The Oriole Behind

Ten minutes earlier, in the clearing where Mizuki and the others had been ambushed, the Hidden Sand ninja had already chased after the "Nichigetsu" who was carrying "Mizuki." Just then, the real Nichigetsu emerged stealthily from the bushes with Mizuki on his back.

"The [Stealth Technique] is truly a wonderful thing. Sister Mizuki, let's hurry. My two Shadow Clones don't have much chakra; they can only stall them for a short while," Nichigetsu asked.

"En," Mizuki nodded.

As it turned out, the black shadows that had dashed out of the smoke at the very beginning were two Shadow Clones Nichigetsu had left behind to help him throw the thirty-six shuriken simultaneously.

The clone with less chakra had transformed into Mizuki's appearance, while the other clone hoisted "her" up and ran, successfully luring the Hidden Sand ninja away.

The reason Nichigetsu hadn't used large-scale techniques during the counter-attack was precisely because his Shadow Clones lacked sufficient chakra, limiting them to Gentle Fist palm strikes like [Five-Finger Heart-Piercing Break], [Soul Vibration], and [Five Elements Disintegration].

"Let's go!" Nichigetsu carried Mizuki toward Konoha, hoping to encounter reinforcements soon.

Just after they left, a figure leaped into the clearing.

"Heh heh! I knew you'd pull this trick. Those Hidden Sand ninja are truly trash! It's a pity that with a burden on your back, there's no way you'll escape! Hyuga Nichigetsu!" Hyuga U said, sneering as he followed them.

Nichigetsu sprinted through the forest at full speed with Mizuki on his back. He finally understood what it felt like for Naruto to run while carrying Princess Koyuki. It was simply... too heavy!

"Sister Mizuki... you really need to lose some weight!" Nichigetsu remarked. Mizuki glanced at his back and turned her face away without a word, clearly displeased.

Weight was indeed a taboo topic for women. Fortunately, Nichigetsu had been training his chakra control by climbing mountains with weights, or he truly wouldn't have been able to carry her. Even so, he was drenched in sweat, and his speed was much slower than usual.

"Nichigetsu, can you still hold on?" Mizuki asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Sister Mizuki!" Nichigetsu wiped the sweat from his forehead and kept running.

A few minutes later, Nichigetsu froze. The two Shadow Clones he had used to lure the Hidden Sand enemies had vanished, and their combat memories flooded into his mind.

"They've been taken out? It's a shame the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm didn't finish off that Hidden Sand jonin. There are still four Hidden Sand ninja left; it seems we aren't out of danger yet. Keep moving!" Nichigetsu made a quick judgment and continued forward.

Suddenly, "Swish, swish, swish!" A dozen shuriken flew in from behind!

Nichigetsu reacted quickly, forcing himself to use the Body Flicker Technique. "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." The shuriken grazed his clothes as they flew past. After barely dodging the attack, he set Mizuki down under a tree and stared intently at the direction from which the enemy had struck.

"Who is it?!" Nichigetsu demanded sharply.

"Tsk tsk, Hyuga Nichigetsu, you must die here today." Hyuga U walked slowly from behind a tree.

Nichigetsu's brow furrowed, and he thought to himself, This is bad. A member of the Hyuga Main House? Now that I'm carrying an injured Mizuki and only have a quarter of my chakra left, it will be very difficult to deal with this jonin.

"Nichigetsu, you go first! Don't worry about me," Mizuki shouted, but Nichigetsu remained unmoved.

"Hmph! It seems this was all a conspiracy by the Main House elders. What a clever scheme! Luring Sister Mizuki out, attacking her, and then leaking information to draw the Hidden Sand ninja into the chase—all to lure me here to save her, using the Hidden Sand to finish me off. A classic case of killing with a borrowed knife! It's a pity the Hidden Sand failed, so you, this lapdog of the Main House, had to step in yourself!" Nichigetsu said calmly.

