Neji: Distance Means Nothing Between Us

Neji shook his head lightly and looked up at the green lid descending from the sky. He unleashed a mighty God Vacuum Attack, slamming into it.

"Crack!"

There was no earth-shaking crash. The green earthen lid shattered like glass, splitting down the middle and crumbling into countless chunks of stone.

Neji glanced at the stone pillars positioned in four directions. The next instant, he used the Body Flicker Technique to burst out of the restraining formation.

"Earth Release: Falling Lid was smashed! Was that Taijutsu?"

"Lightning Release Chakra Mode?!"

"Even the secret Black Lightning developed by the Third Raikage?"

The four Root shinobi who had joined forces to set up the Sealing Jutsu were shocked. They quickly leaped backward.

One of the Root shinobi shouted, "He specializes in close combat! Attack him with long-range ninjutsu!"

Whoosh!

Under the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Neji's cells were enhanced, greatly increasing his Body Flicker speed.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the man and murmured, "Distance means nothing between us."

Thud!

The moment the last word left his mouth, Neji had already stabbed the Root shinobi straight through.

"This guy is the Two-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Elsewhere, the information relayed by his Kikaichū made Aburame Ryoma, the second-in-command of Root, break out in a fine sheen of cold sweat.

Unlike Uzumaki Kushina, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who couldn't make good use of the Nine-Tails' power and needed Anbu to "protect" her in the village, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki had been sent to the battlefield late in the Third Shinobi World War. She had a remarkable record of killing more than ten elite jonin.

Root shinobi had once spotted the phantom of a blue cat demon on the battlefield.

She had only been partially transformed, but her strength had already undergone a qualitative leap.

A rare trace of fear crossed Aburame Ryoma's usually expressionless face.

The Two-Tails Jinchuriki's appearance had completely thrown his plans into disarray.

But there was no reason to retreat now.

If he failed the mission, he would die even after returning to Root.

Danzo only cared about the result.

He wouldn't care what they had gone through.

"I'll take out the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. You deal with that kid."

Aburame Ryoma spoke to Aoyama Hideomi beside him.

Before Hideomi could answer, Ryoma led a squad of Root shinobi to surround Yugito.

Hearing Aburame Ryoma say he would take out the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Aoyama Hideomi's expression stiffened slightly. He fought to keep from laughing.

"Fox Squad, follow me."

He glanced at the Root shinobi behind him and sighed helplessly, then led the last group of Root shinobi toward Neji.

Thud!

Yugito drew back her claws. A Root shinobi crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from his chest.

Suddenly, she looked up at the night sky.

A vast swarm of black insects approached from afar. The roiling cloud was hard to make out against the night, and only a faint buzzing could be heard.

"Aburame Ryoma?"

A trace of disgust crossed Yugito's brow.

If there was one clan in all of Konoha she feared most, it was undoubtedly the Uchiha clan.

Wood Release had vanished from the Shinobi World, and only the Sharingan could clearly suppress a Jinchuriki.

But the clan she disliked most was certainly the Aburame Clan.

It was hard to imagine a shinobi clan turning their bodies into hives.

"Looks like they're planning to kill me first?"

Yugito narrowed her eyes, a smile curling at her lips.

That would be for the best.

If Aburame Ryoma died, these Root shinobi would be leaderless and no threat.

Watching the rapidly approaching swarm in the night sky, Yugito retracted her claws and formed a simple "Tiger" hand seal.

Most Fire Release Ninjutsu ended with the "Tiger" seal.

Before becoming a Jinchuriki, Yugito had made a name for herself in Kumogakure with Fire Release Ninjutsu. She could skip many complicated hand seals and release Fire Release Ninjutsu with just a single "Tiger" seal.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame."

This was the Fire Release Ninjutsu Yugito was best at.

Its range and destructive power depended on how much chakra the user poured into it.

As a Jinchuriki, Yugito certainly had chakra to spare.

Her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel with its mouth full, and she unleashed a vast sea of flames. In an instant, it swallowed the swarm, which spanned more than ten meters in diameter.

In less than a breath, tens of thousands of insects perished in the flames.

"Secret Technique: Mind Body Switch Technique!"

At that moment, an attack came out of the night without warning.

A soul invisible to the naked eye instantly took control of Yugito's body.

"It'd be nice to teach Yugito a lesson."

In Yugito's mental space, Matatabi glanced at the suddenly appearing Yamanaka clan shinobi, yawned, then closed her eyes for a nap.

She still wasn't a Perfect Jinchuriki, after all.

"Secret Technique: Insect Ball!"

Aburame Ryoma, who had been lurking underground, suddenly leaped out. He immediately controlled the insects hiding in the cracks between stones and the grass, making them crawl out and form a dark cloud that rushed toward Yugito, who was restrained by the Mind Body Switch Technique.

It would take only three seconds to devour the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

The Root shinobi from the Yamanaka clan would also suffer fatal injuries and die in the process.

But the price was undoubtedly worth it.

"Earth Release: Headhunter—"

"Thwack!"

A Root shinobi had barely poked his head out of the ground when Neji beheaded him with a single slash.

At the same time, Neji sensed an astonishing surge of chakra. The blue cat-demon markings appeared clearly in his Tenseigan's vision.

It was Yugito.

She had entered a partial Tailed Beast transformation.

The terrifying chakra of Matatabi shone like a beacon in the night.

Neji couldn't help feeling envious.

He was only six years old, but after his Tenseigan's second upgrade, his chakra had already reached the level of an ordinary elite jonin.

But compared with a Tailed Beast, it was a far cry.

As a result, he couldn't use abilities that consumed enormous amounts of chakra, like Lightning Release Chakra Mode and chakra prayer beads, without restraint in battle.

"To increase my chakra, I can either train steadily and spend a lot of time cultivating, or go after a Tailed Beast."

As he considered this, Neji used Body Flicker to rush toward another Root shinobi.

He struck with God Vacuum Attack using his left hand, smashing the Root shinobi's head from a distance.

"Secret Technique: Shadow Imitation Technique."

A shadow stretched toward him rapidly like a venomous snake beneath the moonlight, latching onto the shadow Neji cast on the ground from the tree stump. An invisible force held him in place, leaving him like a Puppet Doll controlled by a Puppeteer, his limbs manipulated by Chakra Threads.

"Has that guy arrived?"

Neji stood atop the tree stump, frozen in the middle of a sword swing.

And the moment his movement was restricted—

Two dark figures suddenly sprang from the surrounding grass. They moved quickly and were close-combat experts skilled in Taijutsu.

One on either side, they thrust their blades toward Neji's kidneys.

"Idiot. Don't underestimate me!"

The technique didn't affect speech.

The Shadow Imitation Technique could control the limbs, but not the mouth—and even less so, chakra.

The two Root shinobi launching the ambush saw a mocking smile reflected in Neji's gleaming Chakra Blade.

Black Lightning: Chidori Stream!

A Lightning Release Ninjutsu that could be performed without hand seals.