"Mikazuki?"
"I am here, Lord Rei."
During the silent march, Rei Kaguya rarely took the initiative to speak with the sensory shinobi under his command.
Mikazuki Eri, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the favor, immediately responded. With anticipation and curiosity, she waited for Rei Kaguya's next words.
"Can you maintain sensory perception while traveling?"
"Barely. But the accuracy will be lower than when I am stationary…"
Mikazuki Eri, who had only managed to rise to her current position because Kirigakure had too few sensory shinobi, gave a rather unconfident answer.
"Barely is enough. Keep sensing. If you discover any chakra-bearing target approaching, notify me immediately."
"Yes, Lord Rei."
Mikazuki Eri did not find Rei Kaguya's caution strange.
She also knew that Kakashi Hatake of Konoha had escaped the pursuit of their Anbu.
Although she did not believe that the other party, after being injured, could find a way to turn around and blast away Rei Kaguya, who had defeated him once, he was still a proper jonin with battle records to support his reputation.
If he risked his life to interfere with and attack their squad, there was a very real chance he could cause heavy casualties and seriously affect their marching progress.
For the Kirigakure shinobi who were currently trying every possible way to launch their attack before Konoha could react, that was absolutely unacceptable.
So someone needed to break away from the group in advance when Kakashi Hatake appeared and kill him, preventing him from obstructing their next move.
Naturally, that mission would fall to Rei Kaguya, who had once forced Kakashi Hatake to retreat.
I have to help Lord Rei kill that Konoha brat.
If that happens, Lord Rei will have qualifications impressive enough to be promoted to jonin, right?
Then as his subordinate, perhaps I can gain some considerable benefits from it too…
Just as Mikazuki Eri silently imagined her future, a target suddenly appeared at the edge of her sensory range, moving at high speed toward their direction.
She quickly stopped and focused her perception.
Then she immediately nodded toward Rei Kaguya, who had also stopped.
"Lord Rei, the target has appeared. He is heading toward us… No, there is another target moving this way too!? So fast. Even faster than the first target…"
Another target?
Rei Kaguya could not help frowning.
At first, he thought his appearance had caused the timeline to shift, leading to Obito Uchiha entering the stage early.
But after thinking about it, he remembered the "reinforcements" mentioned when the system issued the mission. His expression relaxed a little.
Whoever you are, the frontal battlefield has nothing to do with me now.
"Mikazuki, catch up and pass the information to Jonin Matsuda and Jonin Ringo. Have them split off people to intercept the first target. I will stop the faster one."
"Yes!"
A breeze swept by.
Two figures sped off in different directions.
Under the bright moonlight, the silent forest rapidly retreated past Rei Kaguya.
He calmly adjusted his condition and emotions, preparing for the battle that might affect the future direction of the entire shinobi world. At the same time, he could not help looking forward to his opponent in this fight.
He wanted to see who the Konoha shinobi was who had intruded into this historical event and provided support to Kakashi Hatake.
It would not be Might Guy.
Right now, Guy had not yet become as strong as the man of youth he would later be.
It also could not be Minato Namikaze.
If it were him, he would not be slow enough for a half-baked sensory shinobi like Mikazuki Eri to detect him.
Then would it be some unknown Konoha jonin specializing in taijutsu?
For example, someone from the Inuzuka clan?
Or perhaps someone from the Hyuga clan—
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
A violent gust of wind wrapped in highly lethal chakra suddenly attacked Rei Kaguya from a blind angle.
It struck him out of the air just as he had borrowed force from a large tree and taken a step forward.
"Speak of the devil…"
Rei Kaguya had long expected he might be ambushed.
In midair, he relaxed his movements, adjusted his posture, dispersed most of the force that had struck him, and landed without injury.
Then he raised his head and looked toward the one who had relied on the Byakugan's advantage to discover him first and successfully launch a sneak attack.
A gorgeous red-and-yellow kimono wrapped around a curving body.
Long black hair, smooth as ebony, was tied into a simple ponytail behind her head.
On her bright and beautiful face was a serious yet gentle determination.
The veins around her eyes bulged, making those pure white eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything, appear even brighter.
Hm…
Although she was not wearing a Konoha forehead protector, the moment Rei Kaguya saw those Byakugan, it was enough for him to confirm that the female shinobi before him was definitely from the Hyuga clan.
But was she serious about that elegant and leisurely outfit, as if she were a noble young lady out sightseeing?
This was the Third Shinobi World War.
Even if she were a legitimate daughter of the Hyuga main family, surely she should not be able to come out and play so casually while the clouds of war had yet to disperse, right?
