Evening. The sun was setting.
The red clouds that remained in the sky gradually dissipated. The night had not yet arrived, but Hinata's heart was gradually sinking.
"Everyone…"
As she walked through the Hyūga clan compound, the once-familiar figures were nowhere to be seen.
Because of its strict traditions, the Hyūga compound was never as lively as the Uchiha's, but the number of clan members was no fewer. With the division between main family and branch family, the outer areas of the compound were filled with branch members.
Normally, even before reaching the clan grounds, some branch members would have already come to greet her. But now, even after she had entered deep into the clan's streets, there was still no movement at all.
The empty streets radiated an eerie, deathly silence. Hinata clenched her fists tightly, the veins bulging at the sides of her eyes.
"Byakugan!"
The penetrating vision pierced through the houses, but what appeared before her eyes froze her in place.
One corpse after another lay crumpled on the ground. The eyes, which once held the purest of white, were now clouded in a dark red hue—the dryness of drained blood.
"H-how could this be!!"
Hinata covered her mouth in disbelief. Even though she had grown up under Yuki Yoru's training and was no stranger to the world's cruelty, it wasn't until it all unfolded around her—right before her eyes—that she realized how terrifying such a reality truly was.
"Everyone… why is everyone… Father! Hanabi!"
Hinata's trembling legs carried her deeper into the clan's compound.
Through her Byakugan, everything around her came into view.
Dead. All of them dead.
Branch family, main family—it made no difference. Even the ordinary civilians without shinobi talent were slaughtered.
Hinata bit her lip and rushed to the Clan head's residence.
A strange chakra blocked her Byakugan's sight within. With trembling hands, she pushed open the door, only to see the familiar figure seated solemnly at the head of the room.
"Father…"
"It's been a long time, Hinata."
Hiashi Hyūga slowly turned, his eyes cold and devoid of any emotion. The pristine white robes of the clan head looked out of place amidst the blood-soaked surroundings.
Seeing her father in this state made Hinata's heart quiver. Her hoarse voice asked, "Hanabi—what about Hanabi, Father?!"
"…She has gone to where she was meant to go."
Hiashi Hyūga stood up. His pure white eyes landed on Hinata's small body without a single hint of emotion: "There's no need to worry. Next, I will also send you to that place."
"No!"
Along with Hinata's sorrowful cry, Hiashi's figure suddenly disappeared from where he was and rushed toward Hinata.
Chakra gathered in his palm. The force of the Gentle Fist, unleashed without restraint, struck Hinata head-on.
Unprepared, she was slammed into the wall, cracks spreading across it.
"Father…"
Hinata struggled to stand up. Her activated Byakugan could clearly see a strange chakra lurking in Hiashi's mind.
It was obvious that her father had been controlled by this chakra.
The strength of this chakra was extremely high and also extremely cold. It was so powerful that even Hiashi couldn't resist and was completely controlled by it.
Hiashi assumed a combat stance. Hinata clearly knew that it was the opening stance of the Gentle Fist.
Under the control of the Genjutsu, her father would not show any mercy at all.
"Absolutely not… absolutely…"
Hinata took two deep breaths. Spiritual power surged within her. She too assumed the Gentle Fist's opening stance. "I will make you see reason, Father!"
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"
Without a doubt, Hinata was a true genius.
Ever since becoming Yoru's disciple, she had not only received complete instruction, but her food and living conditions were also perfectly provided for, allowing her to maximize the potential of the "Byakugan Princess."
At such a young age, Hinata had already fully mastered the essence of the Gentle Fist. In the clash of One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, she held her ground without faltering in the slightest.
But one side was a girl concerned for her father; the other was a completely controlled puppet.
A duel under unequal circumstances would inevitably yield an unequal outcome.
When the flurry of One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms ended, Hiashi countered with a single Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, which slammed mercilessly into Hinata's heart.
Her body fell like a kite with its string cut, crashing to the ground, motionless.
Expressionless, Hiashi began walking toward Hinata. But before he reached her, his body suddenly convulsed, his chest caving in as blood spilled from his mouth and nose. The excruciating pain robbed him of all movement!
