Kotetsu couldn’t exactly just copy what he watched Emilia do. Their natures were practically opposites, so there wasn’t much in the way of overlap for him to learn. Emilia had thought about this problem for a while, and ended up introducing Kotetsu to the only other person in the entire clan with fire as one of their natures. As the elders had stated, everyone was forbidden from teaching Kotetsu. But, the elders could not stop Kotetsu from observing people. Day after day, Kotetsu sat a distance away from the old woman who he had met thanks to Emilia. The woman's name is Mayuka, and she’s known as the fire starter within the clan. Her tasks involved lighting fires wherever needed. The Hyuuga clan did not fight with fire, as it was too destructive, so her abilities were instead used as a utility for most of her life. Kotetsu watched in fascination as she lit the series of fires that resided in the cooking pits. Mayuka would gently move through a string of hand signs, then proceeded to stick her whole hand into the middle of the stacked logs, which would ignite and blaze to life in a matter of seconds, as if they were always burning like that.

  Her hand would always remain untouched by the flames. Kotetsu recalled the one time he had lit the broken piece of wood that was a gift from Solomon with his bare hand, dropping it afterwards due to it burning him. He could not ask questions though, as that was against the rules. He simply watched for a time. After a day of silently sticking to Mayuka's side, he went off into the forest toward his training spot, the crevice. He would find loose twigs and pile them up near the stream. Then, he would spend hour after hour trying to copy the movements he saw Mayuka do. He had days with no success. He would stop on each individual movement, looking at his fingers, trying to recall the exact placement. Emilia would stop by every once in a while and train in the crevice as well. He had to move his pile of sticks away from the stream as she would cause splashes of water to spray over him.

  On some days, he felt as if he was getting nowhere, and would instead move to physical training. Emilia had walked down to the crevice one day to find Kotetsu manually widening the stream with a shovel he definitely didn’t ask for permission to use. She sighed as she watched him, covered in wet mud and dirt from neck to foot, as he jumped back and forth across the new gap. The gap had been widened to 7 feet, then 8, then 10, until Kotetsu hit a rock and violently cursed at it after breaking his shovel, using all the adult words he could think of. On other days, he would go and sit with Mayuka, watching carefully as she went through the hand signs again and again. He noticed she would go slower sometimes when he paid close attention. After over a month of studying Mayuka, and endless days of trial and error, a spark finally came up out of the sticks.

  —

  Tomoji Hyuuga is one of the elders of the Hyuuga Clan. When Masato had shown up with that child one night those years ago, insisting to let the boy stay with their clan, he had vehemently refused. But, the other elders relented at Masato's insistence, and the boy was allowed to stay and grow in their village. A spy in the making, Tomoji thought. After casually observing the boy grow up over the years, he stayed firm in his belief that keeping the child was a mistake. One day, Masato approached the elders, asking to train the boy in preparation for him to officially join the clan. Tomoji had stood his ground, stating that the child was not of Hyuuga descent, and therefore is forbidden from being taught by any member of the Hyuuga clan, which the other elders agreed upon. The fool Masato had found a loophole by sending his son to teach the boy instead. Now, with the son tragically dead and the boy left alone, it would only be a matter of time before Masato would see the errors of his ways, and the clan could rid itself of the child.

  But, to Tomoji's astonishment, he found the boy growing regardless, learning indirectly by observing the members of the clan. Worse than that, those that were observed did not stop or disregard the boy, nearly breaking the rule by allowing him to observe their work. Tomoji did not enjoy his authority being undermined by such petty actions. He brought the flagrant rule breaking to the attention of the other elders, who all dismissed him and the problem as an over exaggeration. After months of watching the slow burn insurrection, he finally had enough and went straight to Masato.

  “Masato. We must speak immediately.” Tomoji began, walking up to Masato.

  “Ah, elder Tomoji. I am glad you have found me. Care to join me for a drink?” Masato said cheerily.

  “There is no time. That adopted child of yours is causing distractions for our people. I need you to reign him in.” Tomoji accused.

  Masato froze, and turned a careful look at the elder.

  “Are you implying that my son is hurting the clan in some manner?” Masato said in a calm voice.

  “Your… ‘Son’ is being disruptive. You must confine him to your family tents. This is unacceptable behaviour, and if I witness him being foolish, I will not hesitate to reprimand him personally.” Tomoji said defiantly.

