Naruto: Flash Reborn — Minato’s Second Life

Boom!

Blazing flames transformed into a massive fireball, roaring forward with visible waves of heat. Mikoto's Great Fireball alone had a diameter exceeding two meters—far more powerful than the one Yan Uchiha unleashed during his battle with Minato a year ago.

Mikoto never believed that Shuriken Jutsu alone could defeat Hizashi Hyuga and his Byakugan; that was merely a feint to keep Hizashi from closing in while buying herself time to form hand seals.

"What an amazing girl!"

Nawaki remarked admiringly, eyes gleaming. For someone her age to unleash such a large-scale fire technique, she was undoubtedly a genius.

A Genius Hyūga branch member skilled in Rotation versus a prodigal Uchiha girl—a clash of talents!

"I guess it's still a bit of a shame though," Nawaki sighed shortly after. "Rotation has long been hailed as absolute defense. The Great Fireball is only a C-rank ninjutsu—it might not be strong enough to break through Hizashi Hyuga's defenses."

Right away, Nawaki expressed regret again. Mikoto's tactic was excellent, but Rotation's defensive power was indeed formidable.

"True. However, even taking a direct hit from that fireball won't be easy for Hizashi Hyuga either." Minato's cerulean eyes narrowed slightly. Given Mikoto's background, her knowledge about the Hyūga Clan should rival Nawaki's, yet she proceeded anyway, so there must be a reason behind it.

Indeed, Rotation was strong—Minato himself wouldn't find breaking through it an easy feat at present.

Still, nothing in this world was absolute. Under Rotation's seemingly invincible defense came tremendous chakra consumption.

Forming a protective barrier via high-speed rotating chakra meant massive chakra expenditure. For Hizashi, sustaining such a state wouldn't last long.

To Minato's trained eyes, the previous rapid rotation was now clearly slowing down...

But if Hizashi dropped Rotation during the fireball strike, he'd basically be signing his death warrant!

Boom!

The colossal flame crashed into the rapidly spinning chakra sphere. Instantly, Hizashi's figure was engulfed by fierce flames.

"Did it work?"

This captivating battle had drawn the attention of everyone present—except for Sakumo Hatake standing calmly opposite them all, completely indifferent.

With his experience, he could already picture how this battle would end without even watching.

After successfully hitting the target, Mikoto remained vigilant, already pulling out several more shurikens in each hand.

As the flames gradually subsided, the swirling azure chakra reappeared in front of everyone, only now dissipating entirely—Rotation had broken. Meanwhile, Hizashi's breathing grew heavier.

"I expected him to survive that," Minato said without surprise. He had anticipated every move Hizashi made at this point.

Mikoto had forced him to keep up Rotation with nonstop attacks—attacks even the Byakugan couldn't dodge.

In Hizashi's current condition, even if Mikoto entered close combat, the effectiveness of Gentle Fist would be drastically reduced.

Yet Mikoto still intended to conduct a final test. She hurled the shuriken in her hand straight ahead while her hands rapidly formed a series of hand seals once more.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

A string of small fireballs surged forward, cloaking the shuriken she had thrown, heading directly toward Hizashi Hyuga.

"She's truly meticulous," several Genin murmured in awe. Although Mikoto was just a Ninja Academy student, her battlefield awareness surpassed theirs. In such an open space, the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique wasn't particularly powerful.

The reason Mikoto did this must have been to probe Hizashi's current condition.

Earlier, he had charged at her voluntarily and couldn't defend against her fast and tricky shuriken with his Byakugan alone. Now, however, things were different. Using his Taijutsu skills, Hizashi dodged Mikoto's flaming shuriken by moving his body swiftly through the air.

Still, his agility had clearly deteriorated. The last shuriken even grazed his arm. Fortunately, both his arms were wrapped in white cloth, so he didn't sustain any injuries.

To win, though, Mikoto needed to strike one of the two critical Chakra Marks on Hizashi's body. That meant she'd need to close the distance for hand-to-hand combat.

Nonetheless, her goal—to wear him down—had already succeeded. Even Hizashi's Gentle Fist might not be enough against Mikoto's Taijutsu in this exhausted state.

Carefully, Mikoto threw several more shuriken before dashing headlong at him. Her intention was clear: aiming straight for the mark on his forehead.

For someone like Hizashi who relies on Taijutsu, the chest is just naturally harder to hit than the forehead—purely because of how we're built.

"Has Mikoto won?"

Nawaki commented. Hizashi appeared to be in terrible shape. Yet for Mikoto, even after casting multiple C-ranked Ninjutsu techniques, her energy expenditure paled compared to the Rotation earlier.

Just as everyone believed Mikoto held victory within grasp, surprisingly, Hizashi assumed the opening stance of the Gentle Fist again—but this time, something odd began forming slowly beneath his feet.

"What is that?" Nawaki's pupils narrowed.

Without concern for the previous barrage of shuriken from Mikoto, Hizashi charged forward to meet her head-on, his hands striking out rapidly.

[Eight Trigrams Four Palms!]

His hands precisely struck two incoming shuriken, knocking them away with his palms.

[Eight Trigrams Eight Palms!]

Then, instead of slowing down, his hands moved increasingly faster, deflecting all the shuriken in one swift motion...

Moving far too quickly, Mikoto—who was charging toward him—had little time to react and could only engage him directly using Taijutsu.

At that moment, Hizashi's speed surged further, throwing over a dozen strikes in an instant and completely overwhelming her.

[Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms!]

His punches accelerated, reaching a speed that, according to Minato, rivaled the previous speed of the Rotation.

Finally, Mikoto could no longer withstand his high-speed assault. Her defenses crumbled, and in the next second, it seemed Hizashi landed dozens of strikes in rapid succession.

[Sixty-Four Palms!]

The attacks landed squarely on Mikoto, striking most of her upper body. The chakra mark (a symbol representing one's spiritual energy focus point) on her chest was directly shattered and collapsed.

The turnaround in victory and defeat occurred within just a few seconds. When the battle ended, Mikoto collapsed to the ground, while Hizashi, having just completed the Sixty-Four Palms, immediately dropped to his knees, both arms trembling.

"This kid actually pulled off syncing his Byakugan with the Sixty-Four Palms technique well enough to knock away Mikoto's shuriken... And Hiashi has even barely mastered empty-handed techniques. Truly, they're a pair of genius brothers..."

Hatake Sakumo let out an inner sigh as he looked toward Mikoto in the arena.

"Still, if that young girl had activated her Sharingan, she could've predicted Hizashi's movements. Her loss wasn't due to weaker strength, but to the rules working against her..."

The standard for passing was to destroy an opponent's chakra mark, which naturally favored the taijutsu style of the Hyuga clan.

In terms of pure power, these two young ones were nearly equal, yet when it came to combat awareness, Mikoto clearly surpassed them.

"All promising talents..." he sighed involuntarily, wondering how many of these geniuses would ultimately survive into the future...

...

...

<><><><><><><><>

Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!

~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!

<><><><><><><><>

~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!

patreon.com/Tansnovel

<><><><><><><><>