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Karin's Monstrous Strength exploded.
Unaware of Chiyo's thoughts, Karin clenched her fist, blasted through the incoming tools, and drove her punch straight toward the old puppet master.
"Puppet Technique: Light of the Firefly!"
Chiyo reacted in an instant.
Two puppets shot in front of her, arms raised as a chakra shield formed between them.
Boom!
Karin's punch tore through the shield and sent both puppets flying.
"Tsunade's monstrous strength?" Chiyo muttered, her heart sinking.
A Jinchuriki with power like that… it was almost no different from facing Tsunade herself.
For a brief moment, Chiyo considered retreat.
But Kurenai, Yakumo, and Kiba had already moved, circling in to cut off her escape.
"How is this possible?"
Chiyo's gaze flicked to the three collapsed Sand jonin, disbelief tightening her chest.
Were they taken out that quickly?
She knew Yakumo Kurama's genjutsu had been outstanding during her graduation exam, but the Hidden Sand's intel on her was limited. They had no way of knowing she possessed illusions on the level of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
All they knew was that Yakumo's genjutsu was powerful—without any true sense of just how overwhelming it really was.
"Elder Chiyo, surrender, and you can avoid some suffering."
Kurenai threw Chiyo's earlier words back at her.
Chiyo's expression twisted, wavering for only an instant.
The next second, her hands snapped up. Ten puppets surged forward toward Kurenai's group as Chiyo herself leapt back to widen the distance.
"Karin, Kiba—take those ten puppets!" Kurenai barked. "Yakumo, with me! Don't let her get away!"
Karin's fist clenched again.
Chakra flooded her arm, her knuckles blazing, as if wrapped in liquid blood.
She stepped in and hammered the nearest puppet.
The puppet's arms rose automatically, rotating blades snapping out to intercept.
Crack!
Karin's punch shattered the blades like brittle glass and then slammed into the puppet's torso.
It burst apart in an instant.
"Inuzuka Style: Man-Beast Combination — Three-Headed Wolf!"
Kiba and Akamaru merged, their forms twisting into a massive, three-headed beast.
The Three-Headed Wolf lunged forward, each head biting down on a different puppet, tearing into three of Chiyo's creations at once.
Retreating, Chiyo's fingers danced.
Three puppets rushed ahead and locked into a triangular formation.
A violent whirlwind erupted from between them.
Kurenai and Yakumo were immediately caught in an invisible pull, dragged toward the triangle by a crushing suction. With every step they were forced closer, the pressure on their bodies intensified—if they advanced any further, their bodies would be pulverized.
"Genjutsu: True Life!"
Yakumo flung out three scrolls.
In the next instant, earthen walls erupted from the ground in front of them.
The suction weakened. Using the sudden foothold, Kurenai planted a foot on the wall and launched herself into the air.
"Yin Release: Rasengan!"
She dove, a high-speed spiraling chakra sphere roaring to life in her palm, aimed straight at the three puppets.
Chiyo's eyes sharpened.
She yanked the three puppets back while her free hand scattered a storm of kunai.
"Puppet Technique: Manipulated Shuriken!"
Fine threads glittered faintly behind every kunai. If they so much as grazed Kurenai, the wires would coil around and bind her.
"Super Beast Imitating Drawing!"
Yakumo unfurled a blank scroll with a flick.
Her brush swept once, and a flock of ink birds surged out, wings beating as they intercepted the rain of kunai, steel bouncing harmlessly away.
Boom!
Kurenai's Yin Release: Rasengan struck home.
Two of the three puppets were a heartbeat too slow and were blown away, smashed out of the formation.
"Super Beast Imitating Drawing!"
Yakumo's brush flashed again. A massive ink eagle burst from the scroll right in front of her.
She grabbed its talon.
The eagle beat its wings and soared upward—then hurled Yakumo forward with all its strength.
She landed lightly, materializing directly in front of Chiyo.
"Terror Illusion! Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"
Chiyo froze mid-step, her body trembling, her eyes glazing over as a dazed, haunted expression spread across her face.
Although she tried to consciously break free of the illusion, the combined effect of the Terror Illusion and Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique completely drove that thought from her mind.
