"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Facing the massive shuriken that tore through the air with a piercing shriek, Hyūga Kumokawa channeled chakra into his arm. His hand curled into a claw before thrusting forward, the wind pressure flattening his sleeve against his arm, outlining the tense muscles.
Compressed air pressure erupted towards the shuriken like an invisible vacuum cannon. The sound of the sonic boom and the blast of wind filled everyone's ears.
THUD!
The enormous, heavy shuriken carried tremendous force. Kumokawa was forced back several steps uncontrollably, the ground beneath his feet cracking into a spiderweb pattern. Yet, he had managed to halt the giant shuriken's advance.
"Eight Gates Released Formation? Second Gate: Gate of Healing?"
Sharp-eyed Ryōma noticed the veins bulging on Kumokawa's body, instantly recognizing the technique.
This kid, a member of the Hyūga clan, actually learned the Eight Gates and opened the Second Gate?
No wonder he could block Toroi's attack. But it wouldn't be enough. This was Toroi, the Magnet Release ninja. Those shuriken were specially made, incredibly heavy, and could only be manipulated using his unique ability.
"Cough." Ryōma swallowed a pill, shouting a warning, "Don't touch his shuriken with your body!"
The other Root ninjas were also moving to attack, but Toroi wouldn't give them time to form hand seals. Against the force of two more giant shuriken, the few remaining Root ninjas trying to block with their blades were struggling.
Before Kumokawa, the massive shuriken he had just halted began to rotate again, emitting a meat-grinder-like howl as it tore towards him once more like the fangs of a beast.
Hum! Hum-Hum!
Veins bulged around Kumokawa's eyes as he activated the Byakugan without hesitation.
In the span of a single breath, in the peripheral vision of the onlookers, Kumokawa's figure seemed to blur into afterimages as he dodged. The explosive clangs of shuriken colliding with Vacuum Palms became a continuous stream.
Toroi watched Kumokawa from a distance, forming hand seals to constantly control the shuriken. Noticing the Byakugan, his eyes narrowed.
"Kid," he suddenly called out, "are you main family, or branch?"
This level of skill didn't seem like the main family, yet he could use the Revolving Heaven, a secret technique reserved for them.
Kumokawa didn't respond, seemingly unable to spare the effort.
Splat!
Suddenly, a spray of blood hit the ground.
Kumokawa's movements abruptly halted. A fresh wound had split open near the corner of his eye.
Blood slowly welled up, trickled down his cheek to his jaw, then dripped warmly onto his foot.
Seeing this, Ryōma's expression darkened. He knew the kid was reaching his limit.
According to intel, once you made contact with Toroi's shuriken, the Magnet Release chakra coating them would magnetize your body, marking you for Toroi. Subsequent magnetic attacks would become impossible to evade.
Ryōma knew Toroi's capabilities well. A ninja with a Kekkei Genkai, Toroi was among the most troublesome opponents even among Jōnin.
'If my internal injuries weren't so severe, maybe I could coordinate a surprise attack with the others. But now…' Ryōma gritted his teeth. His strength didn't lie in frontal assaults, but in infiltration and assassination.
Thud!
Using the momentum from deflecting the giant shuriken, Kumokawa retreated, landing beside Ryōma. His voice was hoarse, urgent. "Senior Ryōma! Ten o'clock direction, three kilometers out! Dozens of ninjas are approaching!"
Ten o'clock… that wasn't their Konoha backup. It was most likely Kumo ninjas stationed at the border of the Land of Hot Water!
"Wait," Ryōma suddenly realized, blurting out, "Three kilometers? You can see a three-kilometer radius?"
Members of the Hyūga clan, when activating the Byakugan, could typically see within a one-kilometer radius, almost never exceeding two kilometers. If focusing their gaze in a single direction, that range could increase severalfold.
But this kid, Hyūga Kumokawa, clearly wasn't just looking in one direction. He was taking in the entire three-kilometer radius.
That was… unsettling.
"Senior! This isn't the time for that!" Kumokawa's voice was frantic. "Regardless of the explosive tags, we need to get Senior Chōza out of here now! If we don't leave, it'll be too late!"
Hearing this, Ryōma, already struggling with his internal injuries, nearly coughed up another mouthful of blood.
'The explosive tags have nothing to do with me!
Why does everyone think I set them up?!
Sure, Lord Danzō said we could act, but I hadn't made a move yet!'
"Hmph! Still won't talk?" Toroi sneered at Kumokawa's continued silence, his voice dripping with hatred. "Then I'll chop off your limbs and ask again!"
With that, he unfurled a scroll with a sharp flick, producing two more giant shuriken.
"Magnet Release: Twin Hornet—"
"Don't you dare!"
