It was noon, on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
Four figures leaped through the trees in the forest, a bizarre atmosphere mingling with the dead silence. Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha followed behind the other two, exchanging glances that revealed deep thoughts in their eyes. They had already confirmed the authenticity of Hyuga Kawa's orders and knew that Hyuga Kawa's mission, like their own, was to assassinate Kohinata Mugai, the spy and traitor.
But why were these orders from the Third Hokage? Was it a temporary insertion? Or surveillance? Or perhaps for some deeper purpose, even a power struggle among the village's higher-ups?
"Mugai-senpai."
Hyuga Kawa suddenly broke the strange silence between the four, asking with a smile, "May I ask, how is your son doing?"
Hearing this, Itachi and Shisui instinctively frowned. Hyuga Kawa's question clearly exposed his prior investigation into Kohinata Mugai's background, which could easily startle the snake.
"I really didn't expect it."
Kohinata Mugai, however, laughed nonchalantly. "The highly sought-after war hero, the renowned 'Man of Take-Mikazuchi,' actually cares about the well-being of a distant relative like me."
"'Man of Take-Mikazuchi'..." Hyuga Kawa's smile faltered. "Uncle, could you please not mention that title in front of me?"
"Hahahaha, you, you're really not like those old fuddy-duddies of the Hyuga clan!"
Kohinata Mugai laughed heartily. "Isn't it a cool title? I've been a jōnin for so many years, and I'm still not as famous as you, kid."
After the battle between the Land of Moon and the Hidden Cloud Village, Hyuga Kawa's title spread throughout the ninja world. Having witnessed Hyuga Kawa lift lightning within the thunderclouds, everyone gave him the title 'Man of Take-Mikazuchi.' This meant that even among the few jōnin, Hyuga Kawa was exceptional. Not just anyone's title could be universally recognized by the ninja world.
"The fame achieved through the sacrifice of many comrades makes me feel truly unworthy," Hyuga Kawa raised his previously injured arm and smiled. "Moreover, that jutsu put me in the hospital for half a year. It was then that I saw you visiting your wife and child."
"So that's how it is. I thought you had investigated me, that would have been too scary," Kohinata Mugai said jokingly, sending a chill down Itachi and Shisui's spines. Then he shrugged. "To be honest, my son's condition isn't very good."
With that, he suddenly stopped. Under the wary gazes of Shisui and Itachi, he reached into his怀里 (bosom), pulled out a rolled cigarette, and lit the tip.
"Phew..."
He watched his purple smoke drift away with the wind. Hyuga Kawa also watched the scene quietly with a smile.
"I'm a bit worried about them, so I asked the Third Hokage for a month's leave," Kohinata Mugai's face showed a hopeful smile. "They always complain that I'm not home, so I have to finish the mission quickly and rush back, then spend more time with them."
"It seems Mugai-senpai is a father and husband who deeply values his family," Hyuga Kawa said softly.
"Indeed," Mugai didn't deny it, sighing. "It's not an exaggeration to say I live for them... Oh right, besides them, there's also cigarettes and good wine."
With that, he pulled a silver bottle from his ninja tool pouch behind his pants and brought the mouth of the bottle to his lips. A sweet aroma drifted over with the wind, letting Shisui and Itachi know that Mugai was drinking alcohol.
"Mugai-senpai, the three ninja prohibitions, have you forgotten?" Itachi Uchiha asked, looking at Mugai's back.
Kohinata Mugai ignored him, chugging the entire bottle with a "gulp gulp" sound, finally letting out a contented groan.
"Ha, as your senior, let me teach you something."
At this, he finally turned to Itachi and Shisui, smiling. "Ninja must learn to conceal their killing intent. In this regard, our 'Man of Take-Mikazuchi' does very well."
As his words fell, a cold glint flashed.
Crack!
Kohinata Mugai looked at the metal sake bottle blocking his way, and sighed as he saw the kunai deeply embedded in it. "Ah, this sake is expensive. What a waste."
At this moment, a grave expression appeared on Itachi and Shisui's faces. Clearly, Shisui Uchiha was the one who had attacked just now.
"Have you already discovered us?" Shisui said in a low voice. "Surrender obediently, Kohinata Mugai. The Third Hokage is lenient towards those who turn themselves in; he probably won't kill you." Although he said this, his eyes were already crimson, with six tomoe calmly swirling.
Kohinata Mugai had already lowered his head, deliberately avoiding Shisui's eyes, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Shisui of the Body Flicker, also somewhat famous, I see," he murmured. "However, because you only walk in the light, is this the extent of your wisdom, or perhaps..."
"Compared to that guy over there, are you just a naive kid?"
With that, Mugai flicked his thumb, flicking off the ash from his cigarette. His downcast eyes glanced at Hyuga Kawa, who remained smiling.
"You should know what I've done. If so, you should also know if I'll be forgiven after surrendering, right?"
"I just didn't expect that it wouldn't just be two Uchiha prodigies coming to assassinate me, but also our war hero. I'm truly honored."
Hearing this, Hyuga Kawa shrugged, mimicking Mugai's earlier gesture. "Consider it rehabilitation training."
"You're an interesting fellow," Kohinata Mugai couldn't help but smile. "If it were a normal time, I wouldn't mind sharing my sake with you, but unfortunately..."
As he spoke, his chakra suddenly increased, clearly indicating he had dispelled his shadow clone and recalled it. As Mugai's chakra increased, Itachi also dispelled his shadow clone at the Konoha Hospital, clearly having been monitoring Kohinata Mugai for a while.
"My son must be very angry now, seeing that the dad he was talking to was actually a shadow clone," Kohinata Mugai scratched his head. "In that case, I'll have to hurry back and find an excuse to explain it to him properly."