"We won!"
The instant the puppets stopped attacking, Kiba dispelled his Combination Transformation with Akamaru and shouted excitedly.
"Everyone did well," Kurenai said in praise. "Especially you, Yakumo."
"It was thanks to Karin," Yakumo replied with a small smile.
"Everyone contributed," Kurenai said after a brief pause. "To prevent the Sand ninja from sending a rescue team, Yakumo, Kiba—take Chiyo away immediately."
With Yakumo there, as long as they didn't run into Rasa himself, she and Kiba would be safe.
Her decision to stay at the outpost with Karin followed the same logic.
With a Jinchuriki present, the two of them could hold out until the relief force arrived.
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei!"
Yakumo and Kiba answered in unison.
Akamaru swelled to his larger form, then carried the unconscious Chiyo and dashed off.
High above them, at an extreme altitude, Kitazawa watched the entire battle unfold through his activated Byakugan.
[Current Task: Help Kurenai Yuhi's team gain fame.]
[Task Reward: Sukunahikona.]
[Host has completed the task. Reward issued.]
That afternoon, after Kitazawa's vigorous efforts to spread the story, he successfully completed his system task and obtained Sukunahikona.
When news of Chiyo's capture reached Sunagakure, Rasa and Ebizō were left speechless for a long time.
—
Temporary Konoha encampment in the Land of Rivers.
Kitazawa lay with his head resting on Konan's black-stockinged thighs, reading the scroll in his hand.
This scroll, delivered by White Zetsu, contained a summary of Sunagakure's recent movements.
After Chiyo was taken, Rasa adopted a far more conservative strategy, no longer launching proactive offensives.
Because of that shift, Konoha held the advantage on the battlefield despite being outnumbered.
The standout unit was without question Kabuto's Summoning Beast Ninja Unit.
They numbered only about a hundred, but wherever they appeared, Sand ninja were routed.
Another key force was Kurenai Yuhi's team.
After Uzumaki Karin was exposed as a Jinchuriki, she stopped hiding her strength. She abandoned her role as a Medical-nin and moved straight to the front lines.
Working in tandem with the genjutsu of Yakumo and Kurenai, their team was almost unstoppable.
Of course, Kiba and Akamaru also played an important role. Their sharp sense of smell allowed them to act as sensory ninja, and their fighting ability was nothing to scoff at.
After finishing the first scroll, Kitazawa unrolled a second.
This one was also from White Zetsu and detailed the movements of the other hidden villages.
Kirigakure had adopted a strategy similar to Sunagakure's—
only even more conservative.
They hadn't even come ashore, instead using islands out at sea as forward bases.
The Hidden Mist specialized in water release, and fighting on the ocean dramatically boosted their power.
Combined with their unique Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique, they could advance or retreat at will.
As a result, the Third Division, commanded by Shikaku, had fallen into a stalemate with Kirigakure's forces.
Iwagakure, however, took the opposite approach and went on the offensive.
Their vanguard used Earth Release to launch a night raid on the Second Division led by Hiashi.
But with White Zetsu present, the raid failed and they suffered heavy casualties.
Now they had pulled back to the Land of Waterfalls, waiting to regroup with their main force.
The vanguard of the Hidden Cloud Village and the First Ninja Force led by Fugaku had yet to clash.
It wasn't that the Hidden Cloud didn't want to fight—Konoha had chosen to make concessions.
And the reason for that was tied to the plan Hinata had proposed.
After Kitazawa finished reading the report, a smile tugged at his lips.
Looked like it was time to head to the Land of Moon and enjoy the show.
"Konan, stop the massage for now. We're going to the Land of Moon," Kitazawa said, sitting up.
Konan simply nodded.
A moment later, the Flying Thunder God flared.
The two of them appeared inside Konoha's temporary camp in the Land of Moon.
"Who is it?"
Hinata's fingers tightened instinctively around the moon chasing bow.
Only when she saw who had suddenly appeared beside her did her expression soften into surprise and joy.
"Good morning, Hinata."
Kitazawa reached out and patted her head.
She had one of his Flying Thunder God kunai on her, so he had teleported straight to her location.
"Is this your tent?" Kitazawa asked, glancing around.
