Chapter 2: The Choice on the Night of Destiny (Part 2)

"Dodged it? A very keen reaction speed."

Failing to land the strike left Hyuga Hiashi slightly surprised, but his body had already reacted. Using his right foot as a pivot, the muscles in his legs rippled like a constantly accelerating engine, with the boiling chakra in his body acting as fuel; he stomped his foot, emitting a massive boom!

Eight Trigrams: Earth Shrinking!

Boom—whoosh, the veins on his forehead bulging, Hyuga Hiashi arrived first despite starting later, the short distance of a few meters becoming a red line between life and death!

——Whoosh!

The ground crumbled, the atmosphere groaned.

A massive lion's head formed from chakra, carrying terrifying might, its violent air currents shattering the ground and exploding street lamps as it lunged toward Uchiha, but just as the latter was fully on guard and preparing to take the hit head-on, Hyuga Hiashi suddenly shifted his aim, put power into both palms, and his figure struck toward the Cloud Ninja envoy as fast as lightning!

Clearly, Hiashi's goal from start to finish was to kill the kidnapper and prioritize rescuing his daughter.

Whether it was Uchiha Nanshu or Hyuga Hiashi, both of their speeds far exceeded the ordinary level; in human eyes, one could only see two light shadows flashing by in an instant. Although the Cloud Ninja envoy was not weak in skill, he was merely a ninja from an ordinary background. Aside from the rich experience he had forged through war, he was absolutely no match for the Uchiha and Hyuga, who came from prestigious clans, in a one-on-one fight.

The next second, a red light shadow flashed before his eyes, and then his whole body felt as if it had been hit head-on by a train; the world before him suddenly went black, and the Cloud Ninja envoy seemed to hear the sound of all the bones in his body shattering.

"Pfft—!"

Blood sprayed and shifted; in that instant, the Cloud Ninja envoy felt as if he had reached the River of the Underworld and even saw his relatives on the other side of the river waving at him, but the next second, the intense pain coming from his abdomen pulled him back to reality.

It turned out that at the most critical moment, Uchiha Nanshu had unleashed a Dragon Tail Sweep, kicking the opponent hard in the chest just before Lion's Might could kill the Cloud Ninja envoy!

Nanshu's heavy, powerful kick directly snapped the opponent's bones, and the latter let out a shrill scream.

Uchiha Nanshu was quick-handed and sharp-eyed, grabbing the young girl in the opponent's arms; he was about to rescue Hinata from the other's grasp, but the opponent laughably still wanted to struggle and hold onto this straw of life.

Accompanied by a cold snort, the Cloud Ninja envoy's hand bones were crushed by a massive force!

"Ahhh! My hand!!"

In the pitch-black night scene, the Cloud Ninja envoy wailed as he raised his deformed hand bones, while the youth beside him watched the other's miserable state with cold eyes, two black tomoe slowly rotating in his scarlet pupils.

Hyuga Hiashi realized that this was someone from the Uchiha Police Force; that cold, gloomy chakra could not be mimicked by a Transformation Technique.

Judging from the opponent's actions, he was not an accomplice, but was merely stopping him from dealing a lethal blow.

"Pointed Finger!"

Having regained his senses, Hyuga Hiashi moved like flowing water to bypass Nanshu, pressing an Eight Trigrams: Pointed Finger onto the Cloud Ninja envoy's neck; the latter's pupils immediately widened, and a few gasps of unwillingness escaped his throat.

Hyuga Hiashi did not know for what purpose this member of the Police Force had stopped him, but years of caution and prudence led Hyuga Hiashi to make the correct choice....

Looking at the fallen criminal, Hyuga Hiashi's killing intent gradually receded, and the anger in his chest and abdomen slowly calmed down.

