Darui stared at Hiashi Hyuga standing on the ground, observing for about five seconds. He leaped into the air, raising his blade high, with lightning flashing visibly on his feet. The Lightning Style: Body Activation technique, while rare even in the Lightning-Style-heavy Cloud Village, was a skill that every Cloud Shibibi who mastered it became a top-tier fighter.
Undoubtedly, Darui, attacking with such amazing speed, was among the best in the Hidden Cloud Village.
Hiashi Hyuga knew this very well.
Among all the Cloud Shibibi he had encountered, Darui's speed was second only to the Fourth Raikage. In the blink of an eye, the blade wrapped in black lightning was upon him. Hiashi couldn't clash head-on; the Hyuga clan didn't rely on weapons, and bare hands couldn't block the slash of a sword.
So, Hiashi's response was simple.
Using the insight of his Byakugan, he read Darui's chakra flow and predicted his attack trajectory. With a slight step to the left, he narrowly dodged the falling blade and the black lightning surrounding it.
It was a risky move—one misstep, and Hiashi would have paid a high price.
Luckily, Hiashi's Byakugan insight was excellent, and years of training in Gentle Fist had given him superb control over his body. He precisely avoided Darui's frontal assault and immediately retaliated with a strike of the Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palm, hitting Darui's right rib.
However, instead of feeling contact, the strike hit a shadow clone that dispersed with a "poof." Hiashi didn't seem disappointed. He quickly spun and launched an Eight Trigrams Air Palm into the treetops behind him.
The powerful Air Palm nearly obliterated the treetop.
Moments before the treetop was destroyed, Darui escaped, narrowly avoiding the fierce attack. Though he avoided the blow, branches whipped by the shockwave scraped Darui's cheek, drawing blood. The sharp sting reminded him that in this exchange, he had fallen behind.
"As expected, sneak attacks don't work against the Byakugan, huh?"
Standing on his new perch, Darui touched the wound on his face and sighed in frustration.
No wonder he's the head of the Hyuga clan.
He was different from the other Hyuga Shibibi Darui had encountered. Not only could Hiashi see through his tricks, but he could also keep up with his speed. Previously, other so-called Hyuga "experts" could see through Darui's feints but couldn't react in time.
So, even when facing Hiashi, the clan leader, Darui had tried his usual tricks. But Hiashi's actions proved that the Byakugan was still formidable, shattering Darui's hope for a quick victory.
"Do I have to go all out?"
Darui's expression turned serious as he dropped his frustrated look.
The Eight Trigrams Air Palm shattered the tree beneath Darui before he could attack. Hiashi had struck first. The speed of the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist, which didn't require hand seals, even surpassed Darui's own. He had no choice but to abandon forming seals and dodge Hiashi's strikes.
Hiashi relentlessly unleashed his Eight Trigrams Air Palm, preventing Darui from finding an opportunity to attack.
"Trying to buy time? How long can your chakra last?"
Darui watched as Hiashi quickly swallowed a soldier pill. He wasn't in a hurry to press the attack. If Hiashi wanted to waste chakra, Darui had enough patience to wear him down. Capturing or killing Hiashi Hyuga would be far more valuable than holding a mere mountainous outpost.
On another battlefield,
"Is Darui tied up by Hiashi Hyuga?"
Yugito Nii, cloaked in the red chakra of the Two-Tails, spoke calmly to the Cloud Shibibi beside her, unaffected by the Tailed Beast's chakra. Her clear-headedness was astonishing. Shibi Aburame, observing Yugito through his insects, felt a heavy sense of dread.
This kind of Jinchuriki...
He had seen it before.
The previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had also been capable of such a feat. Having witnessed it firsthand, Shibi knew how terrifying such a Jinchuriki could be. Holding off this kind of monster... was going to be a headache.
"...But I'm not that unlucky either!"
As he considered this, Yugito turned her head toward the forest ahead. Hidden within the trees, Shibi's heartbeat quickened—had she noticed him? As he pondered his next move, the ground beneath his feet trembled slightly. Shibi's expression changed abruptly, and he leaped into the air to change position.
