The night remained alive with chaos.
Shouts echoed through the Hyuga compound, punctuated by explosions and the crash of collapsing structures.
Four Cloud shinobi moved swiftly through the darkness and soon reached their objective—the residence of Tenriki Hyuga.
“This has to succeed.”
Their leader was still fighting Hiashi Hyuga, buying them precious time.
Every second mattered.
They rushed toward the house.
Before any of them could enter, however—
Click.
The door opened.
A small figure stepped outside.
Tenriki was dressed neatly despite the chaos around him.
Not a strand of hair was out of place, his clothes were immaculate, and his expression carried none of the panic they had expected.
Even beneath the night sky, the smile on his face seemed almost offensively bright.
The four Cloud shinobi slowed.
Something was wrong.
This wasn’t the expression of a mouse cornered by a tiger.
If anything…
They suddenly felt like the mice.
A deafening crash erupted somewhere behind them.
Then—
Silence.
An uneasy feeling spread through the group.
One of them glanced back.
His face stiffened.
Hiashi Hyuga stood on a nearby rooftop, arms folded across his chest, staring coldly in their direction.
Their leader was nowhere to be seen.
“Don’t tell me the captain already…”
The shinobi swallowed.
The other three exchanged uneasy looks.
But they were ninja.
They had survived brutal missions, fought through life-and-death situations, and had been personally selected by the Raikage for this operation.
Fear lasted only a moment before hardening into resolve.
“If we’re shinobi, then even if we die, we complete the mission.”
Their eyes turned cold.
All four focused on Tenriki.
The intelligence they had received flashed through their minds.
Tenriki Hyuga.
Main-family heir.
Three years old.
Exceptional with shuriken and kunai.
Average chakra reserves.
Average overall combat ability.
There were four of them—one chunin and three genin.
Against one three-year-old child?
More than enough.
The chunin naturally assumed command.
“You three. Take him.”
His eyes never left Hiashi on the rooftop.
“Finish this quickly.”
“Yes!”
The three genin shot forward.
They spread apart as they moved, forming a loose encirclement to cut off Tenriki’s escape routes.
Tenriki watched them approach.
A faintly amused smile tugged at his lips.
If this were the usual kind of story, I’d probably spend half the night trading attacks with them.
Fight evenly for a while.
Drag things out.
Make it look dangerous.
Unfortunately for them…
I’m not that kind of protagonist.
The three Cloud shinobi attacked simultaneously.
“Lightning Release: Ninja Blade!”
“Lightning Release: Swift Run!”
“Lightning Release: Explosive Fist!”
Crackle—!
Lightning erupted around all three.
Their techniques weren’t remotely comparable to the monstrous display their captain had shown earlier, but three Lightning Release users attacking together still produced a frightening pressure.
Electric arcs tore through the darkness.
The Cloud genin were confident.
An attack like this could overwhelm even an ordinary chunin.
Against a child who wasn’t even officially a genin?
There was no reason it should fail.
Their chunin commander apparently agreed.
He didn’t even bother watching.
His full attention remained fixed on Hiashi.
As long as the Hyuga Clan Head didn’t interfere, the mission could still succeed.
And strangely enough…
Hiashi hadn’t moved.
The chunin almost wondered whether the rumors were true—that perhaps Hiashi didn’t care much for this son of his.
Then a young voice rang out behind him.
Clear.
Sharp.
Powerful.
“Gentle Fist Art: 8 Trigrams Palms Rotation!”
The chunin’s expression changed.
He spun around.
A pale-blue dome of chakra had appeared around Tenriki.
It rotated violently.
Wind screamed outward as the chakra barrier accelerated.
The three Lightning Release techniques slammed directly into it.
BOOM!
The collision exploded across the courtyard.
Lightning scattered.
Chakra surged.
The three Cloud genin were caught completely off guard as their attacks were deflected away from their intended paths.
Their footing broke.
Their bodies twisted out of position.
And Tenriki moved.
“Eight Trigrams: Two Palms!”
Two strikes landed.
“Four Palms!”
Four more.
“Eight Palms!”
His hands blurred.
“Sixteen Palms!”
The three genin struggled to recover.
Too late.
“Thirty-Two Palms!”
Tenriki stepped through their formation with astonishing speed, his palms striking chakra points with brutal precision.
Then—
“8 Trigrams 64 Palms!”
The final barrage erupted.
Palm after palm slammed into the three Cloud shinobi.
Sixty-four strikes.
In an instant.
The three men staggered backward.
Their internal organs trembled from the impacts, blood rising in their throats as chakra points throughout their networks were sealed.
Ordinary genin might have collapsed immediately.
The Cloud shinobi didn’t.
Lightning Release body enhancement had hardened their bodies far beyond normal standards.
They crashed to the ground, temporarily immobilized— but conscious.
And still capable of fighting.
Tenriki didn’t pursue them.
He couldn’t.
His breathing had grown heavy.
The Rotation alone had consumed a huge portion of his chakra, and following it immediately with the 8 Trigrams 64 Palms had drained almost everything he had left.
Tenriki looked at the three men lying on the ground and frowned slightly.
Still not enough.
Neither the destructive power nor his chakra reserves were where he wanted them to be.
At the same time, he couldn’t help being impressed by the Cloud shinobi’s durability.
If these had been ordinary genin, the 64 Palms would probably have ended the fight.
Instead, all three were already beginning to move.
One of them slowly raised his head.
“You…”
Humiliation and fury twisted his expression, but beneath both was unmistakable shock.
“You actually injured us?”
Another Cloud shinobi stared at Tenriki.
Then his expression suddenly changed.
“Wait.”
He focused on Tenriki’s chakra.
“Your chakra…”
His eyes widened.
“You’re already at genin level!”
The others froze.
“So that’s why…”
“Three years old and already at genin level?”
One of them gave a disbelieving laugh.
“Even Kakashi Hatake supposedly became a genin at five.”
Their surprise gradually disappeared.
What replaced it was killing intent.
“So you really are a monster.”
Another shinobi forced himself upright.
“Then we definitely can’t let you live.”
The other two rose beside him.
Slowly, the three began closing in again.
This time, there was no underestimation in their eyes.
Only cold hostility.
They surrounded Tenriki like hunters circling wounded prey.
Tenriki looked from one to the next.
Then shrugged.
“You seriously think the three of you are enough to kill me?”
One of the Cloud shinobi sneered.
“A ninja without chakra is still a ninja?”
“You’re three years old.”
Another man flexed his hands as lightning began crawling over his arms again.
“I refuse to believe your taijutsu is anything special without chakra.”
“Die!”
Crackle—!
Lightning erupted once more.
The three Cloud shinobi stared at him with murderous intent.
Tenriki stood in the center of their encirclement.
Exhausted.
Almost completely out of chakra.
And still smiling.
That bright, calm smile somehow seemed even more irritating than before.
“Is that so?”