Underhanded

Three boys in white armor, their eyes completely white, ran through the woods. One of them had bulging veins beside his eyes as he said:

"Young Master Ruri, someone's coming. They're ninjas from the Senju Clan."

"Oh? How many?"

"Two. But they look even younger than you, young master. Should we take them out?"

"No. Stop and wait for them."

The three boys running ahead stopped. A sly smile tugged at Hyuga Ruri's lips as he took out a pendant, hung it around his neck, and quietly watched the path behind them.

It was a rare kind of stone that could retain an image infused with Chakra for a while, depending on its properties.

Unlike Hyuga Ruri, the other two boys wore Forehead Protectors bearing a fan-shaped symbol with flames in the middle and lines extending from both sides, seemingly to conceal something.

The three Byakugan-wielding boys did not have to wait long before Tobirama and Hiugo arrived in front of them. The atmosphere between the two sides turned tense, and each reached for a Kunai.

Hyuga Ruri stepped forward with a smile.

"You two, we have no desire to fight. The Hyuga Clan and Senju Clan haven't had any quarrels lately, either. Why don't we work together... what do you say?"

In the Warring States era, kindness never came without a reason. The Hyuga Clan naturally wouldn't help the two of them complete their mission for nothing.

In fact, after helping them, they would abandon the mission themselves, embellish the story, and then tell everyone that the Senju Clan was incompetent and needed the Hyuga Clan's help to complete its missions.

They only wanted to undermine the Senju Clan's reputation and reduce the number of commissions it received. It might not have been a particularly clever scheme, but it worked. Historically, the Hatake Clan had been subjected to the same kind of treatment by the Hyuga Clan, and its reputation had suffered for quite some time.

Tobirama had read about this in an article. His expression remained calm as he retorted, "Does the Hyuga Clan lack the ability to complete its missions and need help from the Senju Clan?"

The three boys' expressions shifted. The idea that the family came first was deeply ingrained in the minds of the Hyuga Clan, so being belittled naturally angered them.

Hiugo's voice rang out too. "One Main Family member and two Branch Family members. Is this a princess or a young master? You even brought two bodyguards. Must be nice to have such a precious life."

In the Warring States era, Hyuga Branch Family members usually concealed the Cursed Seal on their foreheads, so they were easy to identify.

Hiugo's words displeased the two Branch Family ninjas. Hyuga Hikaru spoke up.

"We're only here to support the young master. He alone is strong enough to beat the two of us."

A smile tugged at Hiugo's lips.

"Oh? So you two are useless, then?"

That sounded a lot like something an Uchiha would say.

Hyuga Ruri thought to himself. The veins beside his eyes bulged as he glared at Hiugo.

"Let's go our separate ways and see who comes out on top. If we fight now and run into our target later, someone else will reap the benefits."

Hiugo spun the Kunai in his hand and exchanged a glance with Tobirama.

"I think fighting the Hyuga Clan is more worthwhile than hunting down one Yin-Yang Shenfeng."

Tobirama understood at once. "I'll take two. You take one."

Before the words had even left his mouth, both of their Kunai hit the ground with a soft clink. Their hands formed Seals in unison.

"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" x2

The three Hyuga ninjas had been watching the Kunai and never expected their opponents to use Ninjutsu right away. The Kunai in their hands had just been a feint.

Hiugo was the kind of person who didn't play by the rules. Tobirama, on the other hand, had simply followed Hiugo's way of thinking to choose the likeliest course of action.

The two Hyuga Branch Family ninjas were caught completely off guard and knocked unconscious by the rushing water. If not for their armor, they might have been killed or badly injured.

Hyuga Ruri reacted faster than the two Branch Family ninjas. He spun into a pale blue hemisphere to block the water.

Eight Trigrams: Heavenly Spin

"So this is the Hyuga Clan's Heavenly Spin, said to be an absolute defense..."

Tobirama studied the technique, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Absolute defense.

At the phrase, Hiugo couldn't help chuckling. He had no idea how that claim had spread. Maybe there were few defensive techniques in the Warring States era.

If the Hyuga Clan truly had an absolute defense, no one would ever die. They could just take turns spinning around.

That wasn't to say the technique wasn't powerful. A Ninjutsu famous enough to earn a reputation had to be strong, but it didn't live up to the word "absolute."

