Hyuga Ao's pretty face was cold, and her entire body radiated a chill. After coming to the ninja world for so long, when had she ever suffered such humiliation?
Katsuyu hurried to treat Hyuga Ao's injuries, but the moment her chakra probed inside, she discovered a layer of bone membrane beneath Hyuga Ao's skin. The three cuts looked vicious, but they were all merely superficial wounds.
"Ao-sama, what is beneath your skin?"
"Shut up. Remove the paralysis first."
The oblivious Katsuyu asked her question, only to be immediately silenced by Slug Sister.
With Katsuyu's help, Hyuga Ao dispelled the paralysis. The muscle contusions caused by forcibly using Shikotsumyaku to move her body were also alleviated.
Hyuga Ao rose to her feet. Since her robes were made of a material that absorbed water easily, the entire hem was soaked with blood. She spread out her Wind Cloak again, letting the wind dry her clothes.
She had been paralyzed by lightning earlier, causing the Wind Cloak to shut down passively. She had been forced to use Shikotsumyaku; otherwise, she would not have ended up in such a sorry state.
Plum-blossom-like spots of blood speckled Hyuga Ao's white kimono. The hem was dyed red with blood, and the damaged clothing faintly revealed her snowy-white skin.
The bloody scratches above her shoulders and neck, combined with her pain-paled face, ink-black hair, white clothes, and white eyes, gave her an eerie yet tragic beauty.
A bloody wind swirled around her, transforming into a blood-red garment that enveloped her.
Draped in the blood-red garment, Hyuga Ao picked up the sword dropped by her clone with her bare hand and dragged it toward Mikami Nokatsu.
She began by walking slowly, then moved faster and faster, breaking into a run before finally turning into a blood-colored afterimage.
Mikami Nokatsu had assumed Hyuga Ao was a member of the Hyuga Clan, which was why he had tried to capture her alive. He never could have imagined that holding back for a moment would cause him so much trouble.
"Group up! Defend!" Mikami Nokatsu shouted.
It was too late! The Sand Ninja had previously been able to suppress Konoha's side through their numerical advantage and the presence of a Puppeteer. Now that two people were gone, they could barely maintain a stalemate and had no one to spare to intercept Hyuga Ao.
Hyuga Ao shook off the puppets blocking her in two movements, then, carrying a gust of bloody wind, slammed into Mikami Nokatsu and knocked him out of the Sand Ninja formation.
However, as one of the Sand Ninja's few Jonin skilled in Lightning Style, Mikami Nokatsu was naturally no pushover.
He used Lightning Style chakra to stimulate his body. Lightning leaped from his flesh. Although the excessive Lightning Style chakra injured him, it successfully forced Hyuga Ao back.
"Don't underestimate me!" Mikami Nokatsu roared.
"Lightning Style: Ground Run!"
Lightning spread across the ground, chasing after Hyuga Ao. She countered with several Wind Blades, then circled to the side.
"So fast!" Mikami Nokatsu's Ground Run could not catch Hyuga Ao, but Lightning Style attacks were among the fastest techniques of all chakra natures.
He formed hand seals again.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Rat Tremor!"
Six tracer bolts shot out alongside Shuriken infused with Lightning Style chakra, flying toward Hyuga Ao.
Hyuga Ao canceled them out with Wind Blades and continued charging forward.
Mikami Nokatsu realized how troublesome Hyuga Ao was. Attacks powerful enough could not hit her, while those that could hit her were not strong enough. He could neither restrain nor capture her, so he could only keep using techniques like Ground Run to force her back.
"Damn it!" Mikami Nokatsu found that he could not restrain Hyuga Ao no matter what. His heart hardened. You forced me into this!
A pained look flashed through his eyes as he took out a scroll and undid its seal. A massive amount of water surged from within, forming a water dragon.
Mikami Nokatsu quickly formed hand seals, and a lightning dragon took shape at the same time.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!"
