Chapter 96 (Patreon)

“Members of this side branch of your Hyuuga Clan can only gain freedom after death?” – Yudao said with a grin, looking at the stunned Neji and stroking Ranmaru’s head, after which he continued calmly. – If this is true, then this is both funny and pathetic. How long must one live to see death as freedom? And this scroll of excuses is nothing more than a manifestation of your father’s cowardice.

By the end of his speech, the First Mizukage's face showed contempt.

An exhausted Neji glared at him with an angry gaze.

“You’re not from Konoha, are you?” Then let me ask you what they forgot here? – and Hiashi’s face was distorted in a grimace of cold.

– What did they forget here, you ask? Well, I can’t help it, I really wanted to lend a helping hand to the little genius of the Hyuga Clan... – Yudao shrugged his shoulders carefree, he didn’t even think about hiding his true motives.

- Hmm, you underestimate our Hyuuga Clan and all of Konoha! – the head of the Hyuuga Clan snorted coldly in response.

- No, what are you saying - just the opposite. Otherwise... I wouldn’t even think of coming here in person. By the way, dear head, if you are going to wait until your clan members see us and inform the Anbu, then I will have to disappoint you...” Yudao grinned.

From what he heard, bewilderment was reflected on Hiashi’s face, because he really still hadn’t done anything just because he was waiting for the Anbu to arrive.

But this situation...

- Byakugan! – Hiashi exclaimed coldly, seeing a very confident and even arrogant expression on the stranger’s face, and after a short moment he exclaimed in shock. - It can’t be... this can’t be!

Exactly...

The eyes of that child!

The head of the Hyuuga Clan came to his senses and turned his head sharply, casting a piercing gaze into Ranmaru's eyes.

He had originally concluded that this child's Dojutsu was similar to the Byakugan, but was now shocked to discover that it could still interfere with other Dojutsu.

Such a Kekkei Genkai poses a great danger to the entire Hyuga Clan!

– Names, purpose of coming... all this is not important, because you still can’t leave here! – Hiashi spat with obvious killing intent, bending his knees slightly and putting his palm forward.

Pooh!

Juken!

Sharply pushing off the floor with his feet, Hiashi rushed towards Ranmaru without a twinge of conscience. He was going to quickly get rid of the main threat, which also seemed like a very easy target.

But Hiashi eagerly took the initiative into his own hands for another reason. The main problem was that the Byakugan's piercing vision encountered a strange haze around the bodies of strangers.

And behind this layer of fog he could hardly see the tenketsu.

The very next moment Hiashi appeared in front of Ranmaru.

Poor visibility did not become a big obstacle for the experienced Head of the Hyuga Clan, who had been studying tenketsu almost from the cradle.

In fact, Hiashi can get into Ranmaru's tenketsu without the Byakugan at all, due to experience and understanding alone, he simply will not be able to recognize vulnerabilities that are poorly protected by chakra.

As Hiashi was about to launch a swift palm strike to Ranmaru's neck.

“Cursed Seal: First Level,” he said calmly.

After these words, Ranmaru's tiny body began to rapidly inflate like a balloon, while emitting a dull roar.

A moment later, a two-meter strong man stood in front of Hiashi!

Boom!

Then the Swordsman of the Mist raised his unrealistically swung arm and roughly slammed his fist towards Hiashi’s swift palm.

Seeing this, the head of the Hyuuga Clan suddenly changed his face. The blow of the small child, if THAT can be called a child at all, was so fast that his legs trembled from the sheer pressure of the air.

Surely his palm will turn into a bloody mess if they exchange these blows!

Juken: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!

Since it was already too late to retreat, Hiashi decided to change his technique on the fly. Then his palm turned sharply with the inside and released a powerful impulse instead of striking with his fingertips.

Bang!

There was a thud from a direct collision inside the room, and a moment later the head of the Hyuuga Clan staggered back a few steps.

Meanwhile, Yudao stepped towards Neji with a smile on his face.

– Don’t even think about it! – Hiashi exclaimed loudly and rushed towards the First Mizukage.

But before the head of the Hyuuga Clan had time to take even a couple of steps, an unrealistically pumped two-meter strong man stood in his way.

Ranmaru then pulled out a scroll without any nonsense.

Pooh!

And with a flash of white smoke, a large sword of a bizarre shape appeared in his hand, which could not immediately be called a sword.

“Ranmaru heard that you are the head of the Hyuga Clan?” The head of the clan must be very strong, Ranmaru knows... - the Swordsman of the Mist said naively, and then paused and added sincerely. “Then can Ranmaru... beat you to death?”

Yudao, who was leisurely heading towards Neji, could barely restrain himself from laughing when he heard Ranmaru’s naive speech, as if he was going to sculpt little pies in a sandbox, and not fight to the death.

Maybe communication with Zabuza and the others has a bad effect on the child?

- Great, great! Exploding Sword Shibuki, you are from Kiri! – Hiashi’s face was distorted with anger, he couldn’t even find the words right away.

Bang!

After these words, he immediately took the initiative into his own hands.

Ranmaru's words offended the dignity of the head of the Hyuuga Clan!

And while they were fighting there, Yudao calmly approached Neji.

“Is Kiri going to start a war with Konoha?” – Neji asked with a trembling voice, thinking about Hiashi’s words.

Openly provoking disagreements between members of the side and main branches, as well as an attack on the head of the Hyuuga Clan right in the village, is tantamount to a declaration of war on all of Konoha.

– How does a child who grew up in peace and quiet even know what a real war is? – Yudao coldly answered the question with a question.

From this, Neji instinctively shuddered and tensed his whole body. He was ready to fight at any moment, despite being very sick after his fight with Naruto.

“It would be better for you to sit peacefully, otherwise I’ll inadvertently release you,” Yudao waved it off carelessly, noticing Genin’s reaction.

Neji naturally understood what his interlocutor meant by the concept of “freedom” at that moment.

“I also have a scroll, would you like to take a look?” – Yudao said and casually threw the scroll to the guy without waiting for an answer.

Having calmed down quickly enough, Neji, without further ado, picked up, unfolded and began to read the scroll.

The guy was well aware that if the stranger wanted to kill him in such a weakened state, he would have done it long ago.

“This is also a record of what happened that day, just from Kumo’s side, not Konoha’s.” If we put all these pompous speeches aside, then your father was a simple bargaining chip in the affairs of the great villages, and also a victim of the Hyuga Clan. And this so-called death in the name of freedom is simply ridiculous, don’t you think? – Yudao said carefree, because no matter how they interpret Hiashi’s situation or Hizashi’s message, they will never change one fact.

The fact is that Hizashi was a victim.

The Kumo scroll didn't really have much detail, but simply a description of the secret agreement made with Konoha that day.

The longer Neji read the scroll, the more his hands shook, and not only from anger at what happened to his father, but also from the gradual realization of the purpose of this unknown young man.

If you think about it that way, Neji was both smart and stupid.

After all, a truly smart person would not openly express hatred towards the main branch of the Hyuuga Clan, especially at such an important and public event as the final stage of the Chuunin Exams.

Hiashi, as the head of the clan, most likely would have long ago taught the wisdom of this genius, who hated the main branch, or even worse, if the new generation of the clan had not experienced an acute lack of talent.