Anyone who cheats is an orphan

The two of them had fought Miki Yūya before. They did not dare underestimate him in the slightest, or even consider turning around to face him.

"Is that guy really that strong?"

Neji did not quite understand. Although the man certainly looked formidable, he was still just an ordinary villager without even any chakra.

Kidomaru gritted his teeth and growled, explaining to Neji at breakneck speed.

"Neji! You don't understand how terrifying that monster is!"

"Miki Yūya's Taijutsu is completely off the charts. His strength, speed, and evasion can utterly overwhelm the vast majority of ninja."

"The two of us teamed up against him a couple of days ago. Just one punch broke several of our ribs. If we hadn't escaped quickly, we'd have died in the village."

"Four or five punches from that guy would definitely kill us."

Still shaken, Tayuya hurriedly added her own explanation.

"It's not just his Taijutsu. That guy also has this terrifying, utterly abnormal mental pressure!"

"That sheer intimidation can even throw people's mental energy into chaos."

"Just one blast of his intimidation sent our chakra out of control. We had to forcibly activate our Cursed Seal forms to stabilize it!"

"Ordinary summoned beasts and mentally weak ninja would probably pass out from that pressure without even getting a chance to resist."

"And since that power is connected to mental energy, his mental energy must be incredibly strong. My genjutsu doesn't work on him at all!"

Neji could hardly believe what he was hearing.

Mental pressure, immunity to genjutsu, and Taijutsu that overwhelmed ordinary ninja?

An ordinary villager, one without even any chakra? How was that possible?

In a flash, Neji recalled the report written in a secret ninja script that he had seen while visiting Rock Lee at Konoha Hospital.

It was a psychiatric evaluation personally stamped by Tsunade, the only one of its kind in the Shinobi World: asymptomatic mental illness. There were no visible physical problems, but he was actually mentally ill.

At that thought, everything suddenly clicked in Neji's head.

So that uncouth bastard was immune to genjutsu because he'd become mentally ill?

Could being mentally ill make your mental energy increasingly mental, too?

Neji's mouth twitched uncontrollably. His entire worldview was on the verge of shattering, but it was the only explanation. He had no choice but to believe it.

But as a ninja of the Shinobi World, Neji could instantly accept even something he could not yet understand.

He was no longer a Konoha ninja. From the moment he defected, Neji had been prepared to die. Whether Orochimaru could help him remove the Caged Bird Seal did not matter. Even if he died, his corpse still had to be delivered to Orochimaru.

Even if he became Orochimaru's puppet, even if Orochimaru eventually brought him back through Impure World Reincarnation, it would all be worth it as long as he could get revenge.

That place, that village, that clan-he no longer wanted to return to any of them.

When Kidomaru had vented his anger for him by shaving off all of Akamaru's fur and writing on his body, Kiba had sobbed beside them. Kiba truly considered Akamaru his most important companion.

But when his father died? How had those people from the branch family acted?

Neji turned toward Kidomaru, who had already activated his Cursed Seal and assumed a half-spider form, and asked a question.

"Kidomaru, what's your maximum attack range?"

Kidomaru considered it. His maximum attack range was something he had never tested.

"With the Cursed Seal at full power, using spider silk and a chakra bow and arrow, my maximum range should be about one kilometer."

"But my vision is limited. I can't lock onto a target a kilometer away with my naked eyes, so I can't hit it accurately."

"That's enough."

Neji activated his Byakugan. Veins bulged around his eyes, and his vision instantly pierced layer after layer of dense forest.

"The Hyūga Byakugan has a detection range of ten kilometers. Within that range, I'll serve as your eyes!"

Their roles immediately became clear.

The three-man team of Neji, Kidomaru, and Tayuya had virtually no weaknesses when they worked together.

Neji's long-range detection, Kidomaru's long-range attacks, and Tayuya's genjutsu and Puppet Technique gave their team everything: close combat, ranged combat, and illusions.

Behind them, Miki Yūya raced in pursuit at full speed with Naruto. The wind cracked beneath their feet as the distance between the two groups rapidly closed.

Naruto asked a question as he ran.

"Yūya, can you sense them?"

"I couldn't at first, but now I can sense them perfectly."

The instant Neji's gaze locked onto Miki Yūya, his Observation Haki activated. That malicious targeting immediately revealed their direction and approximate distance to him.

"Run! Keep running!"

"You teamed up to run away and screw with me the other night. Where do you think you're running today?"

"If I don't break two of that Spider-Man's legs today, I'll change my surname to Son of a Bitch!"

The two charged after them, steadily closing the distance.

The instant they barely entered the maximum firing range of one kilometer-

Whoosh!!!

High above the dense forest, above the clouds, an arrow condensed from white chakra pierced the air.

A ring of Explosive Tags was bound tightly around the arrow's tail!

Neji's Byakugan had remotely locked onto the coordinates, precisely guiding the shot.

The advantages of a long attack range were beyond imagination.

The instant the arrow approached overhead, Miki Yūya's Observation Haki screamed a warning.

His scalp prickled as danger descended from the sky.

"Holy shit!! Where'd this spider-sense come from?"

At the critical moment, Miki Yūya hastily stopped, twisted his body, and lunged sideways.

Thwack!!

The arrow struck a large tree in front of Miki Yūya, embedding itself in the trunk.

The next second!

Boom!!!

A violent explosion thundered out. Flames surged, and the tree shattered on the spot.

In an instant, dust and smoke filled the forest.

The shock wave sent Naruto flying, too.

Naruto hurriedly scrambled to his feet.

Staring at the cratered ground and the broken trees before him, Miki Yūya was completely dumbfounded.

He had not even seen anyone.

The arrow had fallen straight out of the sky.

And it had Explosive Tags attached.

"Motherfucker!!"

"So you're cheating, huh!"

"Every last one of you cheaters can have your parents drop dead on the spot!!"

"Can you play fair?! Sniping me before I can even see you! A head-locking bombardment from a kilometer away!"

"You cheating bastards of the Shinobi World! Can you do anything besides sneak attacks, wallhacks, and exploiting your range? Can you fight me head-on?!"

Miki Yūya was beside himself with rage, while Naruto was utterly bewildered.

"Yūya, where's the enemy?"

"In the sky!"

"They're using ultra-long-range sniping to slow us down."

"Keep chasing, and watch the sky. If another attack comes, use Shadow Clones to block it in advance."

Hearing Miki Yūya's instructions, Naruto nodded and immediately formed hand seals.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!!"

Poof, poof, poof!!

Dense clouds of smoke appeared.

In an instant, nearly a hundred of Naruto's Shadow Clones appeared around them. Although Miki Yūya did not know ninjutsu, Jiraiya's earlier assessment of him had been absolutely correct: his aptitude for ninjutsu and his intelligence were ridiculously high.

Miki Yūya had found a solution in a single instant.

The moment Naruto's Shadow Clones appeared, Neji's expression changed up ahead. A reaction that fast was definitely beyond Naruto.

"!!"

"Wasn't that guy diagnosed as intellectually disabled?"

[Ding! Observation Haki +1]

Motherfucker! Miki Yūya flew into a rage as he pursued them from behind. You goddamn bastard, you're still verbally bullying me from a kilometer away!