"Ninjutsu: Snake Bind!"
Just before Yuki had time to escape, several dark green ropes suddenly emerged from the surrounding trees and wrapped around his body like living, coiling serpents.
Yuki's reaction had been a bit slow, and because the ropes blended in with the leaves due to their color, he truly couldn't see them coming. He was immediately entangled.
"Ghost Face!"
"Yes!"
As Yuki, now tied up, fell from the tree, the man wearing the ghost-faced mask immediately leaped into action. He suddenly opened his mouth and sucked in a huge gulp of air.
As he inhaled, Ghost Face's originally unimpressive physique rapidly inflated like a balloon. This was clearly an extremely dangerous signal.
"Ninjutsu: Corrosive Poison Spear!"
A second later, a powerful blast of air, potent as a bomb, suddenly shot out from the opening in Ghost Face's mask.
The force of this jet was so immense that Ghost Face's body was propelled backward from the recoil. He almost instantly vanished into the forest dozens of meters away, his figure blurring from the speed.
Even more frightening was the color of this powerful airflow—a bizarre purple. It was obvious this was more than just saliva and breath.
A combined attack of pressurized breath and venom? How disgusting.
At this moment, Yuki was in a state of free fall through the air. On top of that, the bundle of ropes tightly locked his limbs, putting him at a severe disadvantage.
Clearly, this wasn't the first time Yin Snake and Ghost Face had employed this tactic. One controlled and bound from a distance, while the other provided ranged output. If the monk had been standing in front as a meat shield, it would have been a perfectly coordinated three-man team with a clear division of labor.
But it's a pity your tank is gone. So...
Just as Ghost Face's "Corrosive Poison Spear" was about to hit Yuki, his body suddenly began to spin at high speed in mid-air like a top, and all the chakra points on his body simultaneously released a surge of energy.
"Gentle Fist Technique: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
This secret technique, passed down by word of mouth within the Hyūga clan, involves releasing a large amount of chakra from all the body's chakra points the moment one is attacked. By creating a circular rotation like a top, it can repel all physical attacks, making it an "Absolute Defense."
Of course, in Yuki's view, although "Revolving Heaven" had an impressive name, in essence, it was just a "Human Rasengan" that transferred the offensive power of the "Rasengan" into defense. I wonder if the Fourth Hokage was the inspiration...
But complaints aside, the defensive capability of "Revolving Heaven" was indeed formidable. As long as I spin fast enough, no attack can touch me... though I do get a bit dizzy after spinning for so long.
BOOM!
Almost the instant the "Corrosive Poison Spear" collided with the "Revolving Heaven," the seemingly powerful air wave of the former was immediately deflected and scattered, dissipating into a cloud of poisonous mist.
Simultaneously, the "Snake Bind" ropes entangling Yuki were directly torn apart by the force of his rotation.
"That's the Hyūga clan's "Gentle Fist"... and this kid is so young."
The moment he witnessed "Revolving Heaven," Yin Snake's face couldn't help but change. After all, the "Grass Ninja Village" was right next door to the "Konoha Village," and he had seen and heard many things over the years.
But even more surprising to Yin Snake than encountering the "Gentle Fist" here was the fact that the ninja bold enough to ambush them was so young—he seemed to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old.
"Boy, what are you—"
"You, the one with long hair over there, you're a sensory-type ninja, right?"
Just as Yin Snake was about to demand an identity, Yuki, who had landed lightly on the ground, spoke first.
Frankly, Yuki was still a little surprised by the ambush he'd just suffered. After all, he felt he had hidden his presence quite well; an ordinary ninja shouldn't have been able to detect him.
Hearing Yuki's words, Yin Snake snorted coldly, a sound that served as both a retort and an acknowledgment of the fact.
So-called "sensory ninjas" were a rare type who could use ninjutsu to probe the environment within a certain range, detecting the state of living beings, locations, or chakra signatures. Since learning this ninjutsu required specific talent, not everyone could master it.
"Konoha ninja, what are you doing in the Land of Grass? Do you intend to violate the peace agreement between our two nations?"
"I'm violating the peace agreement? No, no, you were the ones who attacked first. I was just peacefully eating rice cakes and drinking tea in this village. Who knew a few pests would come and disturb the tranquility?"
Choked by Yuki's words, Yin Snake had nothing to say. After all, it was undeniable that their team from the Grass Ninja Village had indeed come to cause trouble.
At that moment, Ghost Face slowly walked out of the woods behind and stood next to Yin Snake, glancing at him meaningfully.
"If that's the case, then we are in the wrong. You can go on your way as if nothing happened."
After pondering for a few seconds, Yin Snake sighed with an air of "honesty" and suggested they drop the matter.
"Pfft... Hahahaha, you're really something else."
"What do you mean?"
But who would have thought that Yuki would burst out laughing upon hearing Yin Snake's words, causing the latter's expression to darken even further.
"First of all, as a sensory ninja, there's no way you couldn't feel that there's no chakra movement in that thatched cottage over there. In other words, you already know your teammate is dead."
As Yuki spoke these words, he turned his face in a direction almost opposite to the "two people" in front of him and continued, "And the person standing next to you is a clone. Your companion's real body is over there. His technique seems to be ready to launch. Were you planning to wait for me to turn my back before striking simultaneously?"
"No, no, no, you've got it all wrong—"
A flattering smile appeared on Yin Snake's face mid-sentence, but then his slender head suddenly jerked forward, and three poisoned arrows shot out from a mechanism concealed at the back of his neck!
Immediately after, Yin Snake tugged with his feet, and two hidden hook-locks ambushed in the ground wrapped around Yuki's legs. While this couldn't completely prevent him from using "Revolving Heaven," it could significantly slow down its activation.
Finally, a purple air wave, much smaller in size than before but far more concentrated in power, blasted out like a cannonball straight towards Yuki's head.
It was a feint all along. First, Ghost Face had left a clone behind to charge up after the first attack. Then, pretending to seek reconciliation on the surface, they actually planned to exploit the moment Yuki let his guard down to unleash a series of lethal moves.
But something was wrong. How did this kid find out? He didn't even have his "Byakugan" activated...
As the chain of attacks was launched, an ominous feeling clouded Yin Snake's mind.
Yin Snake naturally knew how terrifying the Bloodline Limit/Kekkei Genkai of the Hyūga clan's "Byakugan" was, but he also clearly knew that the "Byakugan" caused a very obvious physical change when activated—and this kid had clearly not activated his "Byakugan."
So why could Yuki, without his "Byakugan" active, so clearly perceive the little tricks Yin Snake and Ghost Face were playing in secret?
Sorry, I didn't activate my Byakugan. But unfortunately, I have more than one pair of eyes.
Having already seen through the movements of these two via "Princess Kaguya's" vision, Yuki wasn't panicked in the slightest by this sudden assault.
The main attacks were a few poisoned crossbow bolts and the breath attack from the masked man. Moreover, with the hook-locks hindering him, using "Revolving Heaven" deftly was difficult. Then I just won't use it.
In an instant, "Kaguya," who had been floating beside Yuki, shot towards Yin Snake's direction upon receiving his mental command. Her ankle-length white hair immediately spread out like a spider's web, intercepting the crossbow bolts mid-air.
As for the breath cannon from the other side, Yuki made a hand seal he had never been seen using before. He curled his fingers slightly inward and thrust his palm towards the attack.
"Gentle Fist Technique: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Within half a second of Yuki thrusting out his palm, a massive collision erupted in the air not far away.
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