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Since the Kaguya clan's raid, the fighting between Mist and Leaf had settled into a grinding stalemate. Both sides clashed fiercely along the coastline — Mist trying to force a landing, and Leaf throwing them back into the sea every time.
Taiichi had been busy. Between combat missions, he spent most of his time flying over the ocean, searching island after island for Mist's main base. So far, he had checked all twelve nearby islands and found plenty of activity, but no actual camp. It was starting to look like they had set up much farther out at sea.
Standing on one of the islands, Taiichi stared out at the endless horizon and frowned.
"If they're really hiding way out in the open ocean, this is going to be a real pain."
He spread his wings and took off again, already thinking of a new approach. If he couldn't find their base directly, then he'd have to make the Mist ninjas lead him to it.
---
On another stretch of coastline, Hyuga elder was once again leading his ten-man squad on patrol.
Ever since he had been the first to spot the Mist landing force, he had thrown himself into every mission he could find — patrols, sweeps, support runs. And because he and his branch family guards were genuinely skilled, they kept completing their tasks successfully. Tsunade couldn't really stop him without looking like she was suppressing a clan elder who wanted to contribute.
"Elder, our patrol ends in an hour," one of the branch family jonin said. "Do we have another assignment after this?"
"Of course," Hyuga elder replied seriously. "We're on the battlefield. We should be earning as much merit as possible. We can't let the Hyuga name be looked down on."
While he was speaking, a small group of four "Leaf" shinobi appeared in the distance, walking toward them.
At first, the Hyuga didn't think much of it. But when the four kept approaching even after entering their patrol range, the atmosphere shifted. The Hyuga spread out naturally, placing their elder in the center.
"Friends," one of the Hyuga called out, "this area is under our patrol. What are you doing here?"
The four didn't answer. Instead, they smiled.
Hyuga elder's eyes narrowed. His Byakugan was already active.
"Be careful! I've never seen these people in camp before. They're not ours!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the four fake Leaf shinobi's expressions changed. They body-flickered forward, launching water bullets, wind blades, and lightning orbs while one of them melted into the sea using the Hydrification Technique.
"Ghost Lantern clan! They're Mist!"
A branch family jonin stepped forward and activated Rotation, deflecting the incoming attacks. While he bought time, the rest of the Hyuga moved to engage.
But the fight turned ugly almost immediately.
Two Hyuga chunin were sent flying before they could properly react. They hit the ground and didn't get back up.
"Elder, they're all jonin! They're targeting you specifically!"
Hyuga elder's face darkened. Four jonin — one of them from the Ghost Lantern clan. This wasn't random. They had come for his Byakugan.
"Send up the signal! Cool too, go help Cool Jie hold them off!"
"Elder, what about you—?"
"Stop wasting time! I'm still a jonin. I can stall the water one for a while!"
A red signal flare shot into the sky, exploding into the distinctive Hyuga crest.
The moment it went up, the Ghost Lantern jonin hiding in the water made his move. The sea suddenly churned, and a massive wave surged toward the shore. At the front of it was a giant water beast formed from seawater. Several thick tentacles lashed out, smashing the Hyuga guarding their elder.
"Damn it! I'm not some helpless civilian!"
Hyuga elder roared and slammed his palm forward.
Eight Trigrams: Air Palm.
A powerful shockwave blasted out and punched a large hole through the water beast. But the creature simply regenerated using the surrounding seawater and kept charging.
Rotation.
A blue dome of chakra spun to life around him. The water beast slammed into it and exploded into countless droplets. For a moment it looked like the Hyuga elder had the upper hand.
But this was the ocean. There was an endless supply of water.
The beast kept reforming. No matter how much the Rotation destroyed, more water rushed in to replace it. Eventually, Hyuga elder's Rotation faltered from exhaustion. The moment the dome disappeared, several thick water tentacles wrapped around him and dragged him into the body of the water beast.
"Target secured! Fall back!"
Before anyone could react, the massive water creature turned and rolled straight into the sea, carrying Hyuga elder with it.
By the time reinforcements arrived, all they found was a wrecked beach and several stunned Hyuga shinobi standing at the water's edge.
They were too late.
Just as despair was setting in, a golden figure descended from the sky.
Taiichi landed in front of them.
"Lord Taiichi!" one of the Hyuga jonin shouted in relief. "Our elder was captured by a Ghost Lantern member! They went into the sea!"
Taiichi didn't waste time. He spread his chakra sensing and immediately picked up five signatures rapidly moving away from the coast. Two of them were underwater and moving extremely fast.