  “Bring me the people he has supposedly distracted, and I will reprimand him myself. He knows not to bother our people. I must be going now, elder.” Masato spoke, his voice becoming clipped. He turned and walked away.

  Tomoji cast a stare at the back of Masato's head that could burn a hole through wood.

  —

  Months passed by in the blink of an eye. Kotetsu developed a solid routine of training, training, and more training. Emilia had marked a piece of the crevice off for herself at one point, bringing over large dead trees and setting them up in a strange sort of bridge over the stream. When Kotetsu's curiosity felt like it would bite his own head off, he finally asked her what it was one day. She explained in a cryptic manner.

  “Hop on up there and find out for yourself.”

  Kotetsu knew it was a bad idea the moment she suggested it. But, he went up regardless. Shortly after, he found himself in the bottom of the stream after getting struck with a miniature tsunami, Emilia cackling from above. When Kotetsu got up out of the water and stumbled back up onto the ‘bridge’, she stopped laughing and simply smirked at him. Another wave of water came. Then another. Each one was varied in size and shape, and Kotetsu did his best to dodge the waves. He hardly stayed atop the bridge for long, usually getting knocked off by the third or fourth wave. His longest streak was seven waves, which ended in him almost falling down the crevice when the eighth wave nearly smashed the wooden logs themselves.

  Their training continued individually when they weren’t messing with each other. Kotetsu could not fight like a Hyuuga, no matter what he tried. It was infeasible since he did not possess the Byakugan. But, the only people who were around for him to watch were Hyuuga, so instead of trying to fight like a Hyuuga, he simply trained to fight a Hyuuga. It was a difficult process, considering he couldn’t actually spar with anyone in the village. After watching his sister dismantle opponent after opponent on the training fields for days on end, something began to crystallize in his mind. He worked on the idea for months. After coming up with something he was confident in, he decided to test it out. After doing this, he was pretty sure the elders would try to exile him, so he had to get the most out of this one time.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  —

  Gakuji and his friends had established their own little zone on one of the inner fields. They would come here to hang out in between assignments and clan duties. They were playing their special version of Janken, when Kotetsu walked up to them. It had been a little under a year since the first time the group had messed with Kotetsu. The group of boys backed up upon seeing Kotetsu, surprised at the sudden intrusion. Gakuji smirked down at the boy.

  “Looking to jump out of another tree? Or are you just here to stare, like you do with everyone else?” Gakuji teased. The group of boys all snickered.

  Kotetsu smiled back up at Gakuji. “I’m here for Janken. But, I want to go first again. And I have already given myself a dare.” Kotetsu said, looking straight up at Gakuji.

  The older boy considered for a moment. As he considered, Kotetsu held out his arm and a closed fist. Gakuji smiled.

  “Whatever. Let’s get this over with.” Gakuji dropped his hand in an open palm, yelling ‘Go’.

  Kotetsu grabbed the offered arm and pulled back, causing Gakuji to stumble. The older boy looked confused for that single second, staring directly into Kotetsu's still smiling face. Then, an elbow met the side of his head, knocking Gakuji out cold.

  The other four boys watched in stupefaction as Gakuji's body fell to the ground, knocked out. Kotetsu stood there for a moment, waiting, watching. One boy suddenly stepped forward, fists clenched, going right for Kotetsu. One fist struck out, then another, but each punch missed its target. Kotetsu took careful steps back, making sure not to cross his feet, dodging the heavy strikes as they came. Months of getting hit with cold water repeatedly had hammered home the importance of proper foot placement. After the fourth strike, Kotetsu darted in between the boy's open arms, jutting his open palm up and into the boy's abdomen. The first older boy made an ‘Oof’ noise and slumped forward clutching his stomach. They weren’t fighting like Hyuuga should. He needed to make them fight like Hyuuga, or else he wouldn’t get to test out his technique.

  Similar fates met the second and third older boys. They tried to come at Kotetsu with fists, and even one kick, but they were all met with palm strikes to the stomach, sending them keeling over. The fourth boy had an angry look on his face. Kotetsu watched as veins popped out along the boy's eyes, and his pupils were suddenly visible as pure white discs. He held out open palms in the form that Kotetsu had studied for months. Kotetsu felt an excitement building. Around the group of boys plus Kotetsu, a crowd of other children and some adults had gathered, all watching the spectacle. Most of the kids were murmuring, and Kotetsu even saw one bet get placed. The few adults simply watched. The final boy made the first move.

