The instant the blue light on Neji's forehead lit up again, it seemed to be forcibly cut off by some invisible force field.
The light was not dazzling, but it carried a chilling cold that made hearts tremble, like a third eye opening in the abyss.
Hyuga Hiashi froze in place, still holding the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, his fingertips trembling slightly.
He could sense that the amount of chakra Neji was releasing had already far exceeded anything human.
Neji's voice was quiet. There was no hysterical roar, only the indifference of someone who had seen through life and death.
"Waiting for Konoha's Anbu? Or for your Main Family elders to collect your corpse?"
Hiashi's Adam's apple bobbed. He was about to speak when Neji vanished from his sight.
Too fast.
So fast that even the Byakugan Hiashi took such pride in could not track the flow of chakra in time.
Bang!
The air cracked.
Hiashi had barely raised his arms into the defensive stance of the Eight Trigrams Palm when a dull thud struck his chest.
Neji's right palm had already pierced the Gentle Fist defensive net he was so proud of, his fingers clamping onto Hiashi's ribs like iron pincers.
"Your chakra pathways are full of openings. You're scared. You're afraid, terrified... just like when you faced Kumogakure's threats!"
Neji whispered beside his ear, as though stating some boring fact.
The next second, a torrential barrage of strikes rained down.
There were no flashy moves, only the purest, most brutal blows.
Every palm struck a chakra point with precision. Every finger stabbed viciously into a junction in his chakra pathways.
Hiashi felt his chakra system being violently dismantled, like a precision instrument smashed to pieces with a sledgehammer.
"Urgh-"
Hiashi spat out a mouthful of blood.