On the ground, a deathly silence reigned.
All the Konoha ninja who had witnessed the scene stood frozen, their faces etched with an inexpressible shock.
Was that... Hyūga Kawa?
What was with this aura?
Before they could even fully process the situation, the dense smoke and dust behind Hyūga Kawa slowly dissipated, as if an invisible hand were pulling back a heavy curtain, little by little.
Then, figures began to appear.
One, two, ten, a hundred...
A dense crowd of people started to emerge from the gradually clearing dust, their steps shaky!
Most were covered in dirt, many were injured, leaning on each other. Their faces showed the lingering panic and confusion of having narrowly escaped death, but they were alive.
They had truly survived such a devastating attack!
"They're coming out! Someone's coming out!"
"Oh my God! They're alive! They're alive!"
"My child! My child is still in there!"
A burst of post-disaster ecstasy, unbelievable excitement, and the urgency of finding loved ones erupted within the crowd. Gasps, cries, and joyous shouts instantly blended into a chorus of noise.
Many people frantically rushed towards the emerging crowd, searching for their family members and confirming their safety.
Tears mixed with the grime on their faces, yet they beamed with the immense joy of a reunion after loss.
Behind the slowly emerging crowd, Uchiha Sasuke clutched his chest, staggering with every step. He and the least injured Haruno Sakura were supporting the pale-faced Yamanaka Ino.
Suddenly, Sasuke's footsteps halted abruptly, his gaze fixed beside him.
"This is..."
Embedded in the rock face, half-buried in the rubble, was a lavishly designed white longbow—the weapon of the invader.
A flicker of surprise crossed Sasuke's face. He reached out with the hand that wasn't clutching his chest and tightly gripped the cold bow stave, pulling with sudden force!
Hiss!
The longbow was wrenched out of the solid rock. A faint wave of chakra flowed into his palm, as if responding to Sasuke.
"This feeling... Like the Seven Deadly Sins, is it a ninja tool with a 'soul'?"
Sasuke lowered his head, scrutinizing the weapon, his eyes flickering with an unclear light, lost in thought.
"Ino!"
Just then, a voice filled with profound anxiety rang out.
Yamanaka Inoichi dashed through the crowd, sprinting straight towards his daughter.
Seeing his daughter's pale but unharmed face, the usually composed clan leader of the Yamanaka could not hide his excitement. He immediately pulled Ino into a tight embrace.
"Dad! I—I thought I would never see you again!" Ino's tightly held emotions completely broke down in her father's arms, her voice trembling with sobs.
"It's okay, it's over! Just being alive is enough, being alive is enough!" Inoichi hugged his daughter, his voice catching with emotion as he continuously patted her back to soothe her.
"Ino." Once his daughter calmed down a little, he subconsciously asked, "An attack of that magnitude, how did you all manage to..."
Ino lifted her tear-filled face and pointed towards the figure suspended in the air.
"Right! Lord Kawa saved us!"
"If Lord Kawa hadn't stood in front, we would have been..."
The other survivors nearby, both children and civilians, excitedly began to explain, their earnest gazes fixed on Hyūga Kawa in the air.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the joyous clamor, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was being supported by Tsunade, suddenly tensed his previously ashen face, his eyes frantically scanning the crowds emerging with unsteady steps.
Until his gaze settled on the unconscious figure in Umino Iruka's arms.
It was Naruto!
The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was still here!
"Phew..."
A long, heavy breath, as if shedding a burden of a thousand pounds, was painstakingly exhaled from deep within Hiruzen's chest.
His nerves, which had been strained to the point of breaking, finally relaxed slightly. A little color returned to his pale face.
As long as the Nine-Tails was safe, and as long as the thousands of civilians had not all perished, it was a blessing in the face of misfortune.
If Konoha had truly lost both the Nine-Tails and thousands of villagers simultaneously, he couldn't imagine how he would face the resentment of the ninja and the populace.
However, this relief only lasted for a brief moment.
Hearing the words of the survivors, his gaze also involuntarily lifted, staring at Hyūga Kawa, who hovered in the sky and had achieved all this.
Looking at the pair of strangely beautiful, glittering eyes that were distinctly different from the Byakugan, Hiruzen's brow instinctively furrowed.
