THUD!
Like a watermelon hitting the ground, red and white matter sprayed everywhere!
Hearing the panicked scramble and cries of the red-eyed brat just moments ago, and seeing the arrow that had pierced the thick mist—forcing the Kirigakure Chunin into his own strike zone—Hyuga Eiki realized instantly:
Someone was helping him!
Who was it? Why help him? To think there was someone in the shinobi world so skilled with a bow—a weapon rendered obsolete by the current era—and that they could use it with such mastery... how did they do it?
Questions rose in his mind one after another, but before Eiki could find an answer—
SWISH!
The sound of the bow rang out again!
The archer seemed to possess eyes just like his own, capable of seeing everything within the thick mist from an extreme distance. Furthermore, the stranger was using a method and rhythm he knew intimately to coordinate with him and guide him—exactly like the techniques trained within the clan to counter the Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai [the "Red Eye"].
In that moment, a strange, unspoken understanding was reached between the two.
Eiki proactively moved toward the direction of the bowshots. Three seconds later, he spotted another Kirigakure ninja within the mist attempting to dodge an arrow.
Seeing this, Eiki's heart jolted with joy. He lunged forward like a hyena released from its cage, closing the distance at high speed to unleash another strike of the most powerful Taijutsu of the Shippuden era: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!
"How... how did you know!?"
A startled cry rang out from the mist. Half a second later:
"AAAAHHH!!!"
With a miserable scream, everything returned to silence.
Currently, only one Kirigakure Chunin remained. He maintained the Hidden Mist Jutsu, hiding within the fog as a form of self-consolation, but after hearing his teammates meet their ends one after another, he didn't dare move an inch.
But it was futile.
SWISH!
Following another piercing whistle of an arrow, Eiki swung his palm and struck down the final Kirigakure Chunin.
As the heavy mist began to dissipate, only the Kirigakure Genin, Red-maru, possessor of the "Red Eye" Kekkei Genkai, remained on the field.
Looking at the completely one-sided scene and Eiki's figure becoming clearer as the fog thinned—his white kimono now stained with crimson blood—Red-maru's heart raced. He stood at a total loss, his mind a chaotic mess. He couldn't understand how, in less than half a minute, the situation had collapsed like a bursting dam. His Kirigakure side had held such a massive advantage, yet their attempts to resist now seemed utterly pathetic.
Just then—
Step, step.
From outside the thinning mist came the sound of steady footsteps.
Red-maru whipped his head around and saw a figure he would never forget for the rest of his life.
"It's you!"
"No... how is this possible!?"
In response to Red-maru's exclamation, the culprit who had rewritten the battlefield and caused three Kirigakure ninja to die at Eiki's hands slowly appeared. It was Hyuga Yu.
He carried a massive bow with a quiver slung across his back, stepping out from behind a tree with a calm expression.
Eiki had been wondering if a bow-loving Jonin from the Hyuga clan had arrived, but upon seeing Yu, he couldn't help but be shocked.
"Wait, aren't you that—"
Yu shook his head at him and asked in a low, heavy voice, "Never mind that. Where is Hyuga Genko?"
Eiki was so surprised that he forgot to correct Yu for addressing a member of the Head House by name. He immediately replied, "To the east, about 12 kilometers away. He should have already linked up with the vanguard of the escort team. Wait... Hyuga Yu, why are you here? I remember your transfer orders weren't until the day after tomorrow?"
"Let's deal with this guy first. We can talk about the rest on the way."
Yu shook his head at Eiki and turned a cold gaze toward the red-eyed youth standing exposed under the Byakugan of the three Hyuga clan members.
At that moment, Red-maru stared at Yu in disbelief. But quickly, the shock of 'how could trash like this kill me' transformed into a primal fear.
"Wait... wait..."
"You can't kill me! I'm useful! I have a lot of intelligence in my head!"
"I... I'm a member of the Scout Platoon. Big brother Ao thinks highly of me; he said he'd train me to be the future Captain of the Kirigakure Scout Platoon! Huff... huff..."
As he spoke, his breathing became ragged, and his face twitched uncontrollably. In this situation, the twelve-year-old's youthful face showed nothing but the instinct for survival.
Yu looked at the Kirigakure ninja who was roughly the same age as himself. Seeing the boy in such a pathetic state—fawning and begging after being so arrogant before—Yu felt nothing.
This was the shinobi world.
Ninja villages, originally established to protect children, instead forced them to take up blades and step onto the battlefield to kill one another for absurd reasons.
Yu was powerless to change this. Even his own path remained as elusive as a flower in a mirror or the moon in water. He could only force himself to constantly adapt and integrate.
Ultimately, he would become whatever version of himself was best suited to survive in this world.
"Indeed."
Eiki nodded, looking at Red-maru with indifferent eyes. He reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a kunai.
"It's time to end this farce. Master Genko still needs our assistance."
"Wait... WAIT!"
Terrified, Red-maru stumbled back two steps. He tore off the black cloth covering his eyes and widened them, instinctively driving his Red Eyes to their limit.
However, the effect of the Red Eye was meant to create chakra images within the Byakugan's vision to interfere with it—acting like a virus implanted into the enemy's ocular power to blur the information they received. It was a purely counter-measure ability.
Since the Hyuga members present were not currently using their Byakugan, this ability only served to let Red-maru see the murderous chakra surging within Eiki more clearly.
Yet, at that exact moment—
Eiki, who was stepping steadily toward Red-maru with killing intent, suddenly shuddered. Immediately after, an expression of utter disbelief appeared on his face.
Watching Eiki's back, Yu sensed something was wrong.
Acting faster than the other, Yu flicked his hand and condensed three Chakra Needles between his fingers, launching them at the nearby Red-maru!
Thwip!Thwip!Thwip!
The Chakra Needles pierced into Red-maru's body.
"What did you do!?"
Red-maru looked horrified. he felt something sharp flash past, stabbing into his temple, the center of his brow, and his hand. Immediately, the circulation of chakra within his body ground to a halt!
It was only then that Yu's eyes snapped wide, the veins around his temples bulging as he activated his Byakugan to scan Eiki.
Eiki's condition was extremely abnormal.
In the vision of the Byakugan, the chakra flowing through Eiki's meridians suddenly swelled, increasing by nearly a quarter. Then, that chakra—along with the chakra inside his Shadow Clone body—began to rapidly deplete. It was as if someone had attached a water pump to him, constantly sucking the chakra out and scattering it into the atmosphere.
This situation reminded Yu of a story Hyuga Natsu had shared with him after a mission last year.
She had asked: "Hey, Leo-kun, do you know what happens to a Shadow Clone if the original body dies while the jutsu is active?"
"It's terrifying. The chakra throughout the Shadow Clone's body vanishes within seconds. Then, the pain the original felt before death is forced onto the clone all at once. They let out a truly horrific scream."
"And then, POP!"
"And just like that, that person is dead to this world forever..."
Yu's pale pupils suddenly contracted.
————
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