The End of the Hyūga Main Branch (Part 2)

It held two massive axes burning with emerald flames, blocking Qin Mo's path like a guardian deity.

The Eight Trigrams palm shadows and Air Palm shock waves that were powerful enough to shatter mountain rock struck the emerald Susanoo's armor, but only stirred up a few ripples. They could not leave even the slightest crack!

On the right, there was a blazing orange-red, fierce as molten lava!

Uchiha Yan's Susanoo had appeared as well. A huge chakra skeleton formed its upper body, and it drew a giant chakra longbow almost as tall as itself!

The bowstring was pulled taut, and an arrow made of pure burning chakra was ready to fire. The scorching heat it gave off distorted the very air!

Every attack coming from that direction was instantly vaporized by the terrifying heat the moment it neared the flame arrow!

"Th-this... what kind of monster is this?!" The ninjas of the Hyuga Main Family fell into utter despair.

The Gentle Fist they had taken such pride in, a legacy passed down for a thousand years, now seemed so ridiculous and powerless before these gigantic chakra giants!

"Hmph! A speck of light dares compete with the bright moon!" Uchiha Jin snorted coldly, and the huge emerald Susanoo swung both arms with sudden force!

The two burning giant axes carved arcs of death, letting out shrill whistles as they tore through the air and slashed viciously toward the densest part of the crowd!

"No—!"

"Get out of the way!"

The shrill screams stopped abruptly!

Wherever the giant axes passed, flesh and blood flew!

Seven or eight jonin of the Hyuga Main Family, along with the stone slabs beneath their feet, were crushed and torn apart in an instant by the violent force!

Severed limbs, broken arms, and fragments of organs mixed with shattered stone, spreading across the ground like a painting of hell!

Emerald flames clung to the wounds and the ground, hissing as they burned and giving off a scorched stench.

"Senior Yan!" Qin Mo's voice rang out coldly, without the slightest trace of emotion.

"Understood!" Uchiha Yan's reply was just as cold.

His scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan locked onto a Main Family elder in the crowd who was trying to form hand seals and unleash an even stronger ninjutsu.

"Boom—!"

The flame arrow that had been poised to fire left the string!

Everyone only saw a dazzling orange-red light flash past!

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

There was no earth-shaking explosion, only five dull bursts!

The flame arrow pierced with absolute precision through the heads of five core elders of the Hyuga Main Family who stood in a straight line!

"Urgh..." At last, a Main Family disciple with weaker mental fortitude broke down, kneeling on the ground and vomiting wildly.

"Demons! You're demons!" Someone's mind collapsed completely, and he clutched his head as he howled.

Despair!

Utter despair enveloped every survivor!

Resist?

That was only a way to die faster!

Qin Mo stepped over the ground full of blood and severed limbs as though he were walking through his own garden.

His indifferent gaze swept over those faces twisted with fear.

Finally, it fell on a middle-aged man being protected at the very rear.

"Who... who exactly are you?!" The middle-aged man glared at Qin Mo in fury.

Qin Mo did not answer. He only slowly raised his right hand and pointed at him.

Black chakra coiled around his fingertip, as though it could devour light itself.

"No... don't kill me!" The middle-aged man broke down. His knees went weak, and he dropped to the ground. "I surrender! I'm willing to lead the Hyuga Main Family in submission to the Uchiha!

"We'll offer all our wealth and secret arts! Please... spare my life!"

The several trusted followers behind him hurriedly knelt and kowtowed as well.

At last, a hint of expression appeared on Qin Mo's face.

It was mockery taken to the extreme, as if he were watching a farce.

"Submission?" Qin Mo's voice seemed to come from the depths of the underworld. "Are you, the Hyuga Main Family, worthy?"

The black chakra erupted violently!

It was no longer Susanoo's skeleton. Instead, it condensed into an ink-black chakra long blade wrapped in ominous black flames, appearing in Qin Mo's hand.

"Amaterasu: Divine Radiance Sword!"

"Pshhk!"

The sword light flashed!

The middle-aged man's head, full of terror and pleading, flew high into the air!

"Ah—!" Seeing the middle-aged man's head and body separated in an instant, the last will to resist among the Hyuga Main Family collapsed completely.

"Run—"

"Help—"

The remaining Main Family members were like ants from an overturned nest, crying and screaming, shoving one another, desperate to flee this killing field no matter what.

"Leave no one alive." Qin Mo's voice was like the judgment of the god of death.

Jin's emerald giant axes swung again, harvesting lives as easily as cutting grass.

Yan's flame arrows were like the god of death calling names. Every tremor of the bowstring took several lives.

Every swing of the black-flame long blade in Qin Mo's hand cut off a head with absolute precision.

His movements were simple, efficient, and cold, without the slightest excess emotional fluctuation, as if he were not killing people, but clearing away trash.

When the final scream came to an abrupt end, only mutilated corpses littered the square.

The pungent stench of blood and charred flesh filled the air, making one want to vomit.

The black-flame long blade in Qin Mo's hand slowly dispersed.

In the distance, the slaughter by the Hozuki Clan and the Snow Clan was also nearing its end.

"Senior Jin, Senior Yan." Qin Mo's voice broke the terrifying silence. "Collect every usable Byakugan on the field."

"Yes, Young Master Mo." Jin and Yan answered, and their enormous Susanoo vanished at once.

The two moved efficiently, putting on special gloves and taking out containers as they began carrying out this cold and efficient task.

To them, who had experienced the brutality of the Warring States period, this was merely the necessary "battlefield cleanup" after a war ended.

Just then, two figures quickly arrived before Qin Mo and knelt on one knee. They were Hozuki Dark Moon and Xue Tahai.

Both men were stained with quite a bit of blood, and their breathing was slightly hurried. Clearly, they had also been through a fierce battle.

"My lord!" Hozuki Dark Moon spoke first. "Whether ninja or civilian, everyone in the Hyuga Main Family has been cleared out. Not one survived!"

Xue Tahai immediately added, "All buildings inside the clan grounds have been searched, and it has been confirmed that no one escaped alive. It's just... we discovered something... rather strange."

Qin Mo's gaze fell on Xue Tahai's face. "Speak."

Xue Tahai took a metal token stained with a little blood from his chest and presented it with both hands.

The token was made of a special material and engraved with the intricate Hyuga clan emblem. A few words were clearly carved on the back—Deputy Clan Head: Hyuga Sosuke.

"This was found on the east side of the core area, inside an independent courtyard that was heavily guarded," Xue Tahai replied. "When our people arrived, we discovered that this deputy clan head, Hyuga Sosuke, had already been dead for some time."

Qin Mo took the token, and the cold touch of metal reached his fingers.

"Dead for some time?" There was no emotion in Qin Mo's voice. "Before you arrived?"

"Yes, my lord," Hozuki Dark Moon said. "The time of death was definitely before we launched the attack, and... the way he died was very strange."

"How was it strange?" Qin Mo asked.

"He was sitting upright at the tea table in the main house, his posture... very calm." Xue Tahai recalled the scene.

"There were no external injuries on his body, nor any signs of struggle or resistance.

"It was as though... he died in his sleep, or... had his life taken away in an instant.

"But the strangest thing was that both of his Byakugan had already been completely dug out!"