Bypassing the camp, Zenji drew steadily closer to the group of ninja. His brow gradually furrowed.
Five of them had begun gathering chakra toward their eyes, forming high-density concentrations.
Byakugan?
His expression relaxed.
When the Sharingan awakened, it condensed visual prowess—a specialized chakra. But these ninjas were gathering ordinary chakra, and Konoha only possessed two dojutsu clans.
Obviously, this was the Byakugan.
What a coincidence.
Despite the surge of excitement, Zenji grew even more cautious.
He observed them with intense focus. As the distance continued to shrink, the enemy made no unusual movements.
The Severing Boundary's concealment works exactly as I hoped.
Relief mixed with satisfaction. They hadn't detected him at all, and his pursuit distance was closing rapidly.
Once they'd moved far enough from the camp, Zenji's gaze sharpened.
Time to strike.
The Severing Boundary Barrier around him fluctuated, then expanded rapidly in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, it formed a dome with a two-hundred-meter radius—engulfing Hyuga Soka and his escorts completely.
Soka halted abruptly. Shock flashed through his Byakugan.
"Enemy attack!"
"Protect the Young Master!"
"How is this possible? Such a massive chakra signature appearing out of nowhere?"
"Space-Time Ninjutsu?"
The protective squad couldn't contain their alarm. Their Byakugan had been active the entire time. How could such concentrated chakra have approached undetected?
"Perfect timing!" Excitement blazed in Soka's eyes instead of fear.
Rather than retreating, he charged forward. Chakra enveloped his palm and condensed into two extended fingers, striking directly at Zenji's tenketsu.
Zenji reached to grab the incoming palm with one hand while throwing a punch with the other.
Smack!
A mocking smile tugged at Soka's lips. With a simple adjustment, he slipped past the grabbing hand and landed a precise strike on Zenji's tenketsu.
But the expected result never came. His opponent's chakra wasn't dispersed. He wasn't even knocked back.
Instead, intense pain exploded through Soka's chest. His eyes bulged, saliva drooling from his gaping mouth.
Zenji's backhand caught him across the neck.
Crack.
Unconscious instantly.
Through continuous research into Cursed Energy Enhancement and chakra adhesion, Zenji's enhancement effects had grown increasingly powerful. His chakra reserves were also expanding, amplifying the results even further.
He pulled back and vanished.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
One by one, the ninjas went limp and collapsed.
Zenji appeared behind the last one, bringing down a hand-blade strike.
The instant they made contact, he severed the connection between the ninja's soul and body.
The man crumpled to the ground.
"Fast reactions." Zenji glanced toward the camp, noting the chakra signatures already mobilizing.
He formed a one-handed seal. Deep purple-blue chakra flared, generating barriers over each fallen ninja.
The temporary constructs enveloped their bodies, causing them to float gently upward.
Zenji condensed chakra threads to connect these bubble-like barriers, a cold smile crossing his face.
"With this many materials, I should have enough to research for a while."
Carrying his prizes, he vanished into the forest.
Thirty seconds later.
Akimichi Kuryo arrived with a squad of reinforcements.
"The tracks all disappear here," a tracking specialist reported immediately. "Based on the evidence, the attacker appeared suddenly from the side. Several sets of footprints show hasty, panicked movement."
"The enemy subdued everyone in an extremely short window. But there's no sign of bodies being dragged away. They may have killed the targets and sealed the corpses in storage scrolls."
As the two trackers completed their analysis, a Byakugan ninja interjected with barely concealed panic.
"Impossible! No one can truly approach the Byakugan undetected!"
He was Branch House—assigned to perimeter patrol rather than Soka's immediate guard.
But fear shone clearly in his eyes regardless.
The Main House would never forgive this failure. His mind raced with dread.
"Young Master Soka is a Jonin! How could he be killed so easily?"
Kuryo's expression turned grim. Whether Soka was dead or alive was almost secondary. What mattered was the Byakugan.
If those eyes fell into enemy hands, he would bear no small share of the responsibility.
"Search," he ordered, voice cold as ice. "I want to see them alive—or see their corpses."
"Yes, sir!"
The ninjas scattered immediately. Unfortunately, Zenji had left almost no traces behind, wrapped as he was in the Severing Boundary.
After everyone departed, a white head emerged from a nearby tree trunk.
White Zetsu.
"I was only curious about that oddball from the Hyuga Main House." A smile spread across his pale features, as if he'd discovered a fascinating new toy. "But this is an unexpected bonus."
"A Barrier Technique that completely isolates inside from outside... Interesting."
In a distant underground base, Black Zetsu received the same information.
"What a peculiar technique." A flicker of surprise crossed his features.
His personal combat ability might be limited, but over a thousand years, what techniques hadn't he witnessed?
Even so-called innovative jutsu usually revealed familiar underlying principles upon examination.
Very few creators could produce something that felt genuinely novel to him. The last had been the Second Hokage—Senju Tobirama.
"Judging by your expression, something new has emerged?" A deep voice resonated through the chamber.
On a stone throne sat a completely withered, elderly figure. Despite appearing moments from death, a heavy, majestic, domineering presence radiated from him still.
"Master, White Zetsu discovered a new technique," Black Zetsu reported respectfully. "A Barrier Technique capable of completely isolating interior from exterior."
"Barrier Technique?" Uchiha Madara's voice dripped with contempt. "The Uzumaki clan—supposedly the strongest barrier users—has already been swept into history's garbage heap. Why should such techniques warrant attention?"
"Yes, Master." Black Zetsu nodded, appearing to agree.
But a thoughtful gleam remained in his eyes. That sensation—reminiscent of Tobirama—made the matter worth remembering.
In the hidden valley, the moment Zenji brought his captives through the barrier, his expression shifted.
The Book of Ages in his consciousness began glowing faintly. The few lines of text on its surface flickered continuously.
[...Hyuga Soka... Ao...]
Special power seemed contained within those two names. The Book of Ages trembled slightly.
Rustle.
The tome—which had possessed only a single page—suddenly spawned five more.
These new pages appeared somewhat illusory, lacking the solidity of the original.
Beyond the additional pages, a small cluster of light had also condensed on the first page.
A drop of ink. Smaller than a fingertip.
"So that's how it works." Understanding flashed through Zenji's eyes as the information crystallized.
The blank pages split from the Book of Ages were straightforward enough—functionally identical to the original page.
He needed to use the ink to write a person's name, then locate that individual and merge the page into their soul.
Doing so would create a golden finger identical to his own first page, recording all information about that person.
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