Facing Aoi's angry roar and that Sword of the Thunder God radiating lightning, Hinata showed not a trace of fear. Instead, the storm brewing within those pure white eyes grew even more turbulent!
Menma's injury and coma were like a sharp thorn, deeply embedded in her heart.
The feeling of helplessly watching the most important person in danger, unable to do anything, nearly ignited and detonated her anxiety and self-blame of the past few days!
She had experienced that kind of pain in the [Limited Tsukuyomi World].
After coming to this world, her greatest fear was losing this feeling again, facing that heart-wrenching helplessness once more.
Fragmentary images involuntarily flashed through her mind: their first meeting as children, when she saved Menma in the snowy park from being bullied by other kids, their bond forming from then on. During the six years of the Ninja Academy, their feelings surpassed ordinary friendship. After graduating from the Ninja Academy, they were placed in different teams, only able to see each other occasionally. This distance only made that hazy ambiguity heat up quickly.
But not long after graduating from the Ninja Academy, Menma started muttering mysteriously about things like 'this world is fake', 'there is no Black Zetsu', 'there is no Otsutsuki Kaguya'.
During their time alone together, Menma's mood and mental state also became unstable.
Menma began to pursue power, striving to become stronger, even becoming somewhat unscrupulous.
Hinata tried to seek help from Konoha's Medical-Nin, thinking it might be the 'war sickness' that accumulated from Ninja long-term execution of high-pressure missions. But Menma always smiled and reassured her, saying that one day he would take her to see the real world.
Later, Menma attacked the Five Great Ninja Villages, captured the Jinchuriki of the other eight Tailed Beasts, absorbed the eight Tailed Beasts, and launched the Fourth Great Ninja War.
She also understood what Menma meant by 'false'.
After coming to this world, Hinata trained desperately, striving to become stronger, wanting to catch up to him, wanting to become someone who could stand beside him, even protect him, rather than a burden shielded behind him.
But she found that no matter how hard she tried, she could only see Menma's back.
Although Menma was only pretending to be injured this time, she once again felt that suffocating gap and powerlessness.
After Menma woke up, although he always smiled and reassured her that he was fine, she just wanted to be able to stand with Menma against the enemy… Not like this!
Just as her chest full of anger and irritability had nowhere to vent, a green-haired idiot arrogantly showed up at their door.
"Hmph, the Second Hokage's personal sword?" Hinata let out a disdainful snort through her nose.
She slowly assumed the starting posture of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist style. The Chakra inside her flowed turbulently like boiling water, gathering entirely towards her palms!
Pure blue Chakra light ignited in her palms, rapidly expanding and transforming, eventually forming two lifelike, snarling, angry-faced, seemingly roaring, dark purple lion heads!
The eyes of the lion heads burned with an eerie purple light, radiating a strange aura that was neither pure Chakra nor ordinary Nature Transformation.
At the same time, Boruto helped the terrified, collapsed Tsunami and the shaken Inari to the relatively safe corner of the room, then supported Menma, who slowly moved outside on his crutch.
Menma was also somewhat curious about Hinata's current combat ability.
Adult Sasuke also walked expressionlessly to the two samurai pinned to the ground, groaning in pain. With a swift hand strike, he cleanly finished them off.
As for the villager who had led the way, he had already scrambled away without a trace the moment the battle erupted.
When Hinata revealed her fists wrapped in those dark purple lion heads, the gazes of Menma and Adult Sasuke simultaneously sharpened!
The Rinnegan hidden beneath Adult Sasuke's slanted bangs rotated slightly. He could clearly 'see' that the Chakra coalescing in Hinata's palms was not simply highly compressed.
It faintly contained an extremely weak characteristic, somewhat similar to the power of Yin-Yang Release, both within the scope of 'creation' and 'giving form', but its intrinsic "rules" and "nature" had subtle yet obvious differences from the Yin-Yang Release power originating from the Sage of Six Paths that he knew. It was more... inclined towards 'nothingness'?
But what he could be sure of was that this was absolutely not a characteristic of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist!
Menma's pupils also contracted slightly, then he understood.
'This wasn't Yin-Yang Release... it was [Dark Chakra]!'
Dark Chakra is a Chakra variant with a unique 'negative attribute' derived from the Limited Tsukuyomi World!
In that world, after researching this power, he had developed the Spiralling Ring.
He had even taught some of its application techniques to Big Sis Hinata.
He didn't expect that she not only remembered, but after coming to this real world, had successfully and perfectly fused this [Dark Chakra], which carried a strong 'corrosive' characteristic, with her own Gentle Fist Chakra Shape Transformation technique, the [Twin Lion Fists]!
This talent and persistence stirred something within Menma.
