Master and Apprentice Showdown

The loss of three ninjas is not the worst situation the Cloud ninja are facing. Cloud ninja formation has been disrupted, and they can no longer maintain the tight defense they once had.

Unable to remain calm any longer, Tawara Ayumi shouted, "Hiruzen Sarutobi, does Konoha want to start a war?"

"Alright, Chief Hiashi, please stop." It wasn't Hiruzen Sarutobi who spoke, but Tsunade.

Moreover, Tsunade paused deliberately when she spoke. In that instant, two more Cloud ninja were gone.

After hearing Tsunade's words, Hyuga Hiashi deliberately paused for a moment before saying, "Stop, everyone."

Then another Cloud ninja was killed.

At this point, only four Cloud ninja remained.

Once the fighting stopped, Hyuga Hiashi said, "Hand over Hinata."

Hashiryu was unwilling to give up, so he looked at Tawara Ayumi.

Tawara Ayumi sighed, then slowly stepped forward, opened her mouth, and finally uttered two words: "Do it!"

As soon as Tawara Ayumi finished speaking, the other three Cloud ninja Tawara Ayumi, who were already prepared, disregarded their own injuries and immediately activated some kind of Forbidden Technique.

After activating the Forbidden Technique, Tawara Ayumi's originally dark skin immediately turned blood red. She shouted, "Lightning Release: Heavy Lightning Burst!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she exploded, transforming into a sky full of lightning that shot out in all directions.

Meanwhile, the other three also exhibited the same symptoms. However, instead of immediately detonating, they took the opportunity to rush towards their nearby residence.

Tawara Ayumi's self-destruction had little destructive effect, but the paralyzing effect of the Lightning Release was excellent. The Hyuga ninjas surrounding them, as well as some nearby Anbu, were affected, and even Yichen's group was somewhat impacted.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hashiryu and his two companions broke through the encirclement.

Boom.

Another explosion rang out, and yet another Cloud ninja chose to self-destruct, just like Tawara Ayumi. This time, the explosion was less powerful, but it still caused a group of Anbu who came to stop them to fail.

Finally, Hashiryu and another Cloud ninja leaped over the blocking Anbu and rushed into their residence.

Yichen was stunned. He knew what the Cloud ninja were up to. They wanted to teleport the Byakugan back to the Kumogakure. Once the Byakugan was teleported back, they would all die a worthy death.

"But we've run out of the teleportation equipment," Yichen sighed softly.

At this moment, Tsunade, the strongest among them, reacted the fastest and rushed into the courtyard first. As expected, the third explosion rang out as predicted.

Tsunade's progress was inevitably hindered.

The expressions on everyone's faces were grim. Although they didn't know why the Cloud ninja rushing towards their residence, they were certain they had some ulterior motive.

A scheme that is willing to sacrifice everyone's lives must be something big.

But just when everyone thought the Cloud ninja had succeeded, a frantic shout suddenly came from inside the house. The voice was filled with hysteria, yet also mixed with a hint of doubt.

A few seconds later, Tsunade and the others, having recovered from their paralysis, rushed into the room where Hashiryu was.

Hashiryu stood blankly in the room, staring motionlessly at the empty floor. The black cloth that had been protecting Hinata Hyuga's Byakugan was gone and had been tossed aside by Hashiryu.

Ignoring the crazed Hashiryu, Hyuga Hiashi immediately rushed forward and picked up Hinata. Several Hyuga Branch Family ninjas immediately stepped forward to protect Hyuga Hiashi in the middle.

After a thorough check, Hiashi Hyuga found that his daughter had only been drugged and was not injured, and that her Byakugan was intact. Only then did Hyuga Hiashi breathe a sigh of relief.

Because Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, was present, Hyuga Hiashi remained silent and led the members of the Hyuga Branch Family to the side.

He can't leave yet; the secret of how Hashiryu shields himself from the Byakugan hasn't been revealed.

Because Hashiryu was still in a frenzied state, Tsunade remained silent, intending to wait for Hashiryu to calm down before taking any action.

But she was destined to be disappointed; Hashiryu didn't give Tsunade a chance to capture him. Although she didn't know who had taken the base of the Heavenly Transfer Technique, the fact remained that today's operation had failed.

In this situation, I cannot survive under any circumstances, otherwise the Lord Raikage will have no chance to threaten Konoha.

Then came another explosion, and the entire Cloud Ninja envoy was wiped out.

Yichen didn't see the final scene; he had already foreseen the outcome. He had taken the base of the Heavenly Transfer Technique, causing the Cloud Ninja envoy's mission to fail. Now, only if the entire delegation perished in Konoha could the Fourth Raikage use the opportunity to threaten them with war.

Yichen then went to another place, the Hyuga Clan's territory.

Yichen originally thought Orochimaru's operation would end soon, but unexpectedly, he encountered trouble.

Orochimaru did obtain the information on the Caged Bird, but when he came out of the Hyuga Clan's secret chamber, he was blocked by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Having anticipated the trouble, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade have been on high alert lately. As soon as there was any movement from the Hyuga Clan, the two of them rushed over.