At this moment, he looked up, his gaze looking somewhat complexly at the black-haired youth standing in the cold wind; his fair face revealed sharp, cold, and handsome features, and beneath long, slightly curled eyelashes, his dark, deep, icy eyes were a dark red. He held the young girl who was still sleeping in his arms with both arms, standing there quietly just like that.

"Is he dead?"

While Hyuga Hiashi was staring at Nanshu with full guard, the person opposite suddenly asked. Hyuga Hiashi frowned slightly; it seemed that compared to the safety of his own daughter in the other's arms, this person from the Uchiha clan cared more about whether the person on the ground was dead or not?

"No, but his life as a ninja ends here."

Although he did not say it explicitly, Hyuga Hiashi clearly felt that the other person seemed to heave a sigh of relief.

"Hmm... as long as he's alive."

Nanshu nodded, the tense expression on his face becoming a little softer.

Why be persistent about the life or death of the Cloud Ninja? In fact, this had a certain connection to Nanshu's system mission, but it was not a direct one.

"——"

At this moment, Nanshu suddenly felt a gaze fixed on him; it turned out that Hyuga Hiashi was staring intently at Hinata in his arms, his face faintly revealing an expression that he could no longer suppress.

"Sorry, it was my oversight."

Nanshu returned Hinata to the other person, and the moment he held his own daughter in his arms, Hyuga Hiashi could clearly feel his anxious heart settle down.

Hyuga Hiashi let out a long breath, the heavy stone in his chest finally landing, and his tense and serious expression finally revealed a bit of relief.

"How could someone from the Uchiha clan be here, and why did you stop me from killing him?"

Holding his daughter tightly, Hyuga Hiashi stared at Uchiha Nanshu and asked.

Nanshu answered without the slightest hesitation: "A direct order from the Third Hokage. The Uchiha Police Force is responsible for patrolling the safety of every area in Konoha to ensure that this negotiation between the Cloud Ninja and Konoha can be held smoothly. I am Uchiha Nanshu of the Third Squad of the Konoha Police Force, and this D3-F4 Area is within my patrol jurisdiction."

Uchiha Nanshu calmly explained the reason for his presence here.

"Were you tracking him?"

"It was just an accidental discovery. When I was conducting my routine patrol tonight, I discovered this group of suspicious individuals approaching the Hyuga clan grounds. To be safe, I quietly followed them. Of course, all of this complies with the rules and regulations of the Police Force, and I personally had no intention of deliberately intruding into the Hyuga clan grounds."

As the highest public security management agency in Konoha Village, the Konoha Police Force naturally has the right to govern all areas of Konoha, so although Hyuga Hiashi did not like the Uchiha Clan, he had no reason to blame the other party for this matter today.

"So you didn't let me kill him because you wanted to keep him alive and interrogate him about who the mastermind behind him is?"

"Basically that is the case, though there are some other main reasons."

Nanshu walked up to the fallen Cloud Ninja envoy at this time and snatched away the black mask covering the other's face, revealing his true appearance.

The moment Hyuga Hiashi saw it, he gasped!

"It seems my eyes did not deceive me."

Nanshu had already known the cause and effect of the matter, but he still feigned a look of regret.

"Keeping him alive is the main thing, but there is another reason... that is, the place where I discovered him happened to be near the embassy. Moreover, when this person was fleeing, he clearly used a type of ninja art that stimulates the body; that intense lightning-style chakra reaction could be sensed from dozens of meters away. I imagine only the unique Lightning Release ninja arts of the Cloud Ninja Village could achieve that."

"Of course, I cannot be certain that he is truly from the Cloud Ninja Village; I only acted to stop you while upholding the principle of being prepared for the unexpected. Now it seems I indeed made the correct choice."

"The leader of the Cloud Ninja delegation—Baton. I really didn't expect it to be him."

Nanshu actually knew who was lying on the ground long ago, but he still feigned an expression of shock and regret.

Hyuga Hiashi widened his eyes in astonishment, his face full of disbelief.

A drop of cold sweat slid down his temple.