The enormous Water Dragon, trailing sparks and lightning, charged toward Hyuga Ao with astonishing momentum.
Hyuga Ao's expression turned grave. She was just about to dodge when she realized that Konoha's ninja were behind her.
"Damn! I've been tricked again!"
Everything that had happened today flashed through Hyuga Ao's mind.
She clenched her pearly teeth, burning with rage. The flames in her heart grew fiercer and fiercer, the anger rushing straight to her head until her displeasure reached its absolute limit.
At the peak of her fury, Hyuga Ao felt her mind boil. A cool sensation spread through her head.
Her boiling mental state caused the Caged Bird, which had only five chains remaining, to tremble. A great deal of indescribable matter leaked through the gaps between the bars.
Hyuga Ao's eyes widened. Byakugan power spread out, covering the surrounding area. The Wind Cloak's perception stirred another kind of perception, while Spiritual Power spread outward to merge with her innate senses.
Under the layers of perception, Hyuga Ao felt that everything around her was under her control.
She slowly swung her palm, as though pushing something weighing ten thousand jun. Dan energy, chakra, and Dōjutsu Power all poured into the space before her.
A monstrous wave seemed to be forming slowly in the air.
On the other side.
Mikami Nokatsu's face twisted viciously. He had laid the groundwork for this attack for a long time, slowly lulling Hyuga Ao into complacency like boiling a frog. At last, she had fallen into his trap.
To ensure victory in one strike, he had used the Water Dragon Bullet scroll he had bought at a high price, pouring all his chakra—even the stabbing pain throughout his body—into this Thunder Water Dragon.
He laughed in delight.
"Isn't your Konoha most devoted to your comrades? Will you take this attack or not?"
Mikami Nokatsu was extremely confident in his judgment. He had previously heard that Hyuga Ao was Orochimaru's disciple—and also a member of the Hyuga Clan.
The Hyuga were notoriously rigid. If Hyuga Ao abandoned her comrades, whether she belonged to the Main Family or the branch family, she would be punished by the clan's strict laws. The Hyuga Clan's rules were not something anyone could endure.
If she did not take this attack, Hyuga Ao could forget about returning to Konoha.
But if she did, the berserk Thunder Water Dragon would push Hyuga Ao forward and crash into Konoha's people, eliminating both sides at once.
"Perfect! Hahahahaha!" Mikami Nokatsu burst into loud laughter.
Mikami Nokatsu laughed wildly, but as he continued, the joy in his heart quickly faded. His right eye twitched violently, and unease welled up inside him. He felt as though something was about to descend.
Maintaining the Thunder Water Dragon, he moved his eyes around, searching for whatever posed such a massive threat to him.
Yet even when the Thunder Water Dragon was about to engulf Hyuga Ao, he still found nothing.
"Looks like it was just an illusion." Mikami Nokatsu felt reassured.
His thoughts froze there.
Some overwhelming force poured down, like a god in the heavens swinging his palm.
Mikami Nokatsu and his Thunder Water Dragon instantly transformed into smoke and water vapor, completely dispersed at the molecular level.
Hyuga Ao felt that in this instant, her Dōjutsu Power, chakra, Spiritual Power, physical force, and something deep within the Byakugan had all fused together. Following that sensation, she swung her palm and slowly spoke a name.
"Divine Void Strike!"
Mikami Nokatsu vanished instantly, but Divine Void Strike had not yet fully released its power. Hyuga Ao was like a child swinging an iron rod, struggling to adjust its direction.
With three people gone, Sarutobi Hiro seized an opening and was about to press his advantage when a chill suddenly ran through his entire body. He hurriedly retreated.
Then he saw the nine Sand Ninja before him, along with their puppets, turn into powder almost simultaneously.
The powder danced through the air before slowly settling to the ground.
Sarutobi Hiro stared blankly at the scene.
