Dawn was just breaking.
The first rays of sunlight fell across the land of the Hidden Stone Village, and at the same time, a massive boulder slammed down with a thunderous crash.
"Ōnoki, come out and die."
Ōnoki felt speechless. Did these Hidden Leaf people have no creativity at all? He had heard the exact same line countless times already.
He flew out of the Tsuchikage's office. After a night of rest, although he hadn't fully recovered, he had regained thirty to forty percent of his strength—more than enough to deal with Tsunade, that little girl.
But then—
"And you are?"
"Hyūga Hiyasu of the Hidden Leaf Village."
Ōnoki froze for a moment. Seeing yet another ninja so young, he couldn't help but recall what had happened yesterday—four equally young ninjas causing chaos.
No way. Could the Hidden Leaf really produce geniuses like this in batches? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Wait… the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead. That meant he was from the branch family, right? The main family producing a powerhouse was understandable, but the branch family?
"When did a branch family brat gain the right to speak? Get someone from the main family to talk."
"Oh? Ōnoki, don't let yourself get beaten so badly by a mere branch family member that you end up crying for your parents."
"Eight Trigrams."
Chakra surged through Hyūga Hiyasu's arms, transforming into two dragon heads that shot toward Ōnoki in the air.
Ōnoki quickly dodged while analyzing.
What kind of technique was this? The Hyūga Clan was known for Gentle Fist—since when did they have something like this? And how could a branch family member possess it?
The twin dragons soared into the sky. After Ōnoki evaded them, Hiyasu pulled his hands back.
"Death Coil."
The two dragon heads turned sharply, circling around Ōnoki as if trying to bind him.
Ōnoki remained calm, weaving left and right. Using his small frame to his advantage, not only did he avoid being entangled, but he even caused the two dragons to interfere with each other until they tangled together.
His gaze immediately snapped toward Hiyasu.
"Let's see how you dodge this. Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique."
A cylindrical beam of Dust Release shot straight at Hiyasu.
Hiyasu instantly cut off the chakra flowing to his arms and calmly dodged the attack.
"It's not that hard. Why wouldn't I be able to dodge it?"
Ōnoki looked slightly embarrassed. Those dragon-shaped chakra constructs extending from his arms… could they really be discarded at any time?
Damn it. He'd been misled by Orochimaru.
Orochimaru: Don't pin that on me. My Hidden Shadow Snake Hands can be severed just as easily—no hesitation needed.
But Hiyasu clearly had no intention of continuing a one-on-one fight.
Your subordinates have already been mostly dealt with by my four friends. You're heavily injured yourself. You can fly, so it's hard for me to kill you—and my friends aren't in any real danger either.
Senju Hideki: Turning into a mountain isn't a big deal.
Uchiha Kamito: Both eyes blind? Not a problem.
Aburame Shiken: Just a stab through the heart—whatever.
Inuzuka Ryoha: Got ambushed once. Small matter.
So Hyūga Hiyasu decisively gave up on fighting alone.
"All units, hear my command. Leave no one alive in the Hidden Stone Village."
"Yes!"
Leading the charge was the Uchiha unit. They wanted revenge for their captain.
Even the civilian ninjas of the Hidden Leaf joined in—they had to do something, or they wouldn't be able to show their faces back home.
Back in the village, during the victory celebration—
"Hey, I heard you were on the Grass Country battlefield. Amazing! You wiped out the Hidden Stone forces—twenty thousand of them, most of them elite and even their ace units. Incredible work! So how many did you personally kill?"
What would you even say then?
That you fought a bit at the start, then ran, then just watched until the war ended?
Who would have the nerve to admit that?
This was their last chance to earn merit—how could they not seize it?
They hadn't contributed much to defeating the main Hidden Stone force, but storming the Hidden Stone Village still sounded impressive.
"Charge!"
At Tsunade's command, the Hidden Leaf forces surged into the now eerily empty village.
Seeing them wreak havoc inside, Ōnoki muttered,
"Sawai-sama's decision was indeed the correct one."
He didn't dare imagine what would have happened if he hadn't ordered the evacuation yesterday.
Now, if he could just stall these Leaf ninjas a bit longer, the village would, at least in name, be preserved.
Seeing this, Hyūga Hiyasu also began to slack off.
There was no point—he couldn't kill Ōnoki, and Ōnoki had no intention of killing him. The Hidden Stone Village was an empty shell anyway. Aside from one or two thousand old ninjas, it held no strategic value.
If he had arrived earlier, maybe things would be different. Coming last just meant doing cleanup work.
Then again, if a single Hidden Stone Village could withstand five of them wreaking havoc one by one, that would be absurd.
"Hey, Ōnoki. When you evacuated, why didn't you take those old ninjas with you?"
Hiyasu asked while casually using Eight Trigrams: Air Palm, almost like he was putting on a show with Ōnoki.
"Hmph. How could you Hidden Leaf ninjas understand our way of thinking? This is the Will of Stone."
"Spare me that noble-sounding nonsense. You just think those old people have no value anymore. Taking them along would waste your resources, so you abandoned them. You think no one can see through that? You think those old folks down there don't know?"
Ōnoki didn't respond. He didn't know how to respond.
Because it was true.
Anyone left behind in this village had been abandoned.
Two hours later, Ōnoki flew away. Hiyasu didn't stop him—there was no benefit in doing so.
The old Hidden Stone ninjas who resisted to the end were all eliminated.
Youth triumphs over age—true everywhere.
"All units, withdraw from the Hidden Stone Village!"
Hiyasu shouted.
But many Leaf ninjas were dissatisfied.
First, they hadn't finished searching. What if they found hidden savings—men's secret stashes, women's gold jars, elders' life savings? Wouldn't that make them rich overnight?
Second, Hiyasu hadn't displayed overwhelming strength. After yesterday's battles, their standards had become absurdly high.
Once everyone withdrew, Hiyasu looked at their expressions and felt exasperated.
With my Byakugan here, and you still think you can find treasure before me? Keep dreaming.
He moved to the center of the Hidden Stone Village and began spinning rapidly.
"Super: Rotation."
A massive sphere of chakra expanded outward, crushing the buildings of the Hidden Stone Village piece by piece.
After some time, the Hidden Stone Village was completely flattened.
The Hidden Leaf ninjas looked at Hyūga Hiyasu with awe.
This was someone they absolutely couldn't afford to provoke.