"Clever brat! You guessed right, but there's no need to stall for time. This is indeed the will of the Main House elders. If you want to blame someone, blame your father for offending people he shouldn't have!" Hyuga U shrugged indifferently and activated his Byakugan, preparing to strike.

"Hmph! You've also touched someone you shouldn't have! Anyone who dares to hurt Sister Mizuki will pay the price!!" Nichigetsu instantly activated his Byakugan, his eyes flashing with undisguised, intense killing intent.

He would never let this man go for hurting Mizuki! He might not be familiar with the methods of other jonin, but he knew the techniques of a Hyuga jonin all too well. He was not without a chance of victory!

Nichigetsu moved, his palms already charged with a large amount of chakra.

"[Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]!"

Nichigetsu struck out at the air toward Hyuga U. A ring of chaotic airflow ripples appeared before his palm, mixed with turbulent shockwaves that roared toward his opponent.

"[Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]!" Hyuga U sneered and struck back with a palm of his own. The two cylindrical shockwaves collided.

"Boom!" The shockwaves exploded, sending a wave of air spreading outward and stirring up a gale. Most of the force pressed toward Nichigetsu, forcing him to shield his face with his arms and retreat repeatedly.

So my Vacuum Palm is still a notch below a jonin's. Nichigetsu reacted quickly, switching hands to strike again:

"[Eight Trigrams Consecutive Vacuum Palm]!"

The second shockwave roared straight at Hyuga U, who hurriedly dodged, narrowly avoiding the blast. "Bang!" The Vacuum Palm shattered a massive boulder behind him.

I don't have much chakra left; I must find an opening to finish him in one blow! Nichigetsu thought rapidly as he charged forward. He had to press the attack to keep Hyuga U occupied and prevent him from having the time to ambush Mizuki.

Hyuga U met him head-on. Nichigetsu struck first, aiming directly for Hyuga U's chest. Hyuga U dodged to the side and countered with a finger strike toward Nichigetsu's neck.

Nichigetsu's Byakugan saw through the movement, and he tilted his head to avoid the attack, immediately retaliating with a finger strike toward Hyuga U's ribs.

"Snap!" His hand was blocked by Hyuga U's palm. At the same time, Nichigetsu swatted away Hyuga U's attack.

The two engaged in close-quarters combat for nearly twenty rounds. Relying on the Byakugan's powerful ability to see through the enemy's muscle movements, Nichigetsu didn't suffer much of a disadvantage.

"Yo, not bad, brat!" Hyuga U was surprised by Nichigetsu's Gentle Fist; despite being inferior in speed and strength, the boy hadn't fallen behind.

"But you're out of time!" Hyuga U suddenly forced Nichigetsu back with a palm strike and immediately lunged toward Mizuki under the tree.

"No! You coward!" Nichigetsu was shocked and rushed forward to intercept him. However, Hyuga U suddenly turned and struck at Nichigetsu.

"Haha, go to hell!" Hyuga U laughed. Nichigetsu couldn't dodge in time and took the full-force palm strike to his chest.

The moment the palm touched his chest, Nichigetsu's body suddenly leaned back, arching his waist, extending his arms forward, and pulling his chest inward. Simultaneously, he released soft chakra from his chest's tenketsu to protect his vitals.

The violent chakra erupting from Hyuga U's palm was cushioned and dispersed by Nichigetsu's soft chakra. The force of the strike was neutralized by Nichigetsu's series of retreating movements, and combined with the reinforced vest he was wearing, the power was mostly dissipated in an instant.

"What is this?!" Hyuga U felt as if his full-force strike had hit a ball of cotton; there was no sense of solid impact, and the chakra he released didn't seem to penetrate Nichigetsu's chest to damage his internal organs.

Nichigetsu's body continued to arch backward, collapsing like a spring compressed by external force. The momentum of Hyuga U's strike was completely exhausted, unable to harm Nichigetsu any further. Then, his palm was suddenly suctioned by the "soft" chakra Nichigetsu released!

Nichigetsu stared intensely at Hyuga U, his eyes snapping wide open:

"[Taiji Gentle Fist: Counter-Attack]!"

