The madness was contagious.
As expected, the Third Hokage, whose son had died, ran into Oonoki, who was planning to ambush the Uchiha clan. The battle that would decide the fate of Konohagakure had begun without any stalemate, thanks to the Uchiha's frenzy.
The Third Tsuchikage clearly hadn't anticipated Sarutobi's fierce determination, and the surrender speech he'd prepared had no place here.
At this point, there was no turning back—only battle.
The shouts of battle echoed across the vast plains of the Land of Fire, which quickly turned into a battlefield of carnage.
Meanwhile, on a side path, Raikage, like Oonoki, was speeding forward with his elite forces, hoping to claim the victory for himself.
But what awaited him ahead was something he could never have expected.
"Are you sure this will work?"
Outside the Hyuga clan's stronghold, Tsunade stared directly into Hyuga Hitoshi's sharp gaze, her face full of shock.
"It's not a big problem for the Hyuga clan, though it might be for others," Hyuga Hitoshi replied calmly.
Without explaining further, he stepped forward to the front of his clan members. Chakra swirled around him and spread toward the others behind him.
At the same time, the members of the Hyuga clan stood solemnly, feeling the chakra of their patriarch. They quickly relaxed their guard, willingly connecting their chakra together.
Chakra linking! This was an ancient, traditional way of using chakra.
Originally, when the Rabbit Goddess first brought chakra into this world and Rikudou Sennin founded ninjutsu, chakra wasn't mainly used for combat. According to records from the moon, back then chakra was a real bond between people.
By linking chakra, people could sense each other's intentions, and only by combining their will could they unleash their full potential.
It was like the battle between Asura and Indra a thousand years ago. Asura took in the linked chakra of the people and used it to defeat Indra with the giant wooden Buddha's thousand fists. This was the original use of chakra—to connect the hearts of people who harbored no ill will.
But a thousand years later, in a world full of schemes and betrayals, it's almost impossible for people to open their hearts fully, link their chakra, and use it to crush enemies with a powerful technique. In today's shinobi world, letting down your guard and accepting someone else's chakra could easily lead to being tricked or even killed without knowing how it happened.
But the Hyuga clan is different.
Hyuga Hitoshi, who has linked with the moon's Golden Wheel Tenseigan, has the most powerful Byakugan, naturally exerting control over the lesser Byakugan. Due to Hitoshi's unique mutation, his authority has deeply ingrained itself in the minds of the clan members. When he serves as the focal point for chakra linking, there's no risk of resistance. Even the slightest unusual thoughts among the group would be instantly detected by him.
Now, what Hyuga Hitoshi aimed to do was to use this ancient method of chakra linking to test a Hyuga battle formation he had been researching in his mind.
Ever since his "golden finger" reactivated, Hyuga Hitoshi would sometimes enter a strange, inspired state when he made the right decisions, as if he were on a high. Half-awake, with a sip of his homemade strong liquor, his brain would start racing with ideas.
In this altered state, strange thoughts would occasionally emerge, and today, he was putting one of them into action.
As the massive chakra link succeeded, Hyuga Hitoshi could clearly sense the exact location and thoughts of each of his clan members behind him.
Most people were curious about what the Patriarch was going to do, their hearts filled with growing excitement, muttering about being willing to die for him at any time.
But Hyuga Hitoshi didn't think that way.
What he needed to do now was simply to put his strange idea into action.
Ever since he took over the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hitoshi had been thinking about how to make the clan stronger.
It's essential to use their strengths if they want to become powerful.
The strategy of using many to fight a few, like before, was just taking advantage of a loophole. It didn't really improve the Hyuga clan's combat strength.
So, Hyuga Hitoshi reflected and thought about a sudden idea he had before.
"To be honest, while the Hyuga clan is known for their Taijutsu, almost everyone in the ninja world only remembers the Byakugan when Hyuga is mentioned."
This proved the strategic importance of the Byakugan, and how much people feared that power, which could reveal everything at a glance.
But did Hyuga Hitoshi want the ninja world to only remember the Byakugan?
Tsunade watched as Hyuga Hitoshi connected his chakra with his clan members, and the chakra around them began to surge. A trace of worry flashed in her eyes.
From her perspective, creating a new technique based on a sudden idea seemed far too risky.
But it seemed she wasn't in a position to stop him.
"Well, it's only natural that the ninja world fears the Byakugan, so as the Patriarch, I've developed a new tactic based on it! A tactic that only the Hyuga clan can use! One that will make them fear us even more."
The chakra network between Hyuga Hitoshi and his clan began to change form.
For the Hyuga clan, who possessed the Byakugan and had fine control over chakra, shaping chakra into different forms wasn't difficult.
So when the clan members used Hyuga Hitoshi's power to weave a massive cross-shaped grid in the air, the atmosphere grew intense.
"What is this?"
Tsunade looked at the huge grid in front of Hyuga Hitoshi, then saw him flick it with his hand to check its toughness. She had no idea what he was trying to do.
It wasn't until a raging chakra arrow formed out of thin air in his other hand, which he placed onto the giant grid, that Tsunade finally realized what was happening!
Her view shifted back. From a distance, this enormous chakra grid looked just like a giant bow, large enough for a thousand people to use!
"Come here."
Seeing Tsunade standing there in confusion, Hyuga Hitoshi, speechless, pulled her into his arms.
It wasn't for any other reason—this technique required the Byakugan to be used in tandem. Standing there would expose her completely.
With no other choice, the considerate Patriarch Hitoshi used his superior Byakugan to shield the two of them, blocking the view of his clan members and preventing the princess of the Land of Fire from being taken advantage of. Only then did he shout in a low voice:
"Byakugan, activate!"
Buzz!
In perfect unison, the veins on the foreheads of the clan members bulged as they all looked toward the fast-approaching Kumogakure Village ninjas!
And to their amazement, as they drew back their bowstrings, they could actually see exactly where the chakra arrows would land!
"Damn it, it even has aiming!"
"Load the Explosive Tags!"
With arrows ready to be fired, Patriarch Hitoshi's sharp eyes focused ahead. Unlike his clansmen, he didn't attach Explosive Tags to his arrows. Instead, he concentrated a Fire Release Rasengan at the tip of the arrow.
The combined power was immense.
Whether it's the True Several Thousand Hands or Susano'o, both can be seen as chakra-based constructs.
So, launching this chaotic, makeshift arrow wasn't too difficult.
In this world, only the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan can support such a concentrated, enhanced annihilation bow and arrow!
As Hitoshi's fierce gaze swept over the enemy forces charging ahead, he confirmed that most of them had entered the blast zone. A trace of excitement appeared on his face.
"Fire!"
With a wave of his hand, countless arrows shot into the sky, perfectly arcing in the air before crashing down into the ranks of the invading enemies.
Explosions erupted one after another. Patriarch Hitoshi, proud of having created a unique Hyuga battle technique, gleefully planted a kiss on the woman beside him and pumped his fist into the air.
"This is how the Hyuga say hello! The first shot of the Hyuga-style Cross Annihilation Formation was a huge success!"
He was going crazy.
From afar, the Rabbit Goddess shook her head quietly. Thinking back on how this guy is a descendant of Hamura and somewhat connected to Hagoromo, it made sense he'd lose it sometimes. At least he wasn't crazy enough to seal his own mother.
The Patriarch has gone nuts!
The younger members of the Hyuga clan started cheering, sending wave after wave of arrows into the sky.
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