"Eh?"
Hinata suddenly remembered something and hurried to stuff away her sleeping bag.
Once she was done, she nodded, her cheeks faintly red.
"How is the situation now?" Kitazawa sat down cross-legged and asked.
"The main force of the Hidden Cloud Village will arrive tomorrow, so we plan to strike tonight," Hinata answered.
"Take me to have a look," Kitazawa said, giving her cheek a light pinch.
"Mhm."
Hinata slipped on her shoes and led Kitazawa toward the main command tent.
"Hokage-sama!"
Fugaku and the others immediately stood and bowed when they saw him.
"Don't mind me," Kitazawa waved them off. "I'm just here as a spectator. I won't interfere with you."
With that said, his gaze fell to the Yin Release Arrows laid out on the ground.
There were four thousand of them in total.
At the moment, numerous Jonin were busy inscribing Ninjutsu onto the shafts or attaching exploding tags to the arrows.
The Hidden Cloud vanguard numbered four thousand.
Originally, Fugaku had planned to take things slowly; after all, they only had five thousand shinobi on their side.
Then Hyuga Hinata had proposed her plan.
Use multiple arrows at ultra-long range to deliver a devastating first strike against the Hidden Cloud vanguard.
Worried the raw power might not be enough, Fugaku ordered Ninjutsu to be carved into the arrows and exploding tags affixed to them.
It had to be said—Hyuga Hinata had already stepped beyond the mindset of a traditional shinobi.
This shift was thanks to her Tenseigan and the moon-chasing bow.
Konoha's temporary camp was situated in the west of the Land of Moon, while the Hidden Cloud camp lay in the east.
The Hidden Cloud would never imagine they were about to be hit by an attack that spanned the entire Land of Moon.
Under normal circumstances, no Ninjutsu could reach that kind of range.
[Current Mission: Help Hyuga Hinata become famous.]
[Mission Reward: Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.]
[Accept?]
Staring at the three lines of text that suddenly appeared, Kitazawa couldn't help the surge of delight in his chest.
The Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack?
The Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack originated from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and was a Kekkei Mōra.
Kekkei Mōra, simply put, was the ultimate Ninjutsu formed by uniting all seven elemental attributes.
It was a further evolution of a Bloodline Limit, which only combined two.
Judging from its performance in the original story, the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack was essentially the pinnacle of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist.
And that was exactly what it was.
In the official databooks, it was classified as Taijutsu rather than a Dōjutsu.
The Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack functioned as both offense and defense, unleashing countless fists in an instant.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin in thought.
Among the members of Team Seven, only Hyūga Hinata lacked a formal epithet.
Uchiha Sasuke was known as the Kirin of Konoha, and Uzumaki Naruto as the Dragon of Konoha.
Night fell.
In front of Konoha's temporary camp, everyone's eyes were on Hinata.
She activated her Tenseigan.
A purple light flashed in her eyes as her vision expanded without limit, quickly locking onto the Hidden Cloud's temporary camp.
All four thousand Hidden Cloud shinobi were now within her field of view.
Hinata drew out the Moon-Chasing Bow.
As she pulled back the string, the four thousand Yin Release arrows laid out on the ground rose into the air.
Yin Release Chakra Mode!
The Moon-Chasing Bow trembled violently, and an overwhelming surge of chakra wrapped around Hinata.
Her hair lengthened and whipped about in the air, making her appear cold and otherworldly beneath the moonlight.
Hinata let go.
Four thousand Yin Release arrows shot forth.
They tore across the night sky at extreme speed, disappearing from the Konoha camp's sight.
In the Hidden Cloud's temporary camp in the Land of Moon—
It was deep into the night, and aside from the sentries, everyone was fast asleep.
Suddenly, a sharp whistling of air came from above.
The Hidden Cloud sentries instinctively looked up.
One after another, Yin Release arrows came into view.
Before they could sound the alarm, the arrows punched through their bodies. In the next instant, the exploding tags and ninjutsu attached to the shafts all detonated.
Blazing flames erupted skyward, turning the entire Hidden Cloud camp bright as day.
A gale followed, fanning the fire and sending it raging out of control.
