A Parting Gift

Dozens of elite Root and Anbu operatives landed in unison, fanning out across the ruined courtyard to surround the black-robed figure at its center.

Yet the black-robed figure seemed oblivious to the circle of elite Anbu surrounding him. He didn't even raise his head.

"Crack—"

The sharp, brittle sound of breaking bone echoed through the deathly silence, sending chills down everyone's spine. The Great Elder's throat was crushed in a single grip, and his fading life force rapidly ebbed away.

"Splurt!"

Then, under everyone's horrified gaze, the black-robed figure gave a slight twitch of his fingers and gouged out the Great Elder's cloudy white eyes.

Blood mingled with rain and splattered into the mud. He casually flung the corpse into the courtyard, like a worthless sack of garbage. It rolled through the muddy water a few times.

"...!"

Every ninja present paled.

More than a dozen elite Anbu and Root operatives instinctively stepped forward, gripping their weapons tightly.

"Who are you?"

"Why did you attack Konoha?"

Danzo slowly stepped out from the center of the encirclement. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned beneath his bandages, fixing on the black-robed figure's every subtle movement.

"Konoha..."

The black-robed man savored the name, then tilted his head. "So this is Konoha..."

He slowly surveyed his surroundings.

Ninjas crowded the rooftops, walls, and treetops on all sides, hemming him in. In the distance, more rushing footsteps and cutting winds could be heard. Reinforcements were hurrying over in droves.

Looks like this is as far as I can go...

What a shame. Only a few Main Branch members...

Hyuga Qinglan calmly took in the scene.

Still, three pairs of Main Branch Byakugan was quite a lot. After all, there were fewer than fifteen Main Branch members in the entire Hyuga Clan now...

And that number included those old geezers.

Besides... his body had already been carried away.

His thoughts flowed back to his real body.

At that moment, the real Hyuga Qinglan lay on a stretcher as medical ninjas rushed him to Konoha Hospital.

The wound on his abdomen looked gruesome, but the damage beneath the surface wasn't serious. The real reason he was so weak was that he had transferred most of his chakra to Ao.

If only my current strength were enough to handle more jōnin.

Then I wouldn't have to think so much about this.

If Danzo teamed up with the two advisors and they all came at me together, it would be troublesome.

That said, Hyuga Qinglan wasn't worried at all about the ninjas arriving one after another.

He had already placed a seal on the puppet he was controlling, back in his previous life. All he had to do was form the Hand Seals for the Summoning Technique, and he could instantly return to that cave in Yugakure.

Still... I should let this alter ego show off a little.

"Are you the leader of this village?"

"I am," Shimura Danzo replied without hesitation.

"Those are some nice eyes..."

Ao spoke coolly, his gaze settling on the eye glowing faintly red beneath Danzo's bandages.

Danzo's heart gave a sudden jolt. The two Hokage Advisors behind him, meanwhile, were baffled.

Was... he mocking Danzo for being one-eyed?

"You may call me... Ao."

Ao slowly removed his hood, revealing a pale face blurred by purple chakra. His long white hair fluttered in the night wind, lending him an ethereal, eerie beauty.

"I came here only to take back what belongs to me... I just never expected the so-called Hyuga Clan to be so disgusting..."

Suddenly, the corners of his mouth curled upward, and his tone shifted.

"But I've changed my mind. I don't want it anymore..."

"Because... I've seen something far more interesting."

His clear blue eyes fixed squarely on Danzo's right eye.

"So..."

"Enough nonsense."

Shimura Danzo cut Ao off.

If Ao said any more, he'd expose the Sharingan he'd taken from a fallen Uchiha!

He rapidly formed Hand Seals in front of his chest. Chakra surged through his body, traveling along his network of chakra pathways and gathering in his throat.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

Dozens of spinning blades of wind tore through the air with a piercing shriek, shooting toward Ao.

The two Hokage Advisors saw what was happening and could only follow suit: Water Style: Water Wild Wave, Fire Style: Flame Bullet.

The rest of the ninjas joined in, hurling their own jutsu.

Wind, fire, water, lightning, and earth jutsu intertwined into a brilliant, deadly torrent that poured down on Ao at the center.

"So this is your answer..."

"Interrupting someone is terribly rude."

In the multicolored blaze of the explosions, purple chakra began to radiate from Ao. His figure gradually faded, like a ghost that didn't belong to this dimension.

"In that case, I'll see you next time..."

"As for this..."

His voice came from every direction, seeming to ring out from deep inside each person's heart.

"Consider it a parting gift..."

As the words fell, a dazzling golden light erupted from the center of the explosions!

"The supplies have arrived, and the Cloud Village front has stabilized. Next comes the decisive battle with Iwagakure..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen walked along the tree-lined path back to the village. His gaze paused briefly on Orochimaru, who was returning with him, then moved away.

As Hokage, he was glad to see his student shine on the battlefield.

But whenever he remembered how the Feudal Lord had mentioned Orochimaru, seemingly in passing, to his spies—and had even hinted at a change in the "Fourth Hokage" position—he felt conflicted.

Especially after hearing that Nara Luyan, Orochimaru's direct subordinate, had already entered the Feudal Lord's Palace.

A crisis called "out of control" was winding around his heart like a creeping vine.

"Orochimaru, from here on, you should get some rest..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped, about to tell Orochimaru to rest and stop fighting for the position. But his body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes locked on the depths of the Forest of Death.

Almost at the same moment, Orochimaru, who had been looking indifferent, also fixed his gaze in that direction.

"Vmmm—!"

A dazzling golden light suddenly blazed from deep within the Forest of Death!

Then an incomparably terrifying shockwave burst outward in a ring. Even the two men, who were far beyond the village gates, felt its force.

They exchanged a glance, both seeing an almost absurd shock in the other's eyes.

Was the village under attack?!

In the next instant, they both sped up and rushed toward the source of the golden light.

When they reached it with the Body Flicker Technique, the sight before them left even these two veterans stunned.

A huge ravine began at Hyuga Qinglan's mansion and stretched diagonally into the distant Forest of Death.

Everything in its path—the trees and even the bedrock beneath the surface—had been reduced to dust.

The ravine still faintly radiated the scorching heat of that golden chakra.

"What... what kind of power is this?!"

Orochimaru crouched down and ran his hand over the smooth, mirror-like cut. Then he glanced at Hyuga Qinglan's mansion.

A little white snake slipped out of the grass nearby and silently crawled up his trouser leg and arm, its tongue flicking as it hissed.

When he heard that Hyuga Qinglan was still alive, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then came an excitement he could barely conceal.

The suspected owner of the scroll...

Could that be the power of the Tenseigan?