Naruto: Get Stronger by Spoiling My Sister

Neji looked up at the five-element barrage of ninjutsu coming down from above and let out a quiet sigh. There was no escaping this. The area of effect was too wide, and on this narrow bridge, there was simply nowhere to hide.

"Like a mantis trying to stop a cart. You overestimate yourself! You're just one person!" someone shouted with open mockery.

To them, this outcome was expected. It should be this way overwhelming force crushing Neji without resistance. They were members of the Root division, after all. How could they allow a single brat to stir up chaos right under their noses?

As the wave of ninjutsu came crashing down, Neji remained perfectly still, his face expressionless. No joy, no sorrow. He was calm detached, as if untouched by the world around him.

"Die!"

An explosion erupted violently at the spot where Neji had stood. Elemental attacks poured in like crashing waves, unrelenting. In moments, the bridge was shattered, collapsing into ruin. The lower level was struck as well, breaking apart under the force. Rubble flew everywhere, and smoke and dust billowed upward in a thick cloud, like a mushroom rising from a scorched battlefield.

"Is it over?"

The Root operatives stared downward, tense and alert. They couldn't afford to be careless. After all, this was the same opponent who had taken out Yamashiro Wind in a blink.

But even after the smoke had cleared, Neji's figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he? Is he dead?"

"Quick, check for chakra signatures!"

Just as they prepared to scan the area, a familiar but chilling voice echoed through the chaos, halting them in their tracks.

"Don't bother," Neji's voice rang out, cool and cutting. "All you destroyed… was a clone."

The Root shinobi flinched and immediately turned toward the sound. Then someone shouted, panicked, "Torune Aburame, behind you!"

"Huh?" Torune turned instinctively and broke into a cold sweat.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Technique!"

Without warning, Neji appeared behind Torune and unleashed his strongest fire-style jutsu without hesitation.

The Aburame clan used insects as their primary means of combat, nurturing thousands within their bodies. These insects could attack, defend, and overwhelm. A single bug could easily alter the outcome of a fight.

And Torune wasn't just any Aburame he was a jōnin. His body teemed with nano-scale venomous insects that could paralyze or kill with the slightest touch. Even Obito when he was still masquerading as Tobi once had to abandon an arm after an unexpected encounter with them.

That was why Neji couldn't afford close combat. The only viable countermeasure was to incinerate them all.

It worked. The dragon-shaped blaze engulfed Torune, and he screamed in agony as a tide of charred insects rained down, writhing and burnt.

Yet, even so, what fell to the ground was barely a fraction of the whole. Neji's scalp tingled.

There were just too many. It was as if Torune himself was made entirely out of insects. It was grotesque.

"Damn it, I swear, I'm going to invent a jutsu called 'Fire Style: Bug Spray!'" Neji muttered with a grimace. There were so many bugs it made even someone without entomophobia uneasy.

Suddenly-

Poof!

Torune, who had been writhing on the ground, dissolved into a swarm of insects and scattered.

"A bug clone? When did he-?!"

Startled, Neji leapt back, just in time to avoid a net of insects falling from above, aimed right where he had been.

"That was close," he murmured coldly, glaring at Torune. The unique biology of the Aburame made it impossible for the Byakugan to distinguish between real and clone. He'd forgotten that.

"I'm a jōnin. Did you really think your little ambush trick would work on me twice?" Torune said flatly.

"And now… I'll avenge Wind."

He raised his arm, and a thick swarm of venomous insects erupted from beneath his skin, surging toward Neji in a black wave.

"Torune Aburame, are you insane?!"

"You're going to kill us too!"

Several Root shinobi shouted in alarm.

"Silence!" Torune barked. "From the moment we joined Root, we abandoned all emotion. To die for Lord Danzo is our duty."

As he spoke, the swarm grew thicker, blanketing the bridge. These were nano-scale venomous insects. One sting and your cells would begin to break down from within, bringing unimaginable pain and death.

The other Root members wanted to scream at him. Easy for him to say why not go first, then?

But there was no time for infighting. The only way to survive was to eliminate the enemy quickly. Only then would Torune recall the swarm.

These insects were too small to see, and being stung once was often a death sentence. And it was clear that Torune wouldn't waste chakra saving anyone else.

"Kill him!"

In a flash, the Root shinobi scattered, launching long-range ninjutsu to avoid both Neji's Gentle Fist and Torune's death cloud of insects.

"Earth Style: Earth Lance!"

One of them quickly formed hand seals, and sharp stone spears erupted from beneath Neji's feet, crisscrossing in a deadly pattern.

"Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation!"

Boom!

The spears were instantly shattered, ground down into rubble. But just then, another enemy soared into the air, spewing a mass of sticky liquid.

"Water Style: Water Adhesion Technique!"

Neji rolled out of the way, countering with a Fireball Technique that incinerated the approaching insects in another burst of crackling flame.

The sound of tiny explosions echoed faintly.

"Thank the heavens for the Byakugan," Neji murmured, relieved. "Without it, these bugs would be a nightmare."

Honestly, with his current strength, wiping them out wouldn't be difficult. But his true target was Danzo, and he couldn't reveal everything yet. If he exposed his full power now, he wouldn't stand a chance later against Danzo's Izanagi.

"Wear him down! Force him to burn through his chakra! Don't let him get close!"

"No matter how strong he is, his chakra is limited! He can't beat all of us!"

"Kill him!"

The Root operatives resumed their assault, forming seals and releasing wave after wave of jutsu.

Meanwhile, Torune Aburame relentlessly drove his venomous swarm toward Neji, inching ever closer.

____________________

NEXT CHAPTER : Rotation-How Is That Possible?!

(Trapped deep within the Root base, Neji faces off against a coordinated ambush by elite operatives, including the deadly Torune Aburame and the mysterious Storm Violet. As jutsu of every element rains down on him, Neji is forced to unleash a never-before-seen variation of the Hyuga clan's signature technique one that turns the tide in a way no one could have predicted.

What happens when Rotation burns like fire?And what secret power has Neji just revealed that shakes the very laws of chakra?

A storm is coming, and the Root is just the beginning...)

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