Traversing the Battlefield (3)

Hyuga Ao's delicate face was icy cold, radiating a chill throughout. Having been in the ninja world for so long, when had she ever suffered such humiliation?

Katsuyu hurriedly treated Hyuga Ao's injuries, but as soon as her Chakra probed deeper, she found a layer of bone membrane beneath Hyuga Ao's skin. The three gashes looked vicious, but they were only superficial wounds.

"Ao-sama, what's that under your skin?"

"Shut up. First, undo the paralysis."

Katsuyu, oblivious to the mood, asked her question and was immediately silenced by the elder Katsuyu.

With Katsuyu's help, Hyuga Ao broke free from the paralysis. The muscle strain from forcibly using Shikotsumyaku to move her body earlier also eased.

Hyuga Ao stood up. Her robe's fabric was prone to absorbing moisture, and now the entire hem was soaked with blood. She unfurled her Wind Cloak again, letting it dry the clothes.

Earlier, the lightning paralysis had forced her Wind Cloak to shut down, leaving her no choice but to rely on Shikotsumyaku—otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state.

Plum blossoms dotted Hyuga Ao's white kimono, the hem stained red with blood, and torn fabric faintly revealed her snow-white skin.

The bloody gashes on her shoulders and neck, paired with her pale face from the pain, her jet-black hair like ink, white robes, and white pupils, gave her an eerie, tragic beauty.

A blood-red wind swirled around her, forming a blood robe that enveloped her.

Wrapped in the blood robe, Hyuga Ao picked up the sword dropped by her clone with her bare hand and dragged it toward Mikami Nokatsu.

She started walking slowly, then faster, breaking into a run, and finally turning into a blood-red blur.

Mikami Nokatsu had assumed Hyuga Ao was a member of the Hyuga clan, which was why he'd thought to capture her alive. He never imagined that holding back would cause so much trouble.

"Group up! Defend!" Mikami Nokatsu shouted.

Too late! The Sand Ninja had relied on their numerical advantage and Puppeteers to suppress Konoha's side, but now, with two fewer men, they were barely holding their ground and couldn't spare anyone to intercept Hyuga Ao.

Hyuga Ao dodged two puppets blocking her path in a flash and, carrying a gust of bloody wind, slammed Mikami Nokatsu out of the Sand Ninja formation.

But Mikami Nokatsu, as one of the few Sand Ninja Jonin skilled in Lightning Style, wasn't so easily dealt with.

He used Lightning Style Chakra to stimulate his body, lightning leaping from his form. The excess Lightning Chakra damaged him, but it also 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 fired back a few Wind Blades in response, then circled around to the side.

"So fast!" Mikami Nokatsu's Ground Run couldn't catch Hyuga Ao at all, but Lightning Style attacks were among the fastest of all jutsu.

He formed hand seals again.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Rat Tremor!"

Six projectiles shot out, accompanied by shuriken rich in Lightning Chakra, aimed at Hyuga Ao.

Hyuga Ao neutralized them with Wind Blades and continued her advance.

Mikami Nokatsu realized how troublesome Hyuga Ao was. Attacks that could hit lacked power, those with power couldn't land, and he couldn't restrain or catch her. He could only keep using jutsu like Ground Run to drive her back.

"Damn it!" Mikami Nokatsu found he couldn't restrict Hyuga Ao no matter what. His heart hardened. You forced my hand!

A flicker of pain crossed his eyes as he pulled out a scroll and unsealed it. A surge of water poured from the scroll, forming a water dragon.

Mikami Nokatsu quickly formed hand seals, and a lightning dragon took shape alongside it.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!"

The massive water dragon, crackling with sparks and lightning, charged at Hyuga Ao with overwhelming force.

Hyuga Ao's expression turned serious. She moved to dodge but realized Konoha ninja were behind her.

"Damn! I've been set up again!"

The events of the day flashed through her mind.

Hyuga Ao gritted her teeth, fury blazing within her. The fire in her heart burned hotter and hotter, rage surging to her head, an unbearable frustration.

And at the peak of her anger, Hyuga Ao felt her spirit boil, and a cool sensation spread through her mind.

The boiling spiritual state caused the Caged Bird, now reduced to five chains, to tremble. From the gaps in the cage leaked many things she couldn't name or describe.

Hyuga Ao's eyes flew wide open. The Dojutsu Power of her Byakugan spread, covering the surrounding area. The Wind Cloak's perception triggered another kind of sensing, and her Spiritual Power radiated outward, merging with her innate perception.

Under this layered perception, Hyuga Ao felt the entire area around her was under her control.

She slowly swung her palm, as if pushing something of immense weight. Dan energy, Chakra, and Dojutsu Power all poured into the space ahead.

In the air, a towering wave seemed to be slowly forming.

On the other side.

Mikami Nokatsu's face twisted with ferocity. He had laid the groundwork for this moment, slowly boiling the frog, finally trapping Hyuga Ao.

To secure a decisive victory, he had used the Water Dragon Bullet scroll he'd bought at a high price, draining his Chakra until his whole body ached, pouring it all into this Lightning Water Dragon.

He laughed inwardly with satisfaction.

"Isn't Konoha all about your comrades? This move—will you take it or not?"

Mikami Nokatsu was confident in his judgment. He'd heard Hyuga Ao was Orochimaru's disciple, and a member of the Hyuga clan at that.

