A refugee girl scrambled out from the ruins, kneeling before the convoy and begging for supplies.
This scene caused Terai and Yamato, leading the group, to exchange a glance. After a brief moment of silent communication, they both turned their heads simultaneously toward Hyuga Yu, who sat atop the flatbed cart.
Yu didn't say a word. He simply watched the scene with a cold, tranquil gaze.
Seeing this, and despite the flicker of pity in Yamato's eyes, Terai stepped forward. He looked down at the small girl and barked a cold command: "Get lost!"
The girl immediately began to plead, "Please—Master Shinobi! You clearly have so much medicine. Why can't you spare just a little for me?"
In response, Terai wordlessly drew his blade.
Clang!
The忍刀 (Shinobigatana) left its scabbard at Terai's waist, its edge coming to rest against the neck of the kneeling girl. "I'll say it one more time," he said icily. "Scram. Or die."
The girl froze. Her lips trembled as she looked up, her forehead still dusted with the dirt from her kowtowing, seemingly lost for words.
Terai stared her down. He didn't find her pitiful; he found her foolish. To attempt a moral shakedown on the most cold-blooded organization in the shinobi world—Root—and with such a clumsy method, was beyond idiotic.
Terai's intimidation worked. The girl who had rushed out was paralyzed with fear, and the other displaced people watching from the shadows of the ruins hesitated, not daring to step forward.
However, the sound of footsteps soon echoed from the wreckage again. A frail old man, wrapped in bandages and looking as though he had one foot in the grave, tottered out. He knelt beside the girl and looked up at the group. "Master Shinobi, please... please spare Keiko."
"We don't want the medicine... we don't want anything anymore."
"We ask for nothing but this... please allow us to follow behind your convoy. You don't have to acknowledge us; it doesn't matter if we are killed. Our village was destroyed in the war, and the Land of Hot Springs is crawling with bandits now. We... we truly have no other way."
As the old man sobbed his story, a dozen more gaunt, sickly refugees emerged from the taller ruins near the plaza. They looked at the convoy with cautious, apprehensive eyes, seemingly validating the elder's words.
"Master Shinobi?" Terai narrowed his eyes and let out a cold laugh. "We never revealed our identity as ninja. How exactly did you know who we were?"
"And as for 'roaming bandits'? The war between the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Cloud ended last year. The refugees who were going to move have already left. Those who couldn't leave should have died off long ago."
"We haven't seen many bandits on our way here, but we've run into plenty of characters like you."
"These bandits you speak of..." Terai leaned in, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Who exactly are they?"
He snapped at the man, "Speak! Who sent you? What is your objective?!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions of the surrounding refugees shifted instantly. The pathetic masks of misery vanished, replaced by the cruel, predatory glints of killers.
"Is that so?"
Seeing that both acts had failed to deceive Terai, the old man and the girl stopped pretending. The elder stood up, staring coldly at Terai and then toward Hyuga Yu in the center of the convoy. "Then we cannot let you leave here alive!"
The pair leaped backward, their toes barely touching the ground. Simultaneously, the dozen refugees surrounding the convoy moved in coordination, while even more bloodthirsty "refugees" swarmed out from the ruins.
There were over fifty of them, and every single one possessed a faint chakra signature. If this had been a normal merchant caravan protected by a single ninja squad, they would have been in serious trouble.
But they were facing the Root tactical unit disguised as merchants.
There were twenty-seven of them, and every member was at least a Mid-Chunin level operative.
The gap in power was immediate the moment the two sides clashed. Terai, in particular, showcased his prowess. He possessed at least four elemental affinities and had mastered the nature transformation of at least three. With a vast repertoire of high-level jutsu and a chakra reserve that rivaled Hyuga Yu's, he led the charge. Within a single exchange, the bandits of the Land of Hot Springs were routed, their formation shattered as they fled in a panicked swarm.
It took less than five minutes. Not a single bandit escaped; they all lay howling on the ground surrounding the convoy.
However, just as Terai was about to grab a survivor for interrogation, he noticed the bodies of the fallen "refugees" beginning to writhe unnaturally.
Countless tendrils of flesh sprouted from their wounds, weaving and connecting with one another. It was as if a massive web made of corpses and gore was being spun around the convoy!
"Wait, what is this?!"
Terai and the Root members tensed, their expressions hardening. Around the convoy, the bodies of the bandits began to bloat. Six insect-like appendages burst from the flesh of each corpse. In that instant, the humans transformed into grotesque "insects" crawling and writhing on the ground. Linked by the fleshy tendrils, they seemed to receive a single command. In the next breath, they launched a fearless, suicidal charge at the Root shinobi!
Their bodies began to glow brighter and brighter.
Screee—!
A piercing, grating sound of expansion mixed with the sizzle of paper bombs and the activation of some strange technique!
The first bandit exploded!
BOOM!
Using that as a signal, one bandit after another—aided by their massive insectoid limbs—crawled, leaped, and lunged toward the Root squadron guarding Hyuga Yu.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hyuga Yu watched the scene coldly. He raised his hand, his fingers beginning to spread.
Suddenly, a chilling voice echoed from beneath the flatbed cart!
"Chimera Technique!"
A massive summoned beast erupted from the ground beneath the cart, its maw agape, intending to swallow the cart and Hyuga Yu whole!
The creature was a monstrosity: a snake's head, a canine body, and six spider-like limbs. It looked like a stitched-together nightmare of several different species.
The earth shook violently as the sensation of weightlessness hit.
Yu's expression didn't flicker. He simply looked down at the hideous creature and extended his hand. "Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation!"
Hum!
The moment the words fell, an invisible ripple expanded from Yu's body.
