Wrapping Up

On the vast ocean.

While the three Mist Village Jonin nearby were still in shock, the thirty-meter-tall water sphere was rapidly shrinking.

Taiichi was manipulating the seawater to drain away rapidly. Once the Water Prison shrank to a certain size, the Hozuki family ninja would truly have nowhere to escape.

"Damn it, send the signal now! This guy's Water Style are beyond our capabilities. Call for backup!"

The shout finally brought the other two to their senses. One of them quickly pulled out Signal Flare and fired it into the sky. Then the three of them rushed straight towards Taiichi.

The Hozuki family ninjas still need to be rescued regardless, otherwise it will be difficult to explain even if they escape back. Besides, four people have a better chance of winning than three.

The commotion naturally attracted the attention of Taiichi and Hozuki Ninja, and seeing that the enemy's reinforcements were about to arrive, Taiichi became somewhat anxious.

For no other reason than that Yuki Hyuga was in the enemy's hands, Taiichi would have to be careful with all his actions. But he couldn't care less about that now; he didn't have the ability to maintain such a large Water Prison under the attack of three Jonin.

His right hand, inserted into the water, slowly clenched into a fist, and from his right hand as the starting point, the seawater slowly froze into ice.

This terrified the Hozuki Ninja in the Water Prison. Ice Release? How could he know Ice Release? This was a perfect counter to his Hydrification Technique.

The terrified Hozuki Ninja was only thinking about escaping. He had originally wanted to bring back a live Hyuga ninja, but now he couldn't think about that anymore.

Blood gushed from Yuki Hyuga's eyes as Hozuki Ninja gouged out his Byakugan. Protecting an eye was easier than protecting a living person.

After having his eyes gouged out, Yuki Hyuga convulsed violently for a while, and then lost his life shortly after being thrown out of the Water Beast's body by the Hozuki Ninja.

The Hozuki Ninja was decisive. After obtaining the Byakugan, he did not hesitate at all and used a secret technique to sacrifice most of his body in exchange for a powerful burst of energy, transforming into a Water Arrow and breaking free from Taiichi's Water Prison.

Taiichi's face immediately darkened. Damn Mist Ninja, do you really think I can't do anything to you? If I didn't care about Yuki Hyuga's life or death, I wouldn't let you jump around like this.

Taiichi clenched his right hand tightly, and the enormous water sphere, along with Yuki Hyuga's corpse inside, instantly turned into an ice ball and crashed into the sea.

Immediately afterward, Taiichi's eyes emitted eerie blue flames, and he activated his Soul Vision, instantly recognizing the fleeing soul of the Hozuki Ninja.

Taiyi instantly moved forward, gathering a massive amount of Lightning Release chakra in his right hand, and punched the sea surface. Azure lightning surged into the sea along Taiyi's fist, and even with the seawater spreading out, the area within a radius of two thousand meters immediately transformed into an ocean of lightning.

The Hozuki Ninja, who had turned into water, was instantly electrocuted by the Lightning Style, his Byakugan rolling back as Taiichi controlled the water flow and captured him.

Taiichi hand and searched his body with the other, soon finding the Byakugan that he had gouged out.

Lightning crackled in his hand, and the Hozuki Ninja convulsed until he emitted a meaty aroma. Taiichi then did Taiichi flick his wrist and toss him into the sea.

Only then did the three Mist Village Jonin who had come to the rescue arrive, belatedly.

Watching the Hozuki Ninja slowly sink into the sea, the three unconsciously swallowed hard, but even so, they did not run away.

They had just clearly seen that the Hozuki Ninja, who was focused on escaping, had no chance to struggle against Taiichi.

They might as well cheer up; maybe they can hold out until the Mist Village's rescue arrives.

Taiichi looked at the three approaching and a wicked smile appeared on his face. He hadn't finished venting his anger yet, so he decided to take it out on them.

He accelerated in a Body Flicker, his hands constantly forming hand seals.

Water Style: Water Wave.

Thin Water Column shot out with Taiichi took on the sea, their target the leading Mist Village Jonin.

The man was sensible; knowing he was no match for him, he didn't dare to confront him directly. He dodged while forming hand seals, and the water on the sea surged, forming a Water Dragon that crashed towards Taiichi.

Just as he was about to call on his companions to attack, the other two Jonin turned around and fled without looking back, one to the left and one to the right.

Good heavens, they were just ready to die for each other, determined to hold off Taiichi until reinforcements arrived.

Now, however, he runs without the slightest hesitation.

Their thinking was actually quite simple. Simply running away would indeed result in Taiichi, something they had foreseen beforehand. However, having someone restrain them made a difference; at least a Jonin could still exchange blows with Taiichi.

This amount of time was enough for them to escape a certain distance. In addition, after Taiichi dealt with one person, he could only pursue the other one first, which bought them even more time.