The Hyuga were the most rigid. If Hyuga Ao abandoned her comrades, whether she was Main Family or Branch Family, she'd face the clan's strict punishment—and the Hyuga clan's rules were no joke.

If she didn't take this hit, Hyuga Ao could forget about ever returning to Konoha.

But if she did, the rampaging Thunder Water Dragon would push her forward, crashing into the Konoha ninjas along with her—solving both problems at once.

"Perfect! Hahahahaha!" Mikami Nokatsu burst out laughing.

He laughed and laughed, but as he did, the joy in his heart quickly faded. His right eye twitched violently, a sense of unease creeping in, as if something was about to descend.

He maintained the Thunder Water Dragon, his eyes darting around, searching for whatever was giving him such a massive threat.

Until the Thunder Water Dragon was about to engulf Hyuga Ao, he still found nothing.

"Must be my imagination." Mikami Nokatsu reassured himself.

His thoughts stopped there.

Some kind of immense force poured down, as if a god in the heavens had swung its palm.

Mikami Nokatsu and his Thunder Water Dragon instantly turned into mist and vapor, scattered at the molecular level.

In that instant, Hyuga Ao felt her Dojutsu Power, Chakra, Spiritual Power, physical strength, and something deep within her Byakugan all merge together. She followed the flow and swung her palm, slowly uttering a name.

"Divine Void Strike!"

Mikami Nokatsu vanished in an instant, but the power of the Divine Void Strike hadn't fully released yet. Hyuga Ao, like a child swinging an iron rod, struggled to adjust its direction.

With three fewer enemies, Sarutobi Hiro spotted an opening and was about to press his advantage, but then a chill ran down his spine, and he quickly retreated.

Then he saw it—the nine Sand Ninja in front of him, along with their puppets, turned to dust almost simultaneously.

Powder danced through the air before slowly settling.

Sarutobi Hiro stared blankly at the scene.

He looked down at the ground and saw that three inches of earth had been scraped away. The tip of his shoe, just barely crossing the line, had silently vanished as well.

If someone had been watching from above, they would have seen a fan-shaped mark wiped into the ground, like a hand smoothing sand on a beach.

Sarutobi Hiro and his team were standing right at the handle of that fan.

"Captain, what... happened?"

"What is this?!"

"They disappeared?!"

Murmurs spread. Sarutobi Hiro and the others followed the trail and found Hyuga Ao collapsed to her knees.

Hyuga Ao knelt on the ground, her forehead pressed against the dirt, a rasping sound escaping her throat.

Her eyes stung unbearably. Blood tears dripped from her Byakugan, and her head throbbed with splitting pain. Controlling such an immense surge of energy had nearly drained her Spiritual Power dry.

"Damn it, I regret this." Hyuga Ao lamented inwardly. She shouldn't have followed her instinct and swung that palm. In this state, how was she supposed to keep moving?

Footsteps approached. Sarutobi Hiro came to her side and asked cautiously:

"Chunin Ao—no, Ao-sama, are you alright?"

Hyuga Ao waved a hand and said, "Guard me for a bit."

The moment she spoke, even she was startled by how hoarse her voice sounded.

After a while, the stinging in her eyes eased slightly. She tried to open them, but even the faint light made tears stream down her face.

"Ugh, this sucks."

She had Slug Sister intensify the healing, and finally, she could open her eyes fully.

She observed her surroundings and noticed her Byakugan vision was a little blurry. The moment she tried to activate it, a sharp pain shot through her.

"Looks like I can't use the Byakugan for now." Hyuga Ao laughed bitterly. "Guess I cleared the wave with my ult."

Sarutobi Hiro came over to ask about their next move.

Hyuga Ao closed her eyes to sense her condition, then responded helplessly:

"Well, that move cost me a lot. I can't move for now. Slug Sister, what's the road ahead like?"

"Ao-sama, from here on, it's no longer small-group skirmishes separated by camp divisions."

"From now on, it's a full-on melee—man-to-man, squad-to-squad. There's barely any distance between fights. Ninjutsu or Shuriken could hit the wrong target at any moment."

"You could be fighting here, and around the corner, someone else is fighting too."

"Alright." Hyuga Ao rubbed her eyes. "I have a way to recover on my own. You all keep moving forward. By the way, does anyone know Earth Release?"

"I do, I do!" A fat man from the Akimichi Clan stepped forward.

"Do me a favor." Hyuga Ao pointed at the ground. "The Land of Rain gets constant downpours, so the underground water system is well-developed. Please open a passage straight down for me."

She did this because Aqua had given her a blessing—the Blessing of the Water Goddess—which allowed her to recover quickly in water.

"Hope Aqua didn't screw me over." Hyuga Ao thought to herself.

The others didn't understand, but they knew better than to question a powerhouse's request. Working together, they quickly opened a path for her.

"Take these slugs with you. I'll keep just one." Hyuga Ao crouched down and reached out.

One by one, slugs crawled out from the sleeves of her robes, gathering into a squirming pile on the ground, their tiny eyes blinking up at the group.

A rough count showed there were actually over twenty of them.

Sarutobi Hiro and the others stared at Hyuga Ao in shock, unable to figure out where these slugs had been hiding, or how she could have concealed so many.

They looked at her torn kimono, their eyes thoughtful.

Maybe this is just what it means to be a master, Sarutobi Hiro and the others silently marveled.

Hyuga Ao paid no mind to their thoughts. She waved a carefree goodbye, turned, and leaped into the passage.