Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Big Commotion

In her previous life, Hyuga Ao's high school homeroom teacher had a saying she found very reasonable.

"Every problem is a problem of attitude."

Now, having completed her shift in attitude, Hyuga Ao set aside other thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

After waiting for a while, someone finally started cooking in the Officer's Kitchen.

Hyuga Ao kept her Byakugan under control, only watching the person's hands and the pot in front of them.

The chef before her was making porridge.

Unlike ordinary people who just toss in ingredients and leave it alone, this chef held a ladle stirring in the pot with one hand while slowly adding other things with the other, constantly fine-tuning the heat.

Hyuga Ao's spirits lifted.

This method of making porridge was the most refined and time-consuming.

It required manual control of heat and timing to ensure every ingredient was fully heated.

This porridge was definitely prepared for someone important.

Sure enough, after the chef had cooked for an hour and a half, others began trickling into the kitchen, preparing more ordinary breakfasts.

Around seven or eight, the chef's porridge was finally done.

Hyuga Ao silently estimated the time—what kind of person would choose to drink health porridge in the morning?

Hyuga Ao's gaze followed the porridge chef's hands as they moved. She had to be careful, very careful—now all her vision was locked on the hands, avoiding direct looks at the face, mainly observing the clothing.

This reduced the risk of being detected.

Hyuga Ao saw the porridge carried into a building.

As the porridge was set on the table, Hyuga Ao noticed the person about to drink it seemed very short. Comparing the lengths of their feet, she calculated that this person was a dwarf.

Within the Iwa Camp, someone of high status and a dwarf—the answer was obvious.

If Ōnoki was here, then the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi, was definitely here too.

Because of their discord, Ōnoki wouldn't trust Roshi to stay alone in Iwagakure.

At this point, Hyuga Ao's mission was complete.

Next, she needed to find a way to leave.

"Transformation Jutsu."

Hyuga Ao transformed into a laborer about to fetch water from the river.

The Iwa Camp had a stream running through it, their source of daily water.

To prevent poisoning and infiltration, Iwa ninjas guarded both ends of the stream.

But that didn't matter—Hyuga Ao just needed to reach the camp's edge via the stream, then run. The Iwa ninjas couldn't catch her.

Taking advantage of no one around, Hyuga Ao plunged into the water, holding her breath as the stream carried her toward the camp's edge.

The Four-Tails Roshi was stretching by the stream, also venting his frustration.

At odds with Ōnoki, he was having a hard time, only enduring for the sake of Iwagakure.

At times like this, he liked to find a river and quietly watch the water flow.

Let the slow current carry away his inner turmoil.

"Roshi, there's someone underwater," the Four-Tails said.

"Hm?" Roshi paused, then a savage grin spread across his lips.

"What little thief thinks they can slip past my eyes?"

Roshi formed hand seals.

"Scorch Release: Scorching River Rock Technique!"

Several boulders flowing with magma indiscriminately blanketed the entire stretch of river ahead.

Underwater, Hyuga Ao's eyes snapped open as a wave of danger surged over her.

With a twist, she exploded out of the water and onto the shore.

The magma boulders plunged into the water, hissing and sizzling.

Hyuga Ao looked at the Four-Tails Roshi before her, a bitter taste in her mouth.

She never expected that just thinking about resting in the water for a bit before starting her escape—

a single moment of relaxation—would get her flushed out by the Four-Tails Roshi.

Roshi was about to make a speech.

But Hyuga Ao didn't hesitate for a second—she turned and ran.

No way. Who wanted to waste time trading quips here?

Roshi's words were choked back before they could leave his mouth. His face darkened, and with a furious roar, he gave chase to Hyuga Ao.

But after a few steps, Roshi realized something was wrong. Hyuga Ao flickered several times, quickly widening the distance.

"Bastard!" Roshi fumed. He'd thought this was just some petty thief, someone he could vent his frustration on, but one lapse in attention and the target had slipped away.

"Son Goku," Roshi called to the Four-Tails.

The Four-Tails' Chakra spread from his abdomen through his entire body. Roshi's form was encased in magma, a monkey tail swaying behind him.

Entering Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, Roshi's speed skyrocketed under the Tailed Beast Chakra's shroud.

As he chased, he summoned magma spheres to harass Hyuga Ao.

The Iwa Camp was jolted awake by the explosions. Sensing the Four-Tails' Chakra, they knew Roshi was fighting an unknown enemy.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Hyuga Ao dodged the magma spheres flying from behind, her mood sour.

Through her Byakugan, she saw a dense mass of chakra converging on her position, like she'd poked a hornet's nest.

"Think, think." Hyuga Ao took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm.

With Roshi harassing her from behind, she couldn't reach her top speed. The Iwa Camp was huge, and there were surely people already in position ahead, waiting for her.

"Looks like I have to just bull through it." Hyuga Ao smiled bitterly.

She closed her eyes, focused, then opened them.

Beneath her mask, a wild grin curled up. "Fine then, Iwa-nin. You're about to find out just what kind of person you've cornered!"