"I'm going after them."
He shot into the sky without another word.
In the sky, Taiichi was moving at full speed. Within a minute he had already overtaken the three Mist jonin on the surface. He didn't even spare them a glance as he flew past.
The Ghost Lantern jonin had clearly sensed him coming. Instead of surfacing, he dove deeper, dragging Hyuga elder with him.
Taiichi didn't hesitate.
He folded his wings and dove toward the ocean. While still in the air, he formed hand seals. The moment he hit the water, his hands plunged beneath the surface.
Water Style: Great Water Prison.
A massive sphere of water, nearly thirty meters in diameter, rapidly formed beneath the surface. The Ghost Lantern jonin and Hyuga elder were caught inside it.
No matter how hard the Mist jonin tried to escape using his Hydrification Technique, the violent currents inside the prison kept him trapped.
On the surface, Taiichi grabbed the massive water prison with both hands and slowly began lifting it out of the sea.
The three Mist jonin who had been chasing from behind arrived just in time to witness the scene. They stopped dead in their tracks, staring in disbelief.
Taiichi's face was cold. He was running out of patience.
He channeled chakra into the water prison, and ice began spreading rapidly from his right hand. The Ghost Lantern jonin inside immediately panicked. Ice Release was a direct counter to his Hydrification Technique.
In desperation, the Mist jonin made a ruthless decision.
He dug the Byakugan out of Hyuga elder's eyes with his own hands. Then, using a forbidden technique, he sacrificed most of his own body to create a powerful burst of speed. He transformed into a high-pressure water arrow and shot out of the prison, leaving the dying Hyuga elder behind.
Taiichi's expression turned ice-cold.
He clenched his right hand. The massive water prison instantly froze solid and crashed back into the sea with Hyuga elder's body still inside.
Then his eyes ignited with blue soul flames.
Spirit Vision.
He instantly located the escaping Ghost Lantern's soul signature.
Taiichi flickered forward. Lightning chakra exploded around his right fist as he punched straight into the water. A massive surge of lightning spread through the sea in a two-kilometer radius. Even diluted by the water, it was more than enough.
The Ghost Lantern jonin, still in his liquid form, was electrocuted back into his physical body. Taiichi dragged him out of the water with a water current and grabbed him by the throat.
Lightning crackled across his hand. The Mist jonin convulsed violently until the smell of cooked flesh filled the air. Only then did Taiichi toss the corpse back into the sea.
He quickly searched the body and recovered the pair of Byakugan.
By the time the other three Mist jonin arrived, it was already over.
They stared at their dead comrade floating in the water, then looked at Taiichi.
Taiichi didn't give them time to think. He flickered toward the nearest one, Rasengan already forming in his hand.
The fight didn't last long.
When the Hyuga and other Leaf reinforcements finally caught up, Taiichi was already standing on the surface of the sea, the two remaining Mist jonin dead at his feet.
He returned to the frozen sphere, unfroze it with chakra, and retrieved Hyuga elder's body.
The Hyuga jonin looked devastated when they saw their elder's empty eye sockets.
Taiichi handed the recovered Byakugan to one of them without a word.
"Lord Taiichi… thank you," one of the Hyuga jonin said, bowing deeply. The rest followed suit. "You saved the Byakugan. The Hyuga clan will remember this debt."
Taiichi shook his head. "I'm sorry I couldn't save him. The Ghost Lantern killed him when he tried to escape."
Back at camp, Taiichi and the Hyuga reported everything to Tsunade. The new Hyuga clan head, Hiashi, had also arrived at the front lines and was present for the meeting.
After hearing the full story, Hiashi bowed to Taiichi in thanks before turning to Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade, after this incident, I understand the danger. From now on, the Hyuga will follow your arrangements. If you believe mixing our forces with the Uchiha will be more effective against Mist, then I have no objections."
Tsunade was clearly pleased.
"Good. I'll have mixed teams prepared. We need both the Byakugan's detection and the Sharingan's power if we want to handle the Ghost Lanterns and the rest of Mist's forces effectively."
She then looked at Taiichi.
"Taiichi, you still haven't found Mist's main base?"
Taiichi scratched the back of his head. "Give me two more days. I'll find it."
Tsunade nodded. "You'd better. We can't keep reacting forever."
After the meeting, as Taiichi was leaving, Hiashi caught up to him.
"Taiichi," the Hyuga clan head said seriously, "thank you for recovering our clan's eyes. When this war is over, please come visit the Hyuga compound. I would like to properly express my gratitude."
Taiichi looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
"I'll take you up on that."