The monster attempting to swallow him felt as if it had bitten into an invisible, unbreakable wall. Its fangs shattered instantly, its jaw was forced back to a grotesque 180-degree angle, and the entire beast was slammed back into the earth like a fly swatted by a giant hand.
Using the recoil, Yu pushed off the ground with a one-handed motion, flipping into the air. But as he did, a blur of motion appeared behind him with incredible speed. A cruel smile played on the newcomer's lips. "That technique of yours has a time limit... doesn't it?"
"Hehe... I've got you!"
Yu remained calm. Veins bulged around his eyes as he activated his vision to the limit. "Incorrect," he said coldly. "I've got you."
With the 360-degree dynamic vision of the Byakugan, Yu saw the figure clearly. White hair, red eyes, and a high-collared white robe bound by three leather belts. The boy looked no more than twelve or thirteen, but his hands and face were heavily wrapped in bandages.
This was the powerful rogue ninja who had already deserted Konoha and mastered the Chimera Technique: Hiruko.
Yu didn't waste time wondering why Hiruko was here or what connection he might have to Rin Nohara. From the moment the first girl started begging, he knew he was walking into a pre-arranged trap. The refugees and the "insect" suicide bombers were mere diversions designed to tie up his guards and force Yu to act. The enemy seemed to have detailed intelligence on his jutsu; they had used the massive Chimera summon to force him to use his defensive technique, and then timed their assassination strike for the "cooldown" of his Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation.
But no one could have predicted that in just a few short days, Yu had refined his entire combat system, sending his battle strength skyrocketing once again.
Having guessed the enemy's plan, Yu had intentionally exposed a flaw. He was playing along to trap the trapper!
"This... is the true Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation!"
The first wave he had used was a "mini-Almighty Push" powered by Tenseigan's repulsive force. Now, Yu manipulated the air pressure around him. Within a three-meter radius, he used Wind Style: Chakra Scalpels to create a high-pressure ring that could easily twist the atmosphere itself.
This stagnant, high-pressure ring instantly snared Hiruko as he appeared behind Yu.
"This is... fluid mechanics? A Wind Style that manipulates air pressure?"
"Then what was the move from before...?"
Hiruko's face changed. Using his cutting-edge knowledge of biological hybridization, he immediately identified the principle behind Yu's jutsu. But he was like a bird caught in a net, stuck between the gaps of a high-pressure web of air currents, unable to move.
Yu spun around in mid-air, his face expressionless as he opened his palm and aimed it directly at Hiruko's face. "Regardless of why you are here..."
"Now... become my slave!"
As he spoke, a pitch-black, profound sphere filled with the aura of destruction floated from the center of Yu's palm. This was not a Truth-Seeker Orb.
The Tenseigan's evolution path does not naturally include Truth-Seeker Orbs; even the fully realized Toneri Otsutsuki did not possess them. The black spheres that surrounded him in Tenseigan Chakra Mode were a product of Yin-Yang Release known as Chakra Prayer Beads.
[Note: Official settings distinguish these as Yin-Yang Release spheres that resemble Truth-Seeker Orbs but function differently.]
What sat in Yu's hand was indeed a Chakra Prayer Bead.
By possessing both Yin and Yang affinities and merging them with Wind into his Caged Bird chakra, Yu had attained a "Yang Release: Tenseigan Power" that was only one step below the pure Tenseigan. This allowed him to manifest these Yin-Yang products.
The fusion of Caged Bird chakra and Wind Style gave him the power to manipulate "Gravity and Repulsion."
The fusion of Caged Bird chakra and Yin-Yang Release gave him the ability to manufacture Chakra Prayer Beads.
Essentially, these beads acted as a medium for "enchantments." Toneri Otsutsuki used them to unleash techniques like the Silver Wheel Rebirth Blast or Golden Wheel Rebirth Blast. While Yu was currently using a "budget version" of the Tenseigan Chakra Mode with only three elements, he could still use these beads to perform terrifying ultimate jutsu. Of course, that was a goal for the future—currently, he had only found the "on switch."
However, obtaining the Chakra Prayer Beads allowed Yu to do things only a Tenseigan wielder could do. For instance...
Mental Control.
The Chakra Prayer Bead in Yu's palm began to change. Its surface was covered by a dim, cyan layer of Yin chakra composed purely of spiritual energy. Yu hadn't mastered Yin Release yet; this sphere was a special ability of the Caged Bird chakra once the "Yin Power" was unlocked: Tenseigan · Mental Energy Sphere.
Toneri had used this on Hinata Hyuga to make her willingly abandon Naruto. In form, it was a supreme level of Genjutsu.
While Hiruko had been plotting to steal the "ultimate Chimera ratio" from Yu, the moment Yu saw Hiruko, he recognized him as a kindred spirit—or rather, a brilliant scientist. Yu lacked top-tier knowledge in genetic fusion, and his relationship with Orochimaru was strained thanks to Danzo. Hiruko and his Chimera Technique were the pinnacle of that field.
It would be a waste to kill Hiruko. It was better to take him as a subordinate—a scientific workhorse.
And Yu finally had the means to do it!
Trapped and seeing the strange cyan orb, Hiruko felt an instinctive shiver. His pupils contracted. Based on Yu's words, he knew this was nothing good. If he were hit, the consequences would be dire.
Hiruko's facial muscles twitched. He no longer held back, activating the four Kekkei Genkai he had already fused into his body via the Chimera Technique.
He struggled to raise his hand, spreading his fingers.
In that moment, like Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, the two of them pointed their palms at one another from inches away. Their shouts rang out simultaneously:
"Tenseigan · Mental Energy Sphere!"
"Steel Release: Impervious!"
"Storm Release: Thunder Cloud Inner Wave!"
The battle reached a fever pitch instantly. A clash between two masters of unique mechanics had begun.
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