"Let go of my wrist. Are you trying to stop me from killing the Hyuga clan?"
Neji Hyuga's eyes were blood-red as he stared fixedly at Genya. His gaze had turned unnaturally crimson, completely overtaken by madness.
With a roar filled with anger and murderous intent, Neji suddenly exerted his strength, trying to pull his hand free from Genya's grip.
But Genya's hand was like an iron clamp, unmoving. No matter how hard Neji struggled, he couldn't free even an inch.
Neji's frustration grew, and his eyes glinted with even more ferocity.
In an instant, countless sharp bone blades shot out from his body, like a swarm of deadly weapons, racing toward Genya.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of intense impacts rang out. Yet, these normally unstoppable bone blades collided with an invisible barrier the moment they neared Genya.
The mysterious force effortlessly blocked their assault, and the sharp blades shattered one by one, scattering fragments across the ground.
"Huh?"
Even in his frenzy, Neji couldn't hide a flicker of shock in his eyes.
His bone blades, a powerful attack born from his Byakugan, had been so easily neutralized and destroyed. How was this possible?
Though nearly consumed by madness, Neji's accumulated experience instinctively made him assess the opponent's strength.
Not only that, a fear unlike anything he had felt before slowly rose from deep within him, like a cold tide.
He realized in terror that this person seemed to emerge from a hidden corner of his memories, carrying an aura that made his mind tremble, as if his soul had always feared him.
"Still not coming to your senses? Then I'll have to wake you up with force!" Genya stared at Neji, his eyes tinged with a faint melancholy, as if he had long anticipated this moment, yet felt a helpless resignation.
He slowly raised his palm.
"No…" A look of fear flashed across Neji's face, twisted by madness.
He instinctively wanted to escape, but Genya's grip on his wrist was like iron. No matter how he struggled, he could not break free from this binding.
"Smack!" In an instant, Genya's palm struck Neji's face with overwhelming force.
A visible shockwave spread outward. Neji's body flew backward like a cannonball, tracing an arc through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Buzz!" Hyuga Neji's cheek swelled visibly in an instant, rising like it had been struck by an invisible force.
The deep red aura that had once burned in his eyes began to dissipate under the impact of that single slap.
Yet, when Neji looked at Genya, his eyes were still blood-red, and his expression had grown even more feral.
At the same time, the ground around him began to tremble violently.
Countless bones erupted from beneath the earth, surrounding him as if forming a solid defensive fortress, yet simultaneously gathering power for a devastating attack.
"It seems… I still haven't woken you up!" Genya's eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of seriousness flickering across his gaze.
He slowly rolled up his sleeves, a gesture that announced he was now treating the crazed opponent before him with full attention.
There was no denying it—Neji in this frenzied state had grown far stronger than usual.
Even for Genya, subduing him would require considerable effort.
Unable to contain the raging fire within, Neji let out a piercing howl and charged at Genya once more.
"Boom~~" The two collided again, and the impact shook the ground violently.
Cracks split across the earth, dust rose into the air, blocking the sun.
As expected, Neji was sent flying backward once more.
However, Genya seemed to be deliberately controlling the force of his attacks.
Each strike would dissipate some of the blood-red aura in Neji's eyes, yet it would not inflict serious injury.
Neji, in turn, displayed an incredible tenacity.
Each time he fell heavily to the ground, he struggled to his feet, his gaze filled with defiance and madness, charging at Genya again.
In an instant, he would be struck back once more, repeating this cycle endlessly.
Outside the Hyuga clan territory.
"What's going on? Did the Hyuga Clan start fighting again?"
Deidara felt the violent tremors under his feet and was filled with shock.
He furrowed his brows, thinking silently. Who could be causing such a commotion within the Hyuga Clan? Could it really be Neji going berserk? The image of Neji's crazed expression flashed through his mind.
"I'll take a look."
Kimimaro shook his head slightly, murmuring under his breath, and slowly activated his Byakugan.
The veins at his temples bulged slightly as he tried to see through the Hyuga Clan's estate. But soon, his brow furrowed tightly.
To his surprise, the Byakugan couldn't penetrate the Eight Trigrams Formation, nor could it reveal the details inside.
Through the blur, however, he could faintly make out two figures locked in intense combat.
Looking closer, it didn't seem like a true battle at all. It looked more like one person was mercilessly tormenting the other.
The dominant figure, though, didn't seem intent on killing the one being attacked, which left Kimimaro puzzled.
"What is it?" Deidara noticed the change in Kimimaro's expression and tensed.
He sensed that something unexpected had happened. Quietly, he thought that if something had gone wrong, they might need to send someone to find Neji, since Neji was an extremely important teammate.
"I can't see through the Eight Trigrams Formation, but… something has gone wrong. There's another person inside the formation!" Kimimaro said seriously, a hint of worry in his tone.
"Another person?"
Deidara's brows knitted even tighter. He paused for a moment, then took out some special clay and chewed a piece in his hand.
Before long, a bird with a single large eye appeared in his palm.
This was Deidara's new technique—the Clay Reconnaissance Bird. It could share his perspective and allow him to scout from a distance.
Gently releasing it, the clay bird flapped its wings and soared into the sky, heading toward the Hyuga Clan's estate.
"Whoosh—" As Deidara's clay bird soared into the sky, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the other ninja who had been cautiously observing immediately took up defensive stances, their eyes fixed warily on every move Deidara made.
To them, Deidara and his companions were unpredictable; each action could conceal immense danger.
Only when the clay bird headed toward the Hyuga clan's territory did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Hokage-sama, what are they trying to do?" one ninja asked, watching Deidara's strange movements with confusion.
To their eyes, the three outsiders' behavior was extremely odd, and every gesture demanded their full attention.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened as he followed the clay bird with his gaze. He closed his eyes briefly, sensing the movements coming from that direction.
After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes. After a brief silence, he spoke, "It seems something happened over near Neji. Someone is fighting him. They're concerned, so they want to check on the situation."
"Someone is fighting that God of Death? Who?" The ninja's eyes lit up instantly.
They had all heard about Neji's current frenzied state. Anyone capable of matching him in combat would be a formidable force.
The ninja's mind immediately conjured the image of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, and he couldn't help but wonder, "Could it be one of the Legendary Sannin has returned to the village?"
In the eyes of ordinary ninja like them, the power of the Legendary Sannin—Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru—was unmatched.
To fight Neji in his current state, one would have to possess strength at least at that level.
"Jiraiya…?" Hiruzen murmured softly, a flicker of hope in his eyes. He desperately wished that the ninja's guess was correct.
At the very least, Konoha's pride would not suffer too much.
Meanwhile, Naruto:
Naruto kept a close watch on the surroundings, his gaze filled with worry and urgency.
Suddenly, the Nine-Tails within him spoke, "Someone familiar is here!"
Naruto froze in surprise. Instinctively, he asked, "Who is it?"
****
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