Upon arriving nearby, Mikoto Uchiha spoke up, "It seems a battle has already started."
The three of them were currently hidden among the high branches of a tree.
Holding their breath with rapt attention, their gazes were locked on a clearing not far away.
The Uchiha team over there was like a pack of fierce beasts waiting for their prey.
The leader, Fugaku Uchiha, had not activated his Sharingan, but his aura was still powerful.
From her hiding spot, the more Mikoto Uchiha looked, the more handsome she found Fugaku.
His two companions, Uchiha Yatsushiro and Uchiha Yakura, could no longer hold back.
They were ready to attack at any moment.
"They're finally here."
Their prey had appeared!
A young man dressed in white, with the Hyuga clan's crest tied to his forehead, was slowly walking into the clearing.
His steps were light, yet they carried a profoundly discordant air.
It was not the steady composure of an ordinary Hyuga clan member, but a strange, almost chilling calm.
Fugaku's eyes narrowed slightly. "A member of the Hyuga clan, acting alone?"
Yakura and Yatsushiro exchanged a glance, the smiles on their faces widening.
They had already concluded that this was just a low-grade Hyuga student who had gotten separated from his group.
Minato Namikaze, however, was thinking, "Do we have a classmate like that in our year?"
The Hyuga clan member stopped, raised his head, and looked forward with a calm gaze.
"Fugaku Uchiha?"
"You only brought two other Uchiha? That doesn't seem to be nearly enough."
"What did you say?" Yakura sneered, his Sharingan flashing red.
"Since when does the Hyuga clan dare to be so arrogant? Do you think you're Hizashi or Hiashi!"
Before his words had even faded, his figure flickered and vanished.
At almost the same instant, Uchiha Yatsushiro charged in from the other side.
The two of them, one from the left and one from the right, moved like shadows at extreme speed.
Just as they were closing in on the Hyuga clan member, the latter shook his head.
"Too slow."
He murmured under his breath, his hands forming seals as fluidly as running water.
In an instant, the ground beneath his feet trembled slightly.
Accompanied by a gurgling sound, countless strange bubbles rose from the damp earth.
"Bubbles?"
From his hiding spot, Minato Namikaze frowned slightly. It was the first time he had seen a Hyuga clan member use Water Release.
The bubbles seemed light, but they floated in the air with a peculiar fluctuation.
They slowly dispersed, blanketing the area above the battlefield and reflecting a faint, iridescent sheen.
Uchiha Yatsushiro and Yakura stopped their movements almost simultaneously.
"Something's wrong! There's a problem with this stuff!"
But it was too late.
With a soft pop, a single bubble burst, and a pale purple mist instantly spread out.
The chakra in their bodies was being drained away!
"My chakra..."
Yakura gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
"What is this?!"
In the center of the clearing, the Hyuga clan member slowly raised his head.
His Byakugan was no longer pure white, but was gradually taking on a faint pink hue.
Minato Namikaze's pupils constricted from his hiding spot.
The next moment, a wisp of purple, poisonous mist emanated from the Hyuga's body.
Its aura was even stranger than poison, carrying the stench of life-corroding decay.
Fugaku's intuition screamed in alarm. He abruptly took a step back.
At the same time, his Sharingan fully activated, its two tomoe spinning.
"Yatsushiro! Yakura! Retreat!"
However, the poisonous mist had already spread. The two stumbled, their faces rapidly turning purple.
They fell to their knees, their breathing chaotic. Though their red eyes were still flashing, they no longer had the strength to fight back.
"Young Master Fugaku... be careful, he's no ordinary Hyuga!"
Yatsushiro managed to speak with difficulty, but was left gasping for breath.
Fugaku stared at the strange Hyuga clan member opposite him.
"Who exactly are you?"
The Hyuga clan member smiled.
It was not a human smile, but more like the expression of some cold-blooded creature.
"I am, of course, a member of the Hyuga clan."
He slowly extended a hand, gathering the strange Foam Chakra in his palm.
