"Damn it! This isn't good!"
Nara Shiomizu's forehead was drenched in sweat. His mind was working at full capacity, feeling like boiling water, as if his brain was going to melt from the heat. As their forces continued to retreat, the situation on the battlefield grew worse. The Cloud ninjas weren't just a bunch of muscle-bound brutes.
The Leaf's retreat hadn't gone unnoticed by the Cloud ninja.
But...
"Why aren't they pursuing?"
Bloodshot veins showed in Nara Shiomizu's eyes. He was sure that the Cloud ninjas had seen through their plan to abandon the Kōsen Mountain region. But even though the Cloud ninja knew, they didn't pursue the retreating Leaf forces. At a time like this, if they chased them down, it would definitely cause heavy losses for the Leaf.
But the Cloud ninja didn't do that.
"Did they see through my countermeasures?" Nara Shiomizu stared at the map laid out on the table, his mind racing, muttering to himself as he tried to sort through his thoughts. "No, that's not right. My countermeasures were just minor tricks, at most stalling them for a bit. There's no way they could harm the Cloud ninjas significantly. With their aggressive nature, there's no reason they'd hesitate to advance... Could it be?"
A grim thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Someone, come here."
"Bring the sensory ninjas over."
He summoned members of the Hyūga and Yamanaka clans. With their help, they marked Hyūga Hiashi's and Aburame Shibi's positions on the map, as well as the movement trajectories of the Cloud ninjas. Looking at how the Cloud ninja formations were closing in like a crab's pincers, with Hyūga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi caught in between, Nara Shiomizu's face turned ashen.
It was a decapitation strategy!
No wonder the Cloud ninjas weren't chasing the retreating Leaf and Hot Springs ninjas. They were aiming to capture Hyūga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi. Such tactics weren't uncommon in ninja warfare. Given the choice between killing a thousand enemy soldiers or taking down a renowned powerful ninja, one would always choose the latter.
During the Third Great Ninja War, the "Yellow Flash" Namikaze Minato had single-handedly supported multiple battlefronts, fighting both the Cloud and Stone ninjas. His heroics turned the tide of war in favor of the Leaf, even though weak leadership tainted the victory.
The impact of powerful ninjas on the outcome of wars had been clear as day.
In the same war, the Stone ninja sacrificed everything to assassinate the Third Raikage, even letting thousands of Cloud ninjas go. That was another prime example.
Most of the time, the direction of ninja wars was decided by the outcomes of battles between top-tier fighters. This time, the Cloud ninjas were targeting the strongest fighters and commanders in the Leaf's frontline army. If they managed to eliminate Hyūga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi, the remaining Leaf forces, even if they didn't collapse, would be powerless to face the Cloud until a new commander was appointed.
The consequences...
Nara Shiomizu could clearly see them with just a little thought.
But—
"Damn it! Is there no way out?"
A frustrated Nara Shiomizu gnawed on his fingers, staring intensely at the map, but no matter how much he racked his brain—nearly to the point of overheating—he couldn't come up with a solution. Without any available pieces to play, even a master strategist would be left helpless.
With only around eight hundred Leaf ninjas left after the retreat, and less than twenty jonin, how could they possibly break through the Cloud's encirclement and rescue Hyūga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi?
"Nara Advisor, your message has been passed to both lords, but their situation doesn't look good. It's unlikely they can break out on their own!"
Nearby, a jonin from the Yamanaka clan opened his eyes, looking weary. Using the Mind Body Transmission Technique without any external aid wasn't easy.
"If things keep going this way, we must find a way to save them."
Nara Shiomizu paced back and forth in the command tent, his agitation clear on his face. Not just him, but the sensory ninjas around him also looked worried. They all knew how dire the situation was. They also knew the chaos that would ensue if Hyūga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi were lost.
They weren't just frontline commanders.
Both of them held the title of "clan head." The Hyūga and Aburame clans were prestigious in the Leaf, and if something happened to their leaders... the consequences would be unimaginable. The clans might go mad!
And the Leaf Village itself wouldn't tolerate such humiliation.
"Nara Advisor!"
Just as Nara Shiomizu was on the verge of madness, a jonin from the Hyūga clan suddenly shouted, his face showing undisguised joy.
Nara Shiomizu frowned and looked over.
---
"Haah... Haah...!"
Hyūga Hiashi could hear his own ragged breathing, like a broken bellows. His limbs felt so heavy that he could barely lift them. Worst of all, his chakra was nearly depleted. Even taking a secret ration pill couldn't squeeze out more chakra.