At the center of the battlefield, Aoi also sensed the strangeness of the dark purple lion heads on Hinata's fists, an inexplicable palpitation in his heart.
But he had blind confidence in the golden, sparking Sword of the Thunder God in his hand!
This was a legendary divine weapon used by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama!
It came with a powerful Lightning Release amplification, able to cut through iron like mud!
'With this sword, dealing with a snot-nosed Hyuga Genin brat would be easy!'
'Getting knocked back earlier must have been due to carelessness!'
"Tricks and deceit! Taste my sword!" Suppressing his unease, Aoi snarled, gripping the Sword of the Thunder God tightly in his right hand, furiously pouring Chakra into it. The golden light on the blade surged, and the jumping electric arcs crackled loudly!
He pushed off with his feet, charging forward, swinging the sword in a horizontal slash at Hinata!
The golden lightning blade cut through the air with a shrill scream!
At the same time, his left hand flicked in concealed manner, and several senbon coated with strong poison flew silently towards Hinata's face and vital points. He was actually planning a frontal assault combined with a treacherous sneak attack!
However, under the three-hundred-sixty-degree, unobstructed perspective and insight of the Byakugan, all his little tricks were laid bare!
The flight trajectories of those poisoned senbon, the subtle changes in the flow of his Chakra into the Sword of the Thunder God, even the precursors of his muscle exertion, were like an unfolded scroll, clearly presented within Hinata's 'field of vision'.
Hinata didn't dodge or evade. Instead, she stepped forward, meeting the dazzling golden lightning blade and poisoned senbon!
She suddenly brought her palms together in front of her chest. The two dark purple lion heads in her palms seemed to come alive, emitting a silent roar, their lion mouths opening wide!
Roar—!
A Chakra-induced air explosion, two condensed streams of dark purple Chakra shockwaves, like cannonballs, sprayed from the lion mouths!
Under Hinata's precise control, the shockwaves spread slightly, not only accurately scattering and shattering all the incoming poisoned senbon, but their remaining force undiminished, and they bit directly towards the charging Aoi!
Wherever they passed, even the air seemed to sizzle faintly, corroded by the dark Chakra!
"What?!" Aoi's face changed dramatically. He hadn't expected the opponent's long-range attack to be so swift and large in scope. Hastily, he could only hold the Sword of the Thunder God vertically in front of him, while stopping abruptly and awkwardly leaping backward and sideways, trying to dodge this strange shockwave.
However, the moment his body just leaped into the air,
A figure wrapped in faint blue electric arcs suddenly appeared beside him!
It was Hinata!
"So fast!" Boruto, who had just run to Menma and Adult Sasuke's side, happened to catch this lightning-fast scene and couldn't help but exclaim.
Even with his rigorously trained dynamic vision, he had only barely captured a blurry afterimage!
'This Hinata should have just graduated from the Ninja Academy in this time… But her speed was actually this astounding?!'
Adult Sasuke's Rinnegan firmly locked onto Hinata's legs.
He could clearly 'see' that before Hinata launched that unbelievable burst of speed, the soles of her feet and her calves were instantly covered with a layer of fiercely jumping Lightning Release Chakra!
This layer of Lightning Release Chakra, in an extremely dangerous and precise manner, instantly strongly stimulated the muscles and nerve cells in her legs, allowing her to explode with terrifying speed beyond her limits in that instant!
'Lightning Release Chakra Mode stimulating cells... a Secret Nintaijutsu Technique of Kumogakure?' Adult Sasuke's heart stirred.
This technique demanded extremely high physical strength and Chakra Control from the user. A slight mistake could cause serious damage to oneself.
Even in Kumogakure, renowned for Lightning Release and Nintaijutsu, only a very few top elites could master it and use it in combat.
'This Space-Time's Hinata had not only mastered a strange kind of Chakra but could also skillfully use this highly difficult Lightning Release Nintaijutsu?'
'What kind of training had she undergone?'
On the battlefield, Aoi, with Hinata now in close quarters, felt a cold killing intent pierce his bone marrow like steel needles. His vision blurred, and that small figure had already moved to his blind spot!
He hadn't even seen how she had moved!
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms!"
Hinata's cold voice sounded in Aoi's ear.
Her footwork flowed mysteriously, her palms flying, the dark purple lion heads dancing with her palm gestures, creating a dazzling array of palm winds!
Each strike precisely targeted tenketsu points in Aoi's Chakra Pathway System, as well as the openings he exposed!
Aoi frantically swung the Sword of the Thunder God to block and counterattack, but whenever the golden lightning blade collided with the dark purple lion fists, it not only failed to cut through the strange Chakra Lion Heads, but the recoil force transmitted through the sword grew heavier each time.
