Sasuke Retrieval Mission (Neji vs. Kidomaru)

The Konoha village gate was steeped in a predawn chill. Neji tightened the collar of his Chunin vest and watched Shikamaru accept the mission scroll with an unwilling look on his face.

"I'm the captain?" Shikamaru's brows knotted together. Although Lady Tsunade had secretly summoned him in the middle of the night, she had never explicitly said he was the captain. Neji had been exceptionally promoted to Chunin alongside him; shouldn't Neji have been more suitable? "What a drag..."

"It's the Hokage's order." Neji replied briefly, his gaze sweeping over the other team members—Naruto, gritting his teeth; Choji, munching on chips; and Kiba and Akamaru, eager for a fight.

It was exactly the same lineup as he remembered. Good. The plotline had not deviated.

"Then that's settled." Shikamaru sighed. "Kiba, we're counting on you for tracking. Choji, make sure you brought enough food. Naruto... don't be impulsive. Neji, you'll handle scouting and support."

Neji merely nodded without speaking.

The more he said, the more likely he was to slip up. He knew all too well that someone as brilliant as Shikamaru might grow suspicious of any unnecessary explanation. Staying silent and following orders was the safest course.

The pursuit began. Kiba's sense of smell was indeed formidable. The scent left behind by the Sound Four was so obvious that it was practically leading them by the nose. Neji kept his Byakugan active the entire time, though only at its lowest consumption level—he needed to conserve chakra. The real battle lay ahead.

Along the way, he heard Naruto and Shikamaru arguing.

"Why should I listen to you?! I'm going to rush over there and bring Sasuke back!"

"Shut up, dead last! They're four Jonin-level ninja. Charging straight in is suicide!"

"But..."

"No buts! I'm the captain, so listen to me!"

Neji listened silently, but in his mind, he reviewed every one of Kidomaru's abilities. Spider Sticky Gold, the six-armed combat form, Cursed Seal Stage Two... every detail was rehearsed over and over in his head.

He knew he had to win this battle—and he had to win it "narrowly."

By evening, deep within the forest.

When his Byakugan caught the four chakra signatures, Neji's heart still began beating faster despite himself. They were here.

"Target located." He reported quietly, offering no further description.

Shikamaru swiftly laid out the plan, exactly as it had gone in the original story: Kiba against Sakon and Ukon, Choji against Jirobo, Naruto against Tayuya, and Neji against Kidomaru.

"Be careful. Don't fight head-on; just hold them off." Shikamaru gave one final reminder. "Once I deal with Tayuya, I'll come support you."

Neji nodded and vanished into the trees.

Unlike the others, he was not in a hurry. On the contrary, he moved slowly, adjusting his breathing and gathering chakra with every step. The twelve blood packs in his ninja pouch weighed heavily, the lens tucked inside his forehead protector was already in place, and soldier pills were within easy reach in his pocket.

Three minutes later, he saw the enormous spiderweb.

And the six-armed monster perched upon it.

"A brat from the Hyuga Clan." Kidomaru grinned, exposing his sharp fangs. "You're alone?"

Neji did not answer. He assumed the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, veins bulging around his Byakugan as his vision instantly expanded to three hundred and sixty degrees.

Including the blind spot behind him—where the lens reflected an image.

"The silent type? Interesting." Kidomaru leaped down from the web, all six arms spreading wide. "Then let me see what the Hyuga genius is made of!"

The battle erupted in an instant.

Kidomaru spat out spider silk first, sticky threads descending like a vast net. Neji twisted aside to evade them, flicking his right hand at the same time. Three shuriken flew out—not at Kidomaru, but at the surrounding tree trunks.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The shuriken embedded themselves in the trees at tricky angles. Kidomaru froze, unable to understand what Neji was doing.

But he understood in the next second.

Neji formed hand seals, chakra threads extending from his fingertips to connect with the three shuriken. With a pull and a tug, his body shifted direction at an unimaginable angle, slipping through a gap in the web!

"Puppet Technique?!" Kidomaru's pupils contracted. "Someone from the Hyuga Clan can use Puppet Technique?"

