The dense fog above Skull Island churned like a living thing as more and more Kirigakure ninja leapt ashore. Their sandals splashed against the wet rocks as they spread out, forming a loose perimeter.
Samui's sharp blue eyes narrowed. She immediately lifted her lucky charm—Rin'ne Yuri—onto her shoulders and took a defensive stance. Her instincts screamed danger.
At first, she thought the Kirigakure ninja would charge straight at them. But the moment Utakata entered his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, the entire battlefield froze. All eyes turned toward the massive clash that was about to unfold.
Whether the Hidden Mist could reclaim Skull Island would depend entirely on whether Utakata could defeat the Star of the Clouds—Hyuga Neji.
"Is he really fighting like this against Utakata-sama?"
"Is that guy even human?"
"Utakata-sama's already in his Partial Tailed Beast form!"
"Everyone, retreat ten li! Now!"
The orders came too late. The next instant, two orbs of chakra—one black and one dark red—collided in midair. The impact was cataclysmic. Shockwaves rippled outward, tearing down houses and uprooting entire sections of the forest.
The Kirigakure ninja could only watch from afar, helpless. At this level of battle, they were little more than insects in a storm. Even a stray aftershock could kill them instantly.
Pakura acted fast. She grabbed Samui with one arm and hoisted the still-weak Rin'ne Yuri with the other, using her Scorch Release to launch herself skyward. As they flew over the churning waves, Samui looked back toward the island—where a monstrous fight was unfolding—and swallowed hard.
The sheer pressure of a Tailed Beast's chakra made her body tremble. Tailed Beasts are walking weapons, she thought. Just standing near one feels like staring into death itself.
"Neji's still just one man," Samui muttered, her voice tense. "How can he possibly clash with a Tailed Beast head-on? He's going to die."
Rin'ne Yuri stirred on her shoulder, forcing her eyes open. "Is… that Utakata-sama?" she murmured weakly, gazing at the chaos below.
On Skull Island, the ground was already half gone. The battle between Neji and Utakata had turned the landscape into a wasteland.
The Six-Tails roared, its crimson chakra surging to a new height. Even the Kirigakure ninja who had retreated into the sea could feel the suffocating malice.
Then—boom!
A blinding flash erupted as Utakata's body transformed completely. The monstrous form of the Six-Tails, Saiken, burst forth—white, slimy, and massive, dripping with a corrosive liquid that hissed wherever it fell.
"Full Tailed Beast Transformation!" someone gasped.
Neji raised his head, his fists clenching. Even from a distance, the oppressive pressure pressed down on him like a mountain.
"Pat!"
A burst of wind exploded as corrosive droplets rained from above like an acid storm. Neji dodged, darting through the rain like lightning—but the Six-Tails was faster. Its tails slammed into him like whips.
Boom!
The impact sent Neji flying across the air like a ragdoll. He smashed into the sea, vanishing beneath the waves.
"Neji!" Samui screamed.
Pakura's face remained composed, though her eyes flickered with worry. "Don't panic," she said calmly. "That man hasn't even gotten serious yet. This is just a warm-up."
Samui turned in disbelief. "Just… a warm-up?"
Pakura met her gaze. "You don't understand his power."
Samui bit her lip. She'd lived beside Neji for eight years, but in that moment, she realized she'd never truly known him.
Down below, the Kirigakure ninja began to cheer.
"Star of the Clouds must be dead!"
"Of course—no one can survive against a Tailed Beast!"
"Even getting Utakata-sama to use his full transformation is impressive!"
One ninja, a Jōnin named Ganryu, didn't share their excitement. His instincts prickled with unease. He felt a surge of killing intent rising from beneath the sea. His rational mind told him it was impossible—no human could stand against a Tailed Beast—but his heart whispered otherwise.
And he was right.
Under the dark waves, Neji opened his eyes.
The Third Raikage fought the Eight-Tails barehanded. If he could do it, then so can I.
His chakra flared. The black lightning surrounding his body faded, replaced by a calm, radiant energy that burned from within.
"The First Gate—Gate of Opening, open!"
A gust of wind burst outward.
"The Second Gate—Gate of Healing, open!"
"The Third Gate—Gate of Life, open!"
"The Fourth Gate—Gate of Pain, open!"
"The Fifth Gate—Gate of Limit, open!"
"The Sixth Gate—Gate of View, open!"
"The Seventh Gate—Gate of Wonder, open!"
In a blinding flash, the ocean around Neji began to swirl violently. Blue vapor engulfed his body, wrapping him in a cloak of energy like that of a Tailed Beast. His chakra burned brighter than ever before—furious, divine, alive.
The Eight Inner Gates Formation had been unleashed.
Far above, Saiken suddenly froze mid-attack, its massive eyes narrowing. Something powerful—something terrifying—was rising from below.
Boom!
The sea erupted as Neji burst forth, water exploding around him.
Saiken reacted immediately, forming a Tailed Beast Ball in its mouth. A black sphere of compressed chakra began to grow, humming with catastrophic energy.
"So that's your strongest attack?" Neji's lips curved into a grin. "Then take mine!"
