Walking out through the small gate of the barrier, Jūzō Biwa's expression finally looked much better.
He hadn't known that the scroll the other party handed him actually contained such a space–time ninjutsu. Nor had he expected that when the scroll was opened, the sealing formula within would drag him along and transport him here.
While he was inside the barrier, he had actually been quite afraid that the Hyūga clan would go back on their word — that they would deal with Ao and eliminate him along with it.
But now that he'd been released from the barrier, it showed that they had no intention of breaking their promise. Otherwise, there would've been no need for this extra step.
Realizing this, Jūzō felt a little relieved inside, though his wariness toward the Hyūga clan didn't disappear. Seeing that they had already surrounded Ao, Jūzō called out to Hyūga Shinichi:
"Remove the curse mark you put on me."
"Our deal ends here!"
As he spoke, the muscles in his body tensed, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Shinichi had originally planned to finish Ao first before dealing with Jūzō's situation. He wasn't so naïve as to just let the man go like that — after all, Jūzō still held some value to him.
But when he heard Jūzō speak up on his own, Shinichi decided there was no need to keep him hanging. It was better to make him see the reality clearly.
"I didn't put any curse mark on you," Shinichi said calmly.
"You don't need to worry about that. And there's no need to be in such a hurry to cut ties with the Hyūga clan. In the future… We'll have many chances to work together."
He didn't spell it out completely, but Jūzō understood. The Hyūga boy had no intention of giving up this chess piece so easily.
Surprisingly, Jūzō didn't show any anger at that. He was a seasoned ninja who had lived through many battles. He wasn't some naïve fool. He knew well enough that as long as he remained useful, his chances of survival increased.
From the moment he'd been captured by the Hyūga clan, his only goal had been to stay alive. Three more days meant three more days of life; half a year or a year more was still better than nothing.
The more valuable he was as a pawn, the less likely they'd discard him. From that point of view, Jūzō knew he'd live for a while yet.
"Heh."
Jūzō let out a low chuckle — he didn't even know whether he was laughing at the Hyūga clan's schemes or at his own miserable fate.
Soon, he accepted the reality of being under another's control and asked, "What else do you need me to do?"
Jūzō was a smart man. Communication between smart people was always easier.
"Do whatever you want," Shinichi replied. "Just make sure you survive the Mist's pursuit first. When I need you, I'll find a way to contact you. As for payment for this job, the Hyūga clan will pay you according to the rate of an S-rank mission."
"From now on, we're in an employment relationship."
As he spoke, Shinichi gestured to Hyūga Nichisa, who quickly went back into the camp. When he returned, he was holding a small suitcase, which he handed to Jūzō.
Jūzō opened it — inside, bundles upon bundles of ryo were neatly stacked. A rough count showed it was over two million ryo — even more than a typical S-rank mission reward.
"Money?"
He froze for a moment. He hadn't expected the Hyūga to actually use money as payment.
Money... For someone like him, it was both useful and useless.
Sure, with strength alone, he could live well enough — ninjas like him didn't really chase after money. But when someone offered it, who would refuse? After all, humans were social creatures; no one truly wanted to live as an outcast.
And money… money made it easier to blend into society.
Aside from that, receiving actual payment also softened Jūzō's hostility toward Shinichi a little. Being controlled and being hired — those were two very different relationships. Shinichi clearly understood when to use the stick and when to offer the sweet.
For the Hyūga clan, money was probably the least valuable thing they had.
With a long lineage, prime land in the center of Konoha, and enormous business holdings, the Hyūga's wealth was unimaginable. Their many clan members took on plenty of missions — and even though they cooperated closely with Konoha, they still accepted proper payment. It wasn't charity.
Besides, Konoha's funding came not only from mission commissions but also from the Fire Daimyō's military budget. The Land of Fire, rich and vast, had never been stingy toward the village. Naturally, the prestigious Hyūga clan took their share.
As Jūzō was still stunned at the payment, Shinichi's attention shifted back to Ao.
The young Mist ninja stayed calm. Beneath his eyepatch, his remaining Byakugan was observing the barrier, and he hadn't moved rashly. He'd also been carefully listening to Shinichi and Jūzō's conversation.
In terms of temperament, Ao was far more composed than Jūzō — if he could be used, he'd be a far better pawn.
But unfortunately, a man who had stolen the Hyūga's Byakugan could not be allowed to live.
"Jūzō Biwa, you may leave now," Shinichi said. "If I need you again, I'll contact you. If you run into trouble, you can send word to us. If it's within our ability, we won't refuse."