Hyuga Ao pressed her palms together, awakening the long-dormant Shikotsumyaku. Her blood began to boil.

"I see. The Kaguya's battle lust has been itching for this, hasn't it? Good! Today, let it drink its fill of blood!"

Her resolve set, a layer of bone armor extended from beneath her black clothes, wrapping her layer by layer.

A magma sphere from Roshi slammed into Hyuga Ao's back. Her clothes burst open, revealing the bone armor beneath.

The armor's surface was slightly scorched black. Hyuga Ao ignored it and kept running.

The impact of the magma sphere even pushed her a little faster.

"Shikotsumyaku?" Roshi's suspicion flared. "Kirigakure wants to meddle too?"

Roshi quickly steadied himself. If this person might be from the Mist, he decided to take them down fast.

After all, whoever this was, he'd only know the truth once he had them captured.

"Can't drag this out any longer," Roshi realized.

Four-Tails Chakra surged over Roshi. A thick layer of molten armor coated his body. He lost his human form, dropping to all fours. With the boost of his partial Tailed Beast Transformation, he charged straight from behind, ramming into Hyuga Ao.

Hyuga Ao had used Shikotsumyaku to forge a set of heavy armor around herself.

Roshi crashed into her from behind. The two heavy-armored humanoid beasts collided into a tangle, rolling a dozen meters.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The Iwa Camp was now a mess.

Scattered magma lay on one side, broken bone spikes on the other.

Hyuga Ao was clad in full-coverage heavy bone armor from Shikotsumyaku, while Roshi was covered in high-temperature molten rock.

Even though Hyuga Ao had been pressing the attack on Roshi, she couldn't really break through.

The Tailed Beast's Chakra cloak rendered her Gentle Fist mostly useless. In pure brawling, she couldn't hurt Roshi through his molten shell.

Roshi couldn't do anything to Hyuga Ao either, but he only needed to stall.

Hyuga Ao was stumped. She'd initially planned to use Shikotsumyaku to force her way out, but Roshi had gone straight into a partial Tailed Beast Transformation to tie her down. Now, the Iwa-nin were encircling them, and the situation was deteriorating fast.

"Fine then. Don't blame me, Roshi." A ruthless glint flashed in Hyuga Ao's eyes. She grabbed Roshi, swiftly broke his momentum, and with a surge of strength, hurled him into the air ahead.

Hyuga Ao's bone armor shifted, extending two savage bone wings from her back. At the same time, four large nozzle-like tubes, like jet engine exhausts, protruded from the armor's rear.

She raised her right arm horizontally, forming a massive lance atop it. The lance's shaft bore spiral grooves, spinning continuously as Hyuga Ao drove it.

Hyuga Ao leveled the lance, aiming at Roshi.

Her bone wings flapped once, amplified by her Wind Cloak for acceleration, whipping up a gale behind her that propelled her forward in a rapid charge.

"Not good!" Ōnoki, watching from the sidelines, paled. He'd wanted to see Roshi take a beating, but not die.

It was already too late.

Hyuga Ao's bone wings flapped, aided by the Wind Cloak, while the nozzles blasted out torrents of air, driving her forward at breakneck speed.

The lance spun, wrapped in a spiral of mixed forces.

"The Spear That Shines at the End! Holy Spear: Gungnir!"

Driven by the triple core of Embryonic Breathing, Chakra, and Shikotsumyaku, the lance was about to pierce Roshi's chest in an instant.

But Roshi was a veteran Jinchuriki after all. With the Four-Tails' help, its tails extended midair to shield him, while he layered a thick Magma Release: Granite Shield in front.

His efforts, however, went no further.

At extreme speed, Hyuga Ao could pierce through anything.

The spiral air current from the holy lance arrived first, deflecting the defensive tail and tearing through Roshi's granite shield; the spinning spearhead followed closely behind, completely breaking through Roshi's layered defenses.

Right in the Iwa camp, before a crowd of onlookers, in front of the Third Tsuchikage.

The Jinchuriki of Iwagakure was pinned firmly to the ground by Hyuga Ao.

The Iwa shinobi stared at the scene as if their throats were choked, never imagining that their own Jinchuriki, that proud Roshi, would be nailed to the earth like this.

Hyuga Ao was somewhat drained. She moved her right hand slightly and found she couldn't pull the lance free, so she abandoned it. The bone armor on her right arm shattered, revealing a slender, fair arm.

The Iwa shinobi snapped out of their shock, staring at the exposed arm in disbelief.

Because Hyuga Ao had the Byakugan and couldn't afford to reveal her identity in the Iwa camp, her Shikotsumyaku armor was fully sealed, not even showing her eyes. Moreover, the Shikotsumyaku bone armor was jagged and thick, exuding a sinister, brutal aura. Combined with the savage scene of her brawling with the Tailed Beast Transformation Jinchuriki, the Iwa shinobi had always assumed she was a burly eight-foot man.