With his Byakugan's 360-degree vision, he could see the Cloud ninjas closing in from all sides.
It was like an inescapable net, blocking all his escape routes.
Even though Hiashi could spot gaps in the Cloud's encirclement, every time he tried to break through, the Cloud ninjas, guided by their sensory types, would swiftly close the gaps again. And the troublesome Darui was relentlessly pursuing him, not giving him any chance to retreat.
Because of Darui's interference, Hiashi could only watch as the Cloud's encirclement tightened, forcing him into a dead end.
"Crack!!"
Thunder roared in the sky.
Without turning around, Hiashi knew that a black panther-shaped bolt of lightning was hurtling toward him.
**Black Lightning: Black Panther Strike**
Darui's signature technique, inherited from the Third Raikage.
Hiashi had already experienced its power firsthand.
Facing the oncoming black lightning, Hiashi immediately assumed his stance. With the last bit of chakra he had, it surged out of his body's tenketsu points as he began spinning rapidly. The whirling chakra created a protective barrier capable of repelling any physical attack—his "absolute defense."
**Eight Trigrams Palms: Revolving Heaven**
A secret technique passed down through the Hyūga clan's main family.
The black panther-shaped lightning was deflected, and the surrounding trees were flattened by the shockwave, but Hiashi, protected by Revolving Heaven, was unharmed. However... as Revolving Heaven ended, Hiashi staggered, falling to one knee.
He was out of chakra, completely spent.
That was how Hyūga Hiashi felt.
He had exhausted every last bit of chakra with his Revolving Heaven and could no longer fight.
"Clan Head Hiashi, surrender! With your status, you'll be treated well as a prisoner," Darui said as he appeared on the scorched ground, trying to convince Hiashi to give up.
"'Treated well'? Heh!"
Hiashi let out a breath, a cold and resolute smile on his face. "Do you mean treated like my brother, dissected in your labs for research?"
"...If you cooperate, I can guarantee your safety."
Darui spouted words even he didn't believe.
At the same time, he cautiously moved closer to Hiashi, step by step.
"The Cloud will never get their hands on the Byakugan," Hiashi said as he twisted his right hand slightly. A kunai slid from his sleeve, and he grabbed it, aiming the sharp blade at his own eyes.
At that moment,
A deafening crack of thunder rang out.
Darui's feet sparked with electricity as he dashed toward Hiashi, the black lightning on his sword stabbing into Hiashi's right shoulder. The dark currents paralyzed Hiashi's body, stopping the kunai just half an inch from his eye.
*Clang!*
The kunai was knocked from Hiashi's hand.
Darui breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd made it in time. He couldn't believe he'd actually captured the head of the Hyūga clan alive. With this, the Cloud would finally possess the Byakugan... The sword stuck in Hiashi's shoulder continued to release electric currents, binding Hiashi in place, unable to move. Darui held the hilt with one hand, and with his other, he clenched his fist, preparing to knock Hiashi out.
He didn't dare use more electricity, fearing it might damage the Byakugan.
So, he opted for the most straightforward method.
A punch to knock Hiashi unconscious.
But...
Suddenly, something unexpected happened.
Out of the corner of his eye, Darui caught sight of a green blur rushing at him from the left. It was moving so fast he barely had time to react with anything complex. But he couldn't release his grip on the sword, or Hiashi might destroy his own eyes.
Caught between two bad choices, Darui finally saw that the attacker wasn't wielding a weapon, but... performing a flying kick?
He immediately abandoned the punch and raised his left arm to block, intending to defend against the kick and then counterattack.
*Boom!!!*
*Crack!*
First, the sound of a collision echoed, followed immediately by the sound of bones cracking, and the thought of counterattacking was completely extinguished in his mind.
Darui felt like he had been hit head-on by an elephant. The terrifying strength crashed into his body, sending him flying uncontrollably. Fortunately, most of the nearby trees had already been destroyed in the previous battle, so he didn't crash into one. Instead, he was hurled over twenty meters before tumbling to the ground.
"Ugh~!"
The moment his body came to a stop, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Darui lifted his head, his gaze filled with suspicion as he looked along the path he had been thrown. He saw a man with a bowl haircut, thick eyebrows, and dressed in a green bodysuit pulling out a long blade that had been embedded in Hiashi Hyuga's shoulder. Speaking of those eyebrows, they were really thick—he could see them clearly even from this distance.