Neji remained silent. This was not Puppet Technique, but his own chakra-thread control method—borrowed from Kankuro's techniques, though his Byakugan allowed him to control chakra flow with such precision that he was even more flexible than a puppeteer.

The instant he landed, he had already rushed before Kidomaru, both palms striking out.

Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!

Palm shadows rained down, but Kidomaru swung all six arms at once and blocked every strike! His Spider Sticky Gold-coated arms were hard as iron, greatly weakening the chakra impact of the Gentle Fist.

"That's it?" Kidomaru laughed wildly as he threw a punch at Neji's face.

Neji ducked beneath it and kicked at his opponent's knee. Kidomaru neither dodged nor blocked; a Spider Sticky Gold spike suddenly erupted from his knee!

Splurt!

The spike pierced through Neji's calf, sending blood spraying. Neji grunted and used the force to flip backward, opening the distance.

The first wound was real.

He glanced at his calf. The wound was not deep, but blood poured from it. Good. That saved him a blood pack.

"Warm-up's over." Kidomaru licked his lips. "Now let's get serious."

He formed seals with all six hands, and his body began to expand—Cursed Seal Stage One!

Black markings crawled over his skin as his chakra surged. Neji knew the real fight was only beginning now.

But he was ready as well.

When Kidomaru charged at twice his previous speed, Neji did not evade. He stood in place, slowly drawing circles with both hands as he assumed the defensive stance of the Eight Trigrams Palm.

"You're courting death!" Kidomaru threw all six fists at once, sealing off every avenue of retreat.

But Neji's Byakugan could see through everything.

He moved. Not backward, but forward, cutting through the gaps between the six fists and planting a palm against Kidomaru's chest.

Eight Trigrams One Palm!

Chakra penetrated straight through his body. Kidomaru flew backward, crashing through two trees before coming to a stop. He coughed up blood and looked down in disbelief—the Spider Sticky Gold armor over his chest had shattered!

"You..." Fury and shock flashed in Kidomaru's eyes. "How did you know my punching pattern?!"

Neji still did not answer. Of course he knew. He had watched the battle footage more than ten times and knew every one of Kidomaru's habitual movements inside out.

But he could not say that.

The battle continued. Kidomaru changed tactics, no longer engaging in close combat. Instead, he widened the distance and fired Spider Sticky Gold arrows from afar. All six arms fired together, sending arrows raining down.

This was exactly what Neji had been waiting for.

He weaved through the arrowstorm, every dodge perfectly measured. He neither looked too relaxed nor too pathetic. Occasionally, he let an arrow graze his body, creating more wounds—most from ruptured blood packs, while a few were genuine injuries.

Gradually, he became "covered in wounds," and his movements began to "slow."

Kidomaru took the bait.

"Can't keep going, can you?" He grinned viciously as he closed the distance. "The Hyuga genius is nothing special!"

He prepared his final blow. All six arms rose at once, Spider Sticky Gold condensing into six long spears that stabbed down from different angles.

Now!

A sharp light flashed in Neji's eyes as all the chakra he had held in reserve erupted at once!

Eight Gates: Gate of Opening, Open!

Green chakra burst from his body, instantly doubling his speed! Rather than retreating, he charged straight toward the spears!

Before Kidomaru's stunned gaze, Neji's body twisted at an impossible angle, slipping through the gaps between all six spears. At the same time, he pressed together his right index and middle fingers, compressing chakra to its limit.

Gentle Fist Secret Art: Acupoint Kill!

His fingers shot forward like lightning.

Kidomaru tried to dodge, but the speed granted by the Eight Gates surpassed his reaction time. The strike landed precisely in the center of his chest, at the weakest junction in his Spider Sticky Gold armor.

Splurt!

His fingertips plunged three inches into flesh. Needle-like chakra pierced inside and instantly destroyed the chakra pathways around Kidomaru's heart.

Kidomaru froze. He looked down at the tiny bloody hole in his chest, then raised his head to look at Neji.

"You... how did you know..."

Before he could finish, he crashed to the ground, the light in his eyes rapidly fading.

