Hyuga Aokawa put away the Spirit Bow and drew a Kunai.
He rushed forward at high speed, bypassing the traps.
He charged up to Demon Forest's side, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
But he found it was no longer necessary.
Demon Forest's head was a bloody, pulpy mess; with injuries like that, he was dead beyond any doubt.
Forget treatment, even the Interrogation Division would have trouble extracting memories from him.
He focused his mind.
"Reishi Network!"
Silken ribbons fluttered around him, though they were far sparser than when he had used them back in the Village.
He grabbed one of them: "Dad's position hasn't changed. He's still there."
Hyuga Aokawa directly leaped over Demon Forest's corpse.
Following the direction sensed by the Reishi Network, he sprinted madly.
Shanlong Village.
Hyuga Fū was slumped against a wall, covered in blood and grime, his clothes tattered.
His arms hung limply at his sides, his forearms bent at unnatural angles, clearly broken.
His face was swollen around the eyes, his eyelids drooping heavily, but his gaze was fixed intently on the Daitu standing before him.
Daitu's condition was the opposite of Hyuga Fū's.
He was much cleaner, though the blood that occasionally spilled from his mouth when he smiled showed he wasn't in much better shape.
He grinned, his teeth stained crimson, and laughed.
"First time I've ever had my internal organs pulverized, nearly died."
"The Gentle Fist truly lives up to its reputation."
"But..." Daitu's grin widened, his eyes growing even more manic.
"In the end, I won. I can still move, while you..."
"Your arms are broken, you can't even stand."
"I defeated the Gentle Fist!"
Hyuga Fū's eyes were vacant. Hearing this, he suddenly let out a derisive snort.
"It doesn't matter anymore. My son has already escaped."
"Escaped?"
Daitu acted as if he'd heard a joke.
"You think a kid of his level could escape from Demon Forest?"
"You really are something else, aren't you!"
He roared with laughter, which agitated his internal injuries, causing another mouthful of blood to spray out.
"Damn it, that Gentle Fist technique is really insidious."
Enduring the excruciating pain inside him, he took step after step toward Hyuga Fū:
"Regardless, let me give you a dignified death."
He raised his fist, arching his body back to gather strength, preparing to deliver the final blow to Hyuga Fū.
Seeing this, Hyuga Fū also closed his eyes in despair.
Having fought until now, he had no stamina left to counterattack.
Being able to wound his opponent to this extent was only possible because he had fully leveraged the advantages of the Byakugan and the Gentle Fist.
And this was against an opponent who was also a taijutsu specialist, whose main strength lay in close combat.
If it had been someone else facing him just now, even just a Chunin, he would have had no advantage at all.
Just as the fist was about to smash into Hyuga Fū...
Suddenly!
Daitu sensed something fast as lightning shooting toward him.
Instinctively, he swung the fist he was about to throw toward that object.
Thud!
His arm collided with a beam of light.
The light dissipated.
But he also felt a strange sensation in his arm; it went numb.
He instinctively looked down and saw that his entire right forearm was gone.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed something flying away. Focusing, he saw it was precisely his missing forearm.
He stared blankly at the semi-circular, bloody wound where his upper and lower arm met.
He was a bit slow to process it.
A wave of intense pain followed, making him howl.
"Ah..."
"My hand..."
His breathing grew increasingly ragged, coming in heavy gasps.
Enduring the agony, he turned to look in the direction from which the light had come.
He saw the little brat that Demon Forest had gone to chase, now standing quietly at the edge of the woods.
In his hand was a massive Spirit Bow, and he was staring coldly at him.
"Brat! You're not dead!"
"You actually dared to come back!"
Daitu gritted his teeth, pulling out a Kunai with his left hand.
He activated the Body Flicker Technique and charged toward Hyuga Aokawa.
A second arrow of light shot toward him.
He barely managed to deflect it to the side with his Kunai, but before he could regain his stance...
A third arrow of light was already upon him, striking him in the abdomen.
"Gah!"
Daitu staggered back several steps, vomiting a large mouthful of blood.
He looked down. His abdomen was a bloody, mangled mess.
If he hadn't specialized in taijutsu and trained his body year after year, making it stronger than an ordinary Ninja's...
That one hit would have killed him outright.
"You brat!"
He snarled, his heart filled with hatred.
But the distance between him and the brat was already beyond the throwing range of a Shuriken.
He could only activate the Body Flicker Technique again and charge forward once more.
After blocking yet another incoming light arrow, he finally closed within throwing range.
He hurled the Kunai in his hand with all his might, then pulled out several Shuriken and threw them in succession.
Just as the projectiles were about to reach the brat's face...
Hyuga Aokawa left behind an afterimage and vanished.
When he reappeared, he was once again outside the throwing range.
"Bastard!"
Severely wounded, he simply couldn't keep up with Hyuga Aokawa's speed.
He could only grit his teeth and give chase again.
He had already thrown all his projectiles; now he only had one Kunai left.
Gripping the Kunai tightly, after blocking several more light arrows...
He finally closed in on Hyuga Aokawa. With all his remaining strength, he thrust the Kunai viciously at Hyuga Aokawa.
Even injured multiple times, he was still a Jonin, a taijutsu specialist. His full-power strike was not something Hyuga Aokawa could withstand.
The Kunai stabbed hard into Hyuga Aokawa.
"Huh? The feeling is wrong!"
The next moment, Hyuga Aokawa's figure turned into a splash of water and scattered to the ground.
"Water Clone Technique?"
Daitu's heart skipped a beat. "That brat had that Spirit Bow in one hand the whole time."
"When did he form the hand seals?"
He turned his head to look. The brat was once again outside throwing range.
Damn it!
He cursed inwardly.
He turned, ready to attack again, but another light arrow shot toward him.
Daitu hurriedly slashed it away with his Kunai, then Body Flickered in front of Hyuga Aokawa.
But Hyuga Aokawa Body Flickered away again.
Then another light arrow came... Over and over. Every time he painstakingly closed the distance,
that brat would just widen the gap again, continuously firing light arrows with that bizarre Spirit Bow of his.
These light arrows weren't as powerful as the one that had taken his forearm.
But coming one after another, they were impossible to defend against completely.
The slightest lapse, getting hit by one, and even the toughest body would be left a bloody, mangled mess.
Finally, after being hit by another light arrow, he no longer had the strength to pursue.
He staggered back several steps and slammed heavily against the wall.
Hyuga Aokawa didn't approach. He just kept drawing his bow and firing arrows.
He kept adding wounds to the figure slumped against the wall.
For the final blow, Hyuga Aokawa gathered a bit of strength and fired a shot that struck the head, ending it.
Seeing the figure by the wall stop moving completely, he finally relaxed.
Panting heavily, he dragged his feet over to the stunned Hyuga Fū.
"Dad, how are you?"
"Why did you come back?" Hyuga Fū retorted.
"How could I just leave you behind?" Hyuga Aokawa replied with a 'why even ask' expression.
"What about the other guy?"
"Dead. I chased him into the woods and shot him dead with an arrow."
Hyuga Fū was very surprised to hear this.
That guy wasn't weak. Did he really die so easily?
Just as he was about to ask, Hyuga Aokawa spoke first.
"Can you move? Should I help you up?"
As he spoke, he moved to help Hyuga Fū stand.
"Oww, oww, oww! My arms, my arms are broken! Don't touch them!"
Hyuga Fū howled in pain.