Rescuing Haku

Early the next morning, Hayashi Ki, who had been away for three days, returned to the base and reported to Neji, "Reporting to the leader, I found a relatively secluded place near Spring City. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with only a small river flowing out from a cave. The area inside is not small either, making it suitable for establishing a base."

Neji thought the place sounded quite good. It was practically a hidden paradise!

Without hesitation, he summoned the Black-Winged Thunder Roc and flew with Hayashi Ki toward the hidden paradise he had discovered.

Because they were flying so quickly, they soon arrived above the hidden paradise. It was indeed surrounded by mountains, with a small basin in the middle. The trees were so dense that it would have been difficult to spot without looking carefully.

Guiding the Black-Winged Thunder Roc down into the basin, Neji quickly found the small river connecting it to the outside under Hayashi Ki's direction. It was indeed well hidden. The river had to pass through a tunnel roughly a hundred meters long before flowing outside. Ordinary people would have had a hard time finding it. It was fortunate that Hayashi Ki had managed to locate this place.

After returning to the original base, Neji had Qi Feng continue making potions, while Tenbu was put in charge of taking in orphans between the ages of three and twelve. Hayashi Ki led all the idle Genin to the new base to construct basic facilities and housing, ensuring that the first batch of orphans could move in smoothly.

Thus, the dozen or so people became busy once more. After explaining all the arrangements, Neji rode the Black-Winged Thunder Roc to the outskirts of Konoha.

Neji had two reasons for returning to Konoha this time. One was to take Haku away, and the other was to show himself before Konoha's higher-ups, letting them know he was near the village so they would stop searching all over the world for him and disrupting his development!

Using the radio technology he had previously researched for gambling purposes, Neji contacted Haku and told him to leave Konoha immediately. He said he would wait at Konoha's southeastern corner. Haku did not seem resistant at all. After receiving the message, he replied that he would return as soon as possible to meet up with him.

Neji was almost certain that Haku was being watched and would be used as bait to lure him out.

But that was actually better for Neji. That way, after receiving his message, Haku would be able to leave the village smoothly and reach their agreed meeting place.

As for how many ninja would follow Haku afterward, Neji could not be sure! They could not possibly mobilize every ninja in the village just to welcome him, right? He did not think he had that much face.

As long as Might Guy did not act crazy and open the Eight Gates the moment they met, Neji truly did not fear anyone in Konoha now!

Even if he faced the Third Hokage directly, could he not just run if he could not win?

The Third Hokage could not fly!

Sure enough, just as Neji had predicted, Haku did not keep him waiting long. He left the village smoothly and ran toward their agreed location. Haku had even disguised himself, afraid that others would recognize him. He was so innocently adorable.

Little did he know that an army was already following behind him. Yes, an entire army!!

Through the Senjutsu-enhanced Byakugan, Neji could clearly see what was happening behind Haku. After seeing it clearly, even Neji could hardly believe it and thought he might have been mistaken.

Even he had not expected himself to draw so much hatred. A force of nearly a thousand people was following Haku while concealing themselves through various means. At the front were none other than the Third Hokage himself, Danzo, and Hyuga Hiashi!

And if Neji was not mistaken, that man wearing a forehead protector with the character "oil" on it had to be Jiraiya!

They truly thought far too highly of him!

Haku must have had his senses obscured by some secret technique. Otherwise, even an idiot would have noticed more than a thousand people following him, let alone Haku.

At first, Neji had been brimming with confidence and had even dared to face the Third Hokage head-on. But after seeing that formation!

Neji had only one thought: run!

And he did not hesitate in the slightest. Neji did not even have time to call out to Haku before decisively leaping onto the Black-Winged Thunder Roc's back. With a turn, it soared straight upward. Only after reaching an altitude of nearly two thousand meters did he feel slightly safer!

Thinking of the Nara Clan's Shadow Binding Technique, Neji still felt it was not safe enough, so he sped back in the direction he had come from.

Neji's decisiveness instantly petrified the large force behind him! There were still nearly seven kilometers between them. Their sensory ninja had not even accurately locked onto Neji's position, yet he had already flown away on the giant roc and vanished from sight!

He had not even spared Haku a second glance!

He had run with absolute decisiveness!

How were they supposed to chase him now?!

Neji possessed: extremely high mobility, overwhelming individual combat strength, an enormous scouting range, tremendous destructive power, and a shameless heart that could act like a scoundrel at any time!

There was simply no answer for an enemy like that!

The Third Hokage, Danzo, and Hyuga Hiashi all fell silent. Only Jiraiya stood to the side, smacking his lips and making sarcastic remarks.

Jiraiya had come because Neji could use Senjutsu. He was very curious how Neji had learned Senjutsu without the inheritance of the Three Great Sage Lands, and without displaying any obvious signs of mutation.

It was truly baffling. Even Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, who was said to have mastered Senjutsu most perfectly, had shown fairly obvious mutated features. Yet Neji had none. That left Jiraiya no choice but to put aside everything he was doing, rush back to the village, and investigate the situation.

But after learning the full story behind Neji's defection, Jiraiya could only lament that the village had declined. Such an outstanding young genius had been forced to defect simply because he had broken the Curse Mark of the Caged Bird!

First, Konoha's great Uchiha Clan had been exterminated. Then Hyuga Neji, a genius with limitless potential, had been forced to defect. Thinking back to his friend Hatake Sakumo, his bond Orochimaru, and his most valued disciple Minato Namikaze and Minato's wife Kushina Uzumaki!

Jiraiya felt that he had the will but lacked the strength. They had clearly been dealt a great hand, with a pair of jokers and four twos, yet they had still played it into complete ruin!

His heart raged with complaints, but when they reached his mouth, they turned into muttering!

"Forget it! I won't think about it. Since I'm back in Konoha, I should go enjoy a hot spring. The girls of Konoha are pretty nice too," Jiraiya comforted himself internally, then ignored everyone's strange looks and was the first to leave the group and return to the village!

Hyuga Hiashi's heart was filled with mixed emotions as well. Originally, he had not wanted to become Neji's enemy. He had even wanted to nurture Neji extensively, and would have been willing to give Neji his position as Clan Head!

But in the end, he had failed to withstand the elders' insistence and chosen an utterly terrible course of action! That had led to the current situation, a complete failure!

When he met Hizashi in Huangquan someday, he was afraid he would not be able to hold his head up!

Hyuga Hiashi could not leave as freely as Jiraiya, but although his body remained with the group, his mind had long since wandered elsewhere!

As for Danzo, he only grew angrier. He ordered the Root members to take Haku away and keep him under strict guard.

The Third Hokage saw what Danzo was doing and wanted to stop him, but in the end, he could not bring himself to speak! A single sigh conveyed the complexity of his feelings at that moment.

Meanwhile, Neji, who had already flown far away, was irritated beyond belief!

He had not expected himself to draw so much hatred. Not only had he failed to rescue Haku, he had even been driven away from Konoha's outskirts like a stray dog!

He had not made proper arrangements before leaving and had taken a chance by leaving Haku in Konoha. Otherwise, there would not have been so much trouble!

He needed to think of a good solution!

Neji did not know how much damage his single Senjutsu: Rasenshuriken had caused Konoha. Nearly fifty staff members in the Hokage Building alone had died, along with countless documents containing secret techniques, confidential intelligence, research results, and more. Everything had been reduced to ashes, beyond restoration. Otherwise, he would not have thought Konoha's response was so excessive.

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