He thrust his arms forward, palms slicing through the air faster than sight. The atmosphere compressed violently, forming a white tiger-shaped explosion of air and chakra. The beast roared as it launched toward Saiken.
"Tailed Beast Ball!"
"Day Tiger!"
The two forces collided head-on. For an instant, time seemed to stop—then the world detonated.
A shockwave of pure destruction erupted outward. The sea churned into towering waves, swallowing what was left of Skull Island.
When the water finally calmed, only one figure remained floating—battered, coughing, but alive.
"Cough… cough…" Utakata spat blood into the sea, his body trembling. The backlash from his own Tailed Beast Ball combined with Neji's Day Tiger had devastated him. His connection with the Six-Tails was collapsing.
The chakra cloak shattered. Utakata fell back into his human form, helpless.
"Y-you…" he rasped weakly.
A shadow loomed above him. Neji landed lightly on the surface of the water, his foot pressing down on Utakata's head. His Tenseigan gleamed like a pair of burning suns.
Inside the jinchūriki, the Six-Tails stirred—and froze.
"That eye… azure and eternal. You—are you—?"
Neji's voice was cold. "The Nine-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Two-Tails are all in Hidden Cloud. Don't you want to reunite with them?"
Saiken hesitated. "Hmph. Hidden Cloud, Hidden Mist—it's all the same. I can't leave this wretched host anyway."
Neji smirked and unrolled a scroll, revealing the Amber Purifying Pot.
The Six-Tails' tone immediately changed. "Wait—that's the Sage of Six Paths' sacred vessel! Fine, fine! I'll cooperate. I… miss them too."
A soft blue light flickered from Neji's palm. Using the Curse Wheel: Sealing Heart Technique, he bound Utakata's will completely. The jinchūriki's eyes turned blank, awaiting command.
Neji looked up at the stunned Kirigakure soldiers. His voice cut through the air like steel.
"Six-Tails," he ordered coldly, "show me your power again."
Dark red chakra burst out of Utakata's body, rapidly expanding until Saiken stood once more, fully transformed.
"What—what's happening?" Pakura gasped as the Six-Tails suddenly turned its Tailed Beast Ball—not at Neji—but at the Kirigakure army.
In moments, the battlefield descended into chaos. The Kirigakure army, now leaderless and terrified, tried to retreat—but it was too late. Under Neji's control, the Six-Tails unleashed annihilation upon its own ranks.
Pakura's mind reeled. He didn't just defeat a Tailed Beast… he's controlling it.
Even Sasori, watching from afar, frowned. Compared to Neji, even the Akatsuki leader seemed… human.
Within hours, the Kirigakure army stationed around Skull Island was wiped out. Only a few managed to escape into the open sea.
Neji stood above the ocean, opening a scroll that contained a detailed map of the Eastern Sea.
"Where is the main camp of the Kirigakure army?" he asked.
"Here," Utakata said blankly, pointing to an island to the east.
Neji nodded. "Good. The commander-in-chief of the Kirigakure army is now ours. It's time for a counterattack."
He activated Tenseigan Chakra Mode, his body glowing like a star, and soared into the sky. Samui, Pakura, and the others followed.
Without their leader, the Mist forces crumbled quickly under the joint assault of Neji and Yugito. Within hours, the entire eastern sea was secured.
---
Far away, in the Hidden Cloud's western front command tent, the atmosphere was jubilant.
"Excellent work, Neji!"
"I told you sending him east was the right call!"
"To think he actually subdued the Six-Tails—unbelievable!"
The Fourth Raikage read the battle report with a grin, though his massive frame trembled slightly. Neji's growth was terrifying even to him.
"Hyuga Neji," he murmured, "you truly are the pride of the Cloud."
But even as he celebrated, tension brewed elsewhere.
In Konoha's Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in silence, smoke curling from his pipe as he read a freshly delivered report.
When Danzo entered, leaning on his cane, the two other advisors—Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu—followed close behind.
"What's this urgency?" Hiruzen asked.
Danzo handed him the scroll. "Latest intelligence from the eastern front. You'd better see for yourself."
Hiruzen's eyes scanned the parchment—and widened.
"Three days ago, Hyuga Neji infiltrated Skull Island alone, defeated the garrison, captured the genius kunoichi Rin'ne Yuri, and two days ago—defeated the Six-Tails Jinchūriki outright."
The advisors went pale.
"The Kirigakure army has collapsed," Danzo continued. "Only a few hundred scattered survivors remain."
For a long time, the office was silent except for the sound of Hiruzen's pipe clinking against his teeth.
"Hyuga Neji…" he muttered. "So it's come to this."
The boy he had once dismissed as expendable now stood as one of the strongest shinobi in the world.
Regret flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly buried beneath calculation. "Hidden Mist's defeat gives Hidden Cloud breathing room. We must move now—contact Rasa. Convince him to deploy troops before it's too late."
As the elders nodded in grim agreement, Hiruzen looked out over the village, the smoke from his pipe curling into the air like a storm.
The era of Hyuga Neji had truly begun.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)