The biggest bastard in your village

The dim, silent Hyuga Branch Family residence was lifeless, without a trace of warmth.

Neji Hyuga sat alone in an empty room.

The scenes in the street and every taunt kept replaying in his mind. The bond between Kiba and Akamaru was like the sharpest blade, slicing his heart apart again and again.

Hatred!

Overwhelming hatred.

But he was powerless. There was nothing he could do.

Neji was a genius of the Hyuga Clan, but a genius who had yet to mature. Genius or not, he lacked strength. At this stage, how could he take revenge or escape his status in the Branch Family?

It was all wishful thinking.

Endless frustration and resentment crushed him completely. If Neji had possessed a Sharingan, he might have awakened the Mangekyo right then.

Who could endure having a status lower than a dog's?

At last, a mad idea began growing wildly in Neji's heart.

Power... he needed ultimate power!

He did not care where that power came from. He only needed to be strong enough, to have boundless power to help him take revenge and escape his current predicament.

If he could kill his enemies with his own hands, he would pay any price!

Amid that madness, a figure suddenly surfaced in Neji's mind-Orochimaru!

One of the Shinobi World's Sannin, Orochimaru, master of countless forbidden techniques and secret arts!

Even the Third Hokage's death had been connected to Orochimaru. In that respect, Orochimaru had actually done him a favor.

Besides, in the entire Shinobi World, Orochimaru was probably the only one capable of breaking the Caged Bird Seal and granting him power!

Neji raised his eyes. All composure had vanished from them, leaving only boundless obsession and madness.

"Hyuga Hiashi, even that old bastard, the Third Hokage, knew to kill himself out of guilt. Why... why are you still alive?!"

Neji muttered to himself.

Several days passed in a flash.

Konoha remained peaceful, and everything seemed to have returned to normal. Rock Lee also underwent Tsunade's surgery during that time.

Yet just then, four figures slipped into Konoha without a sound.

They were Otogakure's Sound Four-Kidomaru, Tayuya, Jirobo, and Sakon and Ukon.

The four had infiltrated Konoha on Orochimaru's orders with one primary objective: bring back Sasuke Uchiha and complete Orochimaru's reincarnation vessel plan.

But the moment they entered Konoha, the anger simmering in Kidomaru and Tayuya's hearts surged to the surface.

Just because Orochimaru let certain things slide did not mean they would.

This return to Konoha was the perfect opportunity to settle every score, old and new!

At the entrance to a dark alley, the four quickly conferred in hushed voices.

Kidomaru's gaze was sinister as he said coldly:

"Leave Sasuke to Jirobo and Sakon and Ukon."

"Tayuya and I will find that insolent Konoha civilian who humiliated Lord Orochimaru!"

"Today, we have to avenge Lord Orochimaru's humiliation! We'll make that arrogant piece of trash pay dearly!"

Tayuya gripped her summoning flute, brimming with malice.

"I've wanted to deal with that bastard for ages. A mere civilian dared to insult Lord Orochimaru's dignity. He's asking to die!"

"Then you go find that guy. We'll contact Sasuke!"

Jirobo and Sakon and Ukon spoke.

With their roles assigned, the four immediately split up.

Jirobo and Sakon and Ukon concealed themselves and headed straight for the Uchiha Clan Compound to search for Sasuke.

Kidomaru and Tayuya used the Transformation Technique to disguise themselves as ordinary people, roaming through Konoha in search of Miki Yūya.

But even after searching more than half of Konoha, they had found nothing. Miki Yūya was nowhere to be seen.

In the end, they could only crouch in a deserted corner of a remote alley, furiously grumbling under their breath, their faces full of frustration and anger.

"Damn it! Where the hell is that bastard hiding?!"

"We've searched the whole village and still can't find him. Is he dead?"

"A bastard with no strength or backing? Wouldn't be surprising if he died!"

The two seethed with frustration. They had wanted to deal with Miki Yūya personally, only for him to disappear.

Just then, a curious voice suddenly sounded behind them.

"Huh? What are you two lousy outsiders whispering about, skulking in an alley? What bastard? Let me hear it."

Miki Yūya happened to be passing by, still recovering from his injuries with several layers of bandages wrapped around his head.

"I'm Konoha's resident expert. There's nobody and nothing in this village I don't know or can't find."

"Who are you looking for? Give me a name, and I'll track them down for you!"

Kidomaru and Tayuya froze at his voice, then their eyes lit up.

They no longer cared that Miki Yūya had just called them lousy outsiders.

