After Neji Hyuga had swept through the enemy forces on the previous battlefield with the power of his Tenseigan, unleashing a Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion that stunned everyone present, he had not lingered.
He knew the board was vast, and his companions needed support.
He had therefore deactivated the enormously draining Tenseigan Chakra Mode and returned to normal, though his evolved Byakugan remained bright and sharp. His strength was still not to be underestimated.
He raced onward, relying on his keen Byakugan and formidable strength to avoid several battlefields where the strongest combatants were fighting too fiercely. Instead, he focused on eliminating scattered enemy "Pawns" of relatively lesser strength, sweeping through them with unstoppable momentum.
Before he knew it, he had reached a relatively open white area.
A sweep of his Byakugan immediately revealed an utterly familiar chakra signature: his uncle, Hyuga Hiashi.
Joy stirred in Neji's heart, and his taut nerves relaxed a little.
With an elder from his own family nearby, he would have someone to watch his back.
He quickened his pace and, after a few leaps, strode up to Hiashi.
"Uncle!"
Neji called out, his voice carrying a younger relative's concern and the joy of reunion.
Yet Hiashi seemed not to hear him. He remained with his head tilted upward, his gaze fixed on a point high ahead. His body trembled slightly, and there seemed to be tear tracks still wet on his cheek.
Startled, Neji followed his uncle's gaze upward.
The first thing his Byakugan picked out was the enormous, stark-white pillar of bone.
Then he saw the figure atop it, dressed in a kimono and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Hiashi.
Hizashi Hyuga.
Though they had not seen each other for ten years, the stirring deep in his blood, along with Hiashi's unusual reaction,