Elsewhere in the Pure Land.
The scene here was entirely different from the ruins where the Third stood, open and grim.
Beneath his feet, a hard white surface shimmered faintly as it stretched into the distance.
Hiashi examined it. The ground seemed to be made of bone.
The lingering aftermath of battle hung in the air, along with a faint sense of desolation.
Hyuga Hiashi stood alone in that open expanse. His white kimono, a symbol of the Main Family's authority, fluttered gently in a wind that came from somewhere unknown, his long hair stirring with it.
He had just repelled a mixed force of unknown samurai and ninja from the Pure Land faction, and his breathing had not yet fully settled.
But just as he steadied his breathing, preparing to find his next target or regroup with his allies, a cool current of air carrying a strange sense of tranquility brushed his cheek and stirred his long hair.
This wind...
It seemed different.
Something stirred in Hiashi's heart. Almost instinctively, he turned and looked behind him.
The next instant, his body froze as though pinned by an invisible force. His pupils abruptly contracted, and his breath stopped.
Not far behind him stood an enormous, thick pillar of stark white bone that had appeared at some unknown moment, like the remains of an ancient beast.
Its surface was smooth and pale, emanating a cold, deathly stillness.
And atop that white bone pillar, a figure stood silently.
The man wore a kimono almost identical in style to Hiashi's.
He stood tall and straight, and his face...
Hyuga Hiashi's breathing fell into utter disarray.
That face...
It was almost a perfect copy of his own!
The same features, the same white eyes distinctive to the Hyuga Clan-even the familiar sternness between his