The Throne of the Ninja's Darkness

Hyuga Yu surgically removed Kurenai's Red Eyes, treating them as a patient's diseased organs.

Next, He bit his thumb, pulled a scroll from the third pouch on his thigh, and summoned a glass container still chilled and sloshing with saline solution.

He dropped Kurenai's Red Eyes into the jar, sealed it, and handed it to Aburame Ryūma.

"Without a Medical Ninja like me here to control them, his Red Eyes could allow him to destroy them himself at any moment. So, to obtain the Red Eyes and the intel from his brain, this is the only way to handle it."

"I only have saline solution on hand right now. These eyes can be preserved in saline solution at -9℃ for about 4 hours."

"You'd best find paraformaldehyde to fix them quickly."

"Besides Konoha Hospital, Orochimaru should also have this stuff."

Then, Hyuga Yu added, "This is an exchange. I want some assistance."

Aburame Ryūma remained silent.

This was clearly outside his area of expertise, but he understood the key points: finding a lab built by Root to assist Orochimaru nearby within 4 hours, and Hyuga Yu wanting assistance in exchange for his actions.

"What do you want?"

Hyuga Yu stated frankly, "Do you have anything that can help me recover Chakra quickly?"

Aburame Ryūma's eye twitched slightly.

Something to recover Chakra quickly?

"You want a Tailed Beast?"

Hyuga Yu scratched the back of his head with his blood-soaked palm. "No, it's not that extreme, is it? Like the Akimichi clan's Tri-Color Pill?"

Aburame Ryūma: "No."

Hyuga Yu: "..."

"However, I have this," Aburame Ryūma exhaled heavily and reluctantly pulled a Kikaichū the size of a frog from his sleeve.

"Eat it."

Now it was Hyuga Yu's turn to twitch his eye. He could vaguely guess what it was, but lacking any relevant intel, he played dumb and asked:

"What is this?"

Aburame Ryūma adjusted his sunglasses. "A Kikaichū."

"It can invade an enemy's body and devour their Chakra, breaking through the host's physical body in a short time."

"This thing replenishes Chakra?"

Hyuga Yu knew of this jutsu, but he was quite surprised it could have such an effect when used in reverse.

"On the way here, I fed it the Chakra of a Kirigakure Chunin. Eat him, and under my command, it will continuously expel Chakra for you."

"But, you need to be aware,"

"Once the Chakra within it is depleted, the command I've embedded in the Chakra will disappear. It will then start devouring your flesh and blood to convert into Chakra and continuously grow and reproduce."

"Until--"

"It bursts your body and crawls out from every part of you."

Imagining the scene, Hyuga Yu's face paled slightly, but he took a deep breath, took the dark Kikaichū, swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, and swallowed it whole.

Seeing this, Aburame Ryūma's gaze beneath his sunglasses softened, as if he saw a kindred spirit.

But his face remained impassive, and he said lightly:

"You still have a chance to back out now."

"Thank you, no need."

Hyuga Yu shook his head at him, picked up the giant bow he'd dropped, and leaped onto the treetops without looking back, hurrying towards the east side of the encirclement.

Behind him, Dark figures quickly leaped out around Aburame Ryūma.

Among them, Terai, wearing a bird mask, stepped forward. At Aburame Ryūma's signal, he knocked out Kurenai, whose eyes were vacant and who was moaning, and tucked him under his arm.

Aburame Ryūma picked up the glass jar containing the two bright red eyeballs and shook it. The curved glass reflected his iron-cold face, twisting into a subtle smile.

Beside him, Terai, the Root ninja with the bird mask, suddenly asked:

"Lord Ryūma, I must admit, this Hyuga kid did an even more perfect job than we could have imagined."

"But, aren't you... being a bit too harsh on him?"

Aburame Ryūma turned his head, a mysterious glint flashing across his sunglasses.

He said nothing, but thought silently:

"Ninja who leave their names in the dark side of the ninja world are all more cunning, more ruthless, more indifferent, and more insidious than all other ninja!"

"But besides that,"

"If you want to keep moving forward on this dark path filled with countless monsters and demons, reach the end, and ascend to the uncrowned throne called 'The Darkness of Ninjutsu'--"

"You must do what others cannot!"

Aburame Ryūma narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Hyuga Yu's resolute departing back, as if anticipating something.

#

The game of tag was still ongoing.

Currently, the known intel was--

Hyuga Genko, who was highly anticipated, made a decision that was rational but not that of a ninja, missing the last chance to escape the encirclement.

Surrounding him were two Main Family Jonin from the Hyuga Clan, two teammates from Hyuga Tetsu's ninja squad, and Hyuga Natsu.

Hyuga Yu recalled that one of the Chunin in Hyuga Tetsu's squad was from the Aburame Clan... uh, that guy, and the other was Inuzuka Tsume from the Inuzuka Clan.

Inuzuka Tsume was the future mother of Inuzuka Kiba and Inuzuka Hana. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she should have abandoned Hyuga Genko and successfully escaped with her dogs.

The strongest guardian Jonin in this team, Hyuga Hideki, was dead, and the other Jonin leading Hyuga Tetsu's squad, Hyuga Hiroya, was likely also in grave danger.

Facing this situation, Hyuga Yu could no longer expect the "pig teammates" who were led astray by Hyuga Genko to be of any use.

Therefore, He had to rely on himself.

First, Hyuga Yu needed to determine the Main Family's current location--

According to the intel transmitted back by Hyuga Hideki's shadow clone before his death, The Main Family was located approximately 12 kilometers east of Hyuga Tetsu's position.

Furthermore, before his death, Hyuga Hideki had been attacked by Munashi Jinpachi, the wielder of the Exploding Blade among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Judging from his surprised reaction before death, this was a premeditated ambush.

What is a ninja's first reaction to a surprise attack?

Conceal oneself, gather intelligence, make a quick decision, and counterattack or retreat.

In such a situation, the squad would advance in echelon, concentrating their remaining strength to break open a corner of the encirclement, allowing important figures or ninja carrying crucial information to escape first.

But judging from Hyuga Genko's decision, Hyuga Yu could no longer consider him a ninja.

He was a smart person, but clearly, not a qualified ninja.

So what would he do?

It was simple, He would run back.

From Hyuga Genko's perspective, the Mist Village's encirclement was not a "horn shape" or an "ellipse," but an interception line blocking their path. He didn't realize that as they moved forward, the "horn-shaped" encirclement behind them was rapidly contracting into an ellipse.

Especially after the death of Hyuga Hideki, his guardian Jonin of many years, He would react with the panic of a "politician," realizing he needed protection and had to escape back to Konoha.

His choice should be to find the rear guard, which had not encountered an ambush and possessed the strength of a Jonin.

The middle squad, where Hyuga Tetsu was currently located, having had elite forces redeployed, would be considered a sacrificial pawn and bait by him.

Therefore, only one question remained, Would Hyuga Genko run to the left or to the right?

At this moment, Hyuga Yu suddenly thought of someone.

Hyuga Natsu.

He recalled the afternoon before heading to Hyuga Takahiro's mansion, when Hyuga Natsu had asked him:

"Hey, hey, Lion-kun, if we hold hands, do you prefer holding left or right?"

Hyuga Yu: "Left hand."

"Why?"

Hyuga Yu replied matter-of-factly and chauvinistically, "Because if we walk side-by-side and get hit by the front of a train, the one hit first will be the one on the left holding their left hand with their right hand."

"Eh? You're saying strange things again... But, if that's the case, then when we walk hand-in-hand outside in the future, I'll stand on the left."

"Why?"

"Because... hehe, I won't tell you."