They were strangers here. Searching blindly was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Asking a local villager was definitely the fastest way!

Tayuya suppressed her hostility and spoke as gently as she could.

"We're looking for a Konoha villager, but we don't know his name."

"But he should be the most obnoxious, ill-mannered, reckless, arrogant bastard in the village. The biggest bastard of all. Do you know him?"

They did not know his name, so they could only describe his traits.

Miki Yūya frowned at that. A moment later, something occurred to him, and he patted his chest with absolute confidence.

"Oh, I know him! I know him very well! I can't promise anything else, but I definitely know Konoha's biggest bastard."

His eyes darted as he launched into a torrent of words.

"I know an absolute monster! He definitely fits your criteria!"

"There's this guy whose teacher dedicated his whole life to protecting the village. His teacher's wife was kind and gentle, and she treated him well too."

"But just because the woman he had a crush on died, he lost his mind and turned evil, taking revenge on the whole world!"

"He killed his own teacher, drove his teacher's wife to her death, and finally slaughtered his entire clan, killing all his clansmen!"

"An ungrateful, deranged monster like that-is he vile enough for you? Monstrous enough?"

Tayuya and Kidomaru instantly froze, their faces filled with shock.

Holy shit?

Konoha actually had scum of that caliber?

That went beyond bad manners. It was a complete lack of humanity! They had never seen such unadulterated scum anywhere in the Shinobi World.

The two shook their heads repeatedly.

"That's brutal! That's completely sick! What a bastard-is that guy even human?

"But he's not the one!"

"The person we're looking for isn't that much of a bastard. He's just foul-mouthed, arrogant, and completely ill-mannered! Try someone else!"

Miki Yūya raised an eyebrow, inwardly cursing the two outsiders for being picky. How could Konoha have that many bastards?

Fine. If Obito doesn't work, let's try someone else.

He spoke again.

"Then I'll tell you about someone who's slightly less of a bastard!"

"A big shot in Konoha High Command. All respectable on the surface, but sinister and scheming behind the scenes!"

"He secretly assassinated his comrades, sidelined war heroes, and purged the village's ninja clans!"

"Anyone who got in his way or rubbed him the wrong way, he'd threaten, bribe, or secretly assassinate. There was no evil he wouldn't commit!"

"He'd do anything for power. His hands were stained with blood his whole life, and he was filthy beyond belief. Adults, children, men, women, animals, plants-he spared none of them!

"He even had a particular interest in studying a man in a vegetative state-Hashirama. This has to be the guy you're looking for, right?!"

Tayuya frowned and thought for a moment, then shook her head again.

"No."

"We've seen plenty of power-hungry villains like that. We're not looking for that kind of schemer, or a pervert interested in people in a vegetative state."

"We're looking for a villager. He's not some pervert, and he doesn't like killing people. He's just plain ill-mannered!"

After being rejected twice in a row, Miki Yūya grew impatient on the spot, his temper flaring.

"Not this one, not that one?!

"Are you two stinking country-bumpkin ninja deliberately screwing with me?!"

"Konoha has at least eight hundred ill-mannered villagers, if not a thousand! How the hell am I supposed to know who you mean just from 'ill-mannered'?! If you don't believe me, go take a walk. Which of our Konoha villagers has any manners?"

Watching Miki Yūya fly into a rage, Kidomaru suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He remembered a key detail and spoke through gritted teeth.

"I remember! I remember now!"

"That guy may be a bastard, but he's really handsome! He's one of the best-looking villagers in Konoha!"

At those words, Miki Yūya instantly froze.

A second later, he understood. There couldn't possibly be anyone in Konoha more handsome than him.

Then, looking utterly incredulous, he pointed at his own nose.

"Konoha's most handsome villager?"

"Wait... are you looking for me?!"

"Seriously, are you two outsider mutts blind?"

"In all of Konoha, who besides me, Miki Yūya, deserves to be called the most handsome?!"

As he finished speaking, he raised his hand and tore off all the bandages wrapped around his head.

The faint scars remaining on his face did not make him look bedraggled. Instead, they made his features even sharper and bolder. His striking contours and unrestrained bearing gave his handsome appearance a touch of battle-hardened steel.

Now, Miki Yūya's good looks were on full display!

The instant they saw that face!

Tayuya and Kidomaru shuddered, their pupils contracting as they instantly sprang several meters backward!

Yes, that was the handsome face!

That was the same punchable attitude!

The two immediately dispelled their disguises. Their chakra erupted, and their auras surged!

"Found you!!"

"You're the bastard!!"