While Orochimaru took advantage of the Hyuga Clan's attention being diverted to the Cloud Ninja envoy, he successfully entered the Hyuga Clan's secret chamber, and at the same time, he successfully attracted Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had already made up his mind.

Yichen was drawn over after sensing the intense aura emanating from the two as they confronted each other; the excitement here was far greater than that at the Cloud ninja's place.

Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi had given prior instructions, because although there are Anbu near the Hyuga Clan, none of them have approached.

Yichen was also disguised as an Anbu, so he followed the others and only observed from a distance.

"Let's fight! Let's fight!" Yichen murmured to himself. For some reason, he always felt immense joy at Konoha's misfortunes.

After a long while, once the Cloud Ninja envoy had completely calmed down, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke up, "Orochimaru, stop."

Orochimaru exaggeratedly licked his lips with his unusual tongue and said with a smile, "Teacher Hiruzen, you're still the same. You wouldn't understand. You don't understand the true meaning of ninja, you don't understand the true meaning of Chakra."

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't fooled by Orochimaru's feigned mystery. He bluntly stated, "It's truly embarrassing to be called worthless by my own disciple."

"Orochimaru, since you've chosen to attack the village's ninjas, let's settle this today!"

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi began to Hand Seals.

For some unknown reason, even though he was on the Hyuga Clan compound, Hiruzen Sarutobi, unleashing Ninjutsu of various attributes with ease.

After more than ten rounds, although neither of them used their full strength to unleash a wide-range A-rank Ninjutsu, the area affected almost encompassed the entire Hyuga Clan compound.

Even Yichen, Anbu Guard who was watching from the sidelines, had to keep his distance from the two.

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly lived up to his reputation as a Kage Level ninja with the title of "Ninjutsu Doctor." Not only did he effortlessly wield various elemental Ninjutsu, but his diverse Combination Ninjutsu left even Yichen in awe.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, in his prime, was certainly not in the same old, frail state depicted in the original work.

Orochimaru, who is also Kage Level ninja, was suppressed from the very beginning.

Yichen watched from the sidelines, feeling his eyes widen in Awakening Eyes. This was the first time he had ever witnessed how Kage-level experts with multiple elemental Ninjutsu abilities fought.

Yichen felt that he was still far inferior to Hiruzen Sarutobi. This gap was not only due to a lack of experience, but also a significant difference in foundation.

Judging from the number of B-rank Ninjutsu that Hiruzen Sarutobi has used so far, he already far surpasses Yichen, not to mention that Hiruzen Sarutobi must have many other Ninjutsu that he hasn't used yet.

"Isn't the Hokage supposed to be very busy? Where does Hiruzen Sarutobi find the time to practice these Ninjutsu?" Yichen, somewhat puzzled.

In comparison, Orochimaru, who is also Ninjutsu- type ninja, is far inferior.

Seeing Orochimaru use the Snake Substitution Jutsu for the second time, Yichen was puzzled as to why Orochimaru hadn't run away yet.

The Cloud ninja are all dead, so there's no need for Orochimaru to stay!

Orochimaru's goal was the Byakugan. He must have considered the possibility of failing to steal the Byakugan, which is why he chose to target the Caged Bird Seal.

Now that the backup plan is complete, Orochimaru should leave as soon as possible.

Is there any chance of being Byakugan by the Main Family if I stay?

Hyuga Hiashi and Hinata Hyuga are currently at the former residence of the Cloud Ninja envoy.

Yichen couldn't understand it, so he quietly withdrew from the crowd of spectators.

Yichen planned to return to the Cloud Ninja envoy's residence to see if Orochimaru had any other tricks up his sleeve.

However, after walking only a few steps, Yichen's attention was drawn away. A few dozen meters ahead of him, a group of Yichen Hyuga Clan members were gathered.

These people were mainly the elderly, women, and non-combatants, and their numbers were large.

Surrounding this group was a ring of combat-type Hyuga ninja. Yichen recognized the leader as Hizashi Hyuga.

These people escaped while Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru were locked in a standoff.

At this moment, all the members of the Hyuga Clan looked angrily at Orochimaru, who was fighting a great battle in their clan territory.

However, Yichen suspected that many people's anger was actually directed at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Because Orochimaru didn't use any Area of Effect Ninjutsu tonight, the Hyuga Clan compound was almost completely leveled, mainly thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

However, what caught Yichen's attention was not the people who were casting angry glances at the Hyuga Clan compound, but a little boy who was clinging to Hizashi Hyuga's leg and looking at him curiously.

The little boy had a white cloth wrapped around his forehead and was observing Yichen with his pure white eyes. This little boy was none other than Neji Hyuga, and also Yichen's main target on this trip.

Yichen focused his attention on his Mind's Eye and carefully sensed Neji Hyuga.

There's already Chakra, and quite a lot of it, much more than when Yichen first started extracting it.

Yichen stared at Neji for a few seconds through the Anbu mask, then slowly walked away.

Hizashi Hyuga Yichen, seemingly sensing something, glanced a few times at Yichen's departing figure, but didn't pay much attention. By this time, there were already quite a few Anbu and regular ninja active in the vicinity.

Many of them came on their own without receiving any assignments.

Therefore, it wasn't too surprising that Yichen left alone.