Chapter 77: A Series of Vicious Battles
"Fugaku Uchiha, were you the one who planned the Nine-Tails attack?!"
"You inherently evil Uchiha clan, today is your last day!"
Homura and Koharu glared at the motionless Hyūga, Ino-Shika-Chō, and Inuzuka clans, seething with anger. First, they firmly pinned the blame for the Nine-Tails disaster on the Uchiha, then loudly commanded their own clansmen to join the siege. As former students of the Second Hokage, their understanding of the Mangekyō Sharingan far exceeded that of the other clans. They knew that while the second-stage Susanoo of a standard Mangekyō was powerful, it was far from being able to sweep away everything in its path. If they dragged the fight out, Fugaku would be the first to falter.
Of course, the price would be steep. Casualties could number in the dozens, perhaps even hundreds. But at this point, there was no time for such considerations.
Fwoosh!
Suddenly, an ANBU agent appeared before the grim-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Lord Hokage," he reported, "the Cloud Village's Two-Tails Jinchuriki is attempting to kidnap the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! Our forces are engaged in a fierce battle. The situation is critical!"
"What did you say?!" Hiruzen was stunned for a moment, then his chest swelled with rage.
The Cloud ninja... it's the Cloud ninja again!
Kidnapping Kushina, kidnapping Neji and Hinata, and now kidnapping Naruto.
After a brief surge of anger, Hiruzen forced himself to calm down. He turned to the leaders of the Hyūga, Ino-Shika-Chō, and other clans. "Everyone, the Cloud ninja have shown their wolfish ambition, attempting to abduct the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Whether the Nine-Tails falls into their hands or goes on a rampage right here, it would be a catastrophe for our village. I must ask for your assistance!"
Hearing this, the clan heads recalled the tragedy of the Nine-Tails attack. Their expressions changed dramatically, and they nodded without hesitation. The conflict between the Uchiha and the Hokage's faction didn't directly involve their interests, so they had no absolute reason to intervene. The Nine-Tails, however, was another matter entirely. If anything happened to it, the consequences would be unthinkable. This was not a time to stand on the sidelines.
Seeing their agreement, Hiruzen let out a long sigh of relief. He turned to Danzō and the others. "Danzō, Homura, Koharu, I'm leaving the ANBU with you. I'm counting on you to handle the Uchiha."
Homura narrowed his eyes and said gravely, "Hiruzen, no matter what, you must not let anything happen to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
Beside him, Koharu's fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles cracked. "Damn those Cloud ninja! A bunch of shameless bandits!"
Shimura Danzō remained silent, leaning on his cane, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. According to his plan, Root agents disguised as ANBU were supposed to lure Kakashi away while the battle with the Uchiha began, allowing them to snatch Naruto quietly. If exposed, all blame could be shifted to the Uchiha. With the Jinchuriki in his hands, he would be one step closer to the Hokage's seat.
He never imagined the Cloud would interfere. No, it wasn't interference; their objectives had simply aligned, and they had coincidentally run into each other. With the Cloud stirring up trouble, his entire plan was ruined.
Danzō took a ragged breath, thinking hatefully, 'Hiruzen, you must not let the Cloud ninja get away. The Two-Tails has been served up on a platter...'
But Hiruzen had no intention of listening to Danzō. With a wave of his hand, he launched himself into the air, leaping across the rooftops toward the southeast sector of the village. Hundreds of ninja from the Hyūga, Ino-Shika-Chō, Inuzuka, and other clans followed close behind.
Inside his Susanoo, Fugaku saw Hiruzen leave with a large contingent of elite forces. His eyes narrowed slightly as he realized Yugito had made her move.
'What on earth happened to make Hiruzen lead a team away himself? Could it be... related to the Nine-Tails?'
After a moment of thought, Fugaku's expression became dazed. Only something involving the Nine-Tails could compel Hiruzen to leave the battlefield personally. Before deciding whether his clan would stage a coup or defect to the Cloud Village, Fugaku had also considered the power of the Nine-Tails. But in the end, he had abandoned the idea. It was uncertain if his Mangekyō was even capable of controlling the beast. Furthermore, if he did, he would be confirming the accusation that he was behind the original Nine-Tails attack, which would surely incite the hatred of the entire village. The resulting battle would be a thousand times more brutal than the one they were in now.