  “You’re gonna pay for that, moron!” The boy said before lunging forward.

  Kotetsu understood that the Hyuuga fighting style was a combination of things; their ability to see and attack the various weak points in the body, and their ability to see all around them. Combining these two styles resulted in an assault that was near impossible to defend against, or disrupt once started.

  Kotetsu believes he found a weakness, however. It may only exist in those that don’t fully understand their fighting style, but he planned on exploiting it anyways. Kotetsu imagined sunlight spreading across his skin.

  The boy stepped forward and jabbed one arm out, palm flat, aiming straight for Kotetsu's chest. Kotetsu reached up without hesitation and grabbed the boy's wrist in the strongest grip he could manage. Then, when the boy tried pulling the arm back while throwing out his other palm, Kotetsu stepped down with all the force he could manage right onto the boy's outstretched foot.

  Kotetsu's foot came down and made a resounding crunch right on the boy's toes. He let the wrist go, letting the boy stumble back. When the boy put pressure down on his leg, he screamed an octave too high and tumbled to the ground, clutching at his leg and foot. The adults in the crowd suddenly pushed forward through the kids, who were all jeering and yelling alternatingly. One adult put his hand on Kotetsu, softly pulling him out of the circle. Kotetsu didn’t resist as he watched the other adults inspect the downed kids. Both Masato and Syuka were gone for the time being, so Kotetsu was held aside. All of the adults saw most of what happened, however, and knew roughly that the skirmish had been the result of a game. The swiftness in which Kotetsu brought down the group of boys impressed the adults anyways, so they were not quick to reprimand him. That’s when Tomoji, one of the village elders, showed up.

  “What is going on here?” Tomoji snapped.

  The adults all quickly drew steps back until one was left, too slow to notice. She stepped forward, annoyed.

  “These boys were just playing. It is nothing.” She said, pulling up an overly respectful tone.

  Tomoji inspected the boys. He spotted Gakuji getting pulled up out of the dirt, shaking his head, and the boy that had his foot stomped. Tomoji's nostrils flared.

  “This is unacceptable. And, since Masato is not here to reprimand his animal, it is for the best that I do it myself.” Tomoji said, drawing himself up righteously. He began to walk in the direction of Kotetsu and the other adult.

  Emilia had been wandering through the tents, making her way to the supply area to grab a fresh set of blankets, when she stopped at a commotion over at one of the training yards. She made her way over, curious, as the other kids usually didn’t spar unless she was there to monitor them. When the scene became visible, she grew worried at first, almost rushing in to stop the fighting. But she hesitated and decided to stay and watch instead. She observed the fight unfold, Kotetsu clearly trying to bait one of them into using the Hyuuga fighting style. She wondered what he was looking to accomplish. She soon had her answer in the sound of a loud crunch and the sudden conclusion of the fight.

  Tomoji was a man on a mission, moving straight for Kotetsu. He was in front of the boy in a matter of seconds, reaching down and grabbing the boy's collar.

  “You are coming with me, boy. I will handle your punishment myself.” Tomoji spat.

  Before the elder could move away, a grip like rocks wrapped around his wrist, twisting and pulling his arm away from Kotetsu. The man instinctively released his hold on Kotetsu's shirt collar. He turned to look down into the stone cold face of Emilia. His face twisted in contempt.

  “Release me, girl. This boy has broken our rules. He is to be punished accordingly. I will punish you as well if you keep this up.”

  Emilia looked up into the man's face for a few long seconds. She contemplated twisting harder, wondering how much stronger he was compared to her. She knew she was easily head and shoulders over her peers. She had yet to face any adults beyond her parents, though. She released her grip.

  “Good. Now, I will take…” Tomoji began, turning around, only to find Kotetsu gone.

  “Where did he go?!” Tomoji demanded, twisting and looking about.

  All of the adults looked around in apparent confusion. The other kids in the yard were clearly busy not paying attention to the conversation. Tomoji turned to look back down into the face of Emilia. She gave him a slight smirk.

  “How are you going to order him around or punish him if he’s not an official member of the clan?” Emilia asked up into his face, before turning and leaving.