Fish Eyes

The Hyuga Main Family's decision caused many to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, but several Hyuga clan members standing nearby frowned.

Within the Hyuga clan, aside from the Main Family and the heir apparent to the next head of the Main Family, all other clan members were part of the Branch Family.

From childhood, they were taught that their existence was to protect the safety of the Main Family.

Although some clan members privately felt this fate was deeply unfair and had strong objections to the Main and Branch Family system, they would still resolutely carry out this duty to the end.

At this critical juncture, when the Main Family's survival was at stake, asking them to abandon the Main Family and flee alone was something they absolutely could not do!

One Hyuga clan member immediately stepped forward.

"Lord..."

"Don't say another word! Let it be!"

The Hyuga Main Family member shook his head gently, glancing at the three heavily wounded clan members, his heart filled with guilt.

Among the ninja protecting him, there were originally more than just these three Hyuga clan members; the others had all died on the road while protecting his breakout.

The remaining three were also not lightly injured, making one doubt if a strong gust of wind could blow them over.

Afterward, as if remembering something, he softly instructed the three, "If you can survive this crisis, take a few words back for me!"

"Lord, please tell us..." Knowing they could not change the Main Family's will, the Hyuga clan members' voices became somewhat choked.

The Hyuga Main Family member sighed and continued, "Go back and tell Hiashi and Hizashi that the position of the Main Family head will be decided by the two of them."

"Who will be the head, and who will be the Branch?"

"As their father, I have already given them a fair opportunity to choose."

"No matter the outcome in the future, neither side can hold any grudges!"

Understanding that the Main Family member was making his dying wishes, the three Hyuga clan members could no longer suppress the sorrow in their hearts, and tears welled up in their eyes.

As if inspired by the Hyuga Main Family member's resolute will to face death with courage, the remaining Konoha ninja also began to hesitate about the idea of escaping alone.

Suddenly, one person stepped out of the formation and said to everyone, "I have an idea that might allow the Hyuga Main Family member to escape with his life, but it will put ourselves in greater danger!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present cast curious glances.

One person immediately spoke, "Tell us!"

That person took a deep breath and slowly said, "When the pursuers catch up, we will all use the Transformation Jutsu to disguise ourselves as the Hyuga Main Family member, and then scatter and flee!"

"This will both alleviate the pressure on the Hyuga Main Family member and allow us to escape, though our chances of survival will be greatly reduced!"

"Agreed! Let's go with this plan!" someone immediately expressed their approval.

Afterward, as if feeling guilty about the act of escaping alone, the Konoha ninja one by one agreed to the idea.

"Thank you, everyone!"

Facing everyone's enthusiasm, the Hyuga Main Family member couldn't refuse and could only express his gratitude.

Although their plan would relieve him of much pressure, he knew clearly that even so, his chances of survival were still extremely slim.

Therefore, his decision to fight to the death remained unshaken.

Before long, two Mist Ninja squads caught up with the resting Konoha group.

However, the scene before them made them pause.

In the clearing in the woods stood about a dozen Konoha ninja, each looking identical, with the same face as the Hyuga Main Family member they were searching for.

Undoubtedly, some Konoha ninja had used the Transformation Jutsu, hiding the real Hyuga Main Family member among them.

Their goal was to create confusion and allow him to escape.

"Scatter!"

Someone shouted, and the dozen or so Konoha ninja dispersed, fleeing in all directions, none in the same path.

After the figures of the dozen "Hyuga Main Family members" completely disappeared from sight, the stunned Mist Ninja finally snapped back to reality.

"Boss, which one do we chase?" someone nudged their leader and asked in a low voice.

The leader scratched his head and looked at another squad leader, asking, "Buddy, what do you think?"

That person thought for a moment and replied helplessly, "There's definitely one real one among so many! Their goal is nothing more than to stall for time!"

"But even knowing they're trying to stall for time, I don't have any great solutions!"

"We'll just have to capture them one by one to identify them!"

Saying that, he shrugged, his face full of helplessness.

The leader who spoke earlier then said, "Only our two teams know about their transformation deception; the others behind us haven't caught up yet and are unaware."

"I think we should leave them some information!"

With that, he took out a kunai and carved the information about the Konoha ninja's deceptive transformation onto the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Let's go!"

After carving, he aimed at the direction one of the "Hyuga Main Family members" had fled, gestured to his subordinates, and immediately gave chase.

"Let's go too!"

Following a trail left by a target, another captain led his teammates in pursuit.

Not long after, Ao's squad and another squad arrived at the location where the Konoha ninja had scattered and fled earlier.

Everyone immediately spotted conspicuous characters carved into a tree trunk.

"Transformation and scattering?" Seeing the information left by those ahead, Ao couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

They had no choice but to split up to capture the target and identify it.

"It seems we'll have to part ways for now!" he said to the other squad leader who had come along.

The other squad leader nodded and smiled, "Good luck to you, and good luck to us! I hope one of our two teams can find the real target!"

With that, he chose a trail that no one was following and led his team away.

Immediately after, Ao casually picked a trail and began his pursuit.

About three minutes later, Ao's squad spotted a figure in the distance, walking with heavy steps and difficulty.

The four of them immediately accelerated and intercepted him.

Seeing the tired and slightly familiar face, the four immediately matched it with the faces of the Hyuga Main Family members in their memories.

"I wonder if this one is real or fake?" Mei Terumi muttered.

Hearing this, Qi Shuang immediately shot her a fierce glare and said, "Can't you say something nice?"

"We've been running around for half the day, and if this is a fake, won't we have wasted all this effort?"

"You..."

"Alright, you two, stop arguing!"

Just as Mei Terumi was about to lash out again, Ao immediately interrupted the brewing argument.

Then, he looked again at the man with white eyes surrounded by the four of them and said solemnly, "At this point, are you still unwilling to release your Transformation Jutsu?"

"What Transformation Jutsu? I don't understand!" the middle-aged man with white hair replied expressionlessly, spiderweb-like veins appearing around his eyes.

He had activated his Byakugan.

"With the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai, it seems this guy should be the target we're looking for!" Zabuza slowly drew his short sword, gazing at the face that had become slightly ferocious due to the activation of the Byakugan.