Killing intent!
Like countless ice-tempered steel needles, it shot in from every direction and viciously pierced Hinata's skin.
It was not an illusion.
It was the tangible killing intent forged by Leaf Village's most elite assassination force through countless battles between life and death.
Every gaze was like a sharp scalpel, trying to cut through her defenses, tear apart her soul, and expose the deepest fears and weaknesses in her heart beneath the pale moonlight.
Hinata's fingers, hidden within her sleeves, trembled slightly from the force she exerted.
Though Lord Xiao supported her from behind, the cowardice rooted deep in her bones for twelve years still wrapped around her heart like vines.
Faced with these executioners who represented Leaf Village's highest war machine, she instinctively wanted to retreat and run away.
But she could not.
Behind her stood the man who had pulled her from the mire and given her new life and strength.
If she took even one step back, she would be pushing Lord Xiao into the eye of the storm!
"I said..."
Hinata's voice carried a tremor even she had not noticed, but she bit down hard on every word, as though forcing them out through clenched teeth.
"Stand--down!"
The instant the final word fell, her pure white eyes completely changed!
Bzzz--!
The air let out a low hum.
They were no longer simply white. A brilliant yet frigid silver radiance, like melted moonlight, overflowed from the depths of her pupils and instantly dyed both eyes.
Silver light flowed through them, and at the center of her pupils seemed to be reflected an entire vast galaxy—deep, indifferent, devoid of even a trace of human emotion.
The next second, a terrifying force beyond description erupted from Hinata!
It was not a Chakra shockwave, much less the release of