But speaking of a legitimate daughter of the Hyuga main family…
Hinata had not even been born yet at this point, had she?
So who exactly are you?
For a moment, Rei Kaguya was fooled by the other party's outfit, which was completely out of place in a wartime atmosphere. He could not figure out her background.
The Hyuga Hanabi facing Rei Kaguya was not relaxed either.
Within the field of vision of her Byakugan, the enormous vitality hidden inside Rei Kaguya's body was fully exposed.
The Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm just now had already been an all-out strike.
But despite clearly hitting Rei Kaguya, his chakra flow had not shown the slightest obstruction. His meridians and internal organs also showed no sign of injury.
It was as if what she had struck just now was not a tall, somewhat slender human, but a giant beast the size of a small mountain.
No wonder even Lord Sixth fell into a bitter battle…
Does Kirigakure specialize in producing tailless human-shaped Tailed Beasts?
But if Kakashi-senpai has one less troublesome opponent to deal with, perhaps he can stall until Obito Uchiha arrives.
If Obito Uchiha arrives before Rin-senpai chooses to kill herself…
Will there be a chance to rewrite those future tragedies?
Thinking this, light-blue chakra burned around Hanabi Hyuga's hands, taking the shape of ferocious twin lions.
At the same time, she assumed the stance of the Gentle Fist, clearly determined to hold Rei Kaguya here no matter what.
And when Rei Kaguya saw the special effect of Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, which should have been developed by Hinata Hyuga, appear around Hanabi Hyuga's hands, the way he looked at her became even more puzzled.
What was going on?
Was he not the only transmigrator?
Why was even a jutsu from later generations appearing here?
Could it be that, in the future, there would be some battle royale between transmigrators born in different hidden villages?
That was truly not a good idea.
"Dance of the Camellia."
A sharp bone blade pierced through his palm and slid out, then was grasped in Rei Kaguya's hand.
He adjusted his rhythm and stance, step by step entering Hanabi Hyuga's Eight Trigrams field. At the same time, he asked in a flat tone,
"State your name, descendant of the Hyuga. Although the fact that we each serve our own side cannot be changed, at least I can erect a tombstone praising your courage."
"Uwaa, what amazing killing intent… No wonder everyone says the Kaguya clan was born for war."
Hanabi Hyuga kept her eyes fixed on every movement Rei Kaguya made.
While analyzing all of his combat habits in her mind, she delayed for time in a light tone.
"But am I the only one who has to introduce myself? Although my odds of winning are not that high, they are not completely zero either, Kaguya clan big brother…"
???
Big brother?
You are already a woman in your twenties, yet you are calling me, a fifteen-year-old youth, big brother?
The corner of Rei Kaguya's mouth could not help twitching twice.
The expressionless state he had maintained all this time almost broke on the spot because of her shameless words.
"Fine. Consider it respect for the long friendship between the Kaguya and Hyuga clans."
In any case, he also wanted to draw a little more intelligence from her.
Chatting a little longer with someone who did not pose much of a threat to him was not impossible.
After all, as everyone knew, what the Hyuga clan lacked the most was a way to deal with large blood tanks.
Rei Kaguya would not be arrogant enough to claim that the strength of his vitality at this stage could compare to a Tailed Beast.
But if compared to enormous summons like Gamabunta or Manda, he should be equal or even superior.
Thinking this, Rei Kaguya removed the Anbu mask that was useless before the Byakugan and spoke to Hanabi Hyuga, whose entire body had already tensed.
"Rei Kaguya. My name is Rei Kaguya… Now it is your turn, descendant of the Hyuga."
"Rei Kaguya, Rei Kaguya… I've never heard that name before."
Hanabi Hyuga recalled for a moment, but failed to find this name in her memories.
Naturally, she began to think that perhaps, in the original history, this person had died early during Obito Uchiha's rampage.
Once she realized that he most likely would not survive today, she no longer had the thought of giving a fake name.
Instead, she seriously gave her real one.
"Hanabi Hyuga, daughter of the Hyuga main family… Please guide me."
Hyuga… Hanabi?
A rare dazed expression appeared on Rei Kaguya's face.
Known facts.
Hanabi Hyuga was five years younger than Hinata Hyuga.
And the person before him, who claimed to be Hanabi Hyuga and could even use Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, looked at least twenty-five years old.
If she was not lying to him, then was she not someone from a world more than thirty years in the future?
What era was thirty years later again?
Boruto, which he had never watched?
Oh.
In that case, Boruto was not entirely nonflammable trash after all.
At the very least, this little sister-in-law in front of him was pretty hot, wasn't she?
Rei Kaguya thought this while using the bone blade in his hand to parry Hanabi Hyuga's full-power palm.