The traces of battle in the corridor had yet to be cleared when the clash of weapons rang out again from the Hyuga Clan's front courtyard.
Shinichi had just withdrawn from the low bamboo fence, his foot not yet past the alley entrance, when a muffled impact sounded from the direction of the Hyuga compound's main gate. It was immediately followed by the distinctive chakra fluctuation of the Byakugan activating—not one pair, but at least four pairs of Byakugan opening at once. Someone was launching a direct assault at the front gate. Almost simultaneously, a new chakra fluctuation approached rapidly from deep within the bamboo forest behind the mountain. The newcomer was at least jonin-level, faster than the Hidden Cloud Village vice-captain Shinichi had just taken down. Their lightning-nature chakra was denser and sharper in texture, and each step touched the earth for only an instant, their rhythm compact and precise.
Hidden Cloud Village had not sent a lone kidnapper this time, but a clearly coordinated operation squad. The vice-captain had been responsible for infiltrating the side residence and taking the target away. Others had created a disturbance at the main gate to tie down the Hyuga Clan's primary guards, while someone else was responsible for support. And the person approaching from behind the mountain was most likely the squad captain—the Hidden Cloud Village leader himself. Shinichi retreated behind the low fence and leaned against the bamboo. His Two-Tomoe Sharingan turned soundlessly in the darkness. The lightning-nature chakra he had only recently absorbed still hummed through his meridians, resonating with his newly fused lightning affinity. In the vision of his Sharingan, the Hidden Cloud Village leader's chakra appeared as a rapidly moving blue-white trail—pure lightning-release chakra, with exceptionally high meridian compatibility. A speed-type ninja.
The Hidden Cloud Village leader vaulted