"It's just that you Uchiha seem to have always had a slight misunderstanding about the Byakugan."
"A misunderstanding?" Fugaku's voice was low, his Sharingan glinting with a dangerous light.
"You think the Byakugan is only for seeing through things, for reconnaissance, and for defense."
The Hyuga clan member chuckled softly. "But the true Byakugan represents the very origin of the Shinobi World."
As his words fell, the bubbles on the ground all vibrated in unison, transforming into a spiraling torrent of water that churned upwards.
Within it, specks of chakra light flickered faintly, as if they were devouring the energy from the air.
Fugaku's expression turned completely grim.
"Getting serious, are you? Young master of the Uchiha clan."
He raised his head, his hands forming seals as he spoke in a low voice.
"Let me see the power of the Sharingan, its true potential."
Instantly, the bubbles in the air shattered.
From his hiding spot, Minato Namikaze took a deep breath, glancing at the worried Mikoto Uchiha and Kushina Uzumaki.
It seemed they had gotten involved in something incredible.
How could a member of the Hyuga clan be so strong?
The two faced each other from a distance.
Fugaku instantly released the ocular power of his Sharingan.
But at the very moment their gazes met, Fugaku's pupils suddenly trembled!
He felt a sharp pain in his mind, as if a foreign power was surging upstream along his line of sight, viciously striking his spiritual world.
It was an ocular power backlash!
He let out a muffled grunt and staggered back a step.
"This is impossible... The Byakugan can actually counter the Sharingan?!"
Fugaku raised a hand to his forehead, blood trickling through his fingers.
The Byakugan user, however, remained composed, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"So this is all the young master of the Uchiha is capable of."
His voice was cold and contemptuous as he took a slight step.
The next second, his figure abruptly vanished!
Before Fugaku could fully recover, a sharp pain erupted from his abdomen.
The Byakugan user had appeared before him, kicking him squarely in the stomach!
Bang!
Fugaku's body was sent flying, crashing through several thick trees before coming to a stop. He was left half-kneeling on the ground, his chest heaving violently.
The Byakugan youth walked forward step by step, nonchalantly dusting off his sleeves.
"This is the genius of the Uchiha? Not even a chance to fight back."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was filled with piercing mockery.
The next moment, he stomped his foot down, pinning Fugaku firmly to the ground with his sole pressed against his abdomen.
In the treetops far away, Mikoto Uchiha's face turned deathly pale at the sight.
"Brother Fugaku!"
She was about to rush out but was stopped by a hand.
Minato Namikaze's expression was calm, his gaze locked on the situation below.
"Don't move."
"The fight isn't over. Fugaku hasn't lost yet."
Mikoto bit her lip but stopped herself from moving.
Kushina, on the other hand, clenched her fists, her entire body's chakra surging. "That guy... he's so arrogant."
On the ground, Fugaku panted, the Sharingan in his eyes still spinning.
He stared intently at the Byakugan youth standing on him.
"You... underestimate the Uchiha."
His tone was low, laced with a dangerous fury.
Just as the Byakugan youth was about to apply more force!
Two bursts of fire suddenly cut through the air from the left and right!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Uchiha Yatsushiro and Yakura roared as they charged out from the sides.
Two scorching fireballs, like suns crashing to the earth, instantly dyed the entire battlefield crimson!
The Byakugan youth frowned and abruptly raised his hand.
Boom!
The flames engulfed the area where he and Fugaku were.
Under the intense heat, the ground was scorched black and trees exploded.
But just as the flames were about to die down, Fugaku's figure in the firelight suddenly dissolved into a puff of white smoke!
The real Fugaku descended from the sky.
His two-tomoe Sharingan glowed with a crimson light, his hands having already completed the seals.
Countless flames gathered in the air, forming four burning fire dragons.
They lunged towards the ground from different directions simultaneously, creating an intersecting vortex of fire!
The flames blotted out the sky, nearly swallowing the entire forest.
Amidst the inferno, the Byakugan youth stood completely still.
A strange, inhuman smile appeared on his face.