At the very last moment of their lives, the two of them stared wide-eyed at Hyūga Akira, disbelief frozen on their faces.
They never imagined it would end like this.
Not at the hands of the enemy jōnin—
but by one of their own.
That kind of death was something no one could accept.
Their eyes remained fixed on Akira until the final spark of life faded away, faces locked in resentment and unwillingness.
And Akira received his reward.
[Experience +1563]
[Experience +1432]
"What a shame," Hyūga Akira muttered. "Just like that, my two neighbors are gone. Wonder if the new ones will be easier to get along with."
Suddenly, he turned his head toward a patch of grass nearby and grinned.
"Found you."
Within his Byakugan's vision, a figure was hiding in the bushes, both hands clamped tightly over his mouth.
The moment Akira looked over, the man burst out of hiding and ran.
Akira calmly looted the two corpses, sweeping their drops into his inventory.
[Nen Blade: +50–60 Attack, +10 Penetration]
"A Nen set piece," Akira murmured. "If I remember right, this thing has pretty strong Nen recovery."
It was a solid mid-game set—especially useful when energy regeneration became a problem.
[Exorcist Skill Fragment (1/10)]
Three fragments now.
Seven more to go.
After tossing everything into his inventory, Akira took off in pursuit of the fleeing chūnin.
The disturbance caught the attention of Sarutobi Naoshi, who was still locked in combat.
For a brief instant, his focus slipped.
A bee stung him.
His body dropped sharply as he hastily pulled an antidote pill from his pouch and swallowed it.
Hand seals flashed.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Technique!"
A torrent of flames burst forth, incinerating countless bees and forcing Murakami Hana to retreat.
Seizing the opening, Sarutobi Naoshi turned and chased after Hyūga Akira.
Murakami followed close behind.
Dense white mist poured from his body as even more bees swarmed out, the cloud growing thicker and more terrifying.
Under his control, the bees merged into a massive hand, reaching for Sarutobi.
Sarutobi twisted back and unleashed more flames, burning the swarm to ash again and again.
But in the Rain Country, fire-style users were at a natural disadvantage.
The constant drizzle weakened his techniques by nearly a third.
He wanted to rescue his comrades—but with his firepower suppressed and his injuries worsening, Murakami managed to keep him firmly pinned down.
Hyūga Akira glanced back and, for the first time, felt Murakami was somewhat reliable.
What he hadn't expected was that Murakami relied on summoning techniques.
It felt eerily similar to Konoha's Aburame clan.
"Why do people in the Rain Country love summons so much?" Akira muttered.
Hanzo had his salamander.
Murakami had bees.
Akira accelerated, closing in on his target. The chūnin ahead was slowing down—his injuries were catching up to him.
Akira's hands flew through seals.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Flame!"
He inhaled deeply and exhaled a blazing fire dragon that roared toward the fleeing shinobi.
"Tch—this jutsu drains a lot," Akira muttered as his chakra plummeted. He immediately downed a Low-Grade Mana Potion.
The fire dragon surged forward.
The chūnin turned back in horror—
and was swallowed whole.
"Boom!"
Smoke erupted.
A charred log disintegrated into ash.
But Akira's Byakugan was already locked onto the real body.
He dropped straight down.
The sensor-type ninja stared at him in disbelief as Akira descended.
"How… how can he pinpoint me this accurately?!"
It felt exactly like facing a Hyūga in combat.
Akira landed lightly, toes brushing the ground before he shot forward like an arrow.
The sensor ninja realized hiding was pointless and charged out with a kunai.
They clashed.
At the first exchange, the sensor was blasted backward by the sheer force transmitted through Akira's blade, flipping and sticking to a tree trunk.
"So much power…" he muttered, chakra clinging to his hands to keep him from falling.
Hand seals formed again.
"Demonic Illusion: Reduced to Ash!"
Flames suddenly engulfed Akira from every direction.
Without hesitation, Akira dispelled it.
"Illusion Release."
The fire vanished.
Reality snapped back—
and the sensor ninja was already lunging in, kunai aimed straight for Akira's heart.
Akira flicked out several shuriken.
The ninja leapt left, dodging them midair.
Akira quickly judged his remaining chakra and activated Substitution.
In the blink of an eye, he swapped places with a shuriken.
The sensor ninja was still airborne, just about to land.
"Shuriken Barrage: Heavy Firepower—Fireballs!"
Shuriken transformed into blazing spheres midflight, tearing straight through his body.
"Fly… Flying Thunder God…?" the sensor whispered, eyes wide.
In his memory, only one jutsu could perform instant spatial transfer like that—
the Second Hokage's ultimate technique.
But there was no time for answers.
Life drained from his eyes as his body collapsed.
[Experience +1564]
Akira scooped up the drops, then instantly rolled forward.
A massive fireball slammed down from above.
—Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu.
High in the trees, Sarutobi Naoshi glared down at him, eyes blazing with fury.
But he had no chance to continue the attack.
Murakami Hana had already closed in, and the bee swarm swallowed Sarutobi whole.
Firelight flashed again and again inside the swarm.
"Useless," Akira scoffed, unable to see Murakami but fully confident in his criticism.
He took back his earlier praise.
If Akira hadn't struck first, this fight would have gone completely sideways.
Even now, with Sarutobi badly wounded, Murakami still couldn't finish him cleanly.
If Sarutobi were uninjured, Murakami wouldn't stand a chance at all.
Akira sprinted away, putting distance between himself and the clash of two jōnin.
He had no interest in getting caught in the crossfire.
Once far enough, he turned back and activated his Byakugan.
Through the mass of bees, he saw the battle clearly.
Murakami himself had merged into the swarm, relentlessly besieging Sarutobi.
Sarutobi's fire-style techniques erupted nonstop, burning bees by the hundreds and keeping them at bay.
"He's trying to wear him down," Akira realized.
"Wonder if I can steal the kill."
As he watched the Konoha jōnin grow weaker by the second, the thought took root—
and it didn't seem impossible at all.
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