As soon as Hyuga Ruri finished using the Heavenly Spin, two Kunai forced him back. He glanced at his unconscious clansmen and cursed them as useless.

One elite Jonin was supposed to accompany the three of them. Since he still hadn't shown up, there was an eighty-percent chance the enemy's elite Jonin had held him up.

After a moment's thought, Hyuga Ruri threw a smoke bomb to the ground.

Run!

Hyuga Ruri was confident he could handle two opponents at once under normal circumstances. But the Senju Clan was famous for its vast Chakra reserves, and they had no fear of wearing him down from a distance.

The two of them had just used a B-rank Water Release technique at that age and weren't even out of breath. Besides, in the Warring States era, there was nothing shameful about fleeing when you couldn't win.

"Tobirama, he's yours. I'm going to finish off the others."

After saying that, Hiugo ran straight toward the two unconscious Hyuga Branch Family ninjas. He could sense the allure of "food."

A hint of suspicion flashed through Tobirama's eyes. They could each have used an Explosive Tag to deal with one opponent, so why make this so complicated?

But he wasn't one to hesitate. He immediately chased after Hyuga Ruri.

"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"

The water left behind by the two ninjas' earlier techniques was put to use. Under Tobirama's control, it surged toward Hyuga Ruri.

Hyuga Ruri turned and struck the water with an Eight Trigrams: Air Palm, scattering it. Then he gritted his teeth and used the Body Flicker Technique to reach Tobirama, gathering Chakra in his hand as he struck toward Tobirama's head.

Eight Trigrams: Air-Piercing Strike

The Body Flicker Technique took a heavy toll on children of their age, but as long as it kept them alive, that was what mattered. So even though they were still young, the great clans taught them a few "unsavory" techniques.

A glint flashed in Tobirama's eyes. Just as the blow landed, he turned into a wooden post with an Explosive Tag attached to it.

"A trap... He knew I'd counterattack."

Hyuga Ruri had just started to leap out of the blast radius when a Water Formation Wall rose around him, blocking his escape.

An explosion rang out. The Water Formation Wall burst apart, revealing a pale blue sphere inside.

Hyuga Ruri released the Heavenly Spin, panting heavily, his fingers slightly blackened. The Heavenly Spin hadn't blocked the entire blast, and being trapped in such a cramped space had hampered the technique.

Watching with his Byakugan, he threw three Kunai fitted with Explosive Tags toward a nearby spot. The tree in their path exploded, revealing a tree stump that had been blasted away behind it.

Another Substitution Technique...

Hyuga Ruri was so furious he coughed up blood. Ever since the Explosive Tag went off, it seemed like every move he made had been calculated by his opponent.

Tobirama stepped out from behind another tree and said coolly, "You must be running low on Chakra."

Two uses of the Heavenly Spin, one Body Flicker, one Air Palm, and one Air-Piercing Strike had drained most of Hyuga Ruri's Chakra. His injured fingers only made things worse.

The veins beside Hyuga Ruri's eyes returned to normal. He raised both hands and smiled.

"I surrender. Will you accept?"

Tobirama narrowed his eyes and was about to speak when a booming voice came from above.

"Tobirama, move!!"

At the sound of the voice, Tobirama immediately used Water Body Flicker to get away. The next second, a palm strike left a shallow crater where he had been standing.

Senju Zhenyang dropped from the sky. Anger flashed in his eyes as he looked at Hyuga Teruhiro.

"Your Hyuga Clan is getting more and more shameless."

Blood ran down Hyuga Teruhiro's left arm. He had been injured by Senju Zhenyang's Ninjutsu after risking an attack on Tobirama.

"This is the fate of the Branch Family. We exist to protect the Main Family," Hyuga Teruhiro said calmly.

Senju Zhenyang watched the two of them with murderous intent. He and Hyuga Teruhiro were evenly matched. Given enough time, he could certainly take him down, especially now that he was injured.

But the circumstances wouldn't allow that. To protect Hyuga Ruri, Hyuga Teruhiro would attack Tobirama and Hiugo without hesitation, even if it cost him his life.

It wasn't worth risking his own prodigy's future over one injured elite Jonin.

Likewise, Hyuga Teruhiro's first priority was to keep himself and Hyuga Ruri alive. No one wanted to die unless it was absolutely necessary.

"You can go," Senju Zhenyang said coldly. Hyuga Teruhiro and Hyuga Ruri slowly backed away until they disappeared...