Therefore, it seems that at least one of them will be able to escape Taiichi's pursuit.

The idea is wonderful, and this is indeed how things are normally developing.

However, they seemed to have forgotten that if the difference in strength was too great, even Shadow Clones could temporarily restrain them.

After Taiichi finished off the enemy in less than a minute, the two Kirigakure Mist Village Jonin still within his Chakra Perception range.

Without much thought, Taiichi created a Shadow Clone, one to the left and the other to the right, launching a simultaneous pursuit from both sides.

And so, by the time the Konoha Ninjas caught up from behind, Taiichi had already dealt with the two fleeing Mist Ninjas and turned back to the ball of ice.

At this moment, the group Hyuga ninjas were helplessly surrounding the ice ball. They had seen through their Byakugan that their elder was frozen inside the ice ball. Although he was dead, they still wanted to take his body back.

"Taiichi, look—" It was Ryota Hyuga forward to speak. He pointed to the huge floating ice ball and looked at Taiichi with a troubled expression.

Taiichi didn't hesitate. He took two steps forward and stood on the ice ball. He touched the ice ball with one hand, activated his Chakra, and the huge ice ball immediately changed, quickly transforming back into seawater in everyone's eyes.

"It really is Ice Release. Taiichi actually knows Ice Release." A Konoha Ninja who came to provide support muttered to himself.

Taiichi didn't take it seriously. With his current strength, it wouldn't matter if people knew he knew Ice Release. No one would dare to cause him trouble at this time.

At that moment, the Hyuga ninja who was examining Yuki Hyuga's body couldn't help but gasp in shock.

"The elder's eyes are gone!"

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Ryota Hyuga Ryosuke's faces immediately darkened. Just as they were about to step forward to check, they heard Taiichi's words behind them.

"Don't bother looking anymore, I've already gotten his eyes back." With that, Taiichi took two eyeballs out of his Ninja Tool Pouch and handed them over.

Ryota reached out, carefully took it, checked it to make sure it was correct, and then let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Byakugan was not lost, and Hyuga's bloodline limit was preserved.

"Lord Taiichi, thank you for your help. The Hyuga Clan will forever remember your kindness."

Ryota bowed deeply to Taiichi at a 90-degree angle, and Ryosuke and the other Hyuga ninjas behind him did the same, bowing solemnly at a 90-degree angle to express their gratitude.

"We're all Konoha Ninjas, we're all comrades, this is what I should do. It's a pity I still couldn't save Hyuga Elder. That Hozuki Ninja killed him while escaping."

Taiichi was a shrewd man; since people were giving him face, he explained politely.

"Lord Taiichi, there's no need to blame yourself. It's already a miracle that the Main Family's Byakugan hasn't spread. We will also report this matter to the clan."

This sounds a bit strange. It's the Hyuga Clan that lost an elder, yet they're the Taiichi. Taiichi himself feels embarrassed listening to this.

"Now that things are over, let's hurry back to Camp. We also need to report this incident to Lady Tsunade so she can take precautions. I heard that the head of your Hyuga clan has also come to the front lines."

Hyuga Ryota's expression changed immediately upon hearing this. This attack was clearly premeditated, and its purpose was quite clear: to obtain the Byakugan from the Hyuga Main Family.

Once a precedent is set, there will inevitably be a second one, so the Hyuga Clan must take precautions as soon as possible.

After discussing their plan, the group immediately set off towards the Konoha Camp.

Just half an hour after they left, another group of people appeared at sea. If Taiichi were here, he would recognize that the leader of this group was none other than the three people, including Suikazan Fuguki, who had escaped earlier.

The group returned to the spot where the signal had been sent and searched carefully, but found nothing.

It's not their fault; the vast ocean erases any traces. If Taiichi's ice ball were still there, they might have made some discoveries, but alas—

"It seems your cousin's mission failed. Four Jonin died so easily. I wonder if Mizunuki Asuka will still call us Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist when she finds out."

Suikazan Fuguki laughed as he spoke to Mangetsu Hozuki beside him, his tone full of mockery.

"Why bring up that idiot? I clearly warned him before the mission not to underestimate Konoha's ninjas, and he actually mocked me for being scared out of my wits by Konoha. He truly deserves to die."

Suikazan Fuguki didn't expose Mangetsu Hozuki's hypocrisy, knowing that Mugetsu and his cousin had a good relationship, and he was probably just disappointed in him.

Although the war with Konoha was still in its initial probing phase, he inexplicably lost confidence in the battle after his seven-man group was scattered by two Konoha members.

However, he is now powerless and has no say in this battle, so he can only take things one step at a time.

