“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Countless figures flickered into existence, surrounding Tiange and the others on all sides!
All of them wore identical Anbu attire, radiating murderous intent, a full hundred strong, at least.
“Root’s people!”
“Does Danzō think the Hyūga clan has no one left to stand against him?”
Hiashi stepped in front of Hinata and Hanabi, eyes locked on the opposing force, voice cold as iron!
“Kill!”
The Root ninja didn’t bother with words.
Blades scraped free of sheaths, and they charged.
Tiange’s expression didn’t change.
He grabbed Neji by the shoulder and pulled him behind his back.
“Byakugan — Pressure Dominance!”
Tiange activated the Byakugan and released its suppression.
Chakra currents surged and buckled.
An invisible pressure slammed down on every single person like a physical wall, pinning them to the ground before they could take another step!
Tiange’s eyes went wide with cold fury, and he pushed harder.
Every one of them exploded apart.
Flesh scattered across the ground.
A hundred people.
One instant.
Not a single step taken.
Hiashi stood frozen, jaw slack.
Tiange hadn’t moved.
Hadn’t thrown a single strike.
All he’d done was open the Byakugan.
Pressure dominance?
What kind of ability was this?
Could the Byakugan actually do that?
“Ah…”
Hinata and Hanabi were shaking.
Hiashi snapped back and moved fast, stepping in front of the two girls and blocking their view!
Standing behind Tiange, Neji had gone pale.
This…
was really his brother?
But slowly, something kindled in Neji’s eyes.
A small, steady flame, the hunger to grow stronger.
Among everyone present, only Hizashi watched Tiange with open worry.
He had thought that all those years outside following Lady Tsunade would have dulled this child’s killing instinct, at least a little.
Now it was clear Tiange had simply been holding it back.
All of it.
And now that it had erupted, it wasn’t even comparable to before.
There was no measuring it.
Hizashi was afraid.
Genuinely afraid that this child would one day lose himself in the killing, and become nothing more than an emotionless machine of slaughter.
Tiange looked at the scraps of flesh covering the ground.
Not a flicker crossed his face.
As though what lay there had never been human lives at all.
His gaze was ice-cold.
It shifted, cutting over toward Hiashi.
Beneath Hizashi’s worried eyes, Tiange said it plainly:
“The clan has grown filthy.
Time to clean it.”
He turned and walked toward the center of the compound without looking back.
Hiashi and Hizashi both understood.
Something big was coming.
Tiange was truly furious this time, and there was no stopping him.
“Elder brother, what do we do?”
“It’s fine.
Tiange is right — it really does need a thorough cleansing.”
“Let him go.
We couldn’t stop him even if we tried.”
Right here in the Hyūga clan compound, a clan the ninja world recognized as its foremost trackers and scouts.
And yet this many people had materialized inside it, completely undetected, to carry out a killing.
To say no one inside had colluded with Danzō’s side, Hiashi wasn’t a fool.
Hiashi only hoped not too many had been involved.
“Elder brother, I’m not talking about the clan.
I’m talking about that side.”
“Knowing Tiange’s personality, he won’t let this end here.”
“If he moves against that person, the Hokage won’t stand by.
I’m worried…”
“It’s fine.”
“Let’s go.”
“We’ll go prepare, then head to the Hokage and demand an explanation.”
“Don’t worry about Tiange, he wasn’t afraid of the Hokage years ago, and he’s even less afraid now.”
“What we need to do is secure the moral high ground.
Keep the other clans out of this.”
“Otherwise, if Tiange’s rage runs unchecked, all of Konoha will pay for it.”
A sharp light moved through Hiashi’s eyes.
A plan had already taken shape.
Hiashi had known for years that Tiange was the Hyūga clan’s hope, that Tiange could lead the clan to a glory it had never seen before.
So Hiashi had spent these years quietly working to repair the rift between the two houses, and through that steady effort had finally untangled the old knot in Hizashi’s heart.
Just as they prepared to head back, a figure burst out of nowhere, blade in hand, driving straight for Neji!
“Neji!”
“Watch out!”
Hizashi’s composure broke instantly.
One more, there had been one more, and they had gone directly for Neji!
“Revolving Heaven!”
“Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!”
Neji stayed calm.
The attacker was fast.
On instinct, he activated Revolving Heaven.
Hiashi, already moving, launched a ranged attack at the enemy!
Hiashi didn’t even want to think about what Tiange would do if something truly happened to Neji.
Swick!
Thud!
A blade finding flesh, followed by the sound of Hiashi’s attack connecting.
“Neji!”
Hizashi cried out and rushed forward at full speed!
The gap in strength was too great.
Even Revolving Heaven hadn’t been enough to stop it completely.
But it had done something.
The rotation had shifted the blade’s angle, and from the wound’s position, it looked like nothing vital had been hit.
“Neji, how are you?”
“Cough…
Father.
I’m fine.”
Hiashi reached them and took one look at the wound.
The color drained from Hiashi’s face.
“Don’t talk.
The blade is poisoned.”
“Move.
We’re bringing Neji to Tiange.”
Hiashi hauled up the attacker Hiashi had knocked down and turned to Hizashi.
“Hinata — bring Hanabi and follow.”
They moved fast.
It wasn’t far, and they found Tiange inside the compound without much trouble.
Neither Hiashi nor Hizashi spared a glance for the bodies lining the path.
They had both seen this coming.
They just hadn’t expected Tiange to move quite this quickly.
Tiange walked with his sword in one hand, blood still dripping from the blade.
Step by step, moving toward the edge of the compound.
The air around him was colder than before.
“Tiange!”
“Come look at Neji, now!”
Hizashi carried Neji and rushed up, setting him down in front of Tiange, voice urgent.
Tiange crouched and checked quickly.
The situation wasn’t critical.
The poison hadn’t spread far.
He pulled a pill from inside his robe, fed it to Neji, and pressed one hand over the wound, activating the Mystical Palm Technique.
Before long, most of the wound had closed.
The rest would sort itself out with two or three days of rest.
“What happened?”
Thud, Hiashi dropped the captured attacker onto the ground.
“It was him.
After you left, we were heading back when he burst out and went straight for Neji.”
“Root.”
“The trash inside the clan, I’ve cleaned it out,” Tiange said.
“Have someone sweep up.
I’m stepping out.”
He picked up his sword and walked.
“Hizashi, look after Neji.
And Hinata and Hanabi.” Hiashi turned to Hizashi.
“I’ll be back.”
“Elder brother, let me come with you!”
“No.
Stay with them.
They likely targeted Neji specifically to get back at Tiange.”
“Go.”
Hiashi turned and moved fast.
Out of the Hyūga clan compound, straight toward the Hokage’s office.
Hiashi had to get there before Tiange made a move, had to hold the major clans steady, keep them out of it.
Because if tonight spiraled out of control, whether Konoha would still be standing come morning was anyone’s guess.
On Tiange’s end, the moment he stepped outside the compound gates, every scrap of killing intent he had been holding back broke loose.
All of it.
A bone-deep, ice-cold murderous pressure swept outward in every direction.
The wind stirred.
The sky shifted.
As he walked, more and more Anbu took notice and moved to converge on him.
Not one of them dared take a single step closer.
➤ Next: The Hyūga Enter the Fray!
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