Hyuga Kazutaka's eyes were tightly shut, showing no reaction whatsoever to the commotion around him. From the perspective of Hyuga Satoru and the others, Kazutaka seemed to have lost all autonomy—completely under the control of some unknown force.
Yet, under the Byakugan's gaze, Satoru could clearly see that the chakra flow within Kazutaka's body was perfectly normal. That meant he wasn't dead, nor was he merely a puppet being manipulated from afar.
Satoru couldn't understand why Kazutaka had become like this, but that didn't stop him from trying to bring him back. Though his opponent's physique had been enhanced to some extent, he wasn't yet beyond defeat. Given the current combat strength present, subduing Kazutaka should still be possible.
Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui moved in tandem—one flanking left, the other right—while Hyuga Keisuke sprang from the ground and lunged from behind, aiming to seize Kazutaka around the waist. The three coordinated their assault almost simultaneously.
However, though his eyes were shut, Kazutaka seemed to perceive every motion around him. With a sharp kick to the blade of his massive battle axe, he swung it in a wide, brutal arc toward his attackers.
Kakashi, Shisui, and Keisuke all possessed exceptional visual acuity—especially the latter two with their unique dojutsu. They saw the counterattack clearly. Shisui crouched low, bringing his short blade upward to strike the axe handle, deflecting the swing without halting his advance.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, moving as he weaved hand signs, raised a wall of earth beside him. The axe, its trajectory already altered by Shisui's parry, crashed against the barrier, embedding itself deep within the hardened soil.
Keisuke, who had hesitated for an instant, saw the opportunity. He surged forward and locked his arms around Kazutaka's torso—only to be met with agony.
Without warning, razor-sharp spikes sprouted from the strange armor covering Kazutaka's body. Keisuke had no time to react. The spikes pierced his flesh, leaving bloody holes across his arms and chest.
He managed to retreat quickly, limiting the damage to superficial wounds—but the brief delay allowed Kazutaka to wrench free his weapon and leap clear of the encirclement.
He came down like a hawk, axe raised high, descending directly toward Hyuga Satoru.
A cloud of black mist poured from Kazutaka's body, shrouding the courtyard and cutting off the others' sightlines.
Seeing himself become the target, Satoru flicked a kunai toward the courtyard wall—and vanished the instant it left his hand.
BOOM!
Kazutaka's axe smashed into the ground, gouging out a crater where Satoru had just stood.
"His eyes are closed, yet he can sense every movement and even pinpoint my exact location," Satoru thought grimly. "Why? Is it some kind of sensory ninjutsu?"
He had little understanding of puppet techniques, and this phenomenon was beyond reason. The armor that appeared out of nowhere—the way it could morph mid-battle—it was more like magic than ninjutsu.
Even so, Satoru quickly composed himself. Whatever this ability was, it had to be a Kekkei Genkai—an inherited bloodline limit of an extraordinary nature.
A deep, guttural growl suddenly echoed behind him. When Satoru glanced back, his eyes widened—three massive black wolves had materialized out of thin air, fangs bared and dripping with malice.
The stench of blood filled the air.
"Summoned beasts?!" he muttered. "But when?!"
These creatures were alive—his Byakugan confirmed that much. Yet he had not seen a single hand seal, nor sensed anyone perform the summoning technique.
How could that be?
Before he could think further, the wolves lunged.
Satoru's gaze hardened. "No holding back, then."
He signaled to Kakashi and Shisui to focus on Kazutaka, then turned his attention to the beasts.
Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation!
Chakra burst from his body, forming a whirling dome that shielded him completely. The wolves slammed into the barrier and were flung into the air by its rotational force.
Satoru's movement ceased abruptly. Raising one hand, he launched three miniature Tailed Beast Bombs. They streaked into the sky and struck the wolves midair.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A trio of explosions erupted, lighting the courtyard with orange flame. When the smoke cleared, nothing remained of the wolves but ash—and the acrid tang of blood lingering in the air.
They were real—genuine living creatures—but where had they come from? Satoru's Byakugan swept outward in every direction, yet he found no trace of a summoner within the Hyuga compound.
Could the caster be outside the clan grounds?
As that thought flashed through his mind, Shisui unleashed a flurry of shuriken—over a dozen—each attached to near-invisible steel wires. They clashed midair, changing trajectory, and then coiled tightly around Kazutaka.
The wires constricted with a hiss. Kazutaka's weapon fell from his grasp, its edge embedding into the floor.
"Got him?" Kakashi breathed. "Did we bypass his senses?"
It seemed so. Shisui's expert Shuriken Shadow Manipulation had succeeded in catching the foe unawares.
Kazutaka struggled violently, the friction of armor against steel wire screeching through the courtyard. Shisui's wires bit deeper, tightening further.
"Keisuke!"
At Satoru's shout, Keisuke darted forward and struck Kazutaka's nape with a precise Gentle Fist blow.
His chakra flow seized instantly. Kazutaka's body went limp and crashed to the ground.
Ignoring the subdued man, Satoru expanded his Byakugan's range to its limit, sweeping past the clan walls to search for whoever was manipulating this battle. Puppet techniques—no matter how strange—always had a range limit. If he searched carefully enough, he was sure to find a lead.
Unless… the manipulator's range exceeded even the Byakugan's sight.
—
Atop a water tower somewhere in the village, Kurama Yunhai slowly opened his eyes, a hint of regret glimmering within.
At his feet lay scattered paper cutouts. Before him stood a one-meter-tall earthen pedestal, on which rested a paper effigy—its chest marked with the name Hyuga Kazutaka.
The effigy wore paper armor and wielded a paper axe, with thin chakra threads connecting its joints to Yunhai's fingers.
Nightmare Marionette—a mutation of the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai, and the very reason Danzo Shimura valued Yunhai so highly.
The Kurama Clan was an ancient and storied family, masters of genjutsu. But unlike most bloodline clans, their Kekkei Genkai did not manifest in every generation—only in rare individuals, once every few decades.
Their inherited ability could manipulate all five senses—turning others into puppets that saw, heard, and felt only what the caster wished.
"Thy words are not thine own, thy limbs not thine to command. What thou seest, hearest, tastest, touchest—all that thou perceivest is but what I permit thee to know."
Another, more terrifying branch of this ability allowed the Kurama to manifest illusions into reality.
Anything Kurama Yunhai painted within his sketchbook could, so long as his chakra reserves sufficed, take physical form.
But such power came at a price. The more outlandish or monstrous the creation, the greater the chakra it demanded.
And the Kurama were not known for abundant chakra. Overuse often led to death by exhaustion—hence why few of their prodigies lived long. Yunhai's survival to this age was a testament to his restraint.
"I need to move," he murmured, hastily packing his tools. "That boy's already sensing me."
A trickle of blood slid from his nostril. He touched it lightly, glanced at the red smear on his finger, and grimaced.
He vanished from the water tower moments before Satoru's Byakugan swept over the same spot.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/Nova5tudios