The sorrowful drizzle plucked the strings of grief. Cloaked against the rain, Jing Xiu and Black Wolf watched helplessly as a village was reduced to ruins by a fierce battle between shinobi.
The threads of rain became strings, and the desolate wind became the most merciless of hands, playing one dirge after another before them.
"Where are your allies from the Kaguya Clan?"
Jing Xiu gazed at the ruins at the foot of the mountain, seemingly talking to himself, but Black Wolf beside him heard him clearly.
"The Hyuga Clan has already issued a notice throughout the shinobi world, claiming that you and I are hiding in the Land of Rain with unknown intentions."
"In the Land of Water, the Yuki and Hozuki clans have led troops to the border, blocking the Kaguya Clan's route into the Land of Rain."
An odd look flickered in Jing Xiu's eyes.
A child around his age had miraculously crawled out of the ruins, despite the severe wounds covering his body and the burns that had left his face unrecognizable.
Yet he stubbornly clung to life.
Jing Xiu sighed from the heart. "Life really is tenacious!"
Black Wolf did not hear Jing Xiu's murmur and continued analyzing their situation. "In other words, you and I are now prey on the Hyuga and Fuma clans' platter."
Only then did he notice Jing Xiu's unusual reaction.
Following Jing Xiu's gaze, he too saw the child stubbornly clinging to life. "Are you going to help him?"
Jing Xiu shook his head. "Life can find its own path to flourish."
Jing Xiu had a feeling that he would meet the boy before him again someday.
His own situation was already precarious. If he rashly helped this child, he might end up getting him killed instead.
"Found you, Uchiha Black Wolf!"
Several Hyuga shinobi arrived behind Black Wolf, while a combined force of dozens of Hyuga and Fūma shinobi waited at the foot of the mountain.
Hyuga Kiyomei had not come to the summit. He had taken his trusted men to guard the border leading from the Land of Rain into the Land of Wind.
In his view, once Uchiha Black Wolf was defeated, he would most likely flee toward the Land of Wind rather than the Land of Water.
After all, the sea was fraught with danger, and the Yuki and Hozuki clans stood ready to intercept him in the Land of Water. Fleeing straight into the endless sands of the Land of Wind would be a better choice.
For the first time in battle, Black Wolf's expression turned grave. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan swept over the two squads surrounding him.
One was a Hyuga Jōnin squad, the other a Fūma Special Jōnin squad.
At the foot of the mountain were another two Hyuga Special Jōnin squads and a Fūma Chunin squad.
Perhaps they had finally learned their lesson this time: the Jōnin leading the Hyuga force was not a Main Family shinobi, but a Branch Family elder.
"To think an obscure Uchiha like me could draw the attention of Lord Hyuga Sesei, renowned as 'Hyuga's Shield'!"
Uchiha Black Wolf spoke lightly, but inwardly he grew ever more tense.
Any shinobi who made a name for himself in the shinobi world possessed the strength to stand alone and hold an entire region.
As the saying went, a name could be wrong, but an epithet never was.
Hyuga Sesei was known as "Hyuga's Shield" chiefly because the Main Family had once valued him enough to teach him the secret technique, "Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin."
The chakra points throughout his body were also unusually large, and his chakra reserves far exceeded those of an ordinary Hyuga Jōnin.
Neither the power nor the endurance of his Rotation could be matched by Hyuga Kiyomei.
Hyuga Sesei and another Hyuga Branch Family elder, Hyuga Ishida, were known as "Hyuga's Shield and Spear." The former specialized in Rotation, while the latter excelled at Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
Uchiha Black Wolf had never dreamed that he would one day draw the attention of the powerful man before him.
"If you know my name, why don't you surrender at once? Young Master Kiyomei specifically instructed me to bring back your Sharingan."
Killing intent flashed in Black Wolf's lone eye.
Had he mastered Amaterasu, he might have already burned this Hyuga Branch Family elder to ashes, Strongest Shield or not.
Unfortunately, Black Wolf was merely an ordinary Uchiha shinobi. Even his genjutsu was limited to the abilities inherent in the Sharingan itself.
Jing Xiu sighed and took a bamboo tube from the Devouring Pouch.
