The edge of the Forest of Death.
The Cloud ninja team was preparing to move in and take action. However, they'd also realized that someone from Konoha was tailing them.
Clearly, their plan to capture Hyūga Hinata had already been noticed by Konoha's ANBU.
"What now, Captain?"
"Konoha's already onto us."
A few Cloud ninja spoke up in a panic.
"Don't lose your heads."
The team captain, Makai, remained calm and gave a swift judgment.
"This time, we were invited by the Third Hokage himself, representing Lord Raikage in the peace negotiations."
"In a sense, it's Konoha that wants peace more than us."
"So they won't dare spark open conflict and risk breaking off the talks with us."
He paused, eyes sharp as he scanned the faces of his squad.
"My guess is, these Konoha ninja revealed themselves on purpose, just to intimidate us."
"That's exactly why we must act now. Whether it's retreating or seizing Hinata, it must be done quickly!"
His voice firmed.
"My decision is this—go in and capture her! Hinata is in this forest right now…"
But before he could finish, the ground beneath them began to tremble. No—the entire forest was shaking. Off in the distance, a huge flock of birds scattered in alarm.
What's going on?
Is it Konoha's ANBU striking first with ninjutsu to stop us from getting the Byakugan?
Makai grew increasingly tense. But before he could act, he noticed his squadmates, just moments ago calmed by his words, were now all staring at him—no, behind him—with wide, terrified eyes.Behind me?
What's behind me?!
Makai turned his head... and nearly lost his soul on the spot.
What he saw was beyond terrifying.
Half the forest was crumbling. Trees shattered. The earth itself, ripped apart.
And then, surging forward like an ocean wave, came a tidal wall of broken trees, torn-up roots, bloodied animal carcasses, bones—a wall of soil and death, easily ten meters high, and barreling straight toward them.
Someone powerful was attacking inside the Forest of Death. And the jutsu they used—Definitely wasn't A-rank.
No, it had to be at least…
S-rank.
A completely unknown S-rank technique!
With that thought, Makai roared out, "Everyone, Earth Style—Earth-Style Wall, now!"
"Yes!"
The squad snapped out of it and quickly formed hand seals.
In a flash, thick earthen walls rose from the ground, forming a barricade in front of the team.
And the next second—
That tsunami of soil and debris smashed into it.
BOOMMMMM—
The wall trembled. It buzzed. Cracks began to form.
But thankfully, the tremors stopped quickly. The earth quieted.
They'd blocked it?!
Just as the Cloud ninja began to let out a breath of relief—
A second shockwave arrived.
This time, it wasn't debris.
It was air.
A terrifying, invisible tidal wave of raw atmospheric force.
An invisible attack: the true Shinkūgeki—God-Sky Strike!
Linked with the Byakugan, born of Hyūga blood, and connected to the bloodline secret art—Eighty Divine Shinkū Strikes—this was a strike of divine destruction!
CRACK—
The massive Earth-Style Wall, formed by six ninja working together, instantly shattered into fragments, torn apart by the force.
And before Makai could even react—
BANG!
His head was smashed into pulp by the flying boulders and the shockwave of the Shinkūgeki.
The rest of the squad fared little better.
Though they weren't killed outright, all of them were hit hard by the air blast and the resulting debris. Blood sprayed, bodies flew—they collapsed one by one, heavily injured and unable to move.
The Cloud negotiation team… was utterly devastated.
The captain was killed on the spot. The rest were all gravely wounded.
And all of it—
Was witnessed by Konoha ANBU kunoichi, Uzuki Yanshi, who had followed the Cloud team to the Forest of Death's edge.
Behind her mask, her expression was filled with awe and disbelief.
An attack from hundreds of meters away had nearly annihilated a trained Cloud team.
Even the squad captain—a jōnin—was one-shotted.
Such destructive power… this technique had to be S-rank, minimum.
Yanshi then turned to gaze upon the massive devastation...
A new path, hundreds of meters long and wide, now carved through the forest where lush trees had once stood.
She came to a chilling realization:
If the forest hadn't been so thick...
If it hadn't absorbed some of the impact...
Every single Cloud ninja would have died instantly.
And if that shockwave had continued…
Even they, the observing ANBU, might've been caught in the blast zone.
This kind of power…
Could rival the Tailed Beast Bomb recorded in ANBU classified files.
But what made it even more terrifying was this:
\This wasn't some mindless tailed beast.
This was a human.
A human who possessed such a jutsu.
Yanshi's voice was heavy.
"We must investigate the Forest of Death."
Another ANBU nodded gravely.
"Agreed. But first, we have to report all of this to the Third Hokage—And we need to keep these Cloud ninja alive."
"If they die here… the peace talks will fall apart."
Everyone nodded. Then, without delay, they used Shunshin to move toward the downed Cloud ninja, who were now groaning in pain, blood staining the forest floor.
The ANBU began applying medical ninjutsu.
Mystical Palm Technique.
But at that moment...
RUSH RUSH
Urgent footsteps echoed through the woods.
It was the ANBU commander Mitokado Zixiao and—Hyūga Hiashi, father of Hinata.
Hiashi's heart was in turmoil.
His daughter was in danger. He couldn't bear the thought of her being taken, her Byakugan stolen.
THUMP THUMP
Moments later, Zixiao and Hiashi finally arrived at the scene.
What they saw left them frozen...
The ruined Forest of Death, its terrain utterly reshaped.
The Cloud ninja team, lying half-dead in the dirt.
This… this was no ordinary battle.
This was something else entirely.