Neji dropped to one knee, gasping heavily. The burden of the first Gate of the Eight Gates was greater than he had imagined. Combined with the injuries he had accumulated earlier, he was genuinely close to collapsing.

Yet he still forced himself onward, crushing three blood packs and drenching himself in blood until he looked as though he were on the verge of death.

The sounds of battle came from the distance—Naruto and Shikamaru's side should have been nearly finished as well.

Neji did not go to support them. According to the plan, he was supposed to be "seriously injured and unconscious," waiting for Konoha's reinforcements to arrive.

Suddenly, his Byakugan caught a concealed chakra signature behind a tree a hundred meters away. That chakra felt familiar—Kabuto Yakushi!

Neji was startled. Why was Kabuto here? At this point in the original story, Kabuto should have been at Orochimaru's side!

He immediately pretended to be unconscious, though he kept his Byakugan active at the lowest possible level to monitor Kabuto's movements.

Kabuto emerged from behind the tree, adjusted his glasses, and approached Kidomaru's corpse to inspect it.

"A single fatal blow... precise destruction of the heart's chakra pathways..." Kabuto murmured. "Neji Hyuga is much stronger than the intelligence reports suggested."

He turned toward the "unconscious" Neji, his gaze lingering for several seconds over the blood covering his body.

But in the end, Kabuto did nothing. He merely smiled before turning and disappearing into the forest.

Only after Kabuto had gone far away did Neji struggle to his feet. He had to leave this place and head for the Valley of the End.

Following the route he remembered, he circled around the main battlefield and moved toward the Valley of the End. Every step tugged at his wounds, but he did not dare stop.

Two hours later, he reached the outskirts of the Valley of the End.

From afar, he saw the two enormous statues, as well as the two figures fighting fiercely below—Naruto and Sasuke.

Neji found a concealed crack in the rocks and hid inside. From there, he could clearly see the battlefield while remaining difficult to detect.

The battle was brutal. Rasengan against Chidori, the two boys exhausting every ounce of strength to persuade one another. Their fists and chakra were their only language.

Neji watched silently while studying the combat techniques of the genius and the overpowered king.

Just then, his Byakugan caught another battle—farther away, Kimimaro was fiercely fighting Rock Lee and Gaara!

Sand and stones whirled through the air, bone spikes looked savage, and a green figure attacked frantically.

It was exactly the same as the original story.

Neji let out a breath of relief. Kidomaru was dead, but the plotline had not changed. That was enough.

The battle at the Valley of the End ultimately ended with both sides severely injured. Sasuke had already exhausted his strength, and Naruto was unconscious. He had to reveal himself now, or he would not know what to say when he met Orochimaru. Though Sasuke was exhausted as well, the sudden appearance of Neji made his heart jolt. Has my vigilance become this poor? When did he get here? Is he here to take me back to Konoha?

"Neji Hyuga, are you here to take me back to Konoha?" Sasuke asked, still cold and detached.

"You misunderstand." Neji pointed at the Earth Curse Mark on his neck. "I want to seek power from Lord Orochimaru with you!"

Sasuke looked at Neji, who bore Orochimaru's Curse Mark as well. During the Chunin Ninja Exams, Neji had even risked his life to save him. But he was an avenger. He did not need companions, and he could not have bonds.

"Your forehead protector." Sasuke pointed at the protector on Neji's forehead.

The moment Neji heard that, he thought, What the hell? That was a huge oversight. He immediately removed his forehead protector and drew a horizontal slash across it with a kunai, marking his defection from Konoha.

"This is my choice." Neji looked calmly at Sasuke.

The aloof Sasuke turned and walked away without another word. Neji knew that was simply Sasuke's personality, so he silently followed him from a safe distance.

Of course, Neji's appearance gave Kabuto Yakushi, who had been watching Sasuke from elsewhere, a fright. Just as he was considering whether to intervene, Neji made his stance clear: he intended to defect to Orochimaru. There was indeed no need for Kabuto to show himself. Still, Neji Hyuga's talent and acting skills were truly first-rate. Kabuto had misjudged him as well. He needed to report to Lord Orochimaru immediately.