Chapter Nineteen: A Brief End

"How is that possible!" Iwa Rikito's eyes flew wide in disbelief as he collapsed.

Hyuga Ao withdrew her hand from his chest. She had crushed his entire heart like a clove of garlic—without a heart, there was no living.

It felt like the fight had dragged on, but in truth, only four or five minutes had passed. Hyuga Ao's Rotation had come down like a comet, clearing a swath of Iwa-nin, then she'd followed up with a chain of aerial Empty Palms to finish off a few more, buying herself that brief window for a one-on-one.

Now Hyuga Ao's hands were a little numb. Earth Style: Earth Spear was an incredibly hard technique—its hardness rivaled diamond, and unlike Earth Style: Hardening, it didn't immobilize the user.

Fortunately, Hyuga Ao was well-versed in multiple methods of striking, and her Chakra quality was high enough, her control strong enough, that the Chakra blades formed at her fingertips could barely cut through Iwa Rikito and break Earth Style: Earth Spear.

"Earth Style: Fissure Palm."

Before Hyuga Ao could catch her breath, the ground split open, the cracks racing toward her. She leaped away and studied the new enemy.

Iwagakure Jonin Itabashi Ryuji had arrived with his squad in support. He stared in shock at the groaning Iwa-nin scattered across the ground and at Iwa Rikito, already lifeless. "You did all this alone?"

"Seems so." Itabashi Ryuji observed the wounds on the Iwa-nin. "Young as you are, with strength like this... Iwa-nin, we must kill her here. Otherwise, endless trouble!"

With that, the Iwa-nin began forming hand seals. Hyuga Ao turned and ran.

No way was she going to trade jutsu with over a dozen Iwa-nin by herself.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow."

The ground crumbled into sand and surged toward Hyuga Ao.

Through her Branch House Byakugan's 359° vision, she watched the golden sand rushing at her back, along with the Chakra fluctuations of the other Iwa-nin.

She knew that if she got bogged down, she'd have to eat over a dozen techniques head-on.

"No choice." Hyuga Ao sighed helplessly, channeled Chakra to her legs, and in an instant escaped the sand's range. A few consecutive Body Flickers took her out of the Iwa-nin's attack radius.

Hyuga Ao knew the Body Flicker Technique, but she hadn't practiced it much. The technique put heavy strain on the legs, and overuse could leave lasting damage. She was still growing, so there was no need to rely on it, and as a Taijutsu specialist, her speed wasn't lacking anyway. She'd never bothered to refine it.

Looks like improving the Body Flicker Technique would have to go on her to-do list after today, Hyuga Ao thought.

"Earth Style: Rock Artillery."

Millstone-sized chunks of rock flew at Hyuga Ao one after another. She glanced at the tunnel behind the Iwa-nin and groaned inwardly. "They came all the way here tunneling underground—talk about commitment!"

Hyuga Ao danced through the rain of rock, dodging left and right, retreating or advancing, and when she couldn't avoid one, she sliced it apart with Eight Trigrams Guardian Rotation. For a moment, the Iwa-nin couldn't touch her.

"Hmph." Itabashi Ryuji had seen enough. He stopped firing Rock Artillery and clasped his hands together.

"Earth Style: Earth Mountain Technique!"

Two small dome-shaped earthen mounds rose up and closed in on Hyuga Ao from both sides.

"Damn it!" Hyuga Ao cursed inwardly. "How many control techniques do these Iwa-nin have?"

"I absolutely cannot get caught in that!" she thought.

She spun and fired several Empty Palms at Itabashi Ryuji, but other Iwa-nin immediately blocked them with their own techniques.

Hyuga Ao tried to Body Flicker forward, but the moment she moved her foot, the ground beneath her sank. She stumbled, then quickly leaped to stable ground ahead.

But what she saw next made her despair—multiple earthen walls rose up in front of her, firmly blocking her path.

"No time." Hyuga Ao began spinning her Rotation on the spot. Before the Earth Mountain could crush her, she had to make the Rotation spin as fast as possible to withstand the coming pressure.

"Squeal!!!" The Rotation ground against the Earth Mountain, letting out a teeth-grating screech. Seeing that Hyuga Ao was still holding out, the Iwa-nin began their favorite tactic: coordinated casting.

When Itabashi Ryuji was the only one casting, Hyuga Ao could barely hold her own. But with four or five Iwa-nin joining in, she couldn't keep up. The Rotation slowed, and the earthen mounds squeezed tighter.

"Shikotsumyaku..." Hyuga Ao stirred the power within her. The moment the Rotation stopped, she would unleash an Early Wisteria Dance.

But thankfully, reinforcements finally arrived.

"Wind Style: Infinite Breakthrough!"

A fierce gale swept in, carrying countless tiny wind blades. Sand and stone flew everywhere, instantly blowing back the Iwa-nin who were focused on their technique.

Hyuga Ao's body went limp, and she collapsed into the earthen mounds, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Cough, cough." Hyuga Ao leaned back in the half-circle carved out by her Rotation, struggling to breathe.

"This is awful!" Hyuga Ao's fair little face was now covered in dust. She sat in the cramped, stifling circular space, with only a sliver of light coming through the gap where the Earth Mountain hadn't fully closed. Her loose robes were full of tiny pebbles, digging painfully into her skin.

