Malphegor
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HGBW: Ch. 22
🕑 Added 2025-03-03 01:32:08 +0000 UTC"What do you plan to do next?"
Hizashi looked at Tanaka, who was shorter and younger than him. Clearly, he was the teacher, yet somehow, he unconsciously placed himself in a subordinate position.
Facing a student who surpassed him in talent, strength, strategy, and ambition, he wholeheartedly admired him and was willing to follow his lead.
"Hizashi-sensei, if there were no Caged Bird, no main house, would you be able to command the branch house?"
Tanaka asked without hesitation.
If he wanted revenge without delay, if he wanted to turn the tables despite being at a disadvantage, if he wanted to overthrow the entire Hyūga main house in one fell swoop—he had to gather every possible ally.
And in his grand plan, Hizashi was the key.
From what he remembered, ever since Hizashi became the head of the branch house, he had been the one caring for the children of branch house members who had died in the Second Great Ninja War and during missions.
Within the branch house, countless people had received his kindness.
Because of this, he held immense prestige among the branch house, and that influence even extended to his own student.
"I may not be as gifted and talented as you, but I have lived longer than you."
"I wouldn't claim I could summon the entire branch house at my command, but I am confident that many would answer my call."
"Of course, all of this depends on the absence of the Caged Bird."
Hizashi spoke without a trace of arrogance.
He understood clearly that no matter how much prestige or status he held within the branch house, in the face of the Caged Bird, it all meant nothing.
"Is that so? Then that makes things much easier."
Upon hearing this, Tanaka felt reassured.
"Tanaka, I know your future achievements will far exceed anything I can imagine."
"I'm fortunate that, before you spread your wings and soar across the shinobi world, I can still offer you some small assistance."
"Whether it's me or the branch house, we are willing to place our bets on you."
"And whatever you plan to do, go ahead and do it. I will support you with everything I have."
"There is only one thing—do not destroy the Hyūga clan."
Hizashi suddenly adopted a serious expression as he gazed at his contemplative student.
As someone branded with the Caged Bird, he held only hatred and resentment toward the main house—there was no affection, no sense of belonging.
The only exception was his older brother, the one he had grown up with.
Yet, in front of the entire branch house, he had chosen to set aside his brotherly bond without hesitation, just as Hiashi had abandoned their relationship in front of the main house.
But the main house was one thing, and the Hyūga clan as a whole was another. The two could not be equated.
The Hyūga clan still mattered deeply to him.
"I promise you. I will make the Hyūga clan great again."
Faced with a teacher who had placed all his bets on him, Tanaka solemnly made his vow.
"Then that's good."
A hint of relief appeared on Hizashi's face.
It didn't matter what happened to him. As long as he could witness the rise of the branch house and the greatness of the Hyūga clan, he would have no regrets, even in death.
"Hizashi-sensei, there's something I need you to confirm for me."
Tanaka hesitated for a moment.
"Go ahead." Hizashi agreed without even asking what it was.
"Between your Revolving Heaven and Hiashi's, who is stronger?" Tanaka asked.
"If we are speaking purely about it, I am in no way inferior to my elder brother," Hizashi answered without a second thought.
Unlike the sheltered main house head who rarely stepped outside, he had fought his way through the Second Great Ninja War as the head of the branch house.
While he did not have access to the secret techniques exclusive to the main house, he was confident that his mastery of techniques like Revolving Heaven and Sixty-Four Palms was not only on par with Hiashi's but possibly even superior.
After all, Hiashi had honed his Gentle Fist within the safety of the clan, while Hizashi had forged his on the battlefields of the Second Shinobi War, carving out his skills with the lives of enemy ninja.
"Please show me your Revolving Heaven. This concerns the success or failure of our next move."
Tanaka understood one crucial thing.
The Op-Op Fruit seemed to grant him the ability to ignore the "hardness," "material," and "distance" of objects within the ROOM, allowing him to freely cut, rearrange, swap, manipulate, and reassemble anything inside. However, there were limits to its power.
Just like Law—before awakening his Devil Fruit—could slice through Vergo, who had fully hardened his body with Armament Haki, and even cut apart an entire research facility in Punk Hazard with a single swing. Yet in the battle on Onigashima, he was powerless against Kaido. Even after awakening his fruit, he still couldn't cut through Big Mom's body.
While the shinobi world didn't have Haki, it had something the One Piece world lacked—chakra.
So, he wasn't entirely sure if he could cut through a jonin of Hiashi's caliber when he used the Revolving Heaven.
Especially considering that it had been less than a day since he had eaten the Op-Op Fruit.
Given that battles between ninja were ultimately battles of intelligence, he needed to gather precise information about Hiashi's capabilities.
"Revolving Heaven!"
Hizashi was also curious to see the limits of his student's abilities. Without hesitation, he began rotating his body. Chakra surged like a rushing river, flowing through his chakra pathways and erupting from his tenketsu points.
As his body spun rapidly, the gushing chakra formed a high-speed rotating blue sphere, its range growing larger and larger.
Compared to Tanaka's Revolving Heaven, which had a diameter of barely three meters, Hizashi's fully powered Revolving Heaven expanded to an astonishing ten meters—almost reaching the limits of the ROOM's range.
Tanaka spared no effort, pushing the ROOM's range and intensity to their maximum.
His stamina drained like a flood, but in exchange, the ROOM's diameter surged from its usual fifteen meters to an impressive twenty-five meters.
Once the ROOM reached its critical threshold, he gripped a kunai in his hand and faced Hizashi, who was enveloped in the swirling chakra sphere.
With a downward swing, the kunai slashed through the air.
Of course, he had only targeted Revolving Heaven itself, without touching Hizashi in the slightest.
After all, within the ROOM's field, even if he sliced Hizashi into eight pieces, his teacher would feel only mild pain, and as long as the severed body parts were reattached afterward, there would be no injuries—he wouldn't die.
But he had no intention of cutting his teacher into pieces.
Crack!
The moment the kunai's motion halted, Tanaka saw it clearly.
The ten-meter-wide chakra sphere, like a slab of butter, had been sliced straight through by a red-hot knife.
One clean cut.
Hizashi, who had been spinning rapidly, froze mid-movement, his body and footsteps halting at the same time.
What… just happened?
His kunai never even touched my Revolving Heaven, yet it was severed in midair, completely bisected… and I wasn't harmed at all.
What kind of unbelievable swordsmanship is this?
Even the White Fang... I doubt his blade could achieve such a feat!
Hizashi stared at Tanaka in a daze.
He had always known his student was powerful, but he had never expected that, in addition to his time-space jutsu that had just effortlessly defeated him, Tanaka also possessed such astonishing swordsmanship.
Moreover, he had a gut feeling—Tanaka had held back.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just Revolving Heaven that got cut, it would have been him as well.
