"Mikazuki."
"I'm here, Ren-sama."
On the silent march, Ren—rarely the one to initiate conversation—addressed his sensor directly. Mikazuki Eri answered instantly, surprised and eager.
"Can you maintain detection while moving?"
"Barely," Mikazuki admitted, less confident. "Accuracy will be worse than when I'm stationary…"
"Barely is enough. Keep it up. If any chakra-bearing target approaches, notify me immediately."
"Yes, Ren-sama."
Mikazuki didn't find Ren's caution strange.
Hatake Kakashi had escaped.
Even if Ren didn't believe Kakashi could defeat him now, Kakashi was still a proven jōnin. If he risked his life to harass the strike force, he could cause casualties and slow their advance.
That couldn't be allowed.
Which meant someone had to intercept Kakashi the moment he appeared—
and that role, naturally, belonged to Ren, who had already driven him off once.
If Ren killed Kakashi, Mikazuki thought, he'd have the merits to be promoted to jōnin. And as his subordinate, she might profit too—
Her daydream cut off like a snapped thread.
At the edge of her sensory range, a chakra signature appeared, racing toward them.
Mikazuki stopped, focused—
then her face changed.
"Ren-sama. Target detected, approaching fast… No—there's another one moving toward us too!"
Her voice sharpened.
"Fast. Even faster than the first one!"
Another target?
Ren frowned.
For a heartbeat, he thought of Obito—worldline deviation, early arrival—
Then he remembered the system's wording.
Reinforcements.
Ren's expression eased.
Whoever it is, it has nothing to do with the "main battlefield" I want to avoid.
"Mikazuki, go ahead and relay the message to Matsuda and Mirai," Ren ordered calmly.
"Tell them to dispatch people to intercept the first target."
He looked toward the direction the faster presence was coming from.
"I'll block the faster one."
"Yes!"
Two shadows split from the marching force, peeling away into different directions beneath the moon.
As Ren sprinted through the sleeping forest, he adjusted his breathing and posture, steadying his mind for a battle that might influence the course of history.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of curiosity.
Who was it?
It wouldn't be Might Guy—he wasn't that strong yet.
And it couldn't be Minato—if it were him, Mikazuki wouldn't have been able to sense him so "late."
So perhaps an unnamed taijutsu specialist?
Inuzuka? Hyūga?
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"
A savage gust—packed with lethal chakra—struck from a blind angle without warning, blasting Ren off the tree he'd just used to spring forward.
"So you really are Hyūga…" Ren thought, twisting midair to bleed off the force. He landed cleanly, unharmed, and lifted his head toward the attacker who had used the Byakugan's advantage to spot him first and land the ambush.
She wore a gorgeous red-and-gold kimono that hugged her figure, wildly out of place in a war zone.
Her long black hair was tied back in a simple ponytail.
Her face was bright and refined, but her gaze held quiet determination.
Veins bulged around her eyes, framing a pair of pure-white pupils that looked like they could see through everything.
Ren stared.
You're wearing that… to a battlefield?
This is the Third Great Ninja War.
Even if you're Hyūga main family, no one is letting a noble daughter stroll out dressed like she's on a sightseeing trip—
And if you're main family…
Hinata isn't even born yet at this time.
So who are you?
Ren's thoughts flickered, unsettled.
And the Hyūga woman wasn't relaxed either.
Through the Byakugan, the sheer vitality packed inside Ren's body was horrifying. That full-power Air Palm had landed cleanly…
And yet his chakra flow hadn't even stuttered.
His organs and meridians showed no injury at all.
As if she'd struck a mountain, not a human.
No wonder even "the Sixth" had struggled against him—
Does Kirigakure just manufacture tailed beasts shaped like humans?
But if she could keep this monster pinned here…
Kakashi-senpai might be able to stall until Uchiha Obito arrived.
If Obito arrived before Rin-senpai made her choice…
Could those tragedies be rewritten?
Blue chakra flared around the Hyūga woman's hands, shaping into the fierce outline of twin lions.
She settled into a Gentle Fist stance—ready to drag Ren into a war of attrition and keep him here no matter what.
When Ren saw the twin lion-shaped chakra…
his eyes narrowed further.
That technique—
It looked like the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists.
A future technique.
Something that shouldn't exist now.
What the hell?
Is there another "transmigrator" besides me?
Are we doing some kind of cross-village battle royale between people who shouldn't be here?
That would be a terrible idea.
"Dance of the Camellia."
A bone blade burst through Ren's palm, sliding out as he gripped it. He shifted his footing and stepped into the Hyūga's Eight Trigrams range, voice calm and cold.
"State your name, Hyūga blood."
Their loyalties couldn't change.
But at least—
"I can carve you a gravestone that acknowledges your courage."
"Wow…" she replied lightly, though her eyes never left him. "That's some terrifying killing intent. No wonder people say the Kaguya are born for war."
She smiled faintly—dragging out time even as she studied every micro-movement Ren made.
"But I have to give my name while you keep yours? I'm not exactly winning, but I'm not helpless either, Kaguya… big brother."
Ren's mouth twitched.
Big brother?
Lady, you look like you're well into your twenties. Calling a fifteen-year-old "big brother" is shameless even by shinobi standards.
But Ren wanted information too.
And to him, a Hyūga was not exactly a perfect counter to a "giant blood tank."
He wasn't arrogant enough to compare himself to a tailed beast…
…but compared to something like Gamabunta or Manda, he probably wasn't far off.
Ren pulled off his ANBU mask—useless in front of the Byakugan anyway—and spoke evenly.
"Kaguya Ren. That's my name."
He leveled his gaze at her.
"Your turn."
"Kaguya Ren…" she repeated softly, searching her memory. "I've never heard of you."
Which meant, she decided, he probably didn't survive in the original history.
If he was going to die tonight anyway, there was no point using a fake name.
She straightened.
"Hyūga Hanabi. Daughter of the Hyūga main family."
Ren's expression flickered—rare, momentary blankness.
Hyūga… Hanabi?
Hanabi was five years younger than Hinata.
But the woman in front of him looked at least twenty-five.
And she used a technique that should belong to the future.
If she wasn't lying…
Then she was from more than thirty years ahead.
Thirty years ahead was… what era? The Boruto era he'd never bothered to read?
So Boruto wasn't completely worthless after all.
At least the "little sister-in-law" in front of him was… very combustible.
Ren's thoughts turned darkly amused even as he parried Hanabi's full-force palm strike with his bone blade.
Heh.
This was going to get complicated.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/Inkveil_