Twisted justice

The masked figure in black robes held Zuri by the collar with one hand, turning him toward the convoy like a battered doll. Sunlight stained the entire plain blood-red, illuminating a scene of utter despair.

"Take a good look. This is reality." The voice beneath the mask was utterly cold. "Even now, do you still intend to resist?"

Zuri trembled violently. Before his eyes, those nine terrifying Summoning Beasts were carrying out a one-sided slaughter of the Kumogakure Ninja—

The Southern Dipper Sage and Northern Dipper Sage hovered in midair, each raising a staff in one hand and forming a seal with the other. A purple formation appeared on the ground, immobilizing the Kumogakure Ninja trapped within it. As the phantom of the Reaper Scythe swept past, their chakra ran dry like drained springs, and they collapsed one after another.

"Stop!!"

A Kumogakure Jonin roared and charged forward to save them, only for the Heavenly Maiden's fluttering ribbons to coil around his neck and slam him into the ground. After a dull thud, his body plowed a deep furrow through the dirt road, and the blood spraying from his mouth traced a glaring arc through the air.

The other survivors were pinned down, unable to move—the Golden Snake's coils bound their bodies, the White Tiger's claws pressed against their chests, the Vermilion Bird's darting form circled them, the Azure Dragon's body imprisoned them, and the Black Tortoise's gravity made their bones creak.

"Before I take your lives..."

The black-robed figure lifted Zuri before the mask. "I'll ask one last time—hand over the Byakugan."

Cold chakra flowed between them, and the breath of death washed over him. "Otherwise, my next move will bury every last one of you here."

"You... wish!"

Zuri forced a hoarse roar from deep in his throat, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Even with his vital point in the enemy's grip, his bloodshot eyes still burned with fanatical obsession.

"How could someone like you... ever understand?!"

He struggled for breath, every word carrying the taste of blood. "Once we obtain the Byakugan... Kumogakure will have the power to detect chakra! Everything we've done... has been for our nation's greater good!"

His voice rose, almost hysterical. "Come on! Kill me! But remember—for every Kumogakure Ninja you kill, Lord Raikage's fury will grow! You and everyone behind you will pay for what you've done today!"

In that instant, Zuri felt the fingers around his throat tighten slightly. More terrifying still, the chakra emanating from beneath the mask suddenly turned bone-chillingly cold, as though even the surrounding air had begun to freeze.

"Your nation's greater good..."

The black-robed figure's voice was as low as an echo from hell. "So this greater good of yours—"

"Means kidnapping a three-year-old child?"

"Means forcing someone to willingly go to his death?"

"Means devouring innocent people alive in this twisted world?!"

Each accusation struck like a sledgehammer. The black-robed figure suddenly seized Zuri by the hair, forcing him to look straight at his subordinates as the Nine-Headed Beasts brutalized them. The Heavenly Maiden's ribbons were hoisting one resisting Ninja into the air, and the Southern Dipper's scythe was already at his throat.

"Don't think... a few high-sounding words..."

"Can dress you up as righteous!"

Zuri's body kept convulsing. He felt a vicious power eating away at him, and beneath the shadow of death, he suddenly remembered the unnervingly calm smile of Hizashi Hyuga, that Branch Family Ninja, as he was forced into the prison wagon.

"But..."

The black-robed figure's tone suddenly grew calm. "'My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror; everything I do is just'—is that it?"

"I admire that conviction of yours..."

"Farewell."

Crack.

The sharp snap of breaking bone rang across the battlefield. The black-robed figure deftly twisted Zuri's neck and tossed his corpse aside like a discarded rag. Almost simultaneously, the Nine-Headed Beasts' slaughter reached its peak—blood splashed in lurid arcs, and screams and wails rose one after another.

As the last Kumogakure Ninja collapsed to the ground, the black-robed figure suddenly raised a hand. "Leave one alive."

The Heavenly Maiden's ribbon stopped abruptly just before striking, hanging less than an inch from the young Ninja's wide, terrified eyes.

The black-robed figure crossed the bloodstained plain and approached the specially built prison wagon at the rear of the convoy. Kumogakure's seals still lingered on its heavy iron door.

Boom!

A single, straightforward punch slammed into the lock. The forged steel shattered like paper, and the iron door buckled under the tremendous force, bursting open with a crash.

Inside the prison wagon, Hizashi Hyuga remained forced to his knees, a black blindfold covering his eyes and rough ropes digging deep into the flesh of his wrists. The sudden sunlight stung his eyes, which had long been deprived of light. Even through the fabric, he could sense the change in brightness outside.

What happened?

The sounds of fighting and screaming gradually faded, replaced by an eerie silence. Hizashi's heartbeat quickened uncontrollably—the convoy had clearly come under attack, but this could not possibly be a rescue sent by Konoha.

If Konoha had wanted to save me...

He wondered bitterly how he could ever have been driven to the point of willingly going to his death.

Could another ninja village have learned about this and come to seize the Byakugan? The thought had barely surfaced when Hizashi felt the pressure on his wrists ease—the ropes that had bound him for so long had been cleanly severed. Then his collar tightened from behind, and an irresistible force hauled him up and dragged him stumbling out of the prison wagon.

When his feet touched the soft earth, the thick stench of blood struck him. Even without sight, Hizashi could tell from that pungent smell that a massacre had just taken place here.

The surviving Kumogakure Ninja sat slumped on the ground, the short blade in his hand trembling incessantly. His gaze swept across the battlefield. His comrades' blood dripped from the Grim Reaper's scythe, the Heavenly Maiden's ribbons lowered twisted corpses, and mangled bodies lay beneath the other Summoning Beasts' feet...

Why... was I the only one left alive?

The answer soon came.

The black-robed figure slowly approached, dragging Hizashi Hyuga along, with the nine terrifying Summoning Beasts surrounding them like guards. The surviving Ninja raised his head and found himself staring directly at the Fox Mask looking down at him.

"The Byakugan..."

A low voice came from beneath the mask.

"I'll be taking it."

The black-robed figure turned slightly, letting the trembling Ninja see the "spoils" in hand.

"Go back and tell the Raikage... if he wants revenge and the Byakugan back... come find me in the Land of Fire. I'll be waiting for that brute."

Before the words had faded, a fierce wind erupted across the plain! The survivor instinctively closed his eyes, and when he opened them again—

Nothing remained on the empty plain but scattered corpses. The black-robed figure, the Summoning Beasts, the Hyuga captive... all had vanished without a trace. Only the stench of blood and the deep drag marks in the ground proved that everything had truly happened.

The surviving Ninja stood dazed for a long time, then suddenly sprinted toward the Hidden Cloud Village like a madman, like a stray dog fleeing for its life.