As the fuse at the end of the tube fell away, a Firework Bomb became the most dazzling light beneath the rainy sky.
Hyuga Sesei's gaze sharpened. The moment Jing Xiu took out the bamboo tube, he knew he had fallen into the enemy's trap. "What a clever scheme, Uchiha!"
Even as he spoke, he appeared in front of Jing Xiu.
Neither Jing Xiu nor Black Wolf managed to react effectively, a testament to Hyuga Sesei's speed.
So this is an elite Hyuga Jōnin?
Jing Xiu silently assessed the gap in strength between Hyuga Sesei and Madara Uchiha.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Hyuga Sesei did not hold back just because Jing Xiu was a child. He immediately unleashed his strongest offensive technique: "Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Black Wolf chose neither to rescue Jing Xiu nor to attack the other three Hyuga Chunin.
He leaped away and sprinted straight down toward the foot of the mountain.
Only by breaking through the encirclement will I have a chance to survive!
With that thought, Black Wolf's lone eye quickly locked onto the weakest point in the encirclement: the Fuma Clan's Chunin squad.
Yet Black Wolf did not head in that direction. Instead, he chose the Hyuga Special Jōnin, who appeared to be the strongest fighters.
"Damn it! Did he see through us?"
The Fuma Clan's Chunin squad leader cursed, then swung his arms and hurled a Shadow Windmill Shuriken.
The moment he attacked, his presence gave him away. He was a genuine Jōnin, not the Chunin he had pretended to be.
"Fūma Second Elder, your Third Elder, Fūma Sasaki, didn't die by my hand! Hyuga Kiyomei made a deal with me. In truth, he died at Hyuga Kiyomei's hands!"
As he ran, Uchiha Black Wolf shouted at the Fuma Clan's Second Elder, who pursued him relentlessly.
The Fuma Clan's Second Elder stared fixedly at Uchiha Black Wolf ahead, his eyes dark and vicious.
Although he harbored deep suspicions about the death of his younger brother, Fūma Sasaki, neither the Hyuga nor the Fūma wanted to investigate further under the present circumstances.
Joining forces against the Uchiha was their most important strategic objective for now.
Although Black Wolf had only one Sharingan left, its remarkable perception still caught the fleeting change in the Fūma Second Elder's eyes.
A cold smile curled his lips, and he mercilessly drove the kunai in his hand into a Hyuga Chunin's body.
The battles of the past several days, combined with Jing Xiu's guidance, had deepened his understanding of the Hyuga's Gentle Fist.
At times, he wondered why Jing Xiu, at only five years old, possessed such extraordinary dedication to and insight into taijutsu.
Under Jing Xiu's explanations, Gentle Fist had virtually no secrets left.
In Jing Xiu's view, the Hyuga's Gentle Fist fell short even of the Eight Trigrams Palm practiced in the world of extraordinary people, let alone Tai Chi, which balanced hardness and softness and used the soft to overcome the hard.
His friend from his previous life, Li Shuwen, had specialized in Baji Fist, but had also studied both Xingyi Boxing and Eight Trigrams Palm.
His swordsman friend Li Jinglin had come from the Wudang sect. His mastery of the Two Principles Sword Technique was transcendent, and he had also grasped the essence of Wudang Tai Chi.
Jing Xiu had exchanged the Celestial Master Mansion's Dragon-Tiger Wind-and-Cloud Sword for his teachings, likewise inheriting the true essence of Tai Chi Two Principles.
Thus, in Jing Xiu's eyes, the shinobi world's taijutsu was still far too crude. It relied more on releasing chakra through the body than on the body's own strength.
By now, Jing Xiu had already taken sixteen palm strikes.
"Boy, dying to the Hyuga's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms is a worthy end for you!"
"You don't know, do you? In Gentle Fist's Sixty-Four Palms, the first sixteen strikes focus on breaking through the opponent's defenses. That makes them less destructive; their emphasis is on penetrating and striking with force."
"I'm not surprised at all that you endured those first sixteen strikes."
"After all, you're Uchiha Tajima's son! The next sixteen strikes focus on destroying your chakra pathways and flesh. Taking them head-on could kill you!"