Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Black Hoe Raiga vs. the Byakugan's Weakness
"Leaf Village ninja, huh? They remind me of someone I hate," muttered the leader of the group wearing black raincoats. His raincoat bulged at the back, an ominous sight.
Sensing the man's shifting emotions, a boy's voice came from the bulge under the raincoat. "Shall we prepare their funeral?"
The raincoat leader didn't respond but instead grinned widely.
As the black-cloaked figures passed the members of Team 8, tension crackled in the air. Both sides kept a wary eye on each other, their peripheral vision locked in silent vigilance. Any sudden move could trigger a fight.
Fortunately, neither side seemed intent on provoking a conflict, and they passed each other without incident.
Just as Kurenai began to lower her guard, a dense white mist suddenly filled the air, reducing visibility to almost nothing.
"This is bad—Mist Concealment Jutsu!" Kurenai exclaimed, her face twisting with alarm.
"Byakugan, activate!" Hinata immediately unleashed her Byakugan, spinning around and unleashing a wave of chakra: *"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"*
The swirling chakra blasted through the mist like an invisible cannonball, striking one of the raincoat figures and sending them flying.
"Ahh!"
A scream echoed through the dense mist.
But Hinata's expression soon changed dramatically. "It's an ambush! There are at least a hundred of them!"
Through her Byakugan, she saw countless figures appearing within the white mist, all showing visible chakra pathways.
"Don't panic—those are illusions," Shino said calmly, observing the movement of his insects crawling on his finger. "Though it's amazing that they can fool even the Byakugan, my insects tell me their scent hasn't changed."
Yasuo, who had activated his Sharingan and was also seeing numerous chakra signatures in the mist, hesitated in the middle of forming hand seals. After a moment, he shifted his hands. *"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"*
Poof!
Amid the white mist, a sound like an exploding balloon echoed.
*"Spiral Water Tornado!"*
Yasuo stepped forward, raising his right hand above his head. From his palm, spiraling blue chakra appeared, forming a compact water tornado.
The moment it fully took shape, a massive torrent of water cascaded from above. The flood seemed poised to sweep Team 8 away, but instead, the water converged over Yasuo's head, forming a rapidly growing water vortex.
He hurled the vortex forward, the tornado leaving a massive trench in the ground as it spun, dragging rocks into its spiraling waters. The resulting storm of water and debris tore through the surrounding mist like a colossal vacuum, sucking everything into its core.
The water tornado moved so fast that the raincoat figures, hindered by the mist, were pulled into its grip before they could react.
"Ahhh!"
Screams of terror echoed through the mountain as the swirling tornado, filled with shattered rocks and spinning bodies, rapidly carried its victims into the distance.
When the mist finally cleared, Team 8 could see the tornado receding into the horizon, still churning with debris and several unfortunate figures. Unless it hit a solid mountain wall, it would likely travel far before dissipating.
Even Kurenai and Shino, seasoned ninjas, were awestruck by the technique's sheer power. They couldn't imagine the destruction it could cause if used at sea.
Hinata, her temples pulsing with veins from her Byakugan activation, stood frozen in disbelief. "They really were illusions? How is that possible?"
The Byakugan, like the Sharingan, was known as a bane to genjutsu. Once activated, it allowed Hinata to see chakra pathways within the human body.
No matter how convincing an illusion was, without real chakra circulation in its "veins," it would appear transparent and fake to the Byakugan.
Yet moments ago, Hinata had clearly seen over a hundred figures, all with chakra flowing through their pathways.
How could illusions mimic something so perfectly? Hinata, for the first time, began to doubt the infallibility of the Byakugan.
Boom!
The rumble of thunder echoed ominously through the mountains.
Yasuo and Kurenai froze, their expressions darkening as if they had sensed something.
"Scatter, now!" Yasuo shouted, grabbing the still-stunned Hinata and dashing away in a flash.
An instant later, a massive bolt of lightning struck their previous position. The ground exploded with debris, leaving behind a smoking crater surrounded by crackling arcs of blue-white electricity.
Team 8 regrouped on an open plain, forming a defensive triangle as their eyes scanned the surrounding mountain paths.
"Hinata, use your Byakugan to locate the source of the lightning jutsu!" Kurenai ordered sternly.
Still shaken, Hinata replied, "I can't find them. Aside from those caught in the water tornado, I don't see any other chakra signatures."
"My insects can't find them either," Shino added, his tone grave.
But Yasuo, his Sharingan glowing, smirked. "It's not your fault, Hinata. It's not that you can't see them—it's that they have techniques specifically designed to counter the Byakugan and sensory ninjutsu."
He pointed toward a mountain path. "There! I've found him!"
Team 8 followed his gesture and saw a figure standing in the distance—the leader with the bulging raincoat. He had removed his hood, revealing green hair and two uniquely shaped swords crackling with blue-white electricity.
Kurenai's face paled as she recognized the man and his weapons. Cold sweat ran down her cheeks. "That's Raiga Kurosuki, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
Wasting no time, Kurenai drew a kunai and declared, "I'll hold him off. The rest of you, run!"
"Sensei, why don't you escape with us?" Hinata asked anxiously.
"I can't," Kurenai said firmly. "He's a rogue ninja from the Mist Village, a Jonin skilled in the Silent Killing Technique. If we try to escape together, he'll pick us off one by one."
"In that case, let's take him on as a team," Yasuo said confidently. "It's the perfect chance to test my new jutsu."
Hinata, her resolve hardening, stepped up beside Yasuo.
Shino didn't say a word but positioned himself on Yasuo's other side.
Kurenai looked at her students in shock, their determination warming her heart. A small smile appeared on her lips.
"Then let's fight this rogue ninja together as Team 8!"
The rumble of thunder echoed again, shaking the mountains.
Another massive lightning bolt descended from the heavens, hurtling straight toward Team 8.
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