If the story had followed its old track, Kaguya would have returned and cast Infinite Tsukuyomi, turning everyone into White Zetsu—slaves under her will.
Kaede broke that chain. A butterfly's wing, and elsewhere a storm: that clan has arrived early.
What Kaede couldn't grasp was why Neji was chosen as a Wedge. The first chosen had clearly been Haku; the "curse" Haku spoke of was likely this.
While questions crowded the mind, fists answered on the floor.
Wrapped in blue chakra from that clan, Neji floated in the air.
Mangetsu crouched, Twin Flounder Blades low, body bent like a spring, eyes locked on the boy above.
He flickered behind Neji, hands cutting through signs. "Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique."
With the blades' stored chakra, a vast cascade bloomed.
It wasn't from one side. Waterwalls rose on all four—front, back, left, right—closing around Neji.
"What good is that against him?" murmured a voice in the stands.
None at all.
Neji could simply rise a few feet and be clear. More than that, his evolving eye wasn't only commanding space—it was seeing along the time axis. From the moment Mangetsu flattened himself against the ground and stared up with that chill, Neji had already watched this moment arrive.
Down to the inch of his next flicker.
"So the White Eye was this strong?" someone whispered, shaken.
"What even is the Land of Gods?"
"A country with clans like these—and more than one of them."
Darkness suddenly swarmed the rafters—an oppressive storm of insects. Suigetsu's shots didn't matter; the swarm ignored him and clung to him with feverish delight. He felt a new fear: they were drinking his chakra.
He clawed at them. They clung tighter. Strip one layer away, and another writhed beneath.
Cursing broke from his lips. He tried to liquefy—but the bugs slid into his body with the water. They were bred for water, living inside it like home.
Seeing his brother in real danger, Mangetsu flashed to Suigetsu and hurled another Great Waterfall.
Layer upon layer—four stacked curtains poured into the crater left by the Tailed Beast Ball, filling it to the rim. And then people began to notice: Mangetsu was shaping the terrain.
Every pit he found, he filled with water. For anyone not born of the mist, the field itself was turning into a natural disaster.
"Look!"
While eyes tracked the spreading pools, the ceiling darkened. In an enclosed arena, a bank of black clouds gathered—and rain fell.
Only then did the stands understand: this was Mangetsu's strength. A shinobi told in rumors without a true showcase—until now. The battlefield itself answered to him.
Neji rose another arm's length, blue light deepening in his gaze. On the water below, ripples fanned in perfect circles. In the air above, kunai glinted like a new constellation, turning point-first toward the storm.
Two futures pressed against the present: one where Mangetsu drowned the ring in rain and blades, one where blue light folded the space around him like paper.
Only one would hold.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]