Troy handed Hyuga Neji, whom he had been holding in his arms, to Samui. Then he turned his back to her and looked toward the Hiashi estate, his expression resolute.
"Samui, I'm going to steal the Main Family heir. Take the child and leave the village. Wait for me at the outpost outside the village. If you see me before dawn, don't get too excited—we'll return to Kumogakure together. If you don't see me, don't be too sad. Go back to Kumogakure by yourself."
"Senior Troy..."
"Follow orders!"
"Yes."
The Hiashi estate.
A shadow silently dropped into the courtyard.
Seeing the figure tossing and turning inside the room, Troy formed Hand Seals and repeated his old trick.
As a mass of white feathers drifted into Hinata's room, it wasn't long before her heavy breathing gradually settled.
Troy slipped into the room, tucked Hinata beneath his arm, and darted away.
But before he could leave the estate, a shadow leaped out from the front courtyard.
"?"
Hyuga Hiashi looked at Troy, dressed all in black, then glanced at Hinata in his arms. The shock on his face vanished, replaced by irrepressible fury.
Stealing from the Hyuga clan? The thief had some nerve.
Hyuga Hiashi activated his Byakugan. The veins at the corners of his eyes bulged as he charged straight at Troy.
A glint flashed through Troy's bright eyes.
Hyuga Hiashi's reaction was somewhat sluggish.
Perhaps years of comfort had greatly diminished his skills as a ninja. Or perhaps he had never imagined anyone would dare break into the Hyuga clan to steal, so he wasn't particularly wary.
Thankfully, Troy had finally been discovered.
During the Third Shinobi World War, Ao, a Kirigakure jonin, had taken a Byakugan from a Hyuga Main Family ninja and successfully transplanted it, greatly increasing his strength.
That had shown outsiders that the Byakugan was different from the Sharingan.
The Sharingan was extremely demanding. Even a successful transplant placed a tremendous burden on the body.
The Byakugan, by contrast, was relatively gentle, with a high success rate and little bodily rejection.
The bounty for a single Byakugan on the underground black market had now reached 35 million.
Kumogakure had no shortage of ninjutsu or secret techniques. What they lacked were top-tier Kekkei Genkai like the Byakugan and Sharingan.
The Sharingan was out of the question.
Even Kumogakure didn't dare provoke those Uchiha lunatics.
By comparison, the Hyuga clan was much easier to bully.
But Kumogakure had a huge appetite. They didn't want just one Byakugan—they wanted the Byakugan bloodline.
Under the pretext of signing a peace treaty, they would steal a Byakugan child.
That was Troy's first mission.
Once he had successfully stolen Neji, the mission would be complete.
But Troy insisted on stealing Hinata as well for the sake of his second mission.
To die at Hyuga Hiashi's hands.
The village would use his death to force Konoha to hand over the body of Hyuga Hiashi, the killer. Otherwise, they would start a war.
If Konoha really handed over Hyuga Hiashi's body, it would stoke conflict between Konoha's doves and hawks, drive a wedge between the Hyuga clan and the Hokage faction, and deal a heavy blow to Konoha's reputation.
If Konoha refused to hand over Hyuga Hiashi's body and instead chose to go to war with Kumogakure, that would suit Kumogakure perfectly.
The Fourth Hokage and his wife had died in the Nine-Tails' Rampage, Orochimaru had defected from Konoha, Tsunade and Jiraiya were nowhere to be found, and the conflict between the Uchiha and the Hokage faction had grown increasingly bitter...
Konoha was now a sick tiger.
Kumogakure wasn't afraid.
Whatever the outcome, Kumogakure stood to gain enormously.
The price they would pay wasn't too steep, either: only the life of a Kumogakure envoy.
Troy had volunteered for this glorious and noble mission.
The Fourth Raikage had agreed.
After all, only a veteran like Troy, tempered by countless battles, might be able to complete the mission.
But it's only death! Troy chuckled inwardly.
Whoosh!
He hurled Hinata toward Hiashi, then took out a red scroll and yanked it open with both hands. Two enormous shuriken shot through the air with a piercing whistle.
Hyuga Hiashi caught Hinata gently.
By then, the two square shuriken were already flying toward him.
"Rotation!"
He took a deep breath. The chakra he had refined surged out through the tenketsu across his body, quickly forming a huge sphere.
With two dull clangs, the shuriken Troy had launched struck the Rotation's protective sphere and ricocheted away at an angle.
Seizing the opportunity, Hyuga Hiashi used the Body Flicker Technique to close in. His hands became blurs.
The first palm struck Troy's shoulder, paralyzing one side of his body.
The second struck Troy in the chest, instantly shattering his heart meridian.
Troy spat out a large mouthful of blood and fell flat on his back, unable to move again.
Before he fell, he murmured, "Hyuga Hiashi, you're nothing special."
"..."
At those words, Hyuga Hiashi frowned slightly.
He couldn't understand what the audacious thief meant by his last words.
The man wasn't strong—not even close. He was far weaker than an ordinary Chunin of the Hyuga clan.
How could someone at that level dare to break into the Hyuga clan and kidnap the Main Family heir? He was far too sure of himself.
Could he be some bounty hunter who didn't know his place?
Just as Hyuga Hiashi was growing suspicious, a sharp clang rang out behind him, as if something had fallen.
Hyuga Hiashi jolted in alarm and turned to look. His gaze immediately sharpened.
It was an enormous square shuriken, unlike an ordinary one. Its material was transparent, making it difficult to spot even with the Byakugan.
A look of disbelief appeared on Hyuga Hiashi's face.
He had thrown three shuriken just now, but I only saw two?
That meant he had a chance to kill me?
No, impossible.
He had died from two blows I landed. He was clearly a weakling. How could he have had that kind of strength? And if he really could have killed me, how could I have killed him with just two blows?
A deep sense of unease welled up in Hyuga Hiashi. His brow furrowed into a knot.
He took two steps forward, bent down, and pulled off Troy's black face covering.
Hyuga Hiashi's expression froze.
Beneath the mask was a resolute face, its expression peaceful. The deep-set eyes even seemed to hold the faintest hint of a smile.
In an instant, that familiar face made Hyuga Hiashi realize something. He shuddered violently.
He felt as if he had plunged into an ice cave, a chill clinging to his entire body that he couldn't shake.
Troy! How could it be Troy?!
Neji struggled mightily before finally opening his heavy eyelids. His blurred vision gradually came into focus.
He sprang to his feet in one fluid motion.
A corpse lay across a tree stump not far away, its chest pierced by a long blade.
The dead person wore an animal mask and a green flak jacket.
Judging by the blood, which still gave off warmth, he had been dead for less than ten minutes.
I've already been kidnapped by the Kumogakure ninja.
Where am I now?
The veins at the corners of his eyes bulged as Neji used his Byakugan to survey the surroundings.
He was in a coconut grove, with the endless sea stretching two kilometers ahead.
"A coconut grove and the sea... So this is the northern border of the Land of Fire?"
As his field of vision expanded, dozens of corpses came into view one after another. The area was scarred with damage from Explosive Tags and ninjutsu.
At the edge of his vision, Neji detected two faint chakra signatures.
There are survivors!
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