But now, the arm before them was slender, fair, and elegantly shaped, with long fingers like peeled scallion roots—clearly a woman's hand. From this hand alone, one could tell she was young.

"You, you actually—!" Ōnoki's little mustache trembled with rage. Their Jinchuriki had been gravely wounded by a woman right in the Iwa camp, her life hanging in the balance.

"You're asking for death! Dust Release: World Boundary Stripping Technique!"

White light shot from Ōnoki's hand, sweeping toward Hyuga Ao. She dodged a fraction too slowly, and a layer of her bone armor was shaved off, turning to dust.

"Can't take that head-on!" Seeing the state of her armor, Hyuga Ao knew she couldn't keep this up.

She turned and retreated.

But Ōnoki's Dust Release had roused the Iwa shinobi. Their brief hesitation was overcome, and they began to surround Hyuga Ao again.

"Damn it!" Watching the encirclement close in, Hyuga Ao couldn't help but wonder—would she make it out of here today?

Steeling herself, she looked at the barrage of ninjutsu hurtling toward her from all directions. She knew a direct breakthrough wouldn't work.

Hyuga Ao dodged the various techniques while stockpiling Chakra. Her Chakra consumption today hadn't been too heavy, but what came next was uncertain.

Earth flew everywhere. Once Ōnoki joined the Iwa shinobi in releasing jutsu, the difficulty skyrocketed. Various Earth Release techniques kept cutting her off at just the right moment; a single lapse in attention could trap her.

But fortunately, Hyuga Ao had finished gathering her Chakra.

She held a handful of Ration Pills in her mouth and jumped into a deep pit formed by Earth Core.

Ōnoki's face lit up with glee. "Ha, you're asking for death!"

He immediately directed the Iwa shinobi to crush Hyuga Ao deep underground.

But as soon as they began channeling Chakra, they sensed something taking root and sprouting beneath the earth, spreading toward the surface.

"Not good!" Ōnoki split the ground beneath his feet with a palm strike, using the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique to lift himself into the air, shouting hoarsely, "Watch the ground! Evade!"

The Iwa shinobi with deep Earth Release expertise also paled, sensing what was underground and predicting landing points to dodge.

But the other Iwa shinobi weren't so lucky.

Bone spikes erupted from the ground, attacking everyone on the surface indiscriminately. The Iwa chunin and genin were harvested in droves.

Only a few jonin, relying on sturdy defenses and sharp instincts, barely survived within this terrifying forest of bones.

The dust settled.

Ōnoki floated in the air, still shaken.

"Waaaaaah!" Ōnoki screamed at the sight before him. This forest of bones, spanning a hundred meters in radius, was like a heavy slap across his face—across the faces of all Iwa shinobi.

Furious beyond measure, Ōnoki's face flushed red as he searched for Hyuga Ao. He flew through the bone forest, rummaging and occasionally snapping off a bone spike. Each spike crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

But the bone forest, silent except for the groans of wounded Iwa shinobi, seemed to tell him that its creator had long since departed.

Leaving Ōnoki alone, raging helplessly.

Hyuga Ao was now a thousand meters up in the sky.

Among the bone forest, there had been an extremely slender bone shaft. This shaft had grown alongside the rest of the forest while the Iwa shinobi were scattering in panic.

That bone shaft was a thousand meters tall.

Using it, Hyuga Ao had escaped into the high altitude, shaping a Winged Suit from Shikotsumyaku to drift laboriously toward Konoha.

The bone shaft had collapsed on its own the moment she ascended, existing for only an instant.

Hyuga Ao had wanted to follow Kimimaro's example—using the bone forest to slip behind Ōnoki and strike him—but she couldn't. She simply didn't have enough Chakra.

Not a single drop left!

Right now, Hyuga Ao was in terrible shape.

In truth, the consumption of Early Wisteria Dance had exceeded her imagination.

To conceal her final escape method, Hyuga Ao had spread the bone forest a hundred meters wide, mainly to force Ōnoki out and block his line of sight.

By the latter half of Early Wisteria Dance, Hyuga Ao was already draining her body dry. If not for her solid physical foundation, she wouldn't have been able to scrape together that much Chakra.

Now, Hyuga Ao was depleted both physically and mentally. Meanwhile, a foreign force in her right arm was constantly eroding her body—the Chakra of the Four-Tails from earlier.

When she had pierced Roshi with that final thrust, her arm had inevitably been contaminated. She had been suppressing it with Chakra until now, but it all burst forth at once.

Hyuga Ao drifted through the air, her mind groggy. Yet she clung to one last shred of consciousness. The handful of Ration Pills she had swallowed earlier were still barely taking effect.

With her remaining Chakra, she maintained the Wind Cloak, and under some instinctive control, she made subtle adjustments to the Shikotsumyaku Winged Suit.

In her daze, she only felt a gust of wind come from behind.

"Wind come, where will it take me?"

With that, her eyelids closed, and Hyuga Ao completely lost consciousness.

In response to readers' requests, a VIP membership ad-free feature is now available.

Click to view