Through his Byakugan, Neji saw from a distance that Yugito, in her cat demon form, was already surrounded by over a hundred Leaf ninja, with more continuously rushing toward the Hatake clan grounds. Yugito was making too much of a scene; the massive ethereal cat could be seen from halfway across the village. The trauma of the Nine-Tails attack was deeply ingrained in Konoha's psyche. Even without the Hokage's orders, ninja from all over were converging on the location of their own accord.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sound of explosions and roaring jutsu reached his ears. Dense smoke and brilliant flashes of light were visible even from several kilometers away. In her cat demon form, Yugito's combat power was greatly enhanced, but even she couldn't withstand a sustained bombardment from over a hundred opponents.
Just as Neji took a deep breath, preparing to rush over and provide support, two figures suddenly dropped from the sky, blocking his path. Neji skidded to a halt, narrowing his eyes to assess them.
They were two women: Kurenai Yūhi and Anko Mitarashi.
Kurenai stood on the edge of a roof, one hand on her hip as she scanned Neji's black-robed, black-masked figure. "You sneaky little rat," she said coldly. "Surrender now. There's no escape."
Beside her, Anko shouted, "You village-destroying bastard! I won't let you get away with this!"
Being stopped by these two left Neji feeling rather speechless.
Do I look like an easy target? A black robe and a black mask... how does this outfit scream 'weakling'? Clearly, these two had never been humbled by a truly powerful opponent. Their confidence was misplaced.
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"
Kurenai struck first, using her specialty genjutsu, a secret technique of the Yūhi clan.
Neji blinked once, his expression remaining calm, as if completely unaffected.
"H-How is that possible?" Kurenai was stunned. While confident in her skills as a genjutsu prodigy, she wasn't so arrogant as to believe no one could break her illusions. But this was completely unexpected. Logically, even breaking the simplest genjutsu required a process—either disrupting one's chakra flow or inflicting self-harm to use pain as a trigger. Yet this masked man had dispelled her technique just by standing there, without any movement at all. It shattered her understanding.
Opposite her, Neji had gained a new appreciation for his Tenseigan. It was common knowledge that users of dōjutsu possessed a certain degree of resistance to genjutsu. Even a standard Byakugan or a three-tomoe Sharingan could grant some immunity. From Kurenai's attack, it was clear the Tenseigan's resistance surpassed even that of a Mangekyō Sharingan. Most importantly, this was a passive ability. He didn't have to do anything; the Tenseigan automatically nullified the genjutsu's effects in the blink of an eye.
Suppressing his delight, Neji looked at Kurenai and said in a hoarse voice, "Little girl, none of your illusions will work on me."
Kurenai didn't believe it. With a cold snort, she formed another hand seal. "Genjutsu: Cherry Blossom Illusion!"
A faint breeze seemed to pass between them. "He's caught," Kurenai said with a confident smile.
The moment she spoke, Anko, who had been waiting, lunged forward with a kunai in hand, moving like a swift cheetah toward the motionless Neji. He seemed to be trapped in the illusion, completely unaware of the world around him.
Just as Anko was about to strike, Neji suddenly raised his arm, perfectly blocking her attack path.
"You—?!" Anko froze, her would-be killing blow stopped without any warning.
"Hidden Shadow—"
Neji gave her no chance to perform a jutsu, closing the distance between them.
Thump!
With a dull thud, Neji struck Anko in the chest, sending her flying.
After dealing with Anko, Neji extended his palm toward Kurenai, manipulating the attractive force. An invisible hand seemed to grab her, pulling her through the air toward him.
"What is this?!" Kurenai, who had never encountered such a technique, was terrified. She held several shuriken between her fingers, about to throw them.
Neji pushed off the ground, appearing before her in an instant. With a swift kick, he sent the defenseless Kurenai flying, and she collapsed to the ground.
Without a moment's pause, Neji dashed toward the Hatake grounds at an even greater speed.
Clutching her stomach, Kurenai struggled to her feet, staring at his retreating back in a daze. "Why... why did this happen?" The Yūhi clan was second only to the Uchiha in genjutsu prowess, and she had always been proud of her family's name. But today, that pride had been mercilessly shattered by a harsh reality.
