Previously on "Naruto: Hyuga Neji, Building the Strongest Hidden Cloud Village"
Amid the chaos of the Eastern Sea warfront, Neji of the Hyuga—known among the enemies as Star in the Clouds—struck terror into the hearts of Kirigakure's elite. Now, on Skull Island, surrounded by eight hundred Mist ninja, Neji faces overwhelming odds. Yet with the power of the Raikage's Lightning Release surging within him, retreat has never been an option.
---
Lightning Release — Duck Neck!
The sky above Skull Island boiled with dark clouds, heavy and charged with the scent of salt and ozone. Beneath them, the sea churned, restless and violent, as if echoing the tension of the battle yet to come.
Lin Qinyu Yuri stared at the young man before her—his calm expression, his piercing white eyes, his composed stance—and a tremor ran through her heart.
"Y–you… are you Star in the Clouds?"
Neji's lips curved slightly, his tone cool and faintly amused.
"Oh? You've heard of me?"
He stepped forward, unhurried, as though the ocean itself parted to clear his path.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Several Kirigakure ninja leapt from the waves, their hands weaving through seals in perfect unison. A towering wall of seawater rose behind them, cascading down with the force of a collapsing mountain. The sea, their greatest ally, answered their call with unrelenting fury.
The roaring tide swallowed Neji whole.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" shouted Lin Qinyu, the medical-nin beside Yuri, already channeling green chakra into his palms to heal her burned arm.
Yuri didn't respond. Her sharp eyes remained fixed on the place where Neji had disappeared beneath the waves.
"Star in the Clouds," she said coldly, "if you've come to throw yourself into our hands, then we'll gladly accept this gift."
Even wounded, she was proud—her faith in Kirigakure's might absolute. This was Skull Island, a fortified logistics hub guarded by eight hundred elite. Here, the tides and mists themselves fought for the Mist.
Her voice cut through the crashing sea like a blade.
"Attack!"
From every direction, silhouettes burst from the water, forming seals faster than the eye could follow.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile!"
"Water Release: Raging Wave!"
"Water Release: Water Whip!"
Hundreds of jutsu erupted at once, the ocean itself turning against the lone figure in the center.
Hidden in the shadows, Samui clenched her fists.
"This is insane… so many at once!"
Even a Raikage would hesitate before facing an army on the open sea. But Neji—still standing where the waterfall had struck—merely exhaled, as if bored.
Then, he moved.
"Pat!"
With a sharp crack, he stamped the water's surface, launching himself upward like an arrow shot from a bowstring. His chakra flared, and the world exploded with black lightning.
"Lightning Release Armor…"
The words were soft, but the power that followed shook the heavens. Black lightning coiled around his frame, his hair standing on end, his eyes glowing an otherworldly silver-blue. The air screamed from the intensity.
The Water Release barrage met the lightning head-on—and lost.
Jutsu that could crush ships were reduced to harmless sprays as Neji cut through them like a thunderbolt tearing the storm apart.
"What… what is this!?"
The Mist ninja's disbelief barely lasted a heartbeat before Neji was among them.
A blue-haired Kirigakure warrior lunged forward, his arm swollen with chakra.
"Water Release: Super Water Lever Technique! Don't underestimate—"
He never finished.
Neji's body blurred. A black streak passed through him, and the world went silent for a moment. When it returned, the Mist ninja's body had already been seized—one hand gripping his arm, the other his head.
The young Hyuga's voice was cold.
"You talk too much."
He leapt skyward, lightning surging through his veins.
"Lightning Release — Duck Neck!"
Thunder exploded.
The strike descended like a divine punishment. The sea screamed as it was torn apart; a pillar of lightning split the ocean in two. Waves exploded outward, hurling dozens of Kirigakure ninja into the air.
When the light faded, only steam and blood remained. The water had turned crimson; bodies floated like broken dolls. The heat of Neji's attack had boiled the sea itself.
"Damn it…" Lin Qinyu Yuri gasped, her face twisting with horror.
Neji landed softly amid the carnage, tossing aside the mutilated corpse still in his grasp. His pale eyes gleamed like a predator's.
"I hear anger," he said quietly, "but that's just the cry of the powerless."
"You… bastard!" Yuri's voice broke, equal parts rage and despair.
Neji smiled, cruel and calm.
"Then come and prove me wrong."
Lightning flared again. His chakra expanded like a storm front, black currents rippling across the waves. The Mist ninja screamed, but their fear only seemed to feed him.
In that moment, Neji Hyuga—quiet prodigy of the Leaf, warrior of the Cloud—became a demon cloaked in thunder.
---
The slaughter was merciless.
Wherever he moved, lightning followed.
Every strike crushed bones, vaporized water, and left the battlefield in chaos.
Samui, watching from afar, could barely breathe.
"This… this is Neji?" she whispered. "He's like a completely different person…"
In the Hidden Cloud, where strength ruled, such violence was not abhorred—it was admired.
Her cheeks flushed unconsciously.
