Hyūga Shigeo sat quietly on the hillside. He hadn't found any trace of the Orchid Sect, and the case of the missing Blue Gate shinobi was still without leads. Since rushing off would achieve nothing, he decided to stay and see what these people were really after.
"Finish them off!" someone shouted.
A wave of attackers surged forward. In moments, Hyūga Hiashi, Hikaru, and their companion were nearly overwhelmed.
Hikaru, though already chūnin level, had exhausted his Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) and Jūken (Gentle Fist) techniques dozens of times. His chakra was fading, and his stamina was gone.
Suddenly, a huge blade swung toward his head from behind.
The wielder was a towering brute, swinging the greatsword as if it were a toy. If it landed, Hikaru's skull would split open instantly.
Hiashi and the other Hyūga were too busy holding off multiple opponents to intervene.
At the critical moment, Shigeo drew a kunai and flicked it.
The whistling sound tore through the air—
Before the blade could fall, the brute's head exploded.
The kunai pierced straight through his skull and impaled another attacker behind him, nailing the man to a tree.
The horrific scene froze the battlefield. Every enemy instinctively stepped back.
"Who's there?!" their leader yelled, scanning the dark hillside.
No one visible—only a faint shadow glinting in the moonlight, far away atop the slope.
"Boss, maybe it came from over there?" someone whispered.
"Idiot! That's several kilometers away! No one could throw a kunai that far—and with that kind of power?" the leader snapped. He glanced at the corpse with its skull shattered. "You think a human could do that?"
They hesitated.
But Hikaru recognized the silhouette instantly.
"Heaven's helping me! Just the person I needed—Shigeo! Help me!!"
He broke through the ring of enemies, sprinting up the hill toward Shigeo, yelling as he ran.
Behind him, a horde of pursuers followed.
Hiashi frowned when he heard the name. He saved us?
The third Hyūga member was barely standing. His last Gen-shinha technique—some kind of powerful taijutsu—had drained him completely.
With Hikaru's retreat, many attackers chased after him, leaving fewer around Hiashi's group. Still, they were surrounded.
Hiashi caught the faltering clansman and set him beside him, focusing his Byakugan and fighting defensively. Whatever happened, the three of them had to survive. Especially him.
The Hyūga clan was divided between the Main House and Branch House.
Main House members inherited the full Byakugan lineage; Branch members were branded with the Caged Bird Seal to prevent the bloodline from being stolen.
If a Branch member died and their eyes were taken, the seal would destroy both the eyes and their chakra pathways, rendering them useless—and damaging the user's brain.
That's why no outsider could truly obtain the Byakugan.
But if Hiashi's eyes—those of the Main House—were taken intact, they could become deadly weapons in another's hands.
That was something he could never allow.
Shigeo watched as Hikaru charged up the slope, shouting and waving. He couldn't help shaking his head. Still the same idiot as when we were kids.
"Help me! They're trying to kill us! They want our eyes! Listen—my Byakugan's useless if it's taken! Shigeo, help me!!" Hikaru yelled as he ran, dragging the battle straight toward him.
Shigeo sighed through gritted teeth, then sprang forward.
If his name had been heard by these attackers, none could be allowed to live.
He wasn't here as the Ink Shadow today—but as the master of Blue Gate. If word spread that he was investigating, the hidden enemy might panic, take precautions, or retaliate by killing his subordinates.
And that, he would never permit.
With that thought, his expression turned cold.
Without even weaving hand seals, he rushed into the fray.
Twin black rods appeared in his hands—short, deadly, humming with power.
He moved like a phantom—kicks, grabs, strikes, spins, flips—each motion lethal.
In less than ten seconds, every enemy on the field had twin holes through vital points.
Not one survived.
Hikaru stood there, jaw slack. "T-that's taijutsu at the kage level? He didn't even use chakra! He just—he just wiped them all out before they could blink!"
"Shigeo, you're incredible!" he shouted.
Shigeo ignored the praise. He'd sensed the attackers' identities through the resonance of the black rods and the Rinnegan.
The truth chilled him—the Moon City sacrifices were indeed tied to a group called the Orchid Sect.
Down below, the remaining enemies were slain as well.
Hiashi and the third Hyūga—whom Shigeo now knew was named Hyūga Jinze—finished off their opponents.
Still, Shigeo left nothing to chance.
A shadow clone leapt into the valley and silently executed any survivors who might have seen his face.
Hiashi approached, supporting the wounded Jinze.
"Thank you for your aid, my lord."
Shigeo didn't reply. He glanced at Jinze's injuries and handed him a small medicine pill.
"I saw your technique earlier—'Gen-shin Wave,' was it? You created that yourself?"
The move was unlike any Hyūga technique he'd ever seen—a leg-based style combining chakra flow and body momentum for explosive close-range strikes.
"Yes, my lord," Jinze answered respectfully.
Though Shigeo looked younger, everyone here knew his rank and power. Even Hiashi himself addressed him with deference.
Jinze accepted the pill without hesitation and swallowed it.
Hiashi blinked in surprise. The man hadn't even questioned it—just obeyed.
So that's his influence, Hiashi thought. Even without speaking a word, his presence commands obedience.
(End of Chapter)
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