Meanwhile, the Hinata who had fallen appeared completely unscathed, slowly opening her eyes.
"…Forgive me, Father."
Looking at Hiashi, whose chest had caved in, Hinata quickly landed on the Chakra Points on his chest and lower abdomen. While sealing his chakra, she also sealed the blood flow in Hiashi's body to ensure that his injuries would not worsen in a short period of time.
After doing all of this, Hinata carefully took out a sapphire blue crystal from her sleeve.
But before she could use this crystal, a black rod pierced through it, directly sending this crystal from Hinata's hand to the ground!
Under Hinata's shocked gaze, a pitch-black dimensional space appeared.
Jigen's figure loomed above her, looking down as the halo of spiritual particles rose around her body. His palm clenched abruptly.
The next moment, a dark cavity opened beneath Hinata, swallowing her whole.
"Complete Counter… I won't fight someone like you."
Jigen had long since understood the power of the Quincy, especially those whom Yuki Yoru referred to as the "Royal Guard." Their strength was monstrous.
They might not be old, nor have overwhelming presence, but the abilities they possessed were all extraordinary and broken beyond reason. Jigen had confirmed this through many sources.
Take, for example, Kimimaro's "Hope." As long as he willed it, he could grow endlessly. Even Jigen had no desire to face him in battle.
The same was true for Hinata.
Back when she was targeted by the Kumo, Jigen had already glimpsed her power and made deductions about her abilities.
To completely reflect all damage received—this power wasn't unfamiliar to him. That lowly creature from the Land of Hot Water had once wielded something similar, though far weaker than Hinata's.
Against someone who commanded such absolute rule-based abilities, there could be no carelessness!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
The ground beneath shook violently. Surprised, Jigen turned his gaze toward the Forest of Death, then motioned with his hand.
A figure appeared behind him, bowing respectfully.
"Full of energy, I see… Send all the corpses over. They'll make excellent nourishment."
The man nodded, while Jigen stepped into the warped space and vanished.
The earth quaked as terrifying explosions erupted one after another within the Forest of Death.
The Susanoo, symbol of divine power, now appeared ragged and battered.
Inside it, Danzō's expression was grim, his face darkened with rage.
"…Truly resilient. As expected of Susanoo."
"The strong one… is me!"
The Mangekyō in Danzō's eyes spun rapidly as his damaged Susanoo quickly repaired itself and even expanded, growing closer to a complete form.
But before Susanoo could finish swelling, a white mist coiled around it, followed by another wave of terrifying explosions!
The chain of detonations made Danzō realize a crucial truth. He ceased maintaining Susanoo and instead, at a speed too fast for the eye to follow, dashed out of the blast zone.
Although his body was heavily damaged by the power of the Vapor-Style blasts, by the time he sprinted before Hōzuki Gengetsu, his injuries had already completely healed.
"Die!!"
Danzō suddenly raised his hand, razor-sharp gale winds gathered in his palm, condensing into a wind blade that shot forward.
But at the critical moment, the pure white mist that had just enveloped Susanoo floated in front of Hōzuki Gengetsu, blocking the path of the wind blade.
"…What?!"
Danzō froze in surprise. He expected the mist to explode, but instead it transformed—shaping into a shield that intercepted the strike.
At the same time, the shield split apart, turning into endless chains of fog that whipped around and bound Danzō's arm.
"Mirage Shield Armor."
"Seal him—Mirage!"
The mist surged, its seemingly weightless form turning solid as it crept up Danzō's body bit by bit, much like the Adamantine Sealing Chains of the Uzumaki clan.
"You still had such a technique?!"
Danzō was shaken, but as the mist chains spread, crystalline layers erupted across his skin. In an instant, all of the mist was sealed within the crystals.
"Crystal Release?!"
Hōzuki Gengetsu was taken aback.
Crystal Release was a kekkei genkai capable of crystallizing anything into solid form. It had appeared in Kirigakure's history before, though its users were extremely rare.