"Neji… you're incredible."
A voice beside her snapped her from the trance.
"Stop daydreaming, idiot," Sasori muttered dryly, already collecting fallen weapons and supplies. "We're here to clean up, not drool."
Samui blinked, then quickly knelt to help.
"R-right…"
"Shuriken, explosive tags, food rations—these are all Kirigakure property," Sasori noted. "Losing this much is like stabbing their Mizukage in the heart."
Meanwhile, Neji stood atop the ruined dock, surveying the vast warehouse that served as Skull Island's core. Inside, mountains of supplies—food, ore, weapons—filled the space wall to wall.
He smirked.
"Izumi, start the count."
Uchiha Izumi appeared beside him, her Sharingan spinning faintly.
"Yes, Neji. We'll take what we can and burn the rest."
Her eyes gleamed with excitement.
Even she could sense it—the tide of war shifting.
After all, the battles between shinobi villages weren't won through strength alone.
Victory came from control—of logistics, of information, of morale.
By Izumi's estimate, the supplies here could feed four thousand Mist ninja for three months.
Destroying them would cripple Kirigakure's campaign completely.
When she finished setting explosive tags throughout the warehouse, she nodded.
"It's ready. One spark and this entire island will vanish."
Neji didn't answer immediately. He entered the command tent, dragging Lin Qinyu Yuri behind him like a rag doll and tossing her beside Samui.
The tent was large, its center dominated by a detailed sand table of the Eastern Sea region. Maps and scrolls littered a long table beside it.
Neji scanned the documents, his expression sharpening.
[Commander Utakata's Directives]
[Material Distribution Ledger]
[Kirigakure Deployment List]
He frowned. "This isn't right…"
According to Samui's previous intel, there were about five thousand Mist ninja stationed in the eastern sector. Yet the scroll listed over eight thousand.
And new reinforcements were still being dispatched.
He exhaled slowly.
"So Obito's pulling all of Kirigakure's resources into this war…"
His Byakugan flickered.
"If that's the case, destroying one supply base won't be enough."
Behind him, a weak voice laughed bitterly.
"Now you understand, don't you?"
Lin Qinyu Yuri stirred. Blood stained her lips, but her smile was venomous.
"Kirigakure, Konoha, and Iwagakure have already allied. Hidden Cloud is doomed—just like Uzushiogakure before it."
Her laugh was coarse, triumphant even as she coughed up blood.
"No matter how powerful you are, Neji, you can't fight fate. You'll die here—alone, forgotten!"
"Shut up."
Samui's eyes blazed as she struck several chakra points, silencing Yuri with a painful jolt.
Neji didn't even turn around.
"First," he said, his voice calm as he flipped through another scroll, "you know nothing about me. No one can kill me if I choose to live."
He paused, glancing over his shoulder with a faint, confident smile.
"Second… Kirigakure will fall. Completely. And when it does, it'll serve Hidden Cloud for generations."
"Ridiculous!" Yuri spat blood, trembling. "Where do you find this arrogance? The Fourth Raikage has already withdrawn from the eastern front! Once Lord Yagura joins the battle, you'll—"
Neji cut her off with a quiet chuckle.
"Yagura Karatachi… the perfect Jinchūriki, right? If he truly had control over his power, he would've led from the front long ago. But he's remained sealed away in the village, hasn't he?"
Yuri froze, her eyes widening.
"W–what are you implying?"
"Tell me," Neji continued, his tone low but sharp, "why would a Kage with such strength avoid the battlefield when his people are dying by the hundreds?"
The woman had no answer.
Neji's Byakugan glowed faintly as if seeing far beyond the tent walls.
"Because he's not the one giving the orders anymore."
The words hung in the air like a curse.
Yuri's lips trembled. "Impossible…"
Neji smiled thinly. "You'll see soon enough."
At that moment, the tent flap rustled and Izumi entered, followed by Pakura.
"Neji, the supplies are ready to burn. Should we detonate now?"
"Not yet," he said softly.
A crow fluttered in through the opening, landing on Izumi's shoulder. She listened to its report, her face darkening.
"The scouts say multiple Kirigakure platoons are heading this way. Their response is faster than expected."
"I see."
Neji closed the scrolls, his calm undisturbed.
Samui turned to him, concern flashing across her face.
"Then we should retreat! Let's regroup with Yugito before we're surrounded."
"Retreat?" Neji looked up, meeting her gaze. A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"Why retreat now?"
He rose, lightning faintly crackling around his hands.
"The more Kirigakure sends after us, the better. Our mission isn't to run—it's to draw their fire. We'll give Yugito the perfect opening."
Outside, thunder rumbled across the sea.
The mist thickened, carrying with it the approach of countless enemies.
But Neji stood tall, his silhouette outlined by the flickering black lightning that coiled around him like a living storm.
"Come then," he murmured. "Let the mist come for me."
"Let them witness," he whispered, eyes shining with Tenseigan light, "the true power of the Hidden Cloud."
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)