The three Cloud genin didn’t waste a second.
With vicious grins on their faces, they charged straight at Tenriki Hyuga.
The chunin, meanwhile, kept his attention fixed on Hiashi, who remained on the rooftop.
“This time, your son isn’t getting away—”
A crisp sound came from behind him.
Click.
It was the unmistakable sound of a blade leaving its sheath, cold enough to send a chill down the spine.
Then—
Shhk.
A second sound followed.
Clean.
Almost like a knife slicing through tofu.
And then…
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Three bodies hit the ground in rapid succession.
The Cloud chunin had killed enough people to recognize that sound instantly.
His expression changed.
He spun around.
And felt his blood run cold.
His three subordinates were dead.
“What the hell happened?!”
Then he saw the sword in Tenriki’s hand.
His eyes widened.
“Impossible… How could a blade without chakra kill three Cloud genin?”
He stared at Tenriki.
“How did you kill them?”
Tenriki casually rolled the sword through his fingers, the blade tracing a smooth arc before settling back into his grip.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The calm confidence in his eyes made the chunin’s face twitch.
“Good. Very good.”
Tenriki’s casual contempt finally pushed him over the edge.
“Mock Lightning Release Armor!”
With a roar, lightning erupted across the chunin’s body.
Crackle—!
Blue-white arcs wrapped around his limbs and torso.
The technique had been modeled after the Raikage’s Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
By concentrating Lightning Release chakra throughout the body, the user stimulated their cells while simultaneously coating themselves in chakra and electricity.
The result was dramatically increased speed, physical strength, and defense.
The more Lightning Release chakra poured into the technique, the greater the enhancement.
For this chunin, activating it was enough to push his combat power into the realm of a special jonin.
He wasted no time.
The ground shattered beneath his feet.
With a violent burst of speed, he shot toward Tenriki like a streak of lightning.
“Lightning Release: Heavy Bolt!”
Electricity gathered around his elbow as he came crashing down.
The air pressure alone sent Tenriki’s long hair whipping backward.
“Byakugan!”
The veins around Tenriki’s eyes bulged.
His vision expanded instantly.
Every movement of the Cloud shinobi became clear.
Clang!
Sword met elbow.
The impact nearly deformed Tenriki’s entire arm.
An overwhelming force traveled through his wrist and shoulder, almost snapping his elbow on the spot.
The lightning itself was stopped by the chakra coating his hand before it could penetrate his flesh.
Tenriki narrowed his eyes.
Still not enough.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang-clang-clang!
Metallic impacts rang through the courtyard in a rapid, piercing rhythm.
Tenriki retreated continuously, redirecting the force of each strike rather than meeting it head-on.
At the same time, his thoughts raced.
My body is far too weak.
I need to focus more on physical conditioning.
Another strike.
He angled the blade and let the attack slide past.
Cloud’s method of using lightning to stimulate the body might be worth studying.
He slipped backward again.
And my chakra reserves are still too small.
That needs work too.
In raw strength, the Cloud chunin was clearly superior.
Tenriki wasn’t trying to defeat him through brute force.
He was only defending.
His mastery of the Gentle Fist, combined with the Byakugan’s near-complete field of vision, gave him an enormous advantage when it came to evasion, redirection, and precise defense.
And his swordsmanship was on an entirely different level.
Again and again, he brought the blade into positions that should have been impossible, intercepting attacks from bizarre angles and turning killing blows aside at the last possible instant.
But skill couldn’t completely erase the difference in physical ability.
As the exchange dragged on, Tenriki’s body began protesting.
His muscles burned.
His arms ached.
His elbow felt as though it might fracture at any moment.
Across from him, however, the Cloud chunin was descending from shock into outright horror.
He’s blocking me.
His eyes widened.
He’s actually blocking me!
And then the most absurd fact struck him again.
He’s three years old!
The horror in his eyes hardened into murderous intent.
He has to die.
The chunin abruptly disengaged.
Without hesitation, he pulled something from inside his clothes and threw it into his mouth.
“Even if I die, I’m taking you with me!”
The effect was immediate.
A far more violent surge of lightning exploded from his body.
CRACKLE—BOOM!
The intensity of his chakra skyrocketed.
Five times stronger than before.
Hiashi’s face changed instantly.
“No!”
He leaped from the rooftop and rushed forward.
The Cloud chunin glanced toward him and grinned.
“Too late.”
Then he turned back to Tenriki.
The look in his eyes was almost amused, like a tiger staring at an ant.
“I’ll admit it. You’re a terrifying genius.”
His hands began forming seals.
“But there’s one thing you should remember…”
His grin widened.
“Only a genius who survives gets to be called a genius!”
“Lightning Release: Armo—”
He stopped.
The hand seal froze halfway.
So did his voice.
A warning screamed through every instinct in his body.
Something deadly was already in front of him.
Shhk.
For a moment, the world seemed to spin. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Then he realized he was flying.
His vision rotated through the air.
Below him, he saw a familiar figure standing upright.
Isn’t that…
His thoughts slowed.
My body?
Only then did he understand.
He had been decapitated.
Was it that sword…?
In the final instant before consciousness disappeared, his gaze fell on Tenriki’s blade.
Then he remembered the perfectly clean wounds on his three dead subordinates.
Understanding finally came.
So that’s how they died…
His final thought carried bitter regret.
I let my guard down.
And I still failed the mission…
His head hit the ground.
Silence returned to the courtyard.
Tenriki looked at the corpse.
Then, with absolutely no regard for the atmosphere, he stuck a finger into his nose.
“So the saying really is true.”
Hiashi stared at him.
Tenriki continued picking his nose.
“Villains always die because they talk too much.”
Hiashi nearly stumbled.
His eye twitched violently.
“You are the future head of the Hyuga Clan! Have some dignity, you little brat!”
Despite the reprimand, the relief in his voice was obvious.
When the Cloud chunin had swallowed that secret medicine and exploded with five times his previous power, Hiashi had genuinely thought his son was about to die.
Tenriki ignored the lecture and looked down at his sword.
Or rather, what remained of it.
Only the hilt was left.
“Father, I think you’re going to have to find me a better sword.”
The repeated collisions had already pushed the ordinary weapon beyond its limit.
The final burst of sword aura had finished it.
Immediately afterward, the blade had shattered into countless fragments.
Hiashi didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll find you a good one.”
Tenriki nodded.
“And I need more taijutsu training.”
Hiashi blinked.
Tenriki continued.
“Find me as many techniques as possible that combine physical conditioning with ninjutsu. Especially anything similar to the Cloud’s method of stimulating cells with Lightning Release.”
A faint spark of interest appeared in his pale eyes.
“That technique has potential.”
“I’ll get them for you immediately!”
Hiashi slapped his chest with such enthusiasm that it made a dull thumping sound.
Tenriki glanced toward the bodies on the ground.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Keep an eye on Kumogakure.”
His expression became more serious.
“I’d guess Konoha will start receiving political pressure from them by tomorrow.”
Hiashi’s face immediately darkened.
“Do you really need to teach me that?”
He snorted and turned away.
Being lectured on clan politics by his three-year-old son was humiliating enough.
He refused to let the brat notice.