This bloodline limit was terrifyingly powerful—it could crystallize anything except chakra itself, even the components of air or the blood inside the human body. In terms of strength, it was no weaker than the Yuki clan's Ice Release.
If not for its rarity, Crystal Release could have risen into a clan as great as the Ice Release bloodline.
And yet, within Danzō's grotesque ritual of Shimura grafts, he possessed it!
"Crystal Release, Swift Release, Wood Release, Uchiha blood…" Hōzuki Gengetsu didn't even mind that his white mist had been sealed by crystals. Instead, he looked at Danzō with curiosity:
"What's your last kekkei genkai?"
"You want to know, Hōzuki Gengetsu?"
Danzō sneered. As the crystals bound the mist, arcs of lightning suddenly flickered across them.
Before Gengetsu's astonished eyes, the sparks surged under chakra's control, condensing into a thundercloud. The cloud writhed like a vortex, and in the blink of an eye, a massive storm of radiant lightning burst forth. Refracted by the crystals, it lit up the entire Forest of Death as if it were midday.
"Storm Release: Thundercloud Inner Wave!!"
The radiant blast of Storm Release descended like divine retribution, engulfing Hōzuki Gengetsu entirely. Everything caught within its range was obliterated and collapsed into ruin.
The attack came too suddenly, too violently, perfectly embodying Storm Release's speed and destructive might.
The roar of the storm dragon's lightning was deafening, as though it would annihilate everything in the area.
But then… Danzō's triumphant smile slowly began to freeze.
He saw it.
With the Mangekyō Sharingan's unparalleled dynamic vision, he clearly saw the figure within the area engulfed by his Storm Release—the figure wrapped in boundless spiritual energy.
"Bankai!"
At that instant, an overwhelming surge of spiritual power erupted from within him. The entire Forest of Death seemed to be crushed beneath tenfold gravity. Countless colossal trees splintered apart, the ground fractured, and the very earth sank several centimeters!
It was a pressure far more terrifying than Storm Release—a force born from the depths of the soul. A cataclysmic might, as if the heavens were collapsing and the end of the world had come.
The torrential spiritual power shot upward, colliding violently with the radiant lightning of Storm Release. For a brief moment, as the two forces clashed, the entire world seemed to fall into stillness.
"Hollow Illusionary Mirage!"
The pure white mist suddenly expanded, shattering the restraints of the Crystal Release as it spread outward. Like a Hidden Mist Technique magnified a hundredfold, it engulfed the surroundings completely.
Danzō's expression grew grave. He tried to pierce through it with his Mangekyō Sharingan—but all he saw was an endless, desolate white.
Even the Mangekyō could not penetrate this mist.
"Are you ready… Hokage?"
A sudden voice, like the whisper of a demon, echoed beside his ears. His body stiffened instantly.
"Bear witness to my Bankai!"
"Don't joke with me—mere mist…" Danzō spread his arms wide, releasing countless crystals in every direction. They surged outward, intending to disperse and crush this strange fog.
Crystal Release was already a large-scale area-of-effect kekkei genkai. Coupled with the half-Six Paths chakra from the forbidden Ketsuryūgan ritual he had undergone, the Crystal Release he unleashed was terrifying beyond measure.
It wasn't just the Forest of Death—if it were the entire village of Konoha, Danzō could have enveloped it in crystal.
But then… he realized something was wrong.
"No… impossible… this is impossible!"
The crystals kept spreading without end, yet no matter how much power he poured into his bloodline limit, he could not break free from the white mist's confinement.
Desperate, Danzō poured all of his chakra into his eyes. At once, a towering Complete Body Susanoo, a hundred meters high, appeared.
He stood inside its crystal chest, but to his despair, his vision still showed nothing but endless, desolate white!
"What… what is this…?"
"In the illusory dream of the Mirage—vanish completely."
Within the white fog, Hōzuki Gengetsu's expression was calm and cold.
Before him, Danzō stood utterly defenseless, frozen in place, until the full force of Gengetsu's Steaming Danger Tyranny enveloped him completely.
And then—
Boom!!!