Chapter 23: The Sin of Arrogance
The night was as black as ink, without a single star or moon in the sky.
Whoosh!
Inside a dilapidated wooden cabin, a stove burned brightly, bringing a touch of warmth to the cold night. Two Grass shinobi lay on their beds, fast asleep, their soft snores filling the air. Two others sat by the window, keeping watch.
The younger of the two guards picked up a kettle from the stove and poured himself a large bowl of shochu. As the steam rose, the rich, intoxicating aroma of the alcohol filled the small room.
"Good stuff!" He took a large gulp, closing his eyes in blissful appreciation.
"It's top-grade shochu from the Land of Earth," the older, middle-aged Grass-nin said with a smile, taking a small sip. "You get what you pay for."
There are three prohibitions for a shinobi: wealth, women, and wine. These three things were said to corrode the will and were to be avoided at all costs. Whoever came up with that clearly had no grasp of reality.
Shinobi were human, too. And the constant stress of missions was far greater than that of an ordinary person. Many shinobi indulged in at least one of the three. Konoha's "Strongest Hokage in History" had been a renowned patron of the pleasure districts, and his three students were even more notorious. A stoic man like the Fourth Raikage, who abstained from both wine and women and spent his days lifting weights, was a rarity.
If that was the case for shinobi from the great villages, it was even more so for those from the smaller ones.
And so, the two on night watch were secretly drinking. Had the Village Hidden in the Grass truly fallen into such a state of decay?
"It's late. Drink less," the older man said, putting down his bowl.
"There's only half a pot left. We'll be done when it's gone," the younger man replied dismissively. The harshness of his life and the mind-numbing boredom of his daily duties had made him despise everything about his village. Without alcohol, he wouldn't have been able to endure it this long.
The older man sighed but said no more, turning to look out into the deep, dark night.
Drip... drip...
His brow furrowed. The sound wasn't the pouring of wine. It was like raindrops falling from the eaves onto the ground. But it wasn't raining.
A flicker of doubt entered his mind, and he subconsciously looked back.
Thud.
He saw the younger shinobi collapse to the floor, his head rolling away, leaving a long trail of blood. A look of satisfaction was still frozen on his lips.
A cold wind suddenly blew through the cabin, carrying with it the thick, coppery smell of blood.
Enemy attack!
The thought finally exploded in the man's mind. He opened his mouth to shout, but it was too late.
Fzzt!
A flash of black electricity shot through the dimly lit cabin. A spray of warm blood splattered against the wall.
Clad in a black bodysuit that covered him from head to toe, a tachi strapped to his back, and no forehead protector, Hyūga Neji clung to the ceiling, his pure white eyes the only part of him visible. Black lightning crackled from his joined fingertips.
[You have used Black Lightning. Your understanding has increased. EXP +1]
With a twist of his waist, Neji dropped from the ceiling, landing silently on the floor.
"How dull," he murmured. "If all the Grass shinobi are of this caliber, they would have been wiped out long ago."
Strange.
Though he found it a little too easy, Neji didn't dwell on it. He glanced at the two shinobi on the beds. They both had sweet smiles on their faces, but their throats had been pierced by his Black Lightning. They had died in their sleep.
Neji slowly raised his hand, a faint blue light flickering in his pale eyes. A small amount of the Tenseigan's power gathered in his palm, forming a small blue sphere.
With a flick of his finger, the sphere shot into the chest of the dead middle-aged shinobi.
Cursed Mandala Sealing Heart!
It was the only dōjutsu his Tenseigan could currently use. By implanting the blue sphere into another person's body, he could read their memories and even alter their will. In terms of control, it was inferior to Kotoamatsukami. But its cooldown time was much shorter, and in addition to controlling humans, it could also control puppets. If his dōjutsu was strong enough, he could even grant a puppet a degree of sentience.
At his current level, Neji could only control ten people at once. It wasn't many, but it was enough.
He gave the dead shinobi a simple command: continue the night watch. Then, like a nimble cat, he slipped out of the cabin and melted into the darkness.
He needed to control a high-ranking member of the Grass village, read their memories, and see if he could find the Box of Ultimate Bliss. At this point in time, the box was most likely in Hozuki Castle. But what if?
As he crossed a large, open area, Neji suddenly stopped, a strange sense of unease washing over him. There were no sentries, and the area was pitch-black and eerily silent.
He focused his Byakugan and glanced at the ground.
The next moment, the earth beneath his feet split open.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Boom!
Two hands shot out from the ground, each holding a kunai, and stabbed at Neji's legs.
At his thought, a brilliant blue lightning erupted, covering his legs from the knees down. He stomped down hard.
Splat!
The ambusher's head was crushed under Neji's foot, a spray of red and white exploding outwards.
At that exact moment, several searchlights flared to life, illuminating the open ground as brightly as day.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Dozens of Grass shinobi descended from the sky, some with their arms crossed, some perched on the tops of trees, others crouching on telephone poles, all of them glaring at Neji with hostile expressions.
Then, a tall Grass-nin used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of him.
"During the day, I repeatedly sensed a faint feeling of being watched," the man said, his voice calm and steady. "I had a feeling we would have a visitor tonight."
"And as expected, you've arrived."
Neji's brow furrowed. He had made a mistake.
His biggest mistake was the sin of arrogance. Possessing the Tenseigan and having mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the Divine Air Strike, and Black Lightning had made him look down on the shinobi of a smaller nation. Thinking about it now, for a small village like the Hidden Grass to have survived for so long in the shinobi world, they were definitely not to be underestimated.
His second mistake was over-reliance on the Byakugan. When using it, there was a faint emission of dōjutsu energy, the intensity of which depended on the strength of the user's eyes. An ordinary ninja might not notice it, but to a sensory-type, it was quite obvious. It was for this reason that the Hyūga had been able to maintain their position in Konoha for so long. If they could spy on others without a trace, their treatment would have been even worse than the Uchiha's. No one would tolerate having their secrets spied upon. The mere ability to do so was a threat.
Neji glanced at the leader of the Grass shinobi. The man's chakra was powerful. He was an elite Jōnin.
When an infiltration fails, the best course of action is to escape. But if he retreated now, the Fourth Raikage would be disappointed, and Neji would be disappointed in himself. Ever since he had put on the forehead protector and become a true shinobi, he could not accept failure.
After a moment's thought, Neji spoke, his voice a low rasp. "So what if you found me? What are you going to do about it?"
The provocative words angered the Grass Jōnin, but his eyes then fell on Neji's pure white irises, and his pupils contracted.
"The Byakugan? A Hyūga? You're from Konoha?"
"You finally figured it out, you fool?" Neji sneered. "My Konoha could turn your pitiful little village to ash in a single night."