He didn't even look at Jūzō as he dismissed him.
Hearing that, Jūzō gave a grin, snapped the case shut, slung his sword onto his back, and said, "You're an interesting one. But I hope you never have to come looking for me again."
With that, he turned and vanished, not wanting to linger a second longer. He had no interest in the Hyūga clan's affairs.
As Jūzō's figure disappeared, all the Hyūga's attention returned to Ao.
"Now then... let's see what the so-called Byakugan Slayer can do."
"Keisuke."
The barrier trapping Ao was the Four Violet Flames Formation — a barrier that required at least four jōnin-level ninjas to maintain. Its purpose wasn't to destroy, but to trap.
To reclaim the stolen Byakugan, the Hyūga had to step inside themselves.
Keisuke, one of the barrier maintainers, nodded and changed his hand signs. A section of the barrier opened up — on the opposite side of Ao's position. Before Ao could react, several Hyūga clan members, including Shinichi himself, had already entered.
"Kill him," Shinichi ordered.
At his command, the Hyūga ninjas rushed in from all sides.
The title "Byakugan Slayer" had come to Ao not only because of his stolen eye, but also because of the shame that theft had brought upon the Hyūga clan. For nearly a century, no Hyūga eye had ever been lost — until him.
To the Hyūga, this was an unforgivable stain.
Now, it was Shinichi's duty to erase it.
The Hyūga's movements were swift — the moment the order was given, they surrounded Ao in an instant.
But Ao, who had been waiting, didn't retreat — instead, he charged forward. As one of the Hyūga attacked, Ao twisted aside, dodging the palm strike and counterattacking with a heavy punch to the man's abdomen, while his left hand formed a single-handed seal.
"?!"
Seeing him form hand signs with one hand, Shinichi's pupils shrank in surprise.
The next moment, Ao expelled a violent torrent of water from his mouth.
Water Release: Water Surge!
The water roared out, crashing into the Hyūga attackers. Their movements were instantly slowed, their footing unsteady, unable to press forward.
Shinichi, who was farther back, simply leapt up, letting the water rush beneath him, then landed lightly on the surface of the waves.
The Hyūga nearest to Ao were swept off their feet and thrown back. Though the Hyūga were all highly trained, their reliance on the Byakugan and Gentle Fist often made them neglect broader ninjutsu training.
Against ordinary ninjas, their taijutsu supremacy was unquestionable — but against Ao's level of Water Release, physical ability alone couldn't prevail.
And Ao, like them, possessed a Byakugan. His perception and field of vision were equally sharp. With perfect timing, his Water Release attacks gave him the advantage.
He had clearly taken a completely different path from the traditional Hyūga — using the Byakugan not for Gentle Fist, but for combat precision.
Relying on his insight, Ao's attacks landed with deadly accuracy, keeping him in control of the battle.
"Single-handed seals… this guy…" Shinichi muttered to himself.
More than Ao's raw ninjutsu power, that ability impressed him most. To perform hand seals with only one hand — that was something only a handful of shinobi in the entire world could do.
Ao truly was a genius — the kind of genius the ninja world rarely produced.
No wonder he had been the only man in a hundred years to steal a Byakugan successfully.
But—
That was as far as his luck went.
Having seen enough of his opponent's fighting style, Shinichi decided it was time to move.
He quickly drew a kunai from his pouch. Just as Ao was driving back another Hyūga, Shinichi hurled the weapon toward Ao's blind spot.
The kunai, wrapped in Lightning Release chakra, flew with tremendous speed, screaming through the air.
Even though he only had one Byakugan, Ao still saw it coming. His 360-degree vision let him sense the attack instantly.
"Lightning Release…" he muttered, surprised that someone so young could wield it at such a refined level.
Instead of blocking, Ao immediately dodged — his instincts told him no Water Release defense could stop that.
But just as the kunai grazed past him, Shinichi suddenly vanished from sight — only to reappear right beside him an instant later.
In that flash, he grabbed the still-flying kunai in midair and slashed it across Ao's neck in a lightning-fast motion.
The attack came too suddenly. Even with the Byakugan's insight, Ao couldn't fully react.
The blade of lightning grazed his skin — blood spurted from the side of his neck, and the seared flesh curled black from the heat.
Grimacing, Ao staggered back, clutching the wound and gasping, blood trickling through his fingers.
