Hyuga Genko quickly departed with his guardian Jonin, Hyuga Eiki.
Left behind in the middle company was Hyuga Tetsu, who had transformed into Hyuga Genko's likeness. He stood dazed in the clearing, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
It wasn't until the area was clear of others that Hyuga Natsu walked over with a smile, looking at Hyuga Tetsu with a strange glint in her eyes.
"What's wrong, Master Genko?"
"Blegh!"
Hearing Hyuga Natsu's light chuckle while wearing Hyuga Genko's face, Hyuga Tetsu felt no pleasure. He didn't feel the thrill of receiving special treatment from the girl he liked after swapping identities.
He just wanted to vomit.
He couldn't have imagined that the Main House young master—who usually acted so approachable, magnanimous, and kind—would reveal such a cowardly, sickening face once the mask was torn away.
"Gah! Blegh! Cough!"
Hyuga Tetsu clawed at the back of his throat, trying to force something up. He felt that if he could just throw up, he might feel a bit lighter.
But with only Military Rations Pills in his stomach to stave off hunger, he couldn't even produce a drop of bile.
It was then that Hyuga Tetsu realized the thing that truly made him sick... was himself.
It was the version of himself that had accepted Hyuga Genko's favors, the one who feared the Caged Bird Curse Mark, feared pain, and feared losing the status, dignity, and "respectable" job he had held until now.
"Hahahaha!"
However, as she watched Hyuga Tetsu's display, Hyuga Natsu let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Hyuga Tetsu, you look pathetic. Just like a dog."
Hyuga Tetsu looked up in shock. Seeing the girl before him acting so completely different from the image he had of her, he gritted his teeth.
"Natsu, you..."
Hyuga Natsu smiled thinly. "If it were Yu-kun, he definitely wouldn't be like you."
"He would resist. He would bide his time. He would hold a petty grudge with extreme care, and then he would survive pathetically, licking his wounds in the dark while silently gathering strength until, finally—"
Hyuga Tetsu jerked his head up and asked, "Finally, what?"
Hyuga Natsu simply gave a small smile. "I haven't seen that part yet."
Hyuga Tetsu stared at her, biting his lip as he asked, "So, you knew from the start? That's why you chose Hyuga Yu. That's why even his joining the Foundation was because of you—"
"There aren't that many 'whys' and 'becauses.'"
Hyuga Natsu shook her head and spoke calmly:
"Like you, I am someone who lacks the courage to change everything yet refuses to accept reality. But even people like us can hold onto hope. Since you've recognized your own mediocrity and cowardice, yet still refuse to settle for the status quo... why don't you think hard about what you can do?"
Hyuga Tetsu froze in place, raising his hands and examining them closely.
"What... can I do?"
His mind was a mess. He looked up at Hyuga Natsu with a pleading gaze, his voice trembling. "I—I don't know what I can do. I, I..."
Hyuga Natsu looked at Hyuga Tetsu with a satisfied expression, as if looking at a world-class hound.
"Just stay exactly like that."
"Yes, just like that. That innocent, lost look in your eyes."
"Just play the role of a hostage begging to be saved. When you are rescued, just tell them exactly what's on your mind, passionately and without holding anything back."
With that, Hyuga Natsu curled her lips into a smirk. She tucked her hands behind her back, turned around, and chased after the direction Hyuga Genko had gone.
Hyuga Tetsu instinctively shouted after her, "Wait! What are you going to do, Natsu!?"
Hyuga Natsu didn't answer.
But the look in her eyes as she watched the path Hyuga Genko had taken grew increasingly cold and sharp.
At that moment, high in the distant sky, two specialized smoke bombs were thrown into the air one after another, colliding with a bang!
Boom!
A thick red mist drifted upward over the forest.
The ambush perimeter set by the Hidden Mist was shaped like a giant megaphone.
When the decoy team at the "tail" of the megaphone confirmed that the Hyuga Clan Main House squad had entered the designated range, they immediately fired the signal flares.
The shape of the ambush perimeter rapidly shifted into an unusually long oval.
At this point, there were still two ways to escape.
First, the Hyuga side could break through the rear as a whole unit, retreating before the encirclement closed.
Second, they could immediately gather the elite forces of all three squads and charge in a straight line, tearing through the encirclement before the blocking forces in the rear could arrive.
Hyuga Genko chose the second option.
The moment the first Hidden Mist squad was discovered, he made a split-second decision to have Hyuga Tetsu act as his body double, while arranging for Hyuga Eiki to leave a Shadow Clone behind to maintain the illusion that he was still with the middle company.
As for Hyuga Genko himself, his first priority was instinctively his own safety. He immediately took Hyuga Eiki, the strongest Jonin in the group, to rendezvous with the front company to execute the "fast breakthrough" backup plan at any time.
While this choice gathered two Jonin and two Genin from the front and middle companies around him, it was unfortunate that his opponent possessed the Ransegan—the natural enemy of the Byakugan.
With the backbone capable of commanding and uniting the elites of the three squads running away before the battle even truly began, the entire situation descended into chaos.
It evolved into a disaster: the rear company caught up to the middle company only to find Hyuga Genko missing, causing morale to collapse. Meanwhile, under Hyuga Genko's frantic urging, the front company accelerated more and more until they were completely out of sync with the rest of the group.
Soon, the three squads began running in different directions within the encirclement.
They were like three billiard balls moving randomly on an oval table.
Hyuga Genko's capture had become inevitable. Under these circumstances, the best one could hope for was that with Hyuga Genko acting as a massive target to draw fire, a few people from the rest of the group might actually manage to escape.
On the other side.
Glancing at the red signal flare exploding in the sky, Hyuga Yu gripped his giant Japanese war bow, shouldered his quiver, strapped on his ninja sword, and let out a soft breath.
Based on the calculations from the glimpses of the encirclement he had seen with his Byakugan, the Hidden Mist had deployed at least ten ninja squads—roughly 30 shinobi—to capture the Hyuga Main House member.
Of course, the squads stationed at each point of this formation weren't exceptionally strong, mostly consisting of Chunin. However, they ensured that no matter which direction the Leaf ninja tried to break out, there would be someone there to delay them.
Therefore, outside of these ten squads, there had to be at least one elite "main force" squad dedicated to the actual capture.
It was like playing a game of Tag with incomplete information.
He couldn't tell how many "it" players there were.
He couldn't tell how strong they were.
But the only thing he was certain of was that the squad led by Ao of the Hidden Mist was one of them.
What role could Hyuga Yu, currently behind enemy lines, play?
It was simple.
He could coordinate with the squads breaking out and tear a hole in the encirclement in an instant!
He wanted to save Hyuga Natsu... and maybe bring Hyuga Tetsu along for the ride.
The enemy wanted to catch that unlucky bastard from the Main House, Hyuga Genko. So, as long as he didn't try to save Genko, he wouldn't have to face the most dangerous "it" player head-on.
The only problematic scenario would be...
If Hyuga Genko and Hyuga Natsu were together!
Hyuga Yu could only hope that Natsu wasn't stupid. Knowing in advance that he would be outside the village providing support, she should... make the right choice, right?
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