Lightning then arced through the inferno, spreading in all directions; wherever it passed, Hidden Cloud shinobi collapsed, their bodies paralyzed.
Earth and Water techniques had not been added.
They would have interfered with Fire, Lightning, and Wind.
The commander of the Hidden Cloud vanguard was C.
C was a Hidden Cloud jōnin, one of the few who specialized in genjutsu, medical ninjutsu, and sensory techniques—a man known as the Fourth Raikage's left hand.
In the original story, he had once tracked Sasuke's Team Taka.
He had also served as the Allied Shinobi Forces' chief sensor during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
In the middle of a dream, C suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end.
A killing intent from the sky pressed down on him.
C sprang up, chakra surging through his legs.
A heartbeat later, a Yin Release arrow slammed into the spot where he had just been lying.
Before he could even exhale in relief, he saw the exploding tag fixed to the arrow's fletching.
Boom!
The tag detonated.
Flames roared toward him.
C was blown away on the shockwave.
Fortunately, he had already moved away from the explosion's center and didn't lose consciousness on the spot.
Mystical Palm Technique!
He immediately began healing himself.
Pale green chakra flowed from his hands, rapidly stabilizing and restoring his body.
He looked around at the camp thrown into chaos, momentarily stunned.
"Enemy attack!"
C snapped back to his senses and shouted at the top of his lungs.
At the same time, he stood, flashed through hand seals, and activated a sensory ninjutsu.
His face changed at once, twisting into disbelief.
There were no enemies.
For someone like him, failing to detect any chakra presence at all was nearly unthinkable.
Such a large-scale attack should have caused intense chakra fluctuations.
Yet within his sensory range, C sensed nothing.
Were they outside his perception?
That only made it more unsettling.
He was a sensory-type jōnin; his detection abilities far surpassed those of most shinobi. As far as he knew, there wasn't a single ninjutsu with a range greater than what he could sense.
C took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He immediately rallied the surviving Hidden Cloud jōnin to extinguish the flames.
All four thousand Yin Release Arrows had already landed.
Now, only the raging fires remained.
The entire Hidden Cloud camp had become a sea of fire.
"Did the enemy stop their attack?"
C was puzzled.
Why stop now?
If another volley came, they would be completely wiped out.
Still, whatever the reason, it worked in their favor.
They now had time to put out the fire, rescue the wounded, and then retreat.
—
Konoha's temporary camp in the Land of Moon.
Hinata dispersed her Yin Release Chakra Mode.
She could have used Multiple Arrows again, but there was no need.
First, she only had those four thousand Yin Release Arrows prepared with attached exploding tags and ninjutsu.
Second, the surviving Hidden Cloud shinobi were all at least special jōnin level; Multiple Arrows would no longer be as effective against them.
"Hinata, how is the situation?"
Fugaku asked, unable to hide his urgency.
"The Hidden Cloud vanguard lost more than two-thirds of its shinobi," Hinata replied.
"Great job."
Fugaku gave his praise without hesitation.
Hinata's gaze instinctively drifted to Kitazawa.
Her greatest worry had been that Multiple Arrows wouldn't be effective enough and would let him down.
Fortunately, everything had gone according to plan, achieving excellent results.
"Itachi," Fugaku ordered at once, "take a team to the Hidden Cloud camp immediately. You must capture all the remaining shinobi!"
"Yes."
Itachi led the selected jōnin out of the Konoha camp at top speed.
Kitazawa was among them, along with his three students: Hinata, Sasuke, and ]Naruto.
Moving at full jōnin speed, they soon reached the Hidden Cloud's temporary camp.
But the place was empty.
C had already retreated with the wounded.
However, because they were burdened with injured comrades, their pace wasn't particularly fast.
And on Konoha's side, they had Hinata's Tenseigan.
It didn't take long for Itachi and the others to catch up with the Hidden Cloud group.
"Damn it!"
Despair welled up in C's heart.
His forces were filled with wounded; almost every shinobi was injured.
Sasuke activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and surged ahead.
The one who had shone the brightest tonight was undeniably Hinata.
As her teammate, he wasn't jealous—but he refused to lag behind.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto charged forward right after him.
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