The Nameless Forest, battlefield.
After merely two exchanges, the clearing in the forest looked as if it had been swept by a Category 8 hurricane.
Everywhere were slash marks, remnants of flames from explosions, and ground shattered as if trampled by wild beasts.
"Tch..."
Kurisaragama frowned tightly, gripping the Longsword Nuibari by its tail and pulling taut its eerie net of thread-blades. Staring at the empty wire trap formation before him, he clicked his tongue in distinct displeasure.
Beside him, Murisakimu, who also found the situation somewhat troublesome, furrowed his brow and thought darkly:
"This brat is only twelve or thirteen years old, so how does he fight like a seasoned veteran who's been on the battlefield for over a decade..."
Their previously unstoppable coordination had been broken by Hyuga Yu using an almost suicidal method.
By just a hair's breadth, the Longsword Nuibari would have pierced straight through Hyuga Yu's head. But even under such extreme circumstances, he had successfully survived. What's more, he still possessed the ability to continue fighting.
This caused the two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to take notice, and they couldn't help but treat this mission—which they had assumed would be a sure thing—with utmost seriousness.
"This time, I'll take the vanguard," Kurisaragama said, holding Nuibari in a reverse grip and analyzing calmly.
"He's lost an eye, so his field of vision will be affected to some degree. But to be absolutely certain, this time you'll use Explosive Blade Technique: Splicing Burst Death."
"Take him out in one go!"
"Right!" Murisakimu nodded.
The two quickly regrouped and switched positions, taking their stances with Kurisaragama in the left front and Murisakimu in the right rear—a pincer formation. At the same time, they both turned to look in the direction where Hyuga Yu was located.
But at that moment—
From the ground, an urgent shout suddenly rang out:
"You two idiots, look at that guy's position... That guy... he's going to destroy the Main Family's eyes!"
"Stop him, quickly!"
Kurisaragama and Murisakimu both froze, then abruptly raised their heads.
What they saw was—
In that brief gap of less than ten seconds, Hyuga Yu had already moved to the Main Family Hyuga's side and, using an extremely crude method, forcibly gouged out a pair of Byakugan from that Main Family member's eye sockets.
"Damn it!"
Ao turned his head to the side, his pupils suddenly contracting. He thought Hyuga Yu was about to crush those Byakugan right in front of them.
However—
Completely contrary to the expectations of all four Hidden Mist shinobi present—
Hyuga Yu didn't say a word. Instead, he directly took the pair of Byakugan and, like assembling building blocks, stuffed them into his own eye sockets!
Ao blinked his eyes, immediately stunned in place. Then, he felt his scalp tingle!
Wait, do you think the Byakugan are hot-swappable toys?
Also, a Branch Family member seizing the Main Family's eyes—what the hell are you trying to do?!
What about your clan's Caged Bird seal? Activate it already!
"Wait!"
At that moment, the sensory ninja Kensuke, who had been slacking off and playing spectator this whole time, suddenly changed expression and urgently reminded them:
"That kid's chakra... something's wrong!"
Completely unaware of what had happened—having merely discussed their battle plan with his head down, only to look up and find everything had changed—Murisakimu looked somewhat confused as he shook his head. Like a college student spacing out during advanced calculus, he turned to the nearby "top student" sensory ninja Kensuke and asked:
"What happened!?"
"His chakra... changed from blue to cyan!"
"Huh? So what?"
"Also, his chakra fluctuations..." Kensuke's eyes widened as he spoke with a somewhat hoarse voice,
"They're skyrocketing exponentially!"
It was as if an entirely new world was approaching him through the haze.
As if the flower he had waited thirteen years for was finally blooming today.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, long buried in the depths of his memory, recited softly in his ear:
'Breaking with his past, consorting with the outcasts;
Overthrowing what is respected, approving what is forbidden;
When the soul becomes serene, peaceful, joyful,
The eyes shall possess depth, clarity, purity, innocence.'
The camel that had bowed its head for thirteen years—
When he opened his childlike eyes once more, he saw that his imprisoned self had transformed into a proud lion with head held high!
At this moment—
Hyuga Yu slowly opened his eyes—
His vision was a bit crooked, and he seemed slightly cross-eyed.
But—
Everything in his field of vision was unprecedentedly clear!
He could see every slender eyelash on Hyuga Natsu's face before him, her fluttering eyes shining with delight.
He could also see behind Hyuga Natsu the four Hidden Mist shinobi with grave expressions on their faces, their features filled with confusion, incomprehension, shock, yet brimming with killing intent.
Further away, at the farthest point his gaze could reach, on a tree, a caterpillar gnawing on leaves between the branches.
Everything, everything—
Was revealed in minute detail!
It was like an 8K movie playing at 0.5x speed, the colors so vivid that Hyuga Yu felt somewhat uncomfortable.
As if he had entered a different world.
And at this moment, on this dangerous battlefield,
He suddenly heard the blood-stained girl before him, smiling with a delicate tone, her cheeks slightly flushed, her crescent-moon eyes squinting—looking even more pleased than he was—congratulate him:
"Lion-kun, welcome back to hell!"
The next instant—
"That brat successfully suppressed the Caged Bird and seized the Main Family's Byakugan!!!"
Ao stared at Hyuga Yu with a face full of shock. He suddenly understood what this scene represented.
The trembling and fervor suppressed in the depths of his heart made him unable to care about his image any longer. Spittle flying, he roared with a trembling voice:
"Quick, Kurisaragama, Murisakimu, Kensuke!"
"Capture him!"
"Alive!"
"He must be taken alive!"
"With him, we Hidden Mist will have countless Byakugan! We'll have our own Hyuga!"
"With him, we can ignore the Caged Bird and seize the Byakugan of the Hyuga Branch Family!"
"With him, we can continue the Hyuga clan in the Hidden Mist!"
"We! We! We—"
"Could even win the Third Shinobi World War!!!"
Ao roared incoherently in frenzied excitement, bellowing furiously, his chakra—which had been stagnant and unusable within his body—even stirred by these emotions.
He waved his arms as if gripping a battle horn and blowing it with all his might!
As his words thundered down—
On the field, three fierce and frenzied gazes locked onto Hyuga Yu simultaneously!
Hyuga Yu took a deep breath, his expression slightly dark.
He finally responded to Hyuga Natsu at this moment, his tone heavy:
"Ah, yes. This place... truly is hell!"
As he spoke, while sensing the condition of his body, Hyuga Yu gave Hyuga Natsu orders without hesitation:
"Natsu, I'll count to three. When you hear 'one,' immediately flee from the south side I'm facing. When you encounter Root shinobi, tell them—"
"I've successfully circumvented the Caged Bird and completed the first case of Byakugan transplantation!"
Hyuga Yu asked calmly, "Are you ready?"
Hyuga Natsu nodded with a smile:
"If you do this, you'll be thrown right into the center of a maelstrom, you know."
Hyuga Yu didn't answer. He simply continued counting calmly while frantically mobilizing the chakra within his body that had unexpectedly surged due to the eye transplant.
"Three."
Hyuga Natsu raised her eyes, gazing at Hyuga Yu. She seemed to want to say something more.
But in the end, she only bit her lip, suppressed all the smiles on her face, and spoke in a cold voice:
"Hyuga Yu, remember to come home alive."
"Two."
"Also—"
"One."
The instant the countdown ended, three figures like evil spirits lunged forward with bared fangs and brandished claws!
Hyuga Yu's toes ground into the earth as he launched himself upward!
"—BOOM!!!"
The three words Hyuga Natsu spoke were drowned in the roar of countless explosive tags.
————
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