Chapter 22: White Eyes and Winged Form
"Get lost, you smelly crow. Go clean up that woman." Momiji had instantly recognized the source of the annoying venom he'd purged from his system. This crow-shaped demon was the culprit. He spoke with open disdain, issuing an order as if to a subordinate. Wasn't it natural for a superior to command an inferior? His power far eclipsed this feathered nuisance.
"Who the hell do you think you are to order me around?!" The ghost crow, Onigarasu, was incensed. It directed several of its remaining clones to dive-bomb Momiji, spraying corrosive bile.
The more it looked at this red-haired demon, the more a flicker of familiarity nagged at it. But it saw so many faces during its nightly hunts; placing this one was difficult.
Momiji rolled his crimson eyes as the crow clones harried him, impeding his pursuit. "Do you honestly think you can stop the bug-user? If he gets away, it's on your head."
Given the ghost crow's performance so far, it could harass Aburame Fumihiko, but stopping a determined, fleeing chunin specializing in evasion and misdirection was another matter entirely.
The woman was clearly the weaker target. Momiji had little interest in her.
The ghost crow fell silent, its anger warring with cold logic. It couldn't refute the point. It truly wasn't confident it could corner the elusive bug-user, especially with its clone numbers depleted.
"Heh. Remember this," it hissed mentally. "You hog the glory at a critical moment. There will be consequences later!"
For now, it seemed Momiji would handle the bug-user alone. Fine. It would dispatch the woman swiftly, then watch him struggle.
The ghost crow's threat elicited no reaction from Momiji. He simply gave it a final, dismissive glance before refocusing on the retreating form of Aburame Fumihiko.
Grudgingly, the ghost crow broke off, its remaining clones veering to intercept Kizugawa Sakiko, who was trying to follow Fumihiko's escape path.
Meanwhile, Shuichi's experiment was complete.
The transformation of Hyuga Kuji was swift and dramatic. The Byakugan, to Shuichi's immense satisfaction, remained. The pure white eyes, now set in a dramatically altered face, still gleamed with their characteristic pupil-less intensity.
Kuji's frame had expanded, growing from 170 centimeters to a full 190. His build, once lean, was now powerfully proportioned, making him appear even taller. His skin had turned deathly pale, like that of a long-interred corpse. Most striking was his back: the flesh split, and two pairs of bloody, feathered wings—four wings in total—forced their way out, flexing and dripping ichor before settling.
Four wings. More than the actual bird-demon, Shuichi noted with mild amusement. The crow will be insufferably jealous.
The wounds from Momiji's thorns had elongated into intricate, intersecting crimson tattoos that snaked across his pale skin, culminating in a prominent cross-shaped scar over his face.
Shuichi stepped forward, removing the Konoha hitai-ate. The cursed "Caged Bird" seal was gone, utterly erased, replaced by a complex, blood-red sigil that swirled across his forehead. It looked ominous but was functionally inert—for now.
White eyes, pale skin, black hair. The blood markings aside, the aesthetic was acceptable. Hyuga-standard features, neither handsome nor ugly.
"Greetings, My Lord." The newly transformed demon knelt on one knee. His voice was deep, quieter than before, fitting the strong, silent type.
"Well. From now on, you are 'Tenmu'," Shuichi declared, bypassing ceremony. "Now. Tell me of your eyes' capabilities."
"My vision spans two kilometers in all directions, with a full 360-degree field. I can perceive the target's chakra pathways, skeletal structure, tenketsu points, and… the flow of an unfamiliar energy." Tenmu paused, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his pale features. "Furthermore… my sight seems to penetrate all matter. I have a sense it could… pierce dimensional barriers. See through space itself."
Shuichi's interest sharpened. Interesting. A spatial perception component? Was this unique to Tenmu, or a trait of all Hyuga-turned-demons?
"What living creatures lie beneath our feet?" Shuichi tested.
Tenmu's white eyes scanned downward, then swiveled. "There are… pale, humanoid forms. Many in that direction." He pointed unerringly toward Konoha. "However, while they possess biological structure, they lack the vital signatures of true 'life.' It is… anomalous."
White Zetsu spies. Planted beneath Konoha. Shuichi filed the information away. Having Tenmu was an unexpected boon; he'd no longer be blind to such subterranean surveillance.
"Excellent. You will accompany me from now on, Tenmu."
"Yes, My Lord."
As Shuichi conversed with his new acquisition, the other battles concluded.
Against Momiji, Aburame Fumihiko's defensive insect techniques proved futile. The blood thorns were impervious to the parasites' corrosive bites. Momiji himself allowed the bugs to crawl over him, his body sheathed in a faint crimson aura—his Ghost Qi. The insects that touched him didn't corrode; they grew sluggish, their vitality drained, falling away lifeless before they could inflict harm.
Watching his primary arsenal fail utterly, Fumihiko's retreat became desperate, then panicked. His footwork grew sloppy.
Momiji seized the opening. A cage of barbed thorns erupted from the earth, ensnaring the Aburame shinobi completely.
"Your escape ends here," Momiji stated, his tone almost bored. The bug-user had been a disappointment.
"Took you long enough to bag one bug-man," a taunting mental voice, projected through a nearby crow clone, echoed. "Uncle Crow already delivered the woman to the Ghost King. Need him to come hold your hand?"
"Don't you find it pathetic," Momiji retorted coldly, snatching the crow clone out of the air, "to taunt through a puppet?"
Before he could crush it, the clone dissolved into liquid, condensing into a single blood droplet that zipped away into the forest.
Momiji watched it go, a sound of disgust escaping his lips. "Tsk."
He turned back to his captive. The field was secured. The Ghost King's test, it seemed, was a resounding success. They had acquired new assets, and Konoha had lost three more shinobi to the growing, unseen threat of the Twelve Kizuki. The night's work was done.
End of Chapter)
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