The three Shadow Rank shinobi who had surrounded Neji were instantly left in a miserable state by his tsunami-like assault. To survive, they formed a formation and resisted with all their might.
The energy flayed away nearly half the skin from the foremost man's body. His exposed muscles rolled and twitched, still pulsing.
His agonized scream carried several hundred meters in the next instant.
"Die, you monster! Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
Suddenly, a Sand Village elder launched a surprise attack from behind. An S-rank Wind Release secret technique rushed toward Neji, reaching his back in the blink of an eye.
Yet when it came within ten meters of Neji, it rebounded at a full 180 degrees as if it had struck an invisible mirror, slicing its caster and the formation behind him in half.
"The power increased when it was reflected..." Tobirama Senju's pupils narrowed to pinpoints beneath his silver hair.
"A feint to let those three retreat? Too bad. Under the Byakugan, everything is an illusion!"
Neji saw that the instant the Sand Village elder attacked, the three Shadow Rank elders immediately leaped backward.
Neji's figure suddenly blurred.
When everyone caught sight of him again, three Nejis had appeared across the battlefield at once—not Shadow Clones, but energy afterimages formed from Sage Chakra.
Each afterimage was using an entirely different technique.
The palm wind of Mountain-Crushing Strike plowed the dunes into canyons.
The palm force of Sea-Covering Form liquefied the air, creating vacuum passages.
Most terrifying of all was the central true body. His hands were held in an empty grasp, as though he were compressing the space of the entire battlefield.
"Sage Art: Wandering Dragon: Star-Shattering Strike!"
As Neji's voice fell, heaven and earth fell silent.
A blazing purple dragon roared as it flew from between Neji's palms.