Hyuga Harukaze, a ninja of extraordinary strength yet little known in the village.
To be honest, as the leader of a clan, he is somewhat excessively low-key.
But considering his status as the head of the Hyūga main family, this low-key demeanor seems much more reasonable.
Restraining himself, strictly adhering to the rules, and engaging in rigorous training day after day, year after year—by his twenties, he had already reached the level of a Kage, wielding the Byakugan, one of the strongest dōjutsu kekkei genkai in the shinobi world...
But he was different. His favorite thing was to stay at the Hyuga ancestral home, admiring flowers, walking birds, and staring blankly at the moon—he rarely even attended high-level meetings.
If it weren't for Tobirama's exceptional sensory abilities, his status as a Kage-level powerhouse would have remained undiscovered.
Similarly, if not for Tobirama's orders, he would still be holed up at home, guarding Konoha, and would never have led a team of elite clan shinobi all the way to the Land of Lightning to pull off a heist.
Nor would they encounter this violent brute before them, exuding the aura of a tailed beast, who had just casually slaughtered most of their companions while joking around.
'The Byakugan, huh? I've heard your eye technique isn't just for scouting and tracking enemies but also incredibly powerful in combat, but...'
Ginkaku shook his dark silver hair and carelessly tossed the corpse of the Hyūga ninja down the ravine, smirking, 'I don't see it.'
"Clan leader, you must go!" The last Hyuga ninja shielded Harukaze behind him, his face filled with determination.
"Aoyama, let's fight side by side." Harukaze, dressed in pristine clan attire, shook his head helplessly. "Otherwise, you're just throwing your life away."
"What? Clan leader, you still intend to fight him?" Hyuga Aoyama seemed to have heard something unbelievable.
Hyuga Harukaze tucked his hands into his sleeves. 'This is the village's order to me. I won't run away.'
'Protecting the Byakugan from falling into enemy hands is also one of the clan's ironclad rules!' Hyuga Aoyama shouted passionately.
Harukaze's expression remained calm, but he was already prepared for battle, assuming the standard Gentle Fist stance.
"Let's end the small talk here. You'll have plenty of time once you reach the Pure Land," Ginkaku sneered, flicking the blood off the Seven Star Sword with a swing of his right hand.
In truth, Hyuga Harukaze and his team had progressed smoothly thus far. Thanks to the Byakugan's exceptional long-range vision and penetrating ability, they had bypassed numerous security measures, infiltrated deep behind enemy lines, and silently approached the Hidden Cloud Village.
Bound by the Hyuga clan's traditions, Harukaze—the sole main family member—did not strike first. Yet because of this hesitation, Ginkaku instantly slaughtered his companion.
Harukaze took a deep breath, instantly activating his Byakugan. Veins bulged around his eye sockets as his pure white pupils gained intricate patterns.
"Listen up, the enemy before us is strong, incredibly strong. Even if we join forces, life and death hang in the balance." Harukaze spoke quickly, but Ginkaku was already charging at them like a mad bull.
Hyuga Harukaze's gaze suddenly sharpened, his figure vanishing into a fleeting white shadow.
Aoyama didn't even have time to react before a sharp whistling sound came from the back of his head, and a tall shadow loomed over the ground.
He met a pair of sharp eyes brimming with overwhelming violence, and... a massive sword slashing diagonally downward!
At that very moment, a foot landed firmly on the blade of the Seven Stars Sword. The white-clad afterimage coalesced into the form of Hyuga Harukaze.
"Huh?" Ginkaku's eyes widened in surprise. Before he could utter a word, a whip-like kick struck him hard across the side of his face.
Hyuga Harukaze delivered a clean and precise roundhouse kick, sending Ginkaku flying into the nearby rock face.
"Clan leader!" Qing Shan's pupils trembled as he realized that a several-meter-deep fissure had appeared at his feet—it was the slash of the Seven-Star Sword!
Chunfeng turned around, revealing a gentle smile. "Alright? Little brother."
"Good!" Suddenly, the two brothers turned their heads simultaneously, and a beam of silver light shot out from the broken mountain rocks, like a silver lightning bolt.
Chunfeng and Qingshan struck out back-to-back, their palm prints piercing through the air, and the powerful Gentle Fist chakra formed a vacuum shockwave, instantly knocking the Seven Star Sword away.
"Come on! You bastards!" Ginkaku laughed wildly as he charged out, like a gorilla claiming territorial dominance, crashing to the ground.
The brothers moved apart in perfect unison, then simultaneously launched their Gentle Fist attacks back at him.
The fierce battle raged on, yet Ginkaku's resilience was beyond imagination. Despite their utmost efforts, the brothers couldn't precisely channel their Gentle Fist chakra into his meridians.
'Now!' he roared through a mouthful of blood.
With the final palm strike, Ginkaku's body was flung high into the air, the tailed beast cloak fluttering in the wind, dissipating inch by inch like a flickering candle.
Chunfeng hurriedly picked up Qingshan's body. His chest had been pierced through, leaving a gaping hole, bloodied and mangled—the result of relentless stabs from six long tails.
"We won, little brother," Chunfeng said with sorrow in his eyes. He had finally witnessed the death of a branch family member before his very eyes, and his brother's death as well.
Ginkaku cracked his neck as he stood up, a vicious smile on his face.
Hyuga Harukaze widened her eyes, her pure and flawless pupils reflecting the terrifying scene.
Ginkaku brushed back his disheveled hair, and as the violent, deep chakra erupted, his body expanded inch by inch until finally, a massive nine-tailed fox stretched its body, its nine long tails shattering mountains, and it let out a long howl to the sky!
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