"What kind of eyes are those?"
And, that last strike was comparable to a Tailed Beast Ball from a Perfect Jinchūriki, yet Hyūga Kawa was able to block it. When exactly did he acquire such power?
In this moment, the mocking and hateful words he'd heard from Orochimaru back in the Land of Demons echoed clearly in his mind again:
"After all these years, you're still being fooled by that cunning brat! How pathetic!"
Thinking of this, amidst the complex mix of fear and relief, a thread of suspicion uncontrollably sprung up in his heart, rapidly growing and intertwining like a cold vine.
"Could it be that Hyūga Kawa is truly not as loyal and gentle as I perceive, as Orochimaru claimed?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered inwardly, "Did Orochimaru's defection truly hide some secret I was unaware of?"
However, although suspicion arose in Hiruzen's heart at this moment, it did not turn into strong apprehension or hostility.
After all, Hyūga Kawa was ultimately from the Hyūga Branch House, a 'Caged Bird' marked with the Caged Bird Seal, his life held in the hands of the Main House.
If the Hyūga Main House was the hilt of the sword that was Hyūga Kawa, then he, the Hokage, was the hand that held the hilt and dictated the direction of the blade.
No matter how sharp a sword is, as long as it has a hilt, and as long as the hand holding the hilt is steady, the blade will never wound the wielder. It will only serve as the most reliable weapon...
Wait!
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, Hiruzen suddenly realized a crucial point that he had subconsciously overlooked!
His pupils abruptly contracted, his body jolted as if struck by electricity, and an icy chill instantly shot up his spine to the top of his head. He violently turned his head toward the direction of the Hyūga Clan compound.
Due to the sudden attack by the Sky Ninja, and his trust and dependence on Hyūga Kawa's capabilities, all his energy since returning to the village had been focused on the crisis of the frontal battle.
He hadn't had time to ask Tsunade in detail about the specific situation within the Hyūga Clan compound...
He only knew that Tsunade had sent personnel to investigate and assist.
But...
Hyūga Kawa was already here. So, where were the people sent to investigate the Hyūga compound? Why hadn't any news returned yet?
It must be noted that among the people Tsunade sent was Might Guy, the one who had mastered 'Gluttony'.
Given Guy's speed and efficiency, there should have been a response by now.
What exactly happened inside the Hyūga Clan?
And what about the Hyūga Main House, Hyūga Hiashi, and the others?
Currently, Hyūga Kawa was indeed still under control.
But, what if...
What if something had happened to the Hyūga Main House, the "hilt" of the sword?
This extremely terrifying thought surfaced in his mind, instantly making Sarutobi Hiruzen feel a shiver down his spine. He subconsciously looked up at Hyūga Kawa in the air.
Boom! Boom!!
Two deafening explosions roared almost simultaneously, instantly tearing apart Konoha's momentary and fragile peace, and brutally interrupting the brief respite of those who had just survived the disaster!
Everyone looked up in horror, only to see the suspended figure of Hyūga Kawa suddenly blur, dissolving into an afterimage.
He had transformed into a streak of light ripping through the sky, charging directly toward the invader dressed in the black and red cloud robe in the distance with a terrifying speed that exceeded the limit of visual perception.
At the same time, in another direction, deep within the Hyūga Clan compound.
A massive amount of smoke and dust shot into the sky following an explosion. Immediately after, a figure flew backward from the smoke of the explosion, from the ground up into the air!
The signature green spandex combat suit clearly belonged to Might Guy!
However, Guy looked very disheveled. His green spandex was torn in several places and covered in large amounts of dust.
"Lord Third."
Noticing Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others in the distance, Might Guy urgently shouted in mid-air, "It's Hyūga Neji! It's an 'Espada'! The Hyūga Main House..."
His voice cut off abruptly here.
Because a white figure suddenly appeared right in front of him!
That was...
"An Espada?"
Looking at the familiar pale bone mask and humanoid silhouette, yet seeing a completely unfamiliar figure and appearance, Sarutobi Hiruzen's hoarse voice was full of shock and confusion.
How could an 'Espada' appear here?
And how could it be an 'Espada' he had never seen before?
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