Moreover, a cold, strongly corrosive Chakra transferred along the blade, trying to invade the Chakra Pathway of his arm!
And his supposedly swift sword techniques appeared clumsy and slow before Hinata's Byakugan and the terrifying speed exploded by Lightning Release stimulation!
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Hinata's offensive was like a violent storm, unrelenting!
Layer upon layer of palm shadows completely enveloped Aoi!
Each time a palm strike landed on his protective Chakra or blocking sword, that dark purple Chakra made Aoi feel his own Chakra circulation become sluggish, his arm going numb and cold!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The dense sound of palm strikes echoed like drums!
Aoi's black and red cloud robe was torn in many places, blood constantly trickling from the corner of his mouth. The golden light of the Sword of the Thunder God in his hand noticeably dimmed, and fine cracks even began to appear on the blade itself!
"No! My Sword of the Thunder God!" Aoi was both shocked and angry, and incredibly distressed.
This sword was his greatest reliance and pride!
"Full of openings!" Hinata's eyes sharpened. Seeing the huge opening Aoi left when his mind was shaken by the sword's damage, her figure suddenly accelerated again, nearly becoming a blur of purple lightning!
The dark purple lion heads on her palms silently roared at the sky, carrying the long-accumulated surging dark Chakra and Gentle Fist power, left and right, like twin dragons emerging from the sea, viciously slamming into the wide-open center of Aoi's chest!
Aoi was scared out of his wits. He instinctively crossed the already cracked Sword of the Thunder God in front of his chest, trying to make a last stand!
Crack—!!
A clear, piercing shattering sound rang out!
In Aoi's stunned gaze, that golden, shining Sword of the Thunder God was forcibly snapped in the middle by Hinata's full-power [Twin Lion Fists] strike, condensed with dark Chakra!
The front half of the blade, wrapped in lightning, spun through the air and stuck into the distant soil with a 'shlick', its light quickly dissipating.
And the broken blade couldn't completely block Hinata's fist power. The remaining force landed solidly on Aoi's chest!
"Pff-ugah—!!!"
Aoi's eyes bulged, and a mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs, sprayed out. His entire body flew backwards like a broken kite, crashing heavily onto the ground over ten meters away, rolling several more times before stopping. He lay limply, barely breathing, severely injured and unconscious, out cold.
The battle, from start to finish, ended with breathtaking speed.
The previously arrogant, insufferable Aoi seemed so pathetically weak under the enraged Big Sis Hinata.
However, Hinata clearly didn't think this was enough to vent her anger.
She took a deep breath, calming her slightly boiling Chakra and the slight panting caused by Lightning Release Chakra stimulation. Then she strode unhurriedly to Aoi, who lay like a dead dog on the ground.
Under the slightly speechless gazes of Menma, Adult Sasuke, and Boruto, she raised her foot, wrapped it in blue Chakra, and then—
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
She delivered several vicious kicks to Aoi's chest, stomach, and other areas!
Each kick was full of force, making Aoi's body convulse and cough up more bloody foam, his breathing growing even weaker.
Only after confirming that this guy was truly hanging on by a thread, not far from death, did Hinata stop.
She let out a soft breath, as if also exhaling the pent-up frustration in her chest.
Then, she raised one foot and directly stepped on Aoi's relatively intact half of his face, grinding it slightly. Looking at his disheveled, battered, and dying miserable state, she curled her lip.
"Tch, down already? Worthless. I haven't even finished warming up yet," Hinata said coldly, disdainfully.
With that, she retracted her foot, dusted off her hands, and turned around.
When she looked at Menma standing in the doorway, leaning on his crutch with a helpless, wry smile, the savagery and irritability in her eyes rapidly receded like a tide.
"Menma, it's windy out here, and you're not fully recovered. Get back inside!" She quickly walked over, naturally supporting Menma's other arm, her voice returning to its usual clarity, though her tone still carried an assertive edge.
This quick change of face made Boruto break out in a cold sweat as he involuntarily stepped back.
Menma looked at her instantly changing expression, then at the unconscious, barely alive Aoi in the distance, and the Sword of the Thunder God that had lost all its light. He simply sighed softly, let her support him, and turned to walk back inside, leaving behind a light remark:
"Next time... remember to leave one who can talk."
Adult Sasuke silently walked over and checked Aoi's condition.
'Well, he is indeed still hanging on by a thread, but whether he can regain consciousness for interrogation probably depends on the skill of the Medical-Nin.' He glanced again at the broken sword, his gaze sharpening.
'The Akatsuki's Void ring, the broken Sword of the Thunder God...'
He bent down and slipped the ring engraved with the character Void from Aoi's finger, holding it in his hand. The cool touch deepened his doubts.
'Is this guy really a member of Akatsuki?'