Chapter 274: Kill. Kill Them All.
The immense gap in their strength left the man flailing uselessly in the air. His face began to turn a deathly shade of purple. The other members of the main family could only shout in impotent rage, too terrified to intervene. Hyuga Saori's fearsome reputation, earned through her brutal exploits on the battlefield, was well-known throughout the clan.
Just as the man was on the verge of death, an aged voice called out from behind them. "Saori, stop."
Saori's expression flickered. She released her grip, letting the man fall to the ground, and turned to face the newcomer.
It was the clan's Great Elder, the leader from two generations prior, a direct descendant of the main family.
"Have you had enough?" he said, his voice cold and imperious, ignoring the gasping, terrified man on the ground. "Let your men stand down. In light of your strength, and the prestige you have brought to the Hyuga clan, I will spare your life."
"...Great Elder. You haven't changed a bit," Saori said, her head bowed, her face hidden in shadow.
"After your father's death, I was the one who raised you. Will you now defy my orders?" he said, taking a step forward, his own powerful, killing aura pressing down on her.
"Yes. You raised me. And I am grateful for your years of 'care'," she said, her voice a low growl. "If not for you... I would never have had the resolve to seek out Lord Danzo."
"Hmph. You dare to speak of that," he sneered, pointing to the man she had just nearly killed. "I arranged a marriage for you, and you had the audacity to refuse. As a member of the branch family, you have committed a grave sin. If not for your father's loyal service to the main family, I would have..."
Sensing a shift in Saori's demeanor, the man on the ground found a renewed sense of courage. "Grandfather is right!" he croaked. "You ungrateful bitch! Not only are you unthankful, but you dare to lead a rebellion! Let me go, or I'll activate the Caged Bird, and you'll die where you stand!"
"Silence, you disgraceful fool," the elder snapped, then turned his gaze back to the still-bowed Saori. "What do you have to say?"
"For my father's sake...? Hahaha." Saori threw her head back and let out a wild, insane laugh.
"You old bastard! If it weren't for him, my father would still be alive! Because of this piece of trash, my father had to stay behind and face an entire army of enemies, all because he decided, on a whim, to go for a stroll?!"
"He deserves to die! A thousand times over! No..."
"You..."
"You all... deserve... to die!!!"
With a final, chilling roar, she tightened her grip, intending to crush his throat.
The elder, seeing her intent, tried to activate the Caged Bird seal. But to his horror, it had no effect. Saori, completely unharmed, snapped the man's neck.
"No! How is this possible?!" The elder's face, once a mask of stern authority, was now a mirror of the terror that had been on his grandson's face just moments before. In that single, horrifying instant, the loss of his power was a far greater blow than the loss of his kin.
"As I thought," Saori sneered. "This is the true face of the main family. Power is more important to you than your own blood."
"Silence! Silence, you insolent whelp!" he roared, but he could not hide the panic in his eyes. He knew what the failure of the Caged Bird meant. He could only imagine what the long-oppressed branch family would do now that they were free.
He had to act, now, before the news spread. He had to capture her, the leader of the rebellion. It was the only way to preserve the main family's authority.
But Saori had already anticipated his move. She threw the corpse aside and, in a flash, appeared behind him.
"It's been a long time since I've had a lesson from you, Great Elder. Let's see what you can still teach me."
"This will be your last."
While the battle in the main courtyard had just begun, the rest of the Hyuga compound was already a bloodbath. With Hizashi's secret aid, less than half of the branch family had been freed. The rest were now being forced by the main family to fight against their own.
But the branch family, with the taste of freedom on their lips, fought with a desperate, unyielding ferocity, and they were slowly gaining the upper hand, pushing the main family's forces back to the clan's main meeting hall.
Hiashi and his loyalists mounted a desperate defense, praying for reinforcements from the village to arrive. But none came. The sounds of explosions from all over the village told him that something was terribly wrong.
Damn it! Why now?
One of the branch family's leaders, after cornering the main family in the meeting hall, went to report to Saori. He found the main courtyard, a place he had never been allowed to enter, awash with blood. And in the center of it all stood Saori, her hand clamped around the throat of an old man.
He reported the situation, and she nodded. "Well done. I'll be there shortly."
She looked down at the elder, at the look of defiance in his dying eyes. "You... you will be punished," he choked out.
"Perhaps. But..."
"You won't be here to see it."
Crack.
With a final, sickening crunch, the once-powerful Great Elder of the Hyuga clan was dead. A single tear traced a path down Saori's cheek.
"For what it's worth... thank you for your teachings."
"Rest in peace."
The battle at the meeting hall was still raging. Hiashi, seeing his men being overwhelmed, had been forced to join the fight himself. He was a formidable opponent, and he had managed to push back several waves of attackers. They were on the verge of breaking through when the branch family suddenly stopped their assault.
A path opened through their ranks, and Saori appeared.
"Hyuga Hiashi. It's over. Surrender now, and I will spare your life, as I promised Hizashi," she said, her voice cold and unforgiving.
Seeing the blood that still dripped from her hands, Hiashi's face turned pale with rage.
"What have you done with them?"
"Heh. A foolish question," she sneered, her gaze sweeping over the remaining main family members. "I killed them all, of course. Did you expect me to let them live?"
"You... you venomous bitch! I'll kill you!" Hiashi roared, and lunged at her.
"Hmph. So stubborn." Saori motioned for her men to stand down and met his charge head-on. "Continue the attack," she commanded, her voice ringing with a chilling authority. "Any who resist are to be executed on the spot."
"Yes!!!"
With a thunderous roar, the branch family renewed their assault, their eyes filled with a crazed, murderous light. There was no turning back now.
A series of sonic booms echoed through the hall as Saori and Hiashi clashed, the force of their blows sending shockwaves through the air. They held nothing back, their palm strikes a blur of motion. The stone tiles beneath their feet cracked and splintered under the immense pressure of their chakra.
They met blow for blow, and the one hundred and twenty-eight palms were exchanged in an instant. Just as Hiashi was about to use his Rotation to create an opening, Saori, her hair flying wildly around her, unleashed another, even more ferocious, barrage of attacks.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Two Hundred and Fifty-Six Palms!"
"Fall!!!"
Pushing herself beyond her limits, and fueled by the inexhaustible chakra of her Sage Body, Saori had finally mastered the legendary technique that had not been seen since the Warring States Period. It was not just the number of strikes that was different; the speed of each individual palm strike was doubled, and the power behind them was magnified tenfold.
Hiashi's Rotation shattered in a matter of seconds. He was sent flying back, coughing up blood, and crashed through the wall of the meeting hall.
The fighting stopped. The faces of the branch family were filled with a triumphant joy, those of the main family with a dawning horror.
"Still not surrendering?" Saori said, her voice a low, menacing growl.
One by one, Hiashi's loyalists dropped their weapons.
"What should we do with them, my lady?" one of her men asked, after they had been rounded up.
Saori, who had taken her seat on the clan leader's throne, opened her eyes, a cold, hard light in them.
"I told you, didn't I? Those who resist... kill them all!"
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