His gaze shifted to the ground, where he discovered that three inches of earth had been scraped away. The sole of the shoe at his toe had just crossed the boundary and had vanished without a sound.
If someone had been observing from the sky, they would have seen that the ground looked as though someone had wiped a fan-shaped area across a beach with their hand.
Sarutobi Hiro and the others happened to be standing at the fan's handle.
"Captain, what happened?"
"What is this? What is it?!"
"They disappeared!!?"
The commotion spread. Sarutobi Hiro and the others followed the traces and saw Hyuga Ao kneeling on the ground.
Hyuga Ao knelt there with her head pressed against the earth, making a wheezing sound in her throat.
At that moment, Hyuga Ao felt an unbearable stabbing pain in her eyes. Blood tears streamed from her Byakugan, and her head throbbed as if it were splitting apart. Controlling such a colossal amount of energy had nearly drained her Spiritual Power completely.
Damn it, I regret this so much. Hyuga Ao wailed inwardly. She never should have followed her instincts and swung that palm. In her current state, how was she supposed to keep moving forward?
Footsteps approached. Sarutobi Hiro came to Hyuga Ao's side and asked cautiously,
"Chunin Ao—no, Ao-sama, how are you?"
Hyuga Ao waved her hand and said, "Guard me for a while."
Even Hyuga Ao herself was startled when she spoke. Her voice was astonishingly hoarse.
After a while, Hyuga Ao felt the stabbing pain in her eyes ease slightly. She tried to open them, only to be moved to tears by the not-so-intense light.
"Mm, this feels awful."
She had Katsuyu intensify the treatment, and Hyuga Ao was finally able to open her eyes fully.
She observed the things before her and found that her Byakugan had become slightly blurry. The moment she tried to activate it, another burst of stabbing pain struck her.
"Looks like I can't use the Byakugan for now." Hyuga Ao smiled bitterly. "That ultimate move cleared the whole wave for me."
Sarutobi Hiro came over to ask what they should do next.
Hyuga Ao closed her eyes and sensed her surroundings before replying helplessly,
"Mm, that move came at a heavy price. I can't move for the time being. Slug Sister, what does the road ahead look like?"
"Ao-sama, the small-group battles are over from here on out. Those small-group battles still had some distance between them because of the camp divisions."
"From here on, it will be a huge battle of individuals against individuals and teams against teams. The distance between them can basically be ignored, and ninjutsu or Shuriken could accidentally injure anyone at any time."
"You could be fighting here, turn around a corner, and find someone else fighting there."
"All right." Hyuga Ao rubbed her eyes. "I have a way to recover on my own. You should continue forward. By the way, does anyone know Earth Release?"
"I do, I do." A chubby member of the Akimichi Clan stepped forward.
"Help me out." Hyuga Ao pointed at the ground. "It rains year-round in the Land of Rain, so the underground water systems are extremely well developed. Please open a passage straight down underground for me."
Hyuga Ao was doing this because Aqua had given her the Blessing of the Water Goddess, which allowed her to recover quickly in water.
I hope Aqua didn't trick me about the water. Hyuga Ao muttered inwardly.
Although the others did not understand, they knew that the request of a powerful figure had to be fulfilled. Several of them worked together and quickly opened a passage for Hyuga Ao.
"Take these Katsuyu with you. I'll only keep one." Hyuga Ao crouched down and reached out.
One Katsuyu after another crawled out from beneath the robes around Hyuga Ao's hands, gathering into balls on the ground and staring at everyone with their tiny eyes.
A rough count revealed more than twenty of them.
Sarutobi Hiro and the others stared at Hyuga Ao in shock. They could not imagine where she had hidden all these Katsuyu or how she had managed to conceal so many.
They looked at Hyuga Ao's damaged kimono, their eyes filled with thought.
Maybe this is what a powerful figure is like. Sarutobi Hiro and the others sighed inwardly.
Hyuga Ao did not care what they thought. She waved goodbye casually and leaped into the passage.
Before you continue