Boom!
A blinding white light exploded across the vast desert.
From the heavens, a massive white palm smashed into the sand with a deafening crash, sending yellow sand flying in every direction. The shockwave echoed for miles.
As the intense light faded, the dust settled slowly, revealing a gigantic palm print embedded deeply in the ground. The mark stretched several meters across, the desert sand within it compacted into an almost rock-like density.
Scattered all around the imprint were thousands of small parts—remnants of puppets. All of them mangled and half-buried.
These were the remains of the Red Sand Scorpion's puppet army.
Moments ago, the Scorpion had been blinded by the sheer brilliance of the incoming strike. He hadn't seen it coming—only felt the overwhelming pressure descending from above.
In desperation, he had summoned the Third Kazekage puppet and coated the sky above him with Iron Sand using Magnet Release.
But it had been pointless.
Against the divine force of Neji's Byakugan: God of Air Strike, the iron sand defense crumbled like paper.
The white palm descended and shattered the iron shield, pulverizing the Kazekage puppet beneath it into useless shards.
Time passed.
In the heart of the palm-shaped crater, the ground trembled.
Crack!
A fracture split the compacted sand, and a figure burst from beneath.
It was the Scorpion of the Red Sand.
His Red Sand Amber puppet, which had once hidden his real body, was destroyed—its shell cracking and falling apart. Left with no choice, he discarded it.
The puppet form of his original body emerged from the dust, weary and disoriented.
He stood in the center of the ruined battlefield, surrounded by countless broken puppet parts—the remnants of his life's work.
Twenty years of painstaking creation… destroyed by a single strike.
He looked up, eyes narrowing at the armored figure floating in the sky.
Hyūga Neji hovered above him, the white light from his Nano Chakra Armor still glowing faintly. Not a scratch on him.
Scorpion could hardly believe it.
"Senior Scorpion," Neji said, descending and landing softly before him. "I don't think we need to keep fighting. You're a master puppeteer, far beyond the norm—but without your puppets, how much strength can you truly muster?"
"You—!"
Scorpion clenched his fists in fury.
This damned kid…
He'd destroyed everything. His life's work.
Neji tilted his head and calmly pointed at Scorpion's chest. "My Byakugan sees it clearly—your body is entirely a puppet now. Your only core is in the chest, right?"
Scorpion's face darkened.
To have his most protected secret seen through so casually…
And the worst part?
Even if he still had his puppets, what would it matter? Neji could simply destroy them again. There was no hope of winning.
"...Just kill me."
The words slipped from Scorpion's mouth like sand in the wind.
Neji blinked, unsure how to respond.
Was his attack really that devastating?
He hadn't expected Scorpion to break like this.
"Ahem," Neji coughed. "The Empire will decide what to do with you. But we do have more of the armor I'm wearing."
Scorpion's eyes lit up instantly.
Armor like that... he wanted it. Not just the armor—whatever technology or jutsu his Otherworld counterpart had come up with, he needed to see it.
"Of course," Neji added, wagging a finger, "nothing's free. If you want something from the Empire, you'll need to contribute. Surrender. Work for us."
Scorpion fell silent, then sighed. "Like I have any other choice?"
He'd rather live and see the innovations of the Otherworld than die here.
It was a reluctant agreement—but an agreement nonetheless.
"By the way," Scorpion suddenly asked, glancing around, "Where's Deidara? Don't tell me he died..."
Though they often argued over their views on art, Scorpion did have a bond with Deidara.
Neji activated his Byakugan again. "No, he's alive. Just buried. He managed to protect himself with a clay dragon... but now he's stuck."
Neji raised his arm, reshaping his armor into a drill-like appendage. With precision, he burrowed deep into the compacted ground.
After a few moments—Boom!—the white clay dragon was split open, and Deidara's disheveled body was pulled out of the sand.
"Haah... I'm alive," Deidara gasped, drenched in sweat and dust.
He had coiled the clay dragon around himself at the last second. But the sheer force of the impact had buried him alive, and he'd almost blacked out.
"Alright, Deidara," Neji said, smiling. "Your partner has surrendered. It's your turn."
Deidara stumbled back, eyes wide. "Brother Scorpion... You surrendered?!"
Scorpion motioned toward the crater and the shattered puppets. "What else could I do?"
Deidara followed his gaze and saw the devastation.
…
He swayed slightly. That one palm strike had done all this?
"Hmph!"
He stepped back and re-gathered his composure. "Don't think I'll surrender like him! That's impossible!"
Scorpion sighed. "Deidara, give it up. These guys… they're not normal."
He had underestimated them, even thinking they were no different from regular Kage-level shinobi. But Neji's strength had shattered that belief.
Even the Third Kazekage, whom he'd killed with his own hands, couldn't compare to this.
"I'll blow him to bits!" Deidara yelled, taking out his clay.
He began molding a C4 Garuda, ready to launch.
Neji watched him with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
"This guy's just like the Deidara in the Empire—wild and unpredictable," he muttered.
His counterpart had been sent by Ōtsutsuki Tenma himself to explore other ninja worlds, mostly to cause chaos and scout for information.
"How are you going to deal with him?" Scorpion asked, slightly concerned. "Don't kill him, okay?"
Neji shrugged. "I'll just knock him out."
He activated his Byakugan again, his pupil power surging.
Byakugan: Pressure!
A concentrated wave of ocular chakra shot forth like an invisible spear, aimed straight at Deidara's brain.
Deidara barely had time to react.
"Wha—?!"
Bang!
The mental shock hit him directly. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the spot.
"...Huh?" Scorpion stared. "That's it?"
Neji waved casually. "He's unconscious. Let's bring him back to the Dragon Vein."
Scorpion picked Deidara up and followed.
"This… Byakugan technique you just used," he asked, intrigued. "Is that part of Gentle Fist?"
Neji looked genuinely offended. "Gentle Fist? That outdated garbage? Even dogs wouldn't train in that."
Scorpion was taken aback.
In the ninja world, Gentle Fist was still a powerful taijutsu style. But in Neji's eyes?
Trash.
"I've never learned Gentle Fist," Neji explained. "My father did when he was a kid, and even he thought it was inefficient. What's the point of hitting someone with 64 or 128 strikes just to seal chakra? A single attack with real power is better."
Scorpion paused, still trying to process the cultural gap.
"And the palm technique from before? And this pressure move—those are also Byakugan abilities?"
"Of course," Neji replied. "The Byakugan draws its power directly from the Ōtsutsuki bloodline. It has limitless potential when used correctly."
Scorpion blinked. "Ōtsutsuki?"
He'd never heard of such a clan.
---
Meanwhile.
Elsewhere in the desert, Hoshigaki Kisame walked beside Uchiha Itachi.
"So, have you ever met that Uchiha Obito?" Kisame asked. "The one from this world, I mean."
"No," Itachi replied. "He died in the Third Great Ninja War when I was only four."
He frowned. The Obito from the Otherworld not only lived but awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"What's the Uchiha clan like in their world…?" Itachi murmured.
"Kisame," he warned, voice low. "Be careful. I suspect Orochimaru has concealed a lot about these Otherworlders—including their true strength."
He paused, then added, "And Orochimaru is no friend to Akatsuki. He might be using them to weaken us."
Kisame looked
over—only to realize he was alone.
"…Kisame?" Itachi turned, eyes narrowing.
The path behind him was empty.
--------------------
Visit our Patreon for more:
patreon.com/Johnwick007