As his words fell, his center of gravity shifted downwards, his left hand extended forward, and his right hand remained at his chest, seemingly adopting the unique stance of Gentle Fist. However, his hand was not clenched into a fist but held in a hand-blade stance.
Itachi Uchiha didn't attack immediately but voiced his thoughts. "A ninja as skilled as you, why would you choose to be a spy?"
"As one gets older, there are all sorts of unavoidable reasons," Kohinata Mugai said with an old-man's chuckle. "And those are things you only understand when you reach a certain age."
"..." After a moment of silence, Itachi Uchiha asked, "What about your sick son after you die?"
"That's why I can't die here."
Kohinata Mugai's left eye pupil vanished, and countless veins actually appeared around his eye. His smile faded, and he said coldly, "Even if I kill you, I cannot die."
Byakugan?!
Shisui and Itachi's expressions shifted slightly. Without hesitation, they jumped backward, creating distance. How was that possible? Intelligence had never mentioned Kohinata Mugai possessing the Byakugan. The Kohinata family had branched off from the Hyuga clan many generations ago; their bloodline was too thin to awaken the Byakugan at all.
An ANBU-level ninja with the Byakugan made Kohinata Mugai's difficulty level jump up a notch. This was because genjutsu worked by disrupting the enemy's chakra, and Hyuga clan members with the Byakugan could keenly sense if their own chakra was being disrupted. This guy had actually deceived everyone, including the higher-ups like Hiruzen Sarutobi?
"This is an ancestral throwback," Hyuga Kawa suddenly spoke. "Even if you find reasons to separate the Main House and Branch House, the underlying bloodline can never truly be severed."
The moment his words fell, a scorching heat wave swept over.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
From a distance, Shisui Uchiha quickly formed a hand seal, exhaling a massive fireball capable of engulfing Mugai entirely. But Kohinata Mugai's expression remained unchanged. He raised his palm in front of his face, directly facing the fireball.
Hiss!
Reflected in Shisui and Itachi's slightly constricted pupils, the incoming fireball was split in half before Mugai, flowing past both sides of his body. Mugai didn't appear to be performing any ninjutsu, nor was he enveloped in any special chakra. In Itachi's eyes, the fireball in front of Mugai seemed to have split in half on its own.
"Being able to use Gentle Fist, which severs an enemy's chakra, means being familiar with chakra flow."
Hyuga Kawa explained again. "Ninjutsu is also formed by condensed chakra. As long as one can use the Byakugan to discern its flow, cutting a ninjutsu in half isn't difficult."
"It's a pity that the Main House and Branch House are always trapped by the barriers they set for themselves, single-mindedly focusing their energy on the so-called secret taijutsu, Gentle Fist, neglecting the development of the Byakugan."
As he explained, Kohinata Mugai's figure vanished, reappearing beside Itachi Uchiha, engaging in a fierce battle with him and Shisui. Hyuga Kawa stood on a tree, calmly observing the scene, seemingly having no intention of intervening.
Until the very end, as the battle drew to a close.
"Huff! Cough cough!"
Kohinata Mugai leaned against a tree trunk, panting heavily. His dark combat uniform was torn in many places, revealing raw, bleeding skin and exposed flesh underneath. A deep wound on his left shoulder, exposing bone, was gushing blood—a masterpiece left by Shisui Uchiha's short blade. His right arm was unnaturally twisted, its joint severely injured by Itachi. His former formidable aura was gone, replaced only by the battered struggle of a grievously wounded beast.
However, his bloodshot eyes, strained from pain, remained fixed on the two figures standing side by side before him. Itachi's breathing was also slightly ragged, his Sharingan emitting an eerie red glow as he intently searched for Mugai's final opening. Shisui appeared more composed, having locked down Mugai's possible escape routes.
"Enough, Mugai-senpai," Shisui's voice carried a subtle hint of depth. "You have no more retreat paths."
"Retreat paths?" Mugai bared his teeth, revealing a bloody smile. "From the moment I embarked on this path, I never considered any retreat!"
As his words fell, he took a sharp breath, enduring the intense pain. With his remaining right hand, he painstakingly formed a hand seal, seemingly preparing for a final desperate struggle. Itachi and Shisui's eyes sharpened, and they moved almost simultaneously! Itachi's kunai aimed directly for Mugai's heart, while Shisui instantly appeared at Mugai's flank with a Body Flicker, his short blade cutting a lethal arc towards his neck.
However, at this critical juncture.
Hyuga Kawa, who had been standing quietly to the side, as if uninvolved, formed no hand seals and showed no prior warning. He simply lifted a finger on the blade he held in front of him.
Kyoka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower Water Moon).
Hum!
An invisible yet powerful mental wave instantly spread, like a massive stone thrown into a calm lake, disrupting Itachi and Shisui's chakra in an instant. Itachi and Shisui's bodies immediately froze in place, maintaining their attacking postures, but their eyes were vacant, as if a pause button had been pressed.
"Cough cough..."
The heavily wounded Kohinata Mugai was stunned by this sudden turn of events. He looked at the two Uchiha prodigies, frozen like statues. Then, as if sensing something, he abruptly turned his head to look at Hyuga Kawa in the distance, who still wore a smile.
"You, what did you do to them?" Kohinata Mugai's voice was hoarse, filled with incredulous horror.
"Nothing."
Hyuga Kawa slowly stepped forward, stopping in front of Mugai. His voice was calm, as if stating a simple fact: "Just a simple genjutsu."
"I wouldn't want anyone to overhear our upcoming conversation."
With that, he looked up at the distant bushes. There was only deep darkness there, as if the previous prying had just been an illusion. Ignoring the two rat-like figures, Obito and Zetsu, Hyuga Kawa turned to Shisui Uchiha, looking at his finger, which seemed to have moved.