The Byakugan possessed a 360-degree field of vision and the ability to see through solid objects.
It could clearly perceive an opponent's chakra network, tenketsu, and the overall flow of chakra within the human body. Beyond that, it granted incredible telescopic vision, allowing the user to observe distant objects with immense clarity. By focusing this ocular power, a user could see everything within a one-kilometer radius. In terms of pure perceptive ability, it even surpassed the Sharingan.
This formidable power was simply the ultimate weapon on the battlefield.
To protect this visual prowess, the Hyuga clan had created the Caged Bird cursed seal and ruthlessly divided their clan into the Main House and the Branch House. From birth, all Branch members were branded with the Caged Bird seal on their foreheads. If anyone attempted to forcefully steal their Byakugan, the seal would activate, destroying the eyes to ensure they never fell into enemy hands.
Upon a Branch member's death, the Caged Bird would trigger all the same, preventing any thief from harvesting the dojutsu's secrets from a corpse.
It was precisely because of this cursed seal that, even though the Fourth Raikage desperately wanted the Byakugan's power for his village, he was forced to take the massive risk of kidnapping the young daughter of the Hyuga Main House.
However, even after realizing his tracks had been spotted by Konoha's Hyuga trackers, Killer B hadn't even considered retreating. The Fourth Raikage's explicit orders were to give the visiting Konoha shinobi an unforgettable welcoming gift.
A short distance of eight hundred meters took only a few seconds for someone of Jie Uchiha's caliber to cross.
Stopping just short of the ambush point Hizashi Hyuga had identified, Jie immediately began to inspect the area.
"Paper bombs?" A faint smile appeared on Jie's face. "What a simple and direct method."
He remembered the night of the Nine-Tails attack. It was by using paper bombs to ambush the Nine-Tails and Obito Uchiha that he had managed to secure a massive reward. To think that someone was actually trying to scheme against him using paper bombs now. Oh, how the tables had turned. In just a few short years, had he also become an insurmountable "boss" in the eyes of others?
"Lightning Release: Ground Flash."
A paper bomb was essentially volatile chakra sealed within a piece of paper, infused with a trace of the user's own signature. By leaving their chakra behind, the user could remotely detonate the tag. Therefore, rendering a paper bomb useless was incredibly simple: one only needed to disrupt the sealing jutsu or erase the user's chakra signature, turning the deadly weapon into scrap paper.
With a single strike of his Lightning Release: Ground Flash, Jie neutralized every hidden paper bomb in the vicinity.
"Bakayaro, konoyaro! You've got some skill, so this master will deal with you!"
Seeing his paper bombs fail, Killer B leaped directly out of hiding and pointed a finger at Jie.
"Young Clan Head, be careful! The chakra inside this person is incredibly powerful," Hizashi warned, his expression grave as he kept his Byakugan active. "Furthermore, there are actually two different types of chakra residing within his body."
Jie waved his hand casually, signaling Hizashi not to panic, as a confident smile crept onto his face.
The moment he heard that bizarre rapping tone, he knew exactly who was standing before him. Killer B—the Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails. He was a perfect Jinchuriki who could completely control his Tailed Beast's power, and easily one of Kumogakure's absolute strongest combatants.
Jie hadn't expected to run into him here.
'If I capture Killer B right now, wouldn't Kumogakure instantly lose one of their top-tier fighters?' A thought suddenly popped into his mind. 'When the time comes, I'll have Fugaku stall the Two-Tails Jinchuriki while I go defeat the Fourth Raikage. Once my hands are free, I'll capture the Two-Tails Jinchuriki as well. Wouldn't we just win the war right then and there?'
With the key to winning the war suddenly dangling right in front of him, a very strange expression crossed Jie's face.
'Why does it feel like fighting this war is just child's play?'
However, Jie quickly shook his head, pushing the absurd thought aside, and stared intensely at Killer B. The man's own strength was formidable. Jie remembered how, in the future, B's mastery of the Seven Swords Style would be downright godlike when facing Sasuke's Taka team. If it hadn't been for Sasuke possessing the practically cheating black flames of Amaterasu—and the fact that Killer B coincidentally wanted to use the opportunity to fake his death, escape his brother, and pursue true rap—there was no way the Sasuke of that time would have been a match for him.
"So, you are Kumogakure's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B," Jie said calmly.
"Yo, you should be saying, 'You are Lord Jinchuriki!'" Killer B couldn't help but correct him.
"..."
Jie blanked for a moment, falling into a deadpan silence. How could he have forgotten that Killer B was the type to force rhymes and try to make people appreciate his bizarre rap mid-battle?
"Forget it. Exchanging words is meaningless," Jie sighed. "Let's let our weapons do the talking."
Saying so, Jie reached back and drew a pristine ninjato.
After his intense battle with Shisui Uchiha, the Sword of the Thunder God had been completely ruined. Because of that, Jie had specifically requested the Uchiha clan to forge him a new blade. It was worth noting that this new ninjato was forged entirely out of chakra-conductive metal. Given the terrifying price of the rare material, just this single short sword had cost a staggering two hundred million ryo.
If Jie weren't the Young Clan Head of the Uchiha, financially backed by the wealth of his entire clan, he wouldn't have been able to stomach the cost of such an exorbitant weapon. After all, even the "Walking Thirty Million Ryo," Asuma Sarutobi—the son of the Third Hokage himself—was only willing to forge two small trench knives from the material. Anything larger would have been unaffordable.
But the terrifying price was completely justified.
In Jie's grip, the blade felt like a natural, living extension of his own body. Wherever his chakra flowed into the metal, there wasn't the slightest bit of resistance or stagnation. He only needed to use a third of the chakra he would have normally spent on the Sword of the Thunder God to achieve the exact same lethal effect. This meant that even if his kenjutsu and chakra reserves hadn't improved at all, simply changing his weapon had tripled his combat efficiency.
"Hatake Kenjutsu: Quick Draw!"
He opened with a standard sword technique, aiming to test exactly how strong this iteration of Killer B really was.
"Talkin' smack, cuttin' slack, the only one rushin' this master is me, and that's a fact! Step aside and eat my punch!" Killer B continued rhyming in his bizarre, off-beat rap tone, paying little attention to Jie's seemingly ordinary slash.
After all, Jie's youthful appearance was incredibly deceptive. What kind of deadly threat could a teenager really pose?
'B, dodge quickly! Or you'll die!'
Right at that moment, however, the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, shouted anxiously from within Killer B's mind. The Tailed Beast's powerful instincts screamed that the boy before them was nowhere near as simple as he looked. The condensed, hyper-lethal amount of chakra contained within that unpretentious ninjato was enough to make even Gyuki secretly tremble in fear.
'What?!' Killer B exclaimed internally, his subconscious immediately reaching for his own swords. He and Gyuki had forged a deep bond and were the closest of partners; he trusted the Tailed Beast's instincts unconditionally.
But just as Killer B's hand brushed the hilts on his back, Jie's blade was already right before his eyes.
Slash!
A dazzling white light flared, and for a fleeting moment, even the wind seemed to fall perfectly still.
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