Riyue's arched body suddenly snapped straight forward, his retracted chest thrusting out with full force. Simultaneously, his hands pushed against Hyuga U's arms, and the chakra stored in the various points of his chest erupted in a violent burst!

"Ah?" A powerful force surged through Hyuga U's palms and into his body. Hyuga U felt as if he had been slammed by a heavy weight; his body jolted, and he stumbled backward, his arms going numb from the impact of the chakra.

It turned out that when Riyue realized he couldn't dodge in time, he had intentionally allowed Hyuga U to strike his chest, using the opportunity to unleash this technique of overcoming hardness with softness—a counterattack that borrowed the enemy's own momentum.

When he was struck, Riyue had first used soft chakra to disperse and absorb the force of the enemy's attack. Then, his body rebounded like a spring, returning a portion of the absorbed force along with his own power back to his opponent.

Hyuga U had naturally never seen such a peculiar technique before. Caught off guard by Riyue's unexpected move, his face was filled with astonishment.

"Now! Gentle Fist Art: Thirty-Six Death Point Strike!"

Riyue raised his left hand, his fingers formed into a sword-hand, and he flashed directly in front of Hyuga U.

"Danzhong!" His left hand lunged, aiming for the Danzhong Point in the center of Hyuga U's chest. Hyuga U was worthy of being a Jonin; even while injured, he reacted swiftly, stepping back while blocking with his right palm, attempting to push Riyue's sword-hand away.

Seeing this, Riyue changed his move in an instant, striking toward the Taiyuan Point on Hyuga U's palm. Hyuga U tried to flip his hand to dodge, but Riyue's transition was too fast, and Hyuga U was a beat too slow.

"Taiyuan!"

Direct hit! Hyuga U immediately felt the flow of his chakra become obstructed and his nerves grow sluggish.

"Shenque!" Having landed one strike, Riyue moved even faster, aiming for the Shenque Point at the navel.

Seeing this, Hyuga U retreated rapidly, but Riyue followed even faster!

He slid his feet in an arc, ghosting behind Hyuga U, and backhanded a strike toward the Mingmen Point on his back!

"Mingmen!"

Direct hit! Hyuga U felt his body tremble, losing control of his limbs.

Riyue's strikes were as fluid as his thoughts, shifting in a thousand ways; Hyuga U had no way to predict which point Riyue would attack next!

Riyue held nothing back. With a sliding tackle followed by a leap supported by his hands, he flipped to land in front of Hyuga U, both hands striking out to hit the Ermen Point and Guanyuan Point.

"Ermen!" "Guanyuan!"

Hit! Hit! Hyuga U was instantly struck with tinnitus and dizziness, followed by intense pain in his abdomen. Having been struck in these points, Hyuga U no longer had the strength to resist!

Hyuga U had been in the superior position the entire time, yet after Riyue unleashed his ultimate counterattack, Hyuga U lost in a single instant.

To outsiders, it had all happened in the blink of an eye; Riyue had simply struck four times with hands moving so fast they were a blur. Riyue continued his raging-storm assault, countless afterimages appearing around Hyuga U's body—Hyuga U was surely doomed!

Just at this moment, a sharp pain suddenly pierced Riyue's forehead, and the green mark beneath his headband flared with light. Without any warning, his Caged Bird curse seal had been secretly activated!

"Ah!" It felt as if his brain were being sliced open. The sudden, agonizing pain forced Riyue to interrupt his ultimate technique. He clutched his forehead and collapsed to the ground.

Hyuga U escaped death, falling to the ground with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Unable to move his body, he felt as though he had just walked through the gates of hell.

"Hyuga U, you are truly too weak. And to think you're a Jonin! You can't even handle a piece of trash!!" A man strolled out from behind a tree, speaking with a mocking tone. He held his sword-hand before his chest, looking smugly at the immobilized Riyue.

Riyue stared fixedly at the newcomer, his eyes burning with endless rage!