However, in the next second—
A crimson claw burst from the ground, piercing through Shibi's abdomen.
In the distance, Yugito grumbled unhappily.
She was crouched, with her right hand deep in the ground. Her chakra arm had extended unseen through the earth, but the strange sensation told her she had missed the real target.
The Shibi she struck dissolved into a swarm of black insects—a Bug Clone, a unique technique mastered by the Aburame clan. When the clone was destroyed, the insects scattered, launching a counterattack.
Today's opponent was a Jinchuriki.
The chakra of the Tailed Beast was too much for the insects to handle. The swarm fell to the ground, dead. Hidden in the shadows, Shibi was helpless. The Tailed Beast's chakra was simply too overwhelming for even his parasitic insects, whose ability to consume chakra typically made them feared by most Shibibi.
But even the parasitic insects struggled with the Tailed Beast's chakra.
He should have chosen Darui instead of facing this Jinchuriki head-on.
The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist was fine for fighting people, but against a massive, non-human Tailed Beast, it was utterly ineffective. Gentle Fist would likely only tickle the Tailed Beast. Shibi's insects, however, could interfere and restrain the Two-Tails.
Just as Shibi was distracted, For more chapters visit noⅴelfire.net
Yugito's next attack came.
This wasn't the Great Fireball Jutsu. To be precise, it wasn't a jutsu Yugito controlled. It was the Two-Tails' ability—a demonic cat that wielded flames without the need for hand seals. A gigantic fireball scorched the forest like a bulldozer.
The Aburame clan raised insects inside their bodies.
Their chakra and the insects' chakra were nearly indistinguishable. Even with the Two-Tails' help, Yugito couldn't precisely detect Shibi's exact location. But that didn't stop her.
She couldn't pinpoint Shibi's location, but using the Two-Tails' sensory abilities, she could estimate his general position.
The monstrous fireball swept through the area. The chakra it consumed was equivalent to half the amount of a normal jonin. This kind of brute-force attack was something only a Jinchuriki, or a chakra powerhouse like the Senju or Uzumaki, could pull off. Ordinary Shibibi couldn't manage such a feat.
The fireball flattened the area, and the flames continued to burn fiercely.
Yugito withdrew her arm from the ground and stood up, gazing at the burning remains of the forest.
"Not yet. Look out above."
A voice deep within Yugito warned her, and she instinctively looked up. Through the rolling black smoke, she saw something falling from the sky. Squinting, she realized it was a swarm of black insects, descending under the cover of the smoke.
Secret Technique: Bug Cloud!
The swarm gathered into a black cloud, lifting Shibi into the air, helping him avoid the fiery death from the earlier fireball attack. However, the insects had their limits and couldn't continue to carry him. The Bug Cloud could lift Shibi, but not allow him to fly freely.
They had saved him from a nearly certain death. Calling this technique useless would be too harsh.
Standing on the Bug Cloud, Shibi located Yugito and launched an attack. He couldn't let the Two-Tails Jinchuriki continue to attack freely. These monsters had such destructive power that he couldn't afford to stay on the defensive for long.
The best defense was a good offense.
Secret Technique: Spindle Insects!
The descending insects didn't rush all at once. Under Shibi's control, the parasitic insects spun like a whirlwind, attacking Yugito like a drill. Of course, this opponent wasn't easy prey, but Shibi still launched his attack with resolve.
As long as his chakra didn't run out, the parasitic insects could be continuously produced. No matter how many died, they could be replaced.
Yugito opened her mouth, unleashing another massive fireball. The searing flames effortlessly burned the insects to ashes. Even though the Aburame's insects had been bred for resistance to fire and high temperatures, they couldn't fully withstand the Tailed Beast's flames.
"No wonder she's a Jinchuriki."
Shibi's face twitched in frustration.
So many insects had been wiped out with a single attack. The overwhelming power made Shibi feel a bit of despair. How could he defeat such an opponent?
No matter how tough, he had to keep going. The longer he could hold out, the more time he could buy for the other units to retreat. Even if it was difficult, there was no option to give up easily..