Tayuya's eyes gleamed viciously as she shouted:

"You're just a Konoha civilian!!"

"Yet you dared to publicly humiliate and insult Lord Orochimaru! Such arrogance!"

"Today, on Lord Orochimaru's behalf, we'll ruin that mouth of yours and teach you a lesson, you arrogant piece of trash!"

[Ding! Observation Haki +6]

Facing Kidomaru and Tayuya's murderous intent, Miki Yūya did not panic in the slightest. What a joke.

"Humiliate Orochimaru?"

"Why would I go out of my way to humiliate a cripple?"

"A useless cripple with ruined arms, surviving his whole life by stealing other people's bodies. Neither man nor woman, neither human nor ghost-just a perverted old snake demon!"

"Even looking at trash like that feels like bad luck. Why would I bother humiliating him?

"Don't tell me Orochimaru came too? Any snake demons around here? That guy's such a nuisance."

Holy shit. Before, he had only called Orochimaru disabled and mentioned his ruined arms. Now he was outright calling him a cripple and a snake demon. Every word slapped Kidomaru and Tayuya in the face!

[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +7]

[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +8]

"Who are you calling a nuisance?"

"The snake demon. What about it?"

"He's not a nuisance!!"

"He is!"

"Aaaah!! Damn you, you bastard!"

"＊＊Shut up!!"

Completely enraged, Tayuya could no longer hold back. She shot forward, charging straight at Miki Yūya's face!

But to Miki Yūya's Observation Haki, her speed was laughably slow!

The instant she closed in-

Bang!!!

A deep, explosive boom rang out!

Miki Yūya wasted no time. His right leg, coated in a faint layer of Armament Haki, swept out!

With perfect precision, his foot slammed hard into Tayuya's lower abdomen!

Crack! A faint sound of breaking bone rang out!

Tayuya felt as though a boulder had struck her. Before she could even scream, she spat out blood and flew backward in an arc, crashing hard into the ground and rolling several meters, utterly stunned.

One move! He had injured Tayuya with a single move!

Beside her, Kidomaru's pupils trembled. He had yet to react.

A second later, Miki Yūya's Conqueror's Haki surged toward him.

Invisible Conqueror's Haki swept through the entire alley. Its absurd pressure briefly stalled the chakra inside both Kidomaru and Tayuya, making them feel as though their heads had been struck.

Both immediately activated the power of their Cursed Seals.

Miki Yūya clenched his fist and lifted his chin, looking down at them with an overwhelmingly domineering presence:

"Two country bumpkins from the Sound Ninja, and you dared come looking for trouble with me?"

"You really thought I was as easy to beat as Orochimaru, that crippled piece of trash with his useless arms?!

The Sannin were just the Sannin. How could they compare to me, a man with the makings of one of the Four Emperors!

Tell Orochimaru to dye his hair red before he comes looking for me."

"Damn it!!"

"Don't underestimate us!!"

Tayuya and Kidomaru attacked Miki Yūya again. Kidomaru's ranged attacks and Tayuya's genjutsu were both formidable.

But they were useless!!

Observation Haki had no blind spots, and Miki Yūya's strongest power, his Conqueror's Haki, made him completely immune to Tayuya's genjutsu.

"Third-rate ninja will always be third-rate ninja. Die!!"

Shrugging off Tayuya's genjutsu, Miki Yūya dodged Kidomaru's attack and charged at them. He leaped into the air right before Kidomaru's eyes, and the instant he clenched his fist, the air around it cracked explosively.

Descending from above, Miki Yūya looked like a savage beast, terrifying to behold.

Boom!!

The air burst, the bones in his hand snapped, and everything around him reeled backward and spun as Kidomaru was sent flying. In that instant, only one thought remained in his mind-Run!!!

I have to run!!

Their opponent's perception had no blind spots, and he was immune to genjutsu. He completely countered them. They had to run.

Still airborne, Kidomaru unleashed a dense barrage of spider silk from his body, sealing off the entire alley.

"Tayuya?! Run!!"

"Kidomaru!! Get out of there!!"

Tayuya's voice came from behind Kidomaru. She had fled the instant he was knocked away. With their opponent completely immune to genjutsu, what was she supposed to do?

Hearing Tayuya, Kidomaru immediately swung away on his spider silk and fled. Behind him, Miki Yūya had just broken through the web barrier and emerged to take a look.

"What the fuck... where did this Peter Parker come from?!"

"Don't run! If I don't scatter your Uncle Ben's ashes, I'll take your last name!!! You son of a Parker!!"