Beside her, Anko was also in a trance. She was Orochimaru's student. Although she hadn't learned many of his techniques, he had taken her on for her exceptional talent. And yet, against that mysterious masked man, she had been utterly powerless.
After dispatching Kurenai and Anko, Neji ran at full speed, finally arriving at the Hatake grounds after a few more leaps. The delay had allowed dozens more ninja to join the siege on Yugito. Neji's Tenseigan swept the area, taking in the entire battle.
There were one hundred and thirty-two opponents in total, the weakest being Chūnin, with eighteen Jōnin among them. There was Kakashi, wielding lightning in his hand. Might Guy, with the Eight Gates open. And... a simple-looking old man carrying an iron pot on his back—the "Eternal Genin," Kosuke Maruboshi?
Neji's gaze finally settled on Naruto Uzumaki, who was fast asleep and guarded by a dozen ninja. If he could just grab Naruto, Yugito could retreat at any time.
Having made up his mind, Neji formed the hand seals and shouted, "Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
Over a dozen laser beams shot from his palms, flying toward the Leaf ninja guarding Naruto in a massive volley.
"Look out!"
"Dodge!"
"Earth Sty—"
Most of the Leaf shinobi were focused on Yugito in the distance and never expected an attack from behind. They were hit before they could react. A few of the quicker ones barely managed to evade the initial blast, but before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the lasers changed direction without warning. Some even curved back, striking them from behind.
In terms of raw destructive power, Storm Release was slightly weaker than the Chidori-style jutsu, but when it came to flexibility, nothing else—not Chidori, not any other elemental jutsu—could compare.
After taking out most of the guards in one go, Neji kicked off the roof, descending like a great bird toward Naruto.
"Earth Style: Multiple Mud Wall!" a cold voice rang out.
In the next instant, four tall, thick earthen walls erupted from the ground around Neji, trapping him. The walls were carved with lifelike dog heads, making the identity of the caster obvious.
Having cast the jutsu, Kakashi didn't have a moment to relax. His hands flew through seals as he shouted, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive orb of orange-red flame shot from his mouth, aimed directly at the opening at the top of the mud-walled prison. Kakashi's seal speed was astounding; less than a second had passed between the two jutsu. Trapped on all four sides, any normal person's first instinct would be to escape through the top, right into the path of the fireball.
But Neji had the Tenseigan. The moment Kakashi began the Fire Style seals, Neji had predicted his intent and chose not to break out from above.
He clapped his hands together, black lightning crackling between his palms. "Lightning Style: Black Panther!" he roared.
BOOM!
A majestic panther made of black lightning shot from his hands, tearing a huge hole through the thick earthen wall with unstoppable force.
Through the opening, Neji saw Naruto, still sleeping soundly on his bed. The corner of his mouth twitched. That kid... he can really sleep through anything.
WHOOSH!
A fierce whistling sound cut through the air. It was Guy, charging toward him with the Eight Gates open.
Startled, Neji aborted his charge out of the mud prison, dropping and rolling to dodge Guy's ferocious kick.
CRASH!
Guy's kick landed on Kakashi's mud wall, shattering the massive structure into dust as if it were glass. Amidst the flying debris, Neji flickered out of the ruined prison.
He looked at Guy, who was now wreathed in a swirling aura of green energy, a flicker of apprehension in his eyes. Even with all the trump cards he now possessed, he had no desire to fight Guy. Guy had an uncanny sensitivity to taijutsu, with perception and reaction speeds that could rival a Sharingan. Neji couldn't help but wonder if he possessed some kind of special constitution.
Judging by the color and volume of the steam radiating from his body, Guy had only opened the Fifth Gate, the Gate of Closing. If he opened the Sixth Gate, the Gate of Joy, Neji could still put up a fight. If he opened the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Shock, Neji would have to retreat. If he opened the Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death...
As for how many gates Guy could open at this point in time, it was impossible to know. But it certainly wasn't the Eighth Gate. Mastering the Eight Gates required not only talent but also time; opening each new gate took years of grueling training.
With two masters like Kakashi and Guy now focused on him, the pressure on Yugito lessened dramatically. Her attacks grew fiercer, and she began to overwhelm the hundred-plus ninja opposing her.
But Neji was growing anxious. The Third Hokage would be arriving soon. He had to deal with Kakashi and Guy and grab Naruto as quickly as possible.