Chapter 82

It was only a few minutes later that he returned to the Hokage Building's office. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked at the wall with a sword slash mark, a result of the earlier battle by the ANBU ninja.

"What happened?"

Sarutobi looked at the four ANBU ninjas who had appeared before him, asking what had specifically occurred here.

"Hokage-sama, someone stole information from here."

The ANBU ninja who had repelled the enemy replied.

"Was the enemy caught?"

Sarutobi asked the key question.

"I cut the enemy's body in half, but it seemed to have an immortal body. Even after being split, it still had a strong vitality and disappeared into the ground and walls."

The ANBU ninja quickly knelt on one knee and bowed to Sarutobi, then continued, "I am very sorry, Hokage-sama. Although I tracked them afterward, the enemy moved very quickly in the soil and soon lost them."

"Stand up. It seems the intruder has special abilities."

An immortal body, the ability to infiltrate walls and floors, and the ability to shake off the ANBU ninjas pursuing them. Regardless of their combat capabilities, their infiltration skills were not to be underestimated.

Sarutobi walked to his desk and looked at the various disorganized documents on it. These documents covered a wide range of topics, and because of this, Sarutobi could not determine what the intruder was looking for.

Some documents contained information about the composition of Jounin teams, missions they had taken, and recent reports from the teams. There were also various expired orders. Among these, Sarutobi found a magazine with a cover featuring a sexy bikini model.

"..."

Sarutobi felt a bit embarrassed and quietly slipped the magazine into a drawer.

There was no way around it; as the Hokage, he faced immense pressure.

Even the Hokage needed to read some colorful books to relieve stress.

"Hokage-sama, what should we do next?"

"It should be fine. The documents here are not the village's most important secrets..."

However, if these documents were leaked to unknown individuals, it would still pose a certain threat to the village.

But the key was that they could not determine the enemy's identity and purpose, and their actions could not be pinpointed. Even knowing that this infiltrator was a threat to Konoha, there was nothing they could do.

They could only let it be.

"Just be more careful in the future."

Sarutobi did not blame the ANBU, as only four ninjas from one squad were assigned to guard here.

The reason was that the documents here did not involve Konoha's core secrets. Sending more people would be a waste of resources and would reduce the protection of other areas.

But if no precautions were taken, the documents here were not without value.

What puzzled Sarutobi was that if the intruder was after Konoha's secrets, the information they could obtain here was clearly limited.

Like the important ANBU member data, various research data, and forbidden jutsu, these were Konoha's core secrets and were stored in more hidden places.

The ANBU guarding these places were among the best in the ANBU, with a large number of people and mostly rare secret jutsu. They also had special sensory-type ninjas to prevent enemy infiltration.

Not knowing the purpose of the infiltrator, Sarutobi did not make unnecessary guesses.

◎

The next day.

A cruise ship departing from the port of the Land of the Rainbow was heading towards the port of the Land of Fire.

On the deck of the cruise ship, various people were playing or looking at the vast blue sea.

"Hozan-sama, it's too dangerous to be out here. Please return to the cabin."

Two adult male ninjas with white eyes spoke to the white-eyed ninja who was enjoying the blue sea view on the deck.

The ninja called 'Hozan' was a handsome young man wearing a Konoha forehead protector, indicating his identity as a Konoha ninja.

The three of them, with their pure white eyes, revealed their identity as the prestigious Hyuga clan.

The Hyuga clan was not only a prestigious ninja clan but also had complex relationships with the outside world.

This time, the three of them came to the Land of the Rainbow to handle some business affairs with the merchant guilds that had commercial dealings with the Hyuga clan.

Since a person of sufficient status needed to be present, the Hyuga clan sent Hozan, a main branch heir, and two special Jounin from the branch family as escorts.

Although they were not true Jounin, the two of them together could handle a regular Jounin and even defeat one.

As a main branch ninja, Hozan was the strongest of the three.

At the age of twenty, he was already a well-known genius Jounin in the Hyuga main branch.

With this configuration, even if they encountered hundreds of Chunin-level enemies, they could easily escape even if they were not defeated.

"It's fine. I just came out to relax. The family's business in the Land of the Rainbow is finished. You two don't need to be so tense."

Hozan smiled at the two branch family ninjas' concern.

"Even so, as a main..."

Seeing Hozan's shushing gesture, the branch family ninja realized he almost said too much and looked around to see if anyone was paying attention before he sighed in relief.

"You two, don't be too formal with me. Just be more relaxed."

Hozan's face showed a gentle smile.

"Yes."

Although Hozan said this, the two branch family ninjas still did not overstep their bounds.

After all, the ideology they had been taught from a young age was to prioritize the main branch.

Even at the cost of their lives, they had to ensure the safety of the main branch ninjas.

This will was deeply ingrained in their genes, and they often subconsciously took actions to protect the main branch.

Their stiffness only made Hozan more suspicious.

But even if something unexpected happened, with their three strengths...

Boom!

A sudden explosion shook the massive ship, causing it to violently tremble on the vast sea.

Hozan and the two branch family ninjas quickly gathered chakra in their feet and grabbed the railings to stabilize themselves on the deck.

After the shaking, the passengers on the deck panicked and screamed, spreading fear and chaos throughout the ship.

On the blue sea, huge waves surged, one after another, crashing into the ship.

The ship swayed violently on the sea, almost capsizing several times.

"What's happening!?"

"It seems the return to Konoha won't be smooth."

Hozan stood calmly on the deck, his Byakugan activated, seeing through the layers of water waves to spot a dozen enemies quickly approaching the ship.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

A loud shout echoed in the air, and a massive water dragon formed from the water waves, rushing towards the ship with a visual impact.

Hozan looked at the terrified passengers on the deck, frowned, and used his legs to jump into the air. Chakra repelled from his body's acupoints, and his body spun rapidly like a top.

