Chapter 999

"Understood!"

The Hyuga family's barrier had already failed, though it no longer mattered whether it was sabotaged from within or effortlessly breached by intruders—now, the members of the Hyuga branch family were locked in fierce combat with these unwelcome guests.

Clearly, these individuals had been specially trained to counter taijutsu practitioners, and some had even sealed their acupoints in advance—this was undeniably a targeted assault against the Hyuga clan's Byakugan and Gentle Fist.

"No sign of the primary target, but they can't hold off the Hyuga head much longer—secondary targets will do!" Several intruders turned to attack the rear courtyard, but found no trace of Hyuga Lin Cheng.

They turned their attention to the younger Hyuga Hanabi; not knowing how they had so quickly identified the branch family's fatal weakness, these intruders abruptly abandoned their previous stalemate and launched a coordinated ambush—several branch family members, caught off guard, were struck in the blind spots unique to the branch family's Byakugan, causing casualties to spike instantly.

"The barrier is down—move quickly!" One of them reached the courtyard gate, pulled a scroll from his ninja tools pouch, unrolled it, and fired a beam of light—the hastily erected barrier instantly collapsed like a balloon pierced by a needle.

"Boom!"

The moment they took their first step, a blue light descended from above—perfectly timed, striking precisely as they shattered the barrier, as if it had been waiting there all along.

"Sorry, everyone—this area is now 'One-Way Passage!'"

Surrounded by the blue power of the Dragon's Might, Young Yuanzi didn't even draw her blade—she stood there with the sheathed North Wind on her shoulder, blocking the gate to the rear courtyard.

The intruders halted in their tracks—they recognized the blue figure before them, and had long known the depth of her power.

And now, this person they could never defeat was standing in their way, blocking their mission.

"Uzumaki Young Yuanzi has appeared—the plan is impossible. Retreat!" Without even considering resistance, they abandoned their mission and turned to flee.

She had never before seen ninja from another village abandon a mission—Young Yuanzi had always thought such behavior was unique to the spoiled ninja of Konoha—yet she only realized they were already far away when they had already vanished.

"Hey, hey, hey—is that really okay?" She sheathed North Wind at her waist, and finally gripped the hilt of her blade.

"You've exposed your backs to me so carelessly—remember, I'm not the type to stop just because my enemies have lost their will to fight!"

The most basic sword technique—the essence of the Iron Country's samurai art: "Iai Slash."

Using North Wind's sharpness and the Dragon Divine Art, Young Yuanzi executed a multi-target, ultra-distance kill—the fleeing enemies, though scattered as per their escape plan, were all decapitated simultaneously.

Standing motionless at the center of the courtyard gate, she merely swung her blade casually toward the fleeing thugs—and it was all over.

To the young Hyuga Hanabi, this was a soul-shattering sight!

"So beautiful!"

Like a pebble dropped into a still lake, sending ripples spreading outward—Hanabi, who had never had her own thoughts, only ever struggled to fulfill her father's orders, found for the first time a goal she wished to pursue on her own.

At this moment, the girl named Hyuga Hanabi became enamored with the sword.

"As expected—their target was indeed the 'Byakugan.'"

After punching the last obstacle into the wall, Young Yuanzi met Hyuga Hyuga and confirmed these intruders were the Cloud ninja Orochimaru had warned about—those who sought to exploit chaos after the Nine-Tails incident.

But unfortunately, none of the corpses carried any proof of their identity—so even though she knew exactly who had sent them, she had no grounds to confront them.

"They didn't just want the 'Byakugan'—I also saw the Uchiha residence. They're likely targeting Uchiha Sona."

After witnessing Young Yuanzi arrive and eliminate the intruders, Hyuga Hyuga finally had time to catch his breath—these foes had been specially trained to counter the Byakugan and Gentle Fist; frankly, he had been hard-pressed.

Without Young Yuanzi's reinforcement, the branch family members—whose weaknesses were already exposed—would have been doomed.

What Hyuga Hyuga said meant nothing to Young Yuanzi—if they were targeting Uchiha Sona, someone else would deal with them.

She was here only because of an inexplicable, inexpressible feeling toward Hyuga Lin Cheng—she couldn't let his safety go unattended. This instinctive behavior troubled her deeply, but she would never speak of it to anyone.

"Lin Cheng isn't here?" She scanned the entire Hyuga territory roughly, but found no trace of Lin Cheng—hadn't her team already been eliminated in the third round of the tournament?