"It's that crude brute again. He's a perfect match for that trash."
The Hyuga clan members tried their best to mask the disgust and disdain in their eyes. Although they looked down on Might Guy, they didn't outwardly stop him from entering the Hyuga compound. To do so would be a breach of etiquette for the Hyuga clan.
"Good morning!"
Meeting their gaze, Might Guy grinned, his bright white teeth gleaming piercingly in the sunlight. Ignoring the Hyuga members' dismissive attitude, Might Guy patted the dust from his clothes and strode in.
"Rooooar! Kawa, wake up, wake up!"
Skillfully making his way to Hyuga Kawa's residence, Might Guy shouted with passionate enthusiasm, "The horn of morning training has sounded! Youth won't wait for those who sleep in!"
"Come in, Guy-senpai."
Hearing the voice from inside the room, Might Guy grinned, mumbled an "excuse me," and entered the house. He didn't even glance towards the bedroom, heading straight for another room.
"Kawa, you're really at it again..."
Might Guy pulled open the door as he spoke, but the words caught in his throat the next moment. It wasn't because of the various training equipment scattered around the room, but because of the figure standing before the floor-to-ceiling mirror that covered an entire wall.
He was shirtless, hanging from a pull-up bar, with heavy iron weights strapped to his legs.
Click! Click!
Each time he slowly extended his arms and lowered himself, his position was incredibly precise, not off by a single hair, only pulling himself back up the moment his toes lightly touched the ground.
The reddish-orange light from outside the window, diffusing a hazy glow, fell upon Hyuga Kawa's slender, tall, and well-defined body, as if coating him in a faint golden radiance.
Might Guy also noticed the puddles of water beneath his feet, clearly accumulated from sweat, indicating that he had maintained this posture for a long time.
"Kawa, you..."
The experienced Might Guy was wide-eyed, watching Hyuga Kawa move up and down on the bar. He couldn't help but ask, "You haven't slept all night, have you?"
His upper body muscles were taut, veins slightly bulging. The muscles in his arms were like steel cables, intertwined and enduring the tearing strain of the weights; one could almost hear the muscles groan.
Hyuga Kawa didn't respond, and Might Guy didn't mind. Instead, he started to get excited. From his experience, he could naturally tell that Kawa's body was already nearing its limit, and he had even opened the First Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation.
Releasing the brain's limitations to achieve 100% of the body's physical capabilities, over-consuming bodily energy to boost offense and speed. Even so, his arms, legs, and every weight-bearing part of his body had reached their limit, and his once standard movements had begun to lag. Slower speed meant greater physical exertion, with every movement becoming an ultimate challenge for his body.
But that was youth!
How could youth ever stagnate!
However, as time passed, Hyuga Kawa still didn't stop. Might Guy's smile gradually faded, and his brows furrowed.
"If he keeps this up, he'll sustain hidden injuries," he thought to himself.
Even someone as crazy as himself, who broke his own limits every day, had to take medicinal baths daily to prevent hidden injuries. And Hyuga Kawa's current intensity was already too much; any more would be counterproductive.
"Ka—"
As Might Guy was about to speak out and advise him, the situation before him changed.
"Hoo."
Hyuga Kawa slowly exhaled a solidified white mist. White steam rose from his body. The flowing sweat was instantly evaporated by the high temperature—a result of accelerated metabolism causing his body temperature to rise.
Eight Gates Released Formation: Gate of Rest.
Releasing the physical fatigue limit, over-squeezing bodily energy to restore stamina, counteracting the fatigue caused by the Gate of Opening's energy consumption rate. In this state, every cell in Hyuga Kawa's body seemed to breathe. Power flowed like magma through his veins and bones, and his body temperature instantly rose to a scorching degree.
The limits of his physical endurance were shattered. The threshold for bodily collapse surged upwards once more. Hyuga Kawa's entire form stabilized again, and the whistling wind of his movements surged and roared like ocean tides!
Boom!
The heavily weighted straps finally hit the ground with a resounding thud, bringing the startled Might Guy back to his senses.
"Hiss!" He gasped as he looked at Hyuga Kawa, who was wiping sweat with a towel. But soon, an excited, joyous smile appeared on his face as he eagerly asked, "Kawa! You can already open the Gate of Rest?!"
Hyuga Kawa subtly raised his head, but meeting those eyes, Might Guy instinctively took a step back.
Those eyes...
Guy didn't get a clear look, only felt a stinging sensation in his eyes and blinked. When he opened his eyes and looked at Kawa again, the sensation had vanished.
"Guy-senpai, what's wrong?"
Hyuga Kawa seemed to be the same Hyuga Kawa, a harmless, gentle smile on his face.
"Ah, no, nothing," Might Guy scratched his head in confusion.
But soon, looking at Hyuga Kawa, he surprisingly shed two streams of tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "Kawa, your youth is too blazing! It's truly, truly so moving, sob sob! I must learn from you!"
"...Guy-senpai." Hyuga Kawa's expression was somewhat helpless. He could only smile and say, "Please wait a moment, Guy-senpai. I'll excuse myself to take a shower first."
"Mhm mhm mhm."
Seeing him nodding to himself and wiping his tears, Kawa picked up his clothes and entered the shower room.
Stepping into the shower, he took off his clothes and stood on the smooth tiles, reaching out to turn on the shower tap.
The showerhead made a faint "hissing" sound. Cold water flowed down his unbound black hair, over the shadow lines of his butterfly-like shoulder blades on his back, washing over his bulging muscles, gradually soaking his entire body. The water flowed like a stream through mountain rocks. The chill didn't cause him any discomfort; it didn't even lower his body temperature.
[Bloodline: Otsutsuki Clan (5% → 5.5%)]
[Bloodline Limit: Unknown - Stage One (10% → 12%)]
Glancing at his status panel, Hyuga Kawa lowered his head, slowly raised his hands, and clenched them. His bones cracked loudly, and the air gave a short burst of crackling.
Crunch!
Then, he exhaled, and his heartbeat and blood flow gradually decreased. The muscles and tendons, overheated from exercise, slowly returned to normal.
"I didn't expect the Eight Gates Released Formation could actually stimulate bloodline potential and improve bloodline purity."
Feeling the unfamiliar surge of power, Hyuga Kawa curved his lips into a slight smile: "It's like the shackles binding my body have been released. This feeling... is truly captivating."
His taijutsu training had never slacked, so his frame was lean but not bony. However, the muscles he had trained weren't perfectly symmetrical, much like some people who only train their upper bodies end up with an unbalanced muscle proportion. But after the Otsutsuki bloodline's transformation, Hyuga Kawa's entire body's muscle contours gradually harmonized, distributed in the most optimal way for exerting force, rather than looking impressive but being useless.
If his former self was a furnace constrained by flames yet still bright, his current self was a seemingly dormant yet magma-surging volcano.
Hyuga Kawa could feel that the Eight Gates Released Formation: Gate of Rest, which had been stalled for two years, was far from his current limit. Moreover, he could feel his eyes pulsating, just a tiny bit away from awakening their ability.
Terrifying, silent power lay hidden within those eyes. This was the power he had truly mastered and made his own.
"With this confidence, I dare to use lies to stir up the Hyuga clan!" A surge of impulse rose within Hyuga Kawa.
He didn't even consider using this power to steadily grow stronger; instead, he instinctively wanted to use it to leverage bigger lies, to deceive more and stronger people. Only then did he feel the joy of life.