew in proportion to the chakra used against him.

"Is that so?" Ying seemed unfazed by the apparent ineffectiveness of his attack. "But you weren't my target. It was…" His barrage of palms had not only interrupted Kisame's hand seals but also diverted his attention from the Samehada blade impaled in the ground. And now, the person closest to that sword was Ying.

"What? You intend to use my own weapon against me?" Kisame, far from alarmed by Ying lifting Samehada, displayed a predatory grin. Unlike other ninja swords, Samehada possessed a will of its own. If anyone but its chosen wielder attempted to use it, they would face its backlash.

"Indeed. Your Samehada is impressive, but now it's mine." Ying swung the massive blade experimentally, a similar smile spreading across his face. He anticipated Kisame's thoughts, but unfortunately for Kisame… After absorbing a fragment of Kisame's chakra, Ying now possessed chakra with the same signature, and he even understood how to wield Samehada.

"Samehada: Flying Chain Saw!" The blade's hilt extended and twisted like a chain as Ying swung it in a sinuous arc toward Kisame.

"What?!" Kisame's eyes widened in disbelief. *My Samehada isn't resisting him? It's actually attacking me? How is this possible?*

Before Kisame could react, the oncoming blade stopped mere inches from his face. *Bzzt…* One chakra signature is its master, but this other chakra signature is also its master… Samehada's rudimentary mind was utterly bewildered.

"Return." Seeing Samehada hovering menacingly over Kisame, Ying reluctantly retracted the blade. So, even with Kisame's chakra and having tricked Samehada into recognizing him as its master, the sword still recognized Kisame and wouldn't actively attack him.

"This is a grave predicament." Witnessing Samehada's docile return to Ying's hand, Kisame's composure finally fractured. He now understood how Itachi must have felt when his typically infallible genjutsu failed against Ying. Half of his combat strength resided in Samehada. If he didn't reclaim it swiftly, he might very well find himself on the receiving end of its bite someday.

"Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave…"

"Hold on, Kisame!" Itachi's voice cut through Kisame's hand seals. "Without Samehada, even transforming this place into an ocean will be futile. Allow me to deal with him." Itachi had noticed the amusement in Ying's eyes. Unlike before, when Ying had interrupted Kisame's hand seals out of necessity, he now seemed to be *goading* Kisame into using that particular jutsu. It was a trap.

"Tsk, astute observation. As expected of the prodigy who annihilated his entire clan at such a young age." Indeed, with Kisame's abilities, Ying could now merge with Samehada. If Kisame dared to flood the area, Ying would show everyone what a true tailless tailed beast was.

"Itachi-san, are you planning to use *that* technique? Your body…" Kisame didn't question Itachi's judgment but was surprised by his willingness to exert himself so drastically.

"We have no other choice. This must end swiftly." Itachi ignored Ying's taunt. He had eliminated the Uchiha clan for the sake of the Konoha Village, and his resolve remained unshaken. "Though it harms my body with each use, I will at least show you the true power of the Mangekyo Sharingan." Blood trickled from Itachi's eyes as an ominous chakra coalesced within them.

"Amaterasu!"

"Another dōjutsu?" Kurenai sensed danger and instinctively glanced at Ying.

"What the…?" Black flames, unlike any she had ever witnessed, suddenly erupted on Ying.

"Aagh!" Ying cried out, feigning pain. But just as quickly, his expression morphed into a grin.

"My apologies. You're bleeding; it felt disrespectful if I didn't react at all." Ying nonchalantly discarded his burning clothes, his body completely unharmed.

"That boy, always causing needless worry!" Kurenai stared at Ying's bare chest, silently berating him.

"Impossible!" Itachi was stunned. His Amaterasu had clearly targeted Ying's body. How had it only ignited his clothes? And even then, Ying should have been burned. Such thin fabric couldn't possibly have completely blocked Amaterasu's flames.

"I told you, your prized Sharingan is useless against me."

"No, you must have employed some sort of unique ninjutsu to evade my attack." Despite maintaining a facade of composure, Itachi was in turmoil. A Uchiha who hadn't even activated his Sharingan had neutralized all of his Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities?

*Cough, cough…* Whether from his weakened constitution or the shock, Itachi coughed up blood.