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A cold glint suddenly flashed out of nowhere.
Hayato felt a chill shoot down his spine as every hair on his body stood on end. Without thinking, he stomped hard on the ground—bam!—leaving a deep footprint as he sprang backward in a flash.
Ssshhk!
Even though Hayato dodged as fast as he could, his current state just wasn't on par with his attacker. The enemy was clearly stronger and had set up a perfect ambush. As he tried to retreat, a blade of cold light sliced across his chest, drawing a spray of bright red blood. The pain made him grunt, but before he could even fully pull back—
Whoosh!
Another gust of wind came from behind, sharp and deadly. Hayato didn't have time to react. He tried to pivot and dodge, slamming his foot to the ground to move sideways—but squelch! someone burst out from the ground beside him, stabbing straight at him with a kunai.
Another ambush. Again!And worse—these guys had predicted exactly how Hayato would respond to an ambush, and they'd planned around it.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"
Out of nowhere, a shadow stretched out from beneath him and linked perfectly with his own. Just as Hayato tried to move—his whole body froze.
Stab!
The kunai plunged into his right chest. At the same time, a razor-sharp wind-style jutsu struck from behind, tearing into him and leaving a massive gash, almost splitting him in two.
Thup-thup-thup-thup!
Kunai and shuriken came flying at him from all directions. Hayato didn't even have time to react. He tried to dodge, but most of the weapons still hit, stabbing into him one after another. Even worse, they were all tied with explosive tags.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of explosions went off all over Hayato's body. Fire and smoke engulfed him—it looked like he'd just been hit by a barrage of missiles.
But even then, the enemy didn't stop attacking.They knew about Hayato's bloodline limit and weren't taking any chances. As strong as these attacks were, they knew they still might not be enough.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!""Wind Style: Gale Breakthrough!"
—And more.Attack after attack rained down, even though they couldn't actually see Hayato anymore. They were going all out to either kill him or leave him too broken to fight back.
"Hyuga Nichiyu, what's the status? Is that guy dead yet?" Uchiha En, his Sharingan glowing with three black tomoe in crimson eyes, asked while turning to Nichiyu.
Nichiyu hadn't attacked yet, but he'd had his Byakugan activated from the start, his terrifying gaze locked onto Hayato the whole time.
"No... he's not. And... and actually..."Nichiyu stammered. He'd been tracking Hayato non-stop, even when jutsu filled the entire area. Out of everyone here, he probably understood Hayato's condition best.
And that's exactly why his voice had gone dry.
Because he could see it clearly—every attack, every technique had landed. Not a single one missed.
Even a Kage-level ninja would've been torn to pieces by all that.But Hayato? He wasn't even close to going down.
"AAARGHHH!!"
A ferocious roar erupted from within the smoke.
Then, a massive figure—five or six meters tall—suddenly charged out. A giant, green-skinned monster. Completely naked, not a scratch on him.
Hayato had been caught totally off guard by Konoha's ambush squad. He didn't even have time to react before they swarmed him and beat the hell out of him. But that brutal beating triggered something inside him—rage exploded, and so did his transformation.
In an instant, Hayato's Hulk bloodline activated.
Fueled by pain and fury, he morphed into a five-to-six-meter-tall green giant.
"ROOAAARRR!!"
With a thunderous roar, Hayato smashed his massive fist into the ground. The whole area trembled. Even the lake in front of his house started rippling violently—then BOOM!—it exploded, like someone had dropped a bomb in it.
At the same time, squelch!—a fountain of blood burst up from the earth.Turned out someone had been hiding underground using Earth Style.
Hayato's punch had crushed them right then and there, even without knowing they were there.
"....."