"Eight Trigrams: Palms of Rotation!"

Boom!

The water dragon collided with the massive chakra sphere Hozan created by spinning.

The water dragon dispersed into a large amount of water, washing over the deck. Several passengers were accidentally swept into the sea, shouting for help.

Hozan descended from the air. Although he successfully used the Eight Trigrams: Palms of Rotation to block the water dragon and prevent the ship from sinking, the force of the impact, even with the technique blocking most of it, made his face pale.

"Follow me, don't fight here!"

Hozan knew these enemies did not care about the hundreds of lives on the ship. Fighting here would put them in a precarious situation.

He jumped off the deck and ran on the sea surface.

"Yes!"

The two branch family ninjas immediately followed Hozan, seeing that the distance from the ship was increasing, and even if they fought, it would not affect the ship.

"Hozan-sama, who are these...?"

"The power of the Water Style is strong, but their attire does not resemble that of the Hidden Mist ninjas."

These people were dressed like ordinary civilians, wearing rough hemp clothes, not the standard ninja attire.

"Disguised?"

"It's not impossible."

As Hozan spoke, a dense white fog suddenly enveloped the sea without warning.

A one-kilometer radius of the sea was covered by this sudden fog.

The fog contained an incredibly powerful chakra. The Byakugan's insight was still present, but it required more chakra to see through the fog. However, for the three Hyuga ninjas, this amount of chakra was negligible.

"Fog Concealment Jutsu, and at this intensity, it can basically seal off the Sharingan. But our Hyuga Byakugan is unparalleled in insight."

Hozan showed no fear towards this powerful Fog Concealment Jutsu. With the Byakugan, he could see the number of enemies, their direction of attack, and the type of jutsu they would use based on their chakra flow, allowing him to predict their actions in advance.

Unprovoked killings were common in the ninja world, but the dozen unknown ninjas approaching them with terrifying killing intent clearly targeted the three of them.

Or rather, the Hyuga main branch's Kekkei Genkai—pure, unbound Byakugan.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

The same jutsu, but this time, six people used it.

Six water dragons charged from the front, with a force that could crush a human body. The three Hyuga ninjas showed a grave expression.

This level of impact could not be blocked by a single person's Eight Trigrams: Palms of Rotation.

If the two branch family members could also use the technique, it would be better. Hozan sighed.

If all three could use the technique, they might not be unscathed, but they could defend themselves, at most suffering some injuries.

Unfortunately, the absolute defensive technique of the Eight Trigrams: Palms of Rotation was a closely guarded secret, only accessible to the main branch and a few branch family members.

Many branch family Jounin did not have the资格 to learn it, including the two special Jounin guards by his side.

Being hit directly by the six water dragons would result in severe injuries at the very least.

Therefore, the three of them continuously ran backward, increasing the distance to weaken the impact of the water dragons before dealing with them.

However, the enemies were well aware of the Hyuga clan's techniques and the vast sea, which was the domain of Water Style ninjas.

The amount of chakra required for Water Style jutsu here was only half of what it would be on land.

If the same amount of chakra was used, the power of the Water Style jutsu would double.

For Water Style ninjas, there was no better place to use their jutsu than here.

Fighting against Water Style ninjas with large-area jutsu in this environment was extremely disadvantageous.

"Damn!"

The dozen enemies, though skilled, had no intention of engaging in close combat. They used long-range and large-area Water Style jutsu, relying on the sea to continuously drain their stamina.

Being hit by a Water Style jutsu would result in severe injuries.

If this continued, the three of them would eventually be exhausted and captured by the enemies.

"Hozan-sama, please leave first. These enemies are not simple. We will hold them back!"

The two special Jounin branch family ninjas wanted to create a path for Hozan to escape.

The importance of the Byakugan to the Hyuga clan was evident. If such a pure Kekkei Genkai fell into enemy hands, it would not be good for the Hyuga clan or Konoha.

Hozan looked at the two, seeing their determination to die, and nodded, fleeing in the direction without enemies.

Regardless of his willingness, the purpose of the branch family ninjas was to protect the main branch ninjas, not to let the main branch ninjas sacrifice themselves while the branch family ninjas escaped.

Hozan was familiar with this situation and considered it natural.

He needed to protect his precious and proud Byakugan, and the sacrifice of the two branch family ninjas was not in vain.

A few kilometers away from the battlefield, a mud-colored figure emerged from the sea.

It then stood on the sea surface, its body twisting and moving irregularly.

It formed hand seals and placed its hands on the sea surface, and with a large amount of white smoke, a figure in a white hooded cloak was summoned from the distant Konoha.

"This Reverse Summoning Jutsu is quite convenient. Thank you for your hard work."

Shiroishi looked at the 'stupid son' standing beside him. In many ways, he was still useful.

Initially, Shiroishi had intended to create a powerful rock puppet for combat purposes.

However, due to technical limitations and the incomplete Sage Jutsu, it could only serve as a covert agent.

The mud figure mumbled incomprehensible words and disappeared into the sea.

After watching it disappear, Shiroishi crouched down and touched the sea surface with his finger, spreading a vast sensing range in all directions.

His target was the Hyuga main branch Jounin, Hozan.

"That direction? But what kind of battle is this? Is there another group targeting them?"

Shiroishi looked puzzled.

But it made sense. The Hyuga main branch Byakugan was strategically significant, especially in ninja wars. Possessing such an eye could often expose enemy plots.

In his sensing range, the combatants were divided into two groups: one with three people and the other with thirteen.

The group of three was likely the Hyuga clan ninjas, and the one trying to retreat was probably Hozan.

It seemed they were using the branch family ninjas to buy time for their escape.

"The enemies are not simple, but with them holding them back, I don't need