Ren moved in a blur, cutting in from behind to block the retreat.
Then he drew on the chakra in his body and brought his palm down hard.
Pff!
Chakra burst from his palm.
Pshhk!
The Kumogakure envoy couldn't dodge in time and could only twist his head with everything he had.
But—
In front of Ren's Sharingan and his dynamic tracking, the man's movements looked turtle-slow.
That palm strike went straight for the back of his skull.
Bang!
The light in the Kumo ninja's eyes dimmed, little by little.
"Huff…"
Ren exhaled.
Not from exhaustion—rather—
It was his first time killing someone, and the adrenaline surging through him was terrifying.
His heart was pounding wildly.
There wasn't much fear after the fact.
Almost all of it was frenzied excitement.
He even had to fight the urge to burst out laughing.
A special jōnin from Kumogakure… didn't seem like such a big deal after all!
Fortunately, right then, the system's familiar notification chimed in on cue.
[Defeated Kumogakure envoy. Attempting to copy trait.]
[Current copyable traits: Kumogakure Ninjutsu (Green), Lightning Release Mastery (Blue), Lightning Chakra Activation (Blue), Cloud Style Taijutsu (Purple)…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host, you have obtained Elite Trait: Cloud Style Taijutsu (Purple). Using Lightning Release chakra, wrap lightning around the body to enhance reactions and strength.]
[Contacting target: Kumogakure envoy.]
[Contact for 30 seconds complete. Plundered Elite Trait: Lightning Release Mastery (Blue).]
Defeat plus corpse-looting!
Two traits in one go!
Now that was satisfying.
Totally worth it—he'd caught the "corpse-looting scent" in the courtyard and sprinted out in the middle of the night.
Both of these traits were excellent.
Especially the Lightning Release chakra cloak of the Cloud Style!
"If I remember right, the Fourth Raikage dodged Amaterasu after activating the Lightning Armor, didn't he?"
"And the Third Raikage too—he relied on this to pierce through countless enemies, didn't he?"
Ren muttered, then casually threw out another Eight Trigrams: Air Palm.
Bang bang bang!
In the dense forest, the sounds of whipping strikes echoed.
When moonlight illuminated the clearing again, the scar-faced man had completely stopped breathing.
Left chest, right chest, throat, forehead—
All smashed to pieces by those Eight Trigrams palm strikes.
"Since I technically saved the Hyūga clan's young lady…"
"This blame still has to land on the Hyūga."
He hesitated, then walked over and squatted beside the unconscious Hinata to check on her.
Her forehead was burning hot.
"…No way. The main house guards her this tightly too?"
Ren frowned.
He could clearly sense it—something tied to the Byakugan, a restriction meant to prevent outsiders from probing.
But—
This was the Hyūga main family's young lady.
Hinata was only a little over three!
And they still treated her like this?
No wonder people called them a bunch of "white-eyed" lunatics.
Shaking his head, Ren slowly extended three golden chains of chakra from within his body.
They wrapped around the turbulent aura inside Hinata.
Above them, strange symbols flickered faintly.
As the chains enclosed her, Hinata's body gradually returned to normal temperature.
Adamantine Sealing Chains!
The powerful sealing technique of the Uzumaki clan.
Using it to suppress the Hyūga… was almost absurdly easy.
At the same time, prompts appeared before Ren's eyes.
[Defeated Hyūga Hinata. Attempting to copy trait.]
[Current copyable traits: Ninja Forbidden Zone (Black), Gentle Fist (Green), Eight Trigrams Palm (Green), Byakugan (Purple).]
"Ninja Forbidden Zone? What's that supposed to mean? Is Hinata… not touchable?"
Ren's attention was immediately drawn to the black-purple trait.
That pitch-black glow was impossible to ignore.
As he focused, the details of Ninja Forbidden Zone slowly revealed themselves.
[Special Trait: Ninja Forbidden Zone (Black). Ninjas must not injure her. Injure her and you will surely die.]
One short sentence.
Simple. Direct.
And yet it reminded Ren of a meme from his previous life:
Anyone who dared lay a hand on the "crown princess" always ended up horribly.
Even Pain—who had stepped onto the stage with max intimidation—
Got beaten so badly his character model looked warped after he hurt the "princess."
In a cultivation world, this would be the Heaven's favored child.
Someone you could only worship, never offend—or you'd be doomed.
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host, you have obtained Epic Trait: Byakugan (Purple). After activation, it allows you to see chakra flow through the meridians, discern chakra points used to release chakra, and predict an enemy's movement.]
"Byakugan?"
Ren blinked.
With a thought, his left eye turned a pale bluish-white in an instant.
Veins bulged at the corner of his eye, making the look a little twisted—
But!
His vision sharpened dramatically.
Perhaps because she was from the main house, Hinata's Byakugan was a full 360-degree field with no blind spots.
He could sense movements around him with far greater clarity.
He spread his mouth and laughed silently.
After laughing for a while, he suddenly asked,
"Still… why is the Byakugan an epic trait? When I first awakened the Sharingan, it was only an elite trait."
That urge to compare—no matter when, it never truly went away.
[Ding. In terms of bloodline rank, the Byakugan is indeed higher than an ordinary Sharingan, and it can awaken into the Tenseigan.]
"Tenseigan? Don't use fanon to cosplay as canon, will you?"
Ren curled his lip. After placing Hinata properly and tidying up the scene, he turned and left.
The pursuers behind were already very close.
…
Three minutes later.
Step!
Hyūga Hiashi came to a sudden halt mid-sprint.
When he spotted the blue-haired girl lying unconscious nearby, his heart seized.
"Hinata!"
Only after he lifted her up did he realize his daughter was merely unconscious.
Her Byakugan restriction hadn't triggered either.
He let out a shaky breath.
Good. Good…
But when he saw the Kumogakure ninja lying not far away, his heart jolted again.
"This is…?"
"Kumogakure's envoy? D-dead?!"
He walked over to check.
The knot in his chest went slack.
A Kumogakure envoy had died outside Konoha.
This was huge.
Even though he'd been pursuing them, he'd never intended to kill the man!
"Eight Trigrams Palm… was it Hizashi?!"
Especially when he saw the Eight Trigrams palm marks on the envoy's body, Hiashi's heartbeat accelerated.
Then, after confirming no one was nearby, he hesitated—
And picked up the corpse, turning and leaving.
No matter who did it, it had to involve the Hyūga somehow.
So right now, he only wanted to find a pit and bury the man…
Step step step.
Not long after he left, ANBU and the Third Hokage arrived as well.
"He's dead?"
Seeing the lingering battle aura and the bloodstains on the ground, the Third Hokage felt something ominous rise in his chest.
Someone who could silently kill a Kumogakure envoy outside the village…
In all of Konoha, there seemed to be only one person who fit.
"Danzō! You've gone too far!"
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