Hyūga!

Smack!

A Konoha ANBU member pushed straight through the Hokage's office door without knocking. The wooden door slammed into the wall under the tremendous force with a deafening crash.

Disregarding all protocol, the ANBU ninja used the Body Flicker Technique to enter and knelt on one knee before the desk, his head lowered.

"Reporting, Takahashi Yū..." The ANBU ninja suddenly noticed the strange atmosphere in the office and, for a moment, did not know whether to continue his report.

The Third Hokage stood at the window, gazing at Konoha shrouded in red fluctuations as he puffed out smoke. Wisps of cold wind carried the smoke into the office.

Mitokado Homura, one of Konoha's Three Elders, sat beside the desk, his brow tightly furrowed. He had removed the glasses he always wore and kept his eyes tightly shut, his thoughts unknown.

Intimidated by the presence of the two men, the ANBU ninja did not know whether to continue reporting. The cold wind carried the Third Hokage's smoke against his face.

"You may leave. Don't be so reckless next time." The Third Hokage took the pipe from his mouth and addressed the ANBU member in a very calm tone.

"Yes!" The ANBU member breathed a sigh of relief and vanished in a flash.

The strange atmosphere settled over the office again.

"Homura, tell me, could anyone really be that stupid?"

Hearing the Third Hokage's words, Mitokado Homura took out a lens cloth and carefully wiped his glasses. He, too, found the matter deeply puzzling.

"Then what means do you think could be used to ambush the Hyūga?" Mitokado Homura put his glasses back on. The soft office lighting reflected a cold glint off the lenses.

"Exactly. What means could catch the Byakugan off guard? Have we been paying too much attention to the Uchiha... making them think we would only pay attention to the Uchiha?"

The Third Hokage took another deep drag and slowly exhaled. The silk-like fluctuations outside the window stained his pupils crimson.

He put on his Hokage hat, draped himself in the Hokage robe that could not quite conceal his combat uniform underneath, and packed a little more tobacco into his pipe.

"Let's go, Homura. Let's see which Main Family 'idiot' they arranged for this!" The Third Hokage headed toward the door, his calm words reaching Mitokado Homura's ears.

"I never expected the Hyūga to be the first to lose patience. Pulling this during wartime-the Hyuga Main Family's brains must have rusted through. It's about time that brute Takahashi Yū gave them a polish." Mitokado Homura rose and followed the Third Hokage, who looked as though he were taking a stroll.

"Yes, so... we'll walk there." The Third Hokage smiled at Mitokado Homura.

Boom!

Before the two could leave the Hokage Building, an enormous crash rang throughout Konoha, followed by a huge cloud of dust rising from the Hyuga Clan Compound. Yet the Third Hokage felt no panic whatsoever. Anyone who had read Takahashi Yū's mission reports would know that at least the Main Family's children would survive. As for the other members of the Hyuga Main Family? They were merely parasites who never went to the battlefield. If a Hokage truly had to choose, he believed every Hokage would choose the Branch Family.

Takahashi Yū pinpointed his destination from the air and, without holding back any of his force, plunged like a meteor into a spot just right of the Hyuga Clan Compound's center.

The lavish marble paving around him could not withstand the pressure and shattered, fragments flying everywhere. The neighboring houses shook, began tilting toward Takahashi Yū, and collapsed.

Amid the great cloud of dust thrown up by the impact, Takahashi Yū slowly rose and tore away his farmer's undershirt, exposing muscles like sculpted stone. The surging murderous aura around him made him look like a demon that had crawled out of hell.

He sensed the fluctuations of several seeds behind the wall ahead. It seemed the Uchiha F3 had arrived before him. That made sense; the Uchiha Clan Compound was right beside the Hyūga's.

He controlled his Murderous Intent Fluctuation, giving it physical form, and sliced through the entire courtyard wall before stepping toward the broken wall amid the swirling dust. His fluctuations quickly connected with the seeds ahead. One seed was already like a candle flickering in the wind, its connection extremely unstable.

Takahashi Yū clenched his fist and swung it hard, scattering all the dust before him. The sight revealed before his eyes made them stretch wide with fury.

Uchiha Delia held Hyūga Ryūhei in her arms. The Caged Bird Seal on Ryūhei's forehead still emitted an eerie green glow, and veins bulged across his entire face, but he had already passed out. Tears and snot still lingered on his face.

Uchiha Kenichi was beside Hyūga Gōshi, who lay on the ground. His hands trembled uncontrollably as he kept trying to connect to Takeshi through his fluctuations, but Takeshi showed no response.

Uchiha Shunji was confronting a young Hyūga man whose hands formed the standard Ram Hand Seal, loudly warning him to stop.

Takahashi Yū flashed in front of the young Hyūga man. His huge, fan-sized hand seized the young man's hands as they formed the seal, then wrenched them hard.

"Aah!!"

Takahashi Yū crushed the young Hyūga man's hands outright, making him howl uncontrollably.

Rip!

Takahashi Yū gave another savage yank, tearing the young Hyūga man's arm clean off. Blood gushed from the stump like water from an opened reservoir, quickly staining Takahashi Yū's bare upper body red. Large quantities splashed onto the ground as well, dyeing the Hyuga Clan Compound's marble paving crimson.

"Aah! Aah! My hand!"

Ninjas really were tougher than ordinary people. Even with one arm torn off, the young Hyūga man kept howling on the ground, so loudly that Takahashi Yū's eardrums buzzed.

Takahashi Yū planted his foot on the Hyūga man's chest, leaving him writhing and struggling like an earthworm pinned to the ground with a knife.

With the young Hyūga man pinned down, Takahashi Yū brought his other foot down twice with two heavy thuds, crushing both his thighs.

Only a layer of flesh and skin now connected his thighs, and even the paving beneath them had been crushed to pieces by Takahashi Yū's stomps.

Finally unable to endure the torture, the young Hyūga man fainted. Only the blood continued to trickle from his wounds, forming a large plum blossom on the marble tiles.

Takahashi Yū turned his bloodshot eyes toward Uchiha Shunji and unleashed a torrent of curses:

"What the fuck were you yelling at him for? Couldn't you just chop him up? How the fuck are Ryūhei and Takeshi?"

Uchiha Shunji was stunned by the rebuke, then answered the most urgent question first:

"I sent the Police Force to find medical ninjas. We still don't know. But Captain, he's from the Hyuga Main Family. Our Police Force has no authority over the Hyūga's family affairs."

"Family affairs? I'll make sure this animal has no family left today!"

As he spoke, several members of the Konoha Military Police Force arrived at speed, each bringing several medical ninjas. Upon arrival, they immediately ran toward Ryūhei and Takeshi.

A ring of ninjas quickly appeared around them as well, but they only watched from a distance. Before the Third Hokage arrived, none dared attack Takahashi Yū. The murderous aura surrounding him alone was difficult for these ninjas to withstand.

One medical ninja ran toward the young Hyūga man lying on the ground. Takahashi Yū turned and waved his hand, sending several blades of solidified murderous aura to sever all three of the young Hyūga man's remaining limbs at their roots. The pain jolted him awake with a scream before the agony knocked him unconscious again.

"Ah!" The medical ninja startled at this and fell to the ground, staring at Takahashi Yū with terror written all over their face.

"Don't let this bastard die!" Takahashi Yū had no mind to comfort the medical ninja now and merely uttered the words in a low voice.

Overwhelmed by Takahashi Yū's murderous aura mingled with blood, the medical ninja could not hold back their tears. They could only crawl quickly toward the young Hyūga man and treat his severed stumps with trembling hands.