The sun gradually sank beneath the sea, and the brilliant clouds drifting at the edge of the horizon slowly faded, marking the first chapter of the night.
Firelight flickered within the medical unit's camp. The surroundings grew silent, leaving only the sound of two sets of breathing rising and falling in an environment so quiet a pin drop could be heard.
Yumiko furrowed her brows, staring uncertainly at the black cocoon of light inside the tent that expanded and contracted in rhythm with the breathing. Treading softly, she cautiously approached once more. Upon reaching it, she realized the cocoon was semi-transparent. Through the thin membrane, she could see a handsome youth sitting in the center of a large, specialized wooden vat, his eyes closed as he breathed steadily.
He had a well-defined, chiseled face and a composed aura; the boy exuded a unique sense of tranquility. Even Yumiko, whose heart was currently filled with murderous intent, felt her turbulent emotions settle slightly upon seeing his face.
Yet, this calm did not imply she was relenting, nor was it born of pity. Yumiko looked down coldly at Hyuga Yu inside the vat, her expression darkening as her fingers slowly hooked a kunai from the ninja tool pouch at her waist.
The blade had been coated with a mixture of barbiturates, tubocurarine, succinylcholine chloride, and gallamine triethiodide—muscle relaxants that, when combined, became a lethal poison that could kill instantly upon the slightest contact.
"What a pity..."
"Konoha's future Sannin, huh?"
After studying Hyuga Yu's face for a moment, Yumiko suddenly smiled. She gripped the kunai in a reverse hold, a cold light flashing in her eyes as her murderous intent boiled over uncontrollably! Aiming the glinting tip of the kunai at the center of Hyuga Yu's forehead, she drove it down with all her might!
Whoosh!
The veins in her swinging hand bulged, and the force of her strike nearly broke the sound barrier!
However—
Clink!
In the next instant, the kunai seemed to strike an invisible blade, erupting in a metallic clash and a shower of sparks!
Then—
Screech-screech-screech!
To Yumiko's horror, the kunai in her hand was ground down, snapped, and chopped into fragments inch by inch by some kind of invisible "blade" she couldn't see! The commotion startled her, causing her to drop the kunai and attempt to leap backward.
Yet, in that split second, it was as if time had ground to a halt. Within that slowly flowing pocket of time and space, she suddenly saw a pair of eyes slowly open. They were pale, indifferent, calm, and possessed an aura of absolute majesty!
Drawing on her extensive medical knowledge, Yumiko realized immediately that time hadn't actually slowed down; rather, her body was uncontrollably secreting adrenaline—her physical instincts were reacting to an incredibly terrifying, fatal crisis!
The black cocoon of light slowly bloomed. Sitting in the center of the vat, the soaking-wet Hyuga youth merely cast a cold, indifferent glance at Yumiko.
In the next instant—
Flash!
A fleeting green light ignited around him.
Yumiko's head was severed from her shoulders.
Yumiko didn't understand what had happened, nor why her field of vision began to rotate and tilt upward. In her final moments, she strained to identify what she had seen. She finally realized that the black cocoon wasn't some special chakra—it was a net of blades composed of countless, densely packed, microscopic black wind blades!
And now, those blades had scattered and bloomed, vanishing into the air. They hadn't truly disappeared; they had transformed into something even more terrifying!
She wanted to scream out the intel she had discovered, to pass it on. She knew that there must be high-level spies from her village hidden in Konoha watching her!
But—she worked her jaw, gasping, yet could not utter a single clear word.
Thud-roll.
Her head hit the ground.
The Hidden Sand spy and medical Chunin, Yumiko, was dead.
Hyuga Yu looked indifferently at Yumiko's collapsing body. The spy's reaction before her death struck him as odd, causing his brow to furrow slightly. He immediately activated his Byakugan, the veins around his eyes bulging!
"Byakugan!"
An overhead perspective covering a three-kilometer radius instantly expanded, imprinting everything within range clearly into his mind. A moment later, Hyuga Yu turned his gaze toward a specific direction. There stood a thicket of Silver-leaf trees, a species common to the coast.
A cold light flashed in his eyes as he unhesitatingly pulled a kunai from his pouch. The black light surrounding him converged and condensed onto the kunai in his palm, shedding its black exterior to become a green wind-sword compressed to the absolute limit.
Hyuga Yu dropped into a lunge, swung the green blade, and hurled it with explosive force!
Boom!
A sound like a gunshot erupted in front of him! The green Wind Style: Vacuum Blade crossed over a hundred meters in an instant, crashing into the Silver-leaf thicket.
In the next breath, the entire camp was illuminated!
On the other side of the camp, the Konoha shinobi moving supplies were startled by the commotion, their hearts skipping a beat as they turned to look. As Hyuga Yu fired that blade, several hidden forces within the camp—those who had been closely monitoring the area alongside Yumiko—responded instantly!
One of these forces charged directly toward Hyuga Yu with blinding speed! Sensing this, Terai, the Root ninja hidden in the shadows tasked with protecting Yu, turned pale. He gritted his teeth, preparing to intervene.
By then, the charging shinobi had already crossed several hundred meters using the Body Flicker Technique, arriving before Hyuga Yu's tent. He had slightly darker skin and wore an inconspicuous cloak. Enveloped in crackling lightning, his hands blurred through seals:
Tiger—Snake—Tiger—Snake—Tiger!
Lightning Style: Scattered Strike Stream!
A pale sphere of lightning ignited in his palm! This ninja, likely from the Hidden Cloud, gripped the lightning ball and effortlessly burned through the curtain blocking his path. He lunged forward, thrusting his palm toward Hyuga Yu's abdomen!
Hyuga Yu stood his ground, motionless, and slowly lifted his head. Their cold gazes met!
A sense of foreboding rose in the Cloud ninja's heart, but in the next instant, he realized with horror that he had come to a dead stop! It wasn't that he had actually stopped moving; his feet were still pumping against the ground, yet the stride that usually covered ten meters now barely moved him forward half a meter.
He felt a resistance, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was blocking him. Until, half a second later, he "slowly" arrived less than two meters in front of Hyuga Yu.
However, despite being close enough to knock Yu unconscious with a single punch, he found himself ridiculously running in place, unable to advance an inch. Looking at the increasingly terrified expression on his enemy's face, Hyuga Yu couldn't help but let out a faint smile.
He didn't explain, nor did he care to; yet it was this very attitude that made the enemy feel a suffocating sense of dread! And the more panicked he became, the harder it was to break free.
Hyuga Yu slowly turned his back, walked to a wall of the tent where a shinobi katana was hanging, and gripped the hilt.
Shing!
A cold glint flashed as Hyuga Yu drew the blade. He turned back calmly, sword in hand, and with the most unadorned of thrusts, drove the blade into the chest of the Cloud ninja, whose posture had begun to warp under the weight of his frantic struggling.
Thud.
The corpse collapsed.
Only then did Hyuga Yu slowly exhale, steadying his nearly depleted chakra. In his mind, he began to summarize the various strengths and weaknesses of his Byakugan: Wind Style Chakra Mode.
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)