Ignoring the infighting within Mist Village, Taiichi others returned to their Camp and immediately met with Tsunade. Naturally, since this matter involved the Hyuga Main Family, Hyuga Hiashi was also summoned to listen in.

In fact, Hiashi came to the front line specifically to deal with Yuki Hyuga.

Yuki Hyuga's actions on the front lines were naturally reported to him, the clan leader, by the Branch Family ninjas protecting him.

He didn't think much of it at first, but when Tsunade's letter also arrived in his hands, the situation changed; it was a clear expression of dissatisfaction from the frontline Commander.

In her letter, Tsunade stated directly that Yuki Hyuga had seriously affected her personnel management and hoped that the Hyuga clan leader would transfer him away as soon as possible.

This was the first time since the start of the Third Shinobi World War that the Hyuga Clan had been reprimanded by a frontline Commander in this way. There were also members of the Main Family on the other three fronts, but they performed very well and cooperated very well with the Commanders.

Clearly, this Yuki Hyuga is one of the Conservative Faction of the Conservative Faction Hyuga Clan, a minority member who puts family honor above all else, which is why things have come to this point.

Hyuga Hiashi came here to replace Yuki Hyuga, which would show respect for Tsunade and also take care of Yuki Hyuga's feelings.

But they were too late; Yuki Hyuga died at the hands of Mist Village, and even his Byakugan was almost stolen by Mist Village.

"Lady Tsunade, Clan Head, that's how it happened. In the end, it was Taiichi who single-handedly reclaimed the Byakugan."

After finishing his story, Hyuga Ryota handed the Byakugan, which he had preserved in a container, to Hyuga Hiashi. Now, all that remained was to await his punishment from the clan.

"How does Hyuga clan leader think this matter should be handled?" Tsunade looked at Hyuga Hiashi, both asking for his opinion and indirectly putting pressure on him. Yuki Hyuga was a cautionary tale; what should he, as clan leader, do next?

"Lady Tsunade, you are the Commander. Now that I'm on the front lines, I will naturally follow your orders."

As for Ryota and the others, although they failed in their duty of protection, considering that it is wartime, they will be allowed to atone for their crimes through meritorious service. I wonder what Lady Tsunade thinks?"

Hyuga Hiashi was considered one of the few enlightened individuals in the Hyuga Clan, so he naturally followed Tsunade's wishes at this time.

"Good!" Tsunade clapped her hands, also very pleased. With such an understanding Hyuga clan leader, her command of the Hyuga clan members would surely be much more effective.

"Hiashi, after this incident, you should know how disadvantaged the Hyuga Clan is when facing Mist Ninja, especially when facing Hozuki Ninja can use Hydrification Techniques."

I hope you can restrain your clansmen. Next, I will meet with the Hyuga and Uchiha to form a combined force. Only by fully utilizing the strengths of both clans can we deal with the Mist Ninja.

It's no wonder Tsunade was happy. In previous group formations, although Branch Family cooperated well, the mixed formations always went very poorly when it involved the Uchiha and Hyuga.

With the clan head Fugaku keeping them in check, it's easier to talk to the Uchiha.

Yuki Hyuga the Hyuga clan is a staunch kinsman and strongly opposes mixing with the Uchiha clan. With him leading the way, the other Hyuga clan members naturally follow suit.

This is also why Yuki Hyuga was able to lead a team composed entirely of Hyuga clan members on missions—it was purely his own doing.

Hyuga Hiashi also somewhat embarrassed, but as the clan leader, his embarrassment was only momentary. "Don't worry, Lady Tsunade, I will lead by example. Please arrange an Uchiha clan Lady Tsunade as my teammate."

"Good, Hiashi, you certainly didn't disappoint me."

Tsunade was overjoyed. With the conflict between the Uchiha and Hyuga resolved, the strength of the Eastern Front Camp could be fully utilized, and now it was Konoha's turn to take the initiative.

"Taiichi, haven't you found the Mist Village Camp yet? This pace is not good!"

Taiichi scratched the back of his head, offering no explanation. "Give me two more days, and I'll definitely dig them out."

He had made up his mind; it seemed he would have to use some special methods, otherwise it would be really difficult to find them on this vast ocean.

After the report was finished, Taiichi left the Central Command Tent, Hyuga Hiashi quickly walked a few steps to catch up with Taiichi.

"What's going on with the Hyuga clan leader?"

Unexpectedly, without saying a word, Hyuga Hiashi immediately bowed deeply.

Then, with a face full of gratitude, he said, "Taiichi, thank you for helping my clan reclaim the Byakugan. After this war is over, please do me the honor of visiting my home so I can properly entertain you."

Taiichi was surprised by Hyuga Hiashi's politeness. After thinking about it, he readily agreed. As a powerful clan in Konoha, although he looked down on some of their clan rules, it was still necessary to maintain a good relationship with them.