The Death of Toroi

Toroi handed Hyuga Neji, whom he held in his arms, to Samui. He then turned his back to Samui and looked towards the Hyuga estate, his expression resolute.

"Samui, I'm going to steal the heir of the main family. You take this child and leave the village. Wait for me at the outpost outside the village. If you see me before dawn, don't be too happy; we'll return to Kumogakure together. If you don't see me, don't be too sad; return to Kumogakure by yourself."

"Senior Toroi..."

"Obey orders!"

"Yes."

Hyuga estate.

A black shadow landed silently in the courtyard.

Seeing the figure tossing and turning inside the room, Toroi formed hand seals and repeated his trick.

As a large amount of white feathers drifted into Hinata's room, her heavy breathing soon became steady.

Toroi sneaked into the room, tucked Hinata under his arm, and swiftly flew out.

But before he could leave the estate, a black shadow leaped out from the front yard.

"?"

Hyuga Hiashi looked at Toroi, dressed in black, and then at Hinata in his arms. The astonishment on his face vanished, replaced by uncontrollable rage.

To steal from the Hyuga clan, how audacious.

Hyuga Hiashi activated his Byakugan, the veins in his eyes bulging, and charged directly at Toroi.

A sharp glint flashed in Toroi's keen eyes.

Hyuga Hiashi's reaction was somewhat sluggish.

Perhaps years of pampered living had significantly dulled his ninja skills, or perhaps he never imagined someone would dare to infiltrate the Hyuga clan to steal, making him less cautious.

Fortunately, he was finally discovered.

During the Third Shinobi World War, Kirigakure Jonin Ao snatched a Byakugan from a Hyuga main family ninja and successfully transplanted it, greatly increasing his strength.

This informed outsiders that the Byakugan was different from the Sharingan.

The Sharingan was extremely potent, and even successful transplantation placed a great burden on the body.

The Byakugan, however, was relatively gentle, with a high success rate for transplantation and minimal rejection from the body.

The bounty for a single Byakugan on the underground black market had now reached 35 million.

Kumogakure did not lack ninjutsu or secret techniques; what it lacked were top-tier Kekkei Genkai like the Byakugan and Sharingan.

The Sharingan was out of the question.

Even Kumogakure wouldn't dare provoke those madmen, the Uchiha.

In comparison, the Hyuga clan was much easier to bully.

However, Kumogakure's appetite was large; it didn't want just one Byakugan, but the Byakugan bloodline.

Under the guise of signing a treaty, they stole Byakugan infants.

This was Toroi's first mission.

The mission was already complete after successfully stealing Neji.

His insistence on stealing Hinata was for the second mission: to die at the hands of Hyuga Hiashi.

The village would use his death to force Konohagakure to hand over the corpse of the murderer, Hyuga Hiashi, or they would declare war.

If Konohagakure truly handed over Hyuga Hiashi's corpse, it would first incite conflict between Konoha's pacifist and hawk factions, then sow discord between the Hyuga clan and the Hokage faction, and thirdly, it would severely damage Konoha's reputation.

If Konohagakure refused to hand over Hyuga Hiashi's corpse and chose to go to war directly with Kumogakure, that would be exactly what Kumogakure wanted.

The Fourth Hokage and his wife died during the Nine-Tails' Rampage, Orochimaru defected from Konoha, Tsunade and Jiraiya were nowhere to be found, and the conflict between the Uchiha and the Hokage faction was escalating...

Konoha now was like a sick tiger.

Kumogakure did not fear it.

Regardless of the outcome, Kumogakure stood to gain greatly.

The price to pay was not very high, merely the life of a Cloud ninja envoy.

Toroi volunteered, accepting this glorious and great mission.

The Fourth Raikage agreed.

After all, only a seasoned expert like Toroi could possibly complete the mission.

"It's just death!" Toroi chuckled inwardly.

Whoosh!

He threw Hinata over, then took out a red scroll, pulled it with both hands, and two giant shuriken whistled through the air.

Hyuga Hiashi gently caught Hinata.

Two shuriken had already flown over.

"Revolving Heaven!"

He took a deep breath, and the chakra he refined erupted from the acupoints all over his body, condensing into a giant sphere in an instant.

With two dull clangs, the shuriken Toroi had thrown hit the Revolving Heaven barrier and flew off at an angle.

Seizing this opening, Hyuga Hiashi used the Body Flicker Technique to close in, his palms blurring into afterimages.

The first palm struck Toroi's shoulder, rendering half his body immobile.

The second palm hit Toroi's chest, instantly shattering his heart.

Toroi spat out a large mouthful of blood, falling backward onto the ground, unable to move any further.

Before he hit the ground, he mumbled, "Hyuga Hiashi, nothing more than this."

"..."

Hearing this, Hyuga Hiashi frowned slightly.

He couldn't understand what this audacious thief meant by his dying words.

This guy's strength wasn't strong at all, even weak, far inferior to an ordinary Hyuga clan chunin.

To dare intrude upon the Hyuga clan and kidnap the heir of the main family with only this level of strength was too overestimating himself.

Could he be some bounty ninja who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth?

Just as Hyuga Hiashi's doubts arose, a crisp "clang" suddenly sounded from behind him, like something falling.

Hyuga Hiashi was startled and turned his head, his gaze immediately sharpening.

It was a large, square shuriken, different from ordinary shuriken, made of transparent material that even the Byakugan couldn't easily track.

A look of bewilderment appeared on Hyuga Hiashi's face.

He had thrown a total of three shuriken earlier, but I only saw two?

Meaning, he had a chance to kill me?

No, impossible.

He was killed by my two palms, clearly a good-for-nothing, how could he have that kind of strength? If he truly had the strength to kill me, how could he have been killed by my two palms?

A strong sense of unease surged into his heart, and Hyuga Hiashi's brows furrowed into a knot.

He took two steps forward, bent down, and pulled off Toroi's black mask.

Hyuga Hiashi's expression froze.

Beneath the mask was a resolute face, his expression serene, and his deep eyes even held a faint, lingering smile.

In an instant, that rather familiar face made Hyuga Hiashi think of something, and he shivered violently.

He felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, an unshakeable chill enveloping him.

Toroi! How could it be Toroi?!

Neji finally managed to open his heavy eyelids with great effort, his blurry vision gradually clearing.

He sprang up with a flip.

On a tree stump not far away lay a corpse with a long sword piercing its chest.

It wore an animal mask and a green vest.

Judging by the warm blood, death had occurred no more than ten minutes ago.

I've already been stolen by a Cloud ninja.

Where is this place?

The veins on his temples bulged, and Neji observed his surroundings with his Byakugan.

It was a coconut grove, and about two kilometers ahead was the boundless sea.

"Coconut grove, the sea... meaning this is the northern border of the Land of Fire?"

As his vision expanded, dozens of corpses came into view, with traces of Explosive Tags and ninjutsu destruction everywhere.

Neji detected two faint chakra reactions at the edge of his vision.

There were still survivors!