"So fast! What was that? Even the Byakugan couldn't follow his movement—why?! A space–time jutsu…? Flying Thunder God?!"
Realization hit him all at once. Of course — that teleportation speed, that instant kill intent — there was no mistaking it. It was the Flying Thunder God Technique, the same one made famous by the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, just a few years ago.
"You dodged that?" Shinichi muttered, genuinely surprised.
The Second Hokage has designed the Flying Thunder God technique precisely to counter the Uchiha's Sharingan — since the technique involved no movement trajectory, not even the Sharingan could predict it.
And the Byakugan, though different, suffered the same limitation. No eye could perceive instant teleportation.
The fact that Ao had barely escaped that strike meant only one thing — his instincts were sharp and his battle experience rich.
Shinichi showed no frustration. He raised a hand and released a Vacuum Palm. A burst of high-density chakra shot forward, slamming into Ao's arms before he could finish another seal.
"Boom!"
The powerful strike hit squarely, the impact numbing Ao's body. Under his own Byakugan's gaze, he saw the bones in his left arm fracture — the limb hung uselessly at his side.
His left hand crippled, he could no longer form seals with both hands.
"What power… this guy's from the Hyūga main house!"
Only now, after taking that strike, did Ao fully grasp who he was dealing with. Until Shinichi had personally attacked, Ao had been uncertain if the young boy leading them was truly a Hyūga main family member.
Now, he knew for sure.
And the realization crushed his hope.
With one arm destroyed and surrounded, he understood his chances of survival were slim. But human instinct drove him to fight to the very end.
"Raaah!!" he roared, forcing his chakra to flow. With his right hand, he formed seals and fired a volley of water bullets toward Shinichi.
Shinichi calmly raised his hand — a small Tailed Beast Ball condensed in his palm. As the water bullets came near, he flicked it forward.
"Boom!"
The explosion that followed rocked the barrier. Red flames filled the space, and the shockwave surged toward Ao, carrying the water with it.
The impact threw him backward, crashing him against the barrier wall. As soon as his back touched the Four Violet Flames Formation, purple fire ignited along his body. Smoke rose, carrying the sickening smell of burning flesh.
"Ahhhh!!"
Screaming in agony, Ao tumbled into the water to extinguish the flames, but they burned for several seconds before finally fading.
When he crawled back up, his back was charred black, the flesh carbonized in places. His strength was rapidly leaving him.
"Haa... haa..." he panted heavily, his vision blurring. He knew he wouldn't last much longer.
"At least… I can't let them win…"
Gritting his teeth, Ao smeared blood from his neck wound onto his finger and began forming a one-handed seal for a summoning jutsu.
But before he could finish, a kunai struck straight through his right palm, nailing his hand to the ground.
"Ahhh!!"
The pain made him scream, breaking the seal instantly.
"You thought you'd have time to form hand signs?" Shinichi's voice came from beside him. He had already teleported over again.
Ao tried to move, but Shinichi's Gentle Fist strike landed cleanly on his chest, sealing his chakra.
"A foreigner like you," Shinichi said coldly, "has no right to wield the Hyūga's Byakugan."
"Return it."
As his fingers reached toward Ao's eyepatch, two yellow sealing tags covered in markings suddenly flared over the eye — Mist had apparently placed protective seals over the stolen Byakugan.
"Tch." Shinichi clicked his tongue, frowning slightly. He didn't bother trying to remove them. Instead, his hand lit up with blue lightning.
With one swift motion, he drew his hand across Ao's neck.
"Zzzzt—"
A flash of light, a spray of blood — Ao's head separated cleanly from his body.
Shinichi caught it by the hair, blood splattering across his face and clothes.
"Thud—"
The headless body collapsed before him. Shinichi turned around, holding the head aloft, facing the Hyūga surrounding the area.
The scene was brutal — a stark contrast to his young age. But the Hyūga around him only swallowed hard and then broke into smiles of relief.
It was done.
The Hyūga had reclaimed their Byakugan.
Something even Hyūga Hiashi's team had failed to accomplish — Shinichi had done it in just three days at the border. Including the return trip, it wouldn't even take a month.
As the future heir of the Hyūga clan, this victory would cement his reputation completely. Every clan member who witnessed this battle would become his loyal supporter.
As the fight ended, the barrier faded away.
Just as the Hyūga ninjas began cleaning up and preparing to return to the village, faint rustling came from the distant woods.
It seemed other ninjas had sensed the disturbance. A large number of shinobi were already on their way toward the scene.
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