Just as Toroi was about to launch the shuriken, a voice filled with a savage fury cut through the air.
Akimichi Chōza, who had been unconscious, had awakened under the care and treatment of the ANBU ninjas. Seeing Kumokawa standing protectively in front of him, he didn't hesitate. He shoved a green pill and a yellow pill into his mouth.
The Akimichi clan's secret pills. The "Green Spinach Pill" could instantly unleash 30% of the human body's latent athletic potential, tripling the user's strength beyond their normal limits. The "Yellow Curry Pill" replenished vital energy and blood.
The price was excruciating pain and debilitating weakness once the effects wore off.
But for now, it was enough.
"Expansion Jutsu: Super Push Hands!"
BOOM!!
A gigantic hand descended from the sky, smashing down towards Toroi's location.
The ground erupted, fissures spreading like a collapsing mountain as the earth caved in. The entire area was shattered by an unimaginably terrifying force. Several corpses, along with their blood and bones, were pulverized into dust and driven into the soil.
"Troublesome," Toroi's voice came from further away, his figure having relocated. His expression was dark. He had been forced to sever the connection with his shuriken, having to recall them.
"Senior Chōza!" Kumokawa looked up at the giant form, a timely look of relief flashing across his face. "You…"
"Kumokawa, listen," Chōza cut him off before he could finish, his tone grave. "This is most likely the work of Iwagakure. You and the others must return to Konoha immediately. Report everything to Lord Third!"
"Iwagakure?" Ryōma's pupils constricted before Kumokawa could speak. "Why would it be Iwagakure?"
Chōza shot him a cold glance. As if your Root has nothing to do with this? he thought.
"Remember the Iwagakure missing-nin we encountered on the road?" Chōza explained. "It's likely the scroll containing Hiashi's body was swapped out then."
"What?" Kumokawa was momentarily stunned, as if realizing something. His already pale face turned ashen. "So… it was me…"
"This isn't your fault," Chōza said, his gaze complex as he looked at the young man.
He had seen everything clearly: Kumokawa's desperate attempt to protect him moments ago, the strength and talent the boy had displayed.
When Chōza first realized the explosive tags were inside the coffin, his immediate suspicion had naturally fallen on Kumokawa, who held the scroll.
But he quickly realized that explosive tags were vital strategic resources, not something you could just buy with money. That quantity of tags… forget having enough money, even if he did, Hyūga Kumokawa couldn't possibly have acquired them. The ANBU would have swooped in the moment he tried to purchase such a large batch, interrogating him about his intentions.
Therefore, Kumokawa couldn't have planted them. The only explanation was a swap. The boy was simply too inexperienced.
A promising young talent with such integrity… he couldn't be allowed to perish here today.
"Go. Now," Chōza urged, his voice heavy.
"No… we can't. If we leave, Senior, you…"
Kumokawa tried to protest, but a sharp whistling sound cut through the air.
"None of you are escaping today!"
"Go!"
As several giant shuriken came hurtling towards them again, Chōza roared, smashing out with a chakra-encased palm.
BOOM!!
The ground beneath their feet trembled violently once more. Everyone could feel the low, thunderous rumble.
But this time, it didn't gradually subside.
Chōza's blow seemed to have shattered something. The tremors from below grew stronger and more distinct.
Humm… Humm…
"What's happening?" Everyone's expressions shifted.
In the next moment, following the shaking earth, came a deafening, earth-shattering roar.
CRACK!
Beneath their feet, the ground suddenly bulged upward, splitting open with terrifying fissures that stretched for a hundred meters in diameter.
It was as if an invisible monster was writhing beneath the surface, desperately trying to break free from its prison. Even through the ground, they could feel its immense power.
Heavy objects nearby were flung into the air as if weightless.
THUMP! CRUNCH!!
After the ground arched into a massive hump, an ear-splitting explosion once again tore through the heavens.
For an instant, everyone felt a sense of weightlessness, as if they themselves were being lifted into the air.
No… they weren't flying.
The ground beneath them was collapsing.
"Retreat!"
Whether it was Toroi or the Konoha ninjas, everyone stopped what they were doing and flickered away from the epicenter without a second thought.
RUMBLE!!
They watched as the ground beneath the ruined inn tore open into a pitch-black fissure. The earth fractured into gigantic chunks that crumbled away, "swallowed" by the rapidly expanding maw of a colossal hole.
What should have been solid, unyielding earth now seemed as fragile and pliable as dough being pinched apart.
Moments later, when the tremors finally ceased and the rising dust began to settle, what lay before them was an abyss-like, bottomless black pit.
"What… is this?"
The onlookers stared at the chasm with apprehension and uncertainty, feeling as if an abyssal darkness was churning within its depths.
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