Bzz—!
The air trembled—no, it wailed.
The dark-blue chakra sphere condensed to the extreme in Hiashi Hyuga's palm was like a miniature star of death. The terrifying suction it emitted caused fine cracks to appear across the surrounding stone floor. His face, twisted by madness, looked incomparably ferocious, like an evil ghost crawling out of hell.
"By the name of the Hyuga, I deprive you!"
With a furious roar, the hand containing the full-power strike of a Shadow Level expert and a vicious forbidden technique tore through the air and slammed toward Hinata's eyes!
Success!
As long as he drained the last trace of value from this useless girl, the formation would stabilize once more, and his connection with that great being would be restored! Then, he would gain power surpassing all his ancestors. The entire Hyuga—no, the entire Leaf Village—would grovel at his feet!
Greedy flames for supreme power had already ignited in Hiashi Hyuga's eyes.
Yet, in the fraction of a second before his fingertips touched Hinata's fragile eyelids—
A sudden change erupted!
The expected torrent of pure Byakugan ocular power surging from Hinata's body never appeared.
His palm grasped empty air.
There was nothing.
It was like punching into cotton. All his power landed in emptiness without stirring even the slightest ripple.
"Hmm?"
Hiashi Hyuga's pupils abruptly contracted. After a momentary blank in his mind came overwhelming shock and suspicion.
What was happening?
The forbidden technique... had failed?
Impossible! This was the Bloodline Severance Technique passed down through the Main House for generations. It used bloodline resonance as its trigger; failure should have been impossible!
At the very instant he hesitated in disbelief, an utterly unimaginable force of suction, so immense that it made his soul tremble, suddenly surged back from the formation beneath his feet!
Not