"Well said," the voice continued calmly."Then give it back."
Ao looked up sharply.
A figure stood on a tree branch above them, backlit by piercing sunlight. Leaves partially obscured his form, and the radiance behind him formed a faint halo—an almost arrogant, godlike silhouette.
Ao couldn't see his face clearly.
But he didn't need to.
Those eyes—
"You…" Ao muttered, his pupils shrinking.
At the same time, Nara Suzaku's expression turned grave.
The young man leaned casually against the trunk, dressed simply yet sharply. In his hand, he idly tossed a uniquely shaped kunai, looking down at the battlefield with a gaze filled with mockery and indifference.
There was not a single Konoha ninja who failed to recognize that face.And not a single Kirigakure ninja who failed to recognize those flawless Byakugan.
After the annihilation of the Hyuga Clan, the identity of a young man possessing a complete pair of Byakugan was unmistakable.
Neiki.
The clash between Konoha and Kirigakure continued around them, yet an eerie silence spread outward from where Neiki stood.
Dark clouds slowly gathered in the sky—common on this island, yet arriving with unsettling timing, as unpredictable as Neiki himself.
The Konoha forces stared in disbelief.
This traitor—who had massacred his clan, ignited rebellion, and fled the village—had actually dared to appear openly on a battlefield against Konoha?
Did he still believe he held the means to destroy the entire village at will?
Killing intent surged.
The first to move was the one who hated Neiki the most.
"Hyuga Neiki!!"
A furious roar echoed as two spiraling white torrents tore through the air, ripping apart everything in their path as they charged straight toward him.
Neiki glanced at the attack, sighed softly, and shook his head.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed the kunai forward.
He smiled.
Just before the spiraling assault reached him—
He vanished.
Huh?
No one saw how he disappeared.
The Konoha ninja stared in shock, scanning the area, but Neiki was nowhere to be found—as if his presence had been a shared hallucination.
Boom!
The massive tree Neiki had stood on exploded into splinters, leaving behind a deep crater.
Landing beside it, Inuzuka Dō and his ninken reverted to their humanoid and beast forms, sniffing frantically for Neiki's scent.
"Dō—watch your feet!" Akimichi Sidō shouted, with Yamanaka Masao echoing the warning.
Dō looked down.
At the bottom of the crater lay only the special kunai Neiki had left behind.
At first, he scoffed—
Then his eyes widened.
That symbol…
Isn't this the Fourth Hokage's—?
As if to confirm his realization, Neiki's figure appeared beside the kunai in a blink, as though he had simply stepped out of space itself.
Neiki picked it up and smiled warmly.
"Die."
Dō reacted instantly, thrusting his kunai forward.
Neiki swung his black sword.
There was no clang.
Dō's kunai split cleanly in half. The black blade continued forward without slowing, slicing effortlessly through Dō's neck.
What a sharp sword…
That was Dō's final thought.
His head flew into the air.
Blood slid down Neiki's blade as he stepped past the falling body. When the enraged ninken leaped at him, Neiki didn't even look—one casual swing gutted it mid-air.
The beast let out a final howl before collapsing beside its master.
Neiki stepped out of the crater.
The black sword in his hand gleamed brilliantly, spotless—as if it had just been washed.
It was a blade he had personally synthesized: a standard sword merged with its duplicate, infused with a trace of Byakugan Essence. Its sharpness and durability far surpassed ordinary weapons, able to cleave metal like paper.
Though its weight had doubled, it felt perfectly balanced to Neiki—whose physical body had been greatly enhanced through Hashirama's cells.
Yet no one was focused on the sword.
All eyes were fixed on the kunai in his other hand.
"That is definitely the Flying Thunder God Technique…" Nara Suzaku said gravely.
Akimichi Sidō and Yamanaka Masao felt the same chill.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio had deep ties to both the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. They had even served as Minato's personal guards during the Third Shinobi World War.
To see that legendary space-time ninjutsu wielded by an exiled Hyuga—
It was horrifying.
"On the day of the Uchiha rebellion, Konoha's external archives were burned," Suzaku said coldly."And a scroll from the Sealing Scroll Repository went missing."
"So it was you."
Neiki's gaze was icy.
"I don't explain myself to dead men."
Suzaku's eyes sharpened.
"The Flying Thunder God demands extreme battlefield awareness," he said."There's no way you've fully mastered it in such a short time. If that's all you're relying on, you should surrender now and spare yourself unnecessary suffering."
Ao, watching from the side, suddenly laughed.
"Exactly. Why bother explaining to dead men?"He grinned. "Neiki—how about we help you deal with Konoha today?"
Neiki glanced at him.
Said nothing.
Ao's smile stiffened.
He understood that look.
It was the same one Neiki gave Suzaku—
The look reserved for someone who wasn't worth explaining things to.
Did Neiki truly intend to fight both Konoha and Kirigakure alone?
Was he really that arrogant?
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