She opened her Byakugan again to check the battle and saw that Hori Noriyuki and the others had arrived.

"Nice one, Captain! I'm buying you dinner when we get back!" Hyuga Ao praised.

While the fighting continued outside, Hyuga Ao wanted to quickly tidy herself up.

She'd never noticed it before, but now she realized she might have a bit of a cleanliness obsession. Her whole body felt awful, and all she wanted was to take a bath immediately. "When I get back, I'm definitely learning some elemental techniques for emergencies," Hyuga Ao decided.

After getting thoroughly beaten, she had a much clearer picture of her weaknesses.

"Hah." Hyuga Ao struggled to her feet. She'd really taken a hit this time. Her legs were sore and swollen from using the Body Flicker multiple times in quick succession, her whole body was weak from prolonged Chakra consumption, and her head was spinning.

If someone came to pick her up now and handled it well, they could probably use her for ten years without her being able to resist.

Hyuga Ao undid her forehead protector, unwrapped the bandage hiding the Caged Bird seal, and used the protector to casually tie up her shoulder-length hair, letting her head cool down.

She loosened her sash, slipped off the Hyuga family standard kimono, and stood naked within the earthen mound, revealing a figure that had developed far ahead of her age. But in this dim, cramped space, no one was there to appreciate the sight.

Hyuga Ao tore off the long sleeves and hem of the kimono, used the torn fabric to wipe herself down, kicked off her cloth shoes, and peeled off her tabi socks. Her clean, delicate bare feet pressed into the thick dust.

She frowned slightly and placed the other half of the torn sleeve under her feet.

Hyuga Ao adjusted the hem of her kimono, tearing it into strips again and wrapping them around her chest as a makeshift bra.

She shook out the small stones from her underwear, then pulled the heavily altered kimono back on.

Sitting on the long sleeves she'd laid on the ground, she hugged her smooth, slender legs to rest for a while, waiting for someone outside to dig her out.

After a long time.

Hyuga Ao woke groggily to the sound of Namikaze Minato's voice.

"Ao'er, are you okay?"

Blinding sunlight fell on Hyuga Ao. She squinted, her eyes unaccustomed to the light after so long in darkness. Raising a hand to shield her face, she felt reborn.

Namikaze Minato took in her current appearance.

In the sunlight, Hyuga Ao's hair shimmered with a golden sheen, strands swaying in the breeze. Her hand blocked the glare, but her eyes looked lazy, like a kitten just waking up and about to stretch.

She was no longer the fully covered figure she usually was. The long sleeves of her kimono were gone, revealing smooth, rounded shoulders and pale armpits.

The side slit of her altered kimono was wide open. If not for the cloth strips binding her chest, the view inside would have been completely exposed. Even with the wrappings, hints of skin showed through, and the tight bindings outlined her shape, making it look even fuller than usual.

Gulp. Namikaze Minato swallowed hard.

He quickly looked away, but his gaze was immediately drawn to her long, straight legs. Her fair thighs were smudged with a bit of black dust, making the rest of her skin look even whiter.

If this scene were in a Naruto episode, a flood of comments like "I'm dead" or "Legs for days" would be scrolling by.

Just as Hyuga Ao adjusted to the sunlight, she noticed this kid Minato staring at her. Following his gaze, she saw him fixated on her legs.

She stood barefoot, lifting one foot and shifting it side to side, watching as Minato's eyes tracked her foot, moving left and right.

She looked down at it herself. Hmm, clean toes, distinct and rounded, a perfect arch, faint veins tracing the pale instep—truly a flawless pair of feet.

Wait, what am I thinking?

Hyuga Ao narrowed her eyes, a killing intent flickering. She flipped her hand, pulling out a Kunai and staking it into the ground in front of Namikaze Minato.

He jolted awake, his face bright red as he stammered, "I-I-I, uh, this, um."

Hyuga Ao watched the flustered Minato, noticing the stone dust on his clothes. Only this idiot came to dig me out. Forget it.

She waved a hand, cutting off his incoherent rambling. "Alright, alright. Give me your jacket."

"Huh? Oh." Minato dumbly took off his jacket and handed it to her.

Hyuga Ao took it, draped it over herself, and picked up the cloth shoes she'd kicked off earlier, putting them on. "Fill me in on the situation."

Mentioning the battle snapped Minato back to focus. He explained, "Here's how it stands. That day, the two thousand men the Hokage led ran into a joint force of Sand and Rain Ninja. Jiraiya-sensei encountered the Iwagakure forces."

"Since the reinforcements were all tied up, the Iwagakure troops that pushed forward got routed by Jiraiya-sensei in one go. On the other side, Hanzō was held off by the Hokage, but it turned out Danzo-sama was already hiding nearby. He led his men to crush the Rain and Sand Ninja."

"Then both sides converged. The Sand, Rock, and Rain alliance fought and retreated, getting pushed into the Land of Rain. The Hokage fought the Third Tsuchikage, who was already there, and they agreed to pull out together."

"Finally, Hori Noriyuki-taichō told me you were trapped here. He had something to do, so he asked me to dig you out. Jiraiya-sensei said after I rescue you, we head back to the village to rest, then join the next wave."

Hearing Minato's words, Hyuga Ao relaxed. Finally, a break.

"Ahhhh!" She stretched her limbs thoroughly, then said to Minato, "Let's go. Back to the village!"

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