Chapter 176: The Outer Wall

Chapter 176: Chapter 176: The Outer Wall

Gloya was already dead. There was no changing that fact.

Even if Hyuga Kagami used the Tenseigan’s Soul Descent Technique to take control of Gloya’s corpse, there was no way he could fool everyone.

After all, Gloya had been entrusted with a special mission. There was bound to be some sort of prearranged understanding between him and the other members of the Kumogakure delegation—perhaps even some secret code words known only to them.

Kagami knew absolutely nothing about any of that, so there was simply no way for him to get around the problem.

Thus, after weighing his options for only a moment, he abandoned the idea of controlling Gloya’s corpse.

After all, there were plenty of methods in the shinobi world capable of manipulating corpses. The members of the Kumogakure delegation weren’t idiots. Rather than take an enormous risk on such an obvious deception, it was better to simply redirect the entire conflict outward.

As long as Gloya hadn’t died within the Hyuga Clan compound, Kumogakure’s scheme had already been half-foiled.

As for what came afterward...

Kagami could only take things one step at a time.

Hearing the mysterious man mention the bounty, the Kumogakure jonin’s heart suddenly tightened.

Meanwhile, the ANBU captain beside him flew into a rage.

"Bastard! You actually dared sneak into Konoha and commit murder!"

The chief of the Kumogakure delegation had been killed inside Konoha. Even if the culprit wasn’t a Konoha shinobi, Konoha still couldn’t escape responsibility for what had happened.

Thus, after confirming that Gloya was indeed dead, the ANBU assigned to protect the Kumogakure delegation were all filled with righteous fury.

Gazing at the ANBU, Hyuga Kagami’s eyes gleamed fiercely beneath his mask. The corners of his mouth curled upward as he chuckled mockingly.

"Who told Iwagakure to put such a huge bounty on his head? If you want to blame someone, go blame Iwagakure!"

The Kumogakure jonin gritted his teeth.

"Iwagakure...!"

The grudges between Kumogakure and Iwagakure were enough to talk about for an entire day and night without reaching the end.

Putting aside everything further in the past, the Third Raikage himself had died while covering the retreat of Kumogakure’s main force, surrounded and attacked to death by more than ten thousand Iwagakure shinobi.

The ANBU captain, however, wasn’t thinking that far ahead.

Right now, there was only one thing on his mind—

How to retrieve Gloya’s corpse from Hyuga Kagami.

The chief of the Kumogakure delegation had been killed inside Konoha. If word of that spread, it would certainly be humiliating for Konoha, but in the treacherous and unpredictable shinobi world, incidents like this were sometimes unavoidable.

But if they allowed someone to make off with the Kumogakure delegation chief’s corpse as well, only for it to be exchanged for a bounty on the black market...

Then Konoha would truly lose face.

With his Byakugan activated, Hyuga Kagami watched the hand signals the ANBU captain was secretly making behind his back to his comrades and smiled faintly.

In the next instant—

Two ANBU simultaneously used the Body Flicker Technique, lunging at Kagami from either side.

At the exact same moment, the ANBU captain standing directly in front of Kagami hurled seven kunai at him in rapid succession.

Upon closer inspection, one would notice that all seven kunai had specially treated steel wires attached to them.

These wires were not only exceptionally tough, but also specially designed so that they wouldn’t reflect light.

"Same old trick..."

As a fellow ANBU, Kagami had practiced this exact coordinated assault with his comrades at the ANBU base more times than he could count.

Even with his eyes closed, he knew exactly how to break through it.

In an instant, Hyuga Kagami flicked out several shuriken, knocking aside the incoming kunai. His figure then blurred as he charged straight toward the ANBU approaching from his right.

The ANBU raised his longsword, seemingly preparing to slash!

In truth, the swing was merely a feint.

Its purpose was to force Kagami back to his original position—right back into the encirclement. This was one of the most commonly used patterns in this particular coordinated assault.

Kagami knew that perfectly well.

The corners of his mouth rose as, instead of dodging or retreating, he stepped directly into his opponent’s reach.

The ANBU was instantly startled.

"This...!"

Bang!

With a dull impact, Kagami’s fist slammed squarely into the ANBU’s cheek, sending him flying.

After landing the blow, Kagami didn’t linger. Using the momentum still carrying his body forward, he pushed off hard with the tips of his feet and leaped out of the encirclement.

Then, without looking back, he sped toward Konoha’s outer wall.

The ANBU captain’s expression darkened.

After ordering another ANBU to report the situation to the Third Hokage, he hurriedly called for the rest of his comrades, along with the Kumogakure jonin and the others, to pursue the mysterious man.

The fact that their opponent had dismantled an ANBU coordinated assault so effortlessly meant one of two things—

Either he was extremely familiar with Konoha’s ANBU tactics...

Or he possessed extraordinary strength.

And regardless of which possibility was true, neither was good news for Konoha.

By this point, the situation had already spiraled beyond the ANBU captain’s control.

All he could do was immediately report the latest developments to the Third Hokage and wait for reinforcements from the village.

After temporarily breaking free from the ANBU’s encirclement, Hyuga Kagami crossed several rooftops in quick succession and arrived atop Konoha’s outer wall.

"Who’s there!?"

The guards stationed on the wall immediately spotted Kagami, dressed in a black cloak and wearing the mask of Kawa.

The section of the wall was guarded by a four-man squad consisting of two chunin and two genin.

However, there was one thing Kagami hadn’t expected.

One of those chunin...

Was none other than his fiancée, Hyuga Rei.

Kagami couldn’t help grumbling inwardly.

"Wasn’t this girl always assigned to duty inside the village? When did she get transferred to the outer wall? And she didn’t even mention it to me!"

Rei slowly assumed a Gentle Fist stance and demanded in her clear voice,

"Who exactly are you?"

"I can’t let Rei activate her Byakugan!"

Having made up his mind, Kagami’s figure blurred.

In an instant, all three Konoha shinobi aside from Rei were knocked to the ground.

Rei was shocked by the sight and immediately moved to activate her Byakugan.

But Kagami was already right in front of her.

One palm shot toward her throat while the other struck toward her lower abdomen.

As a member of the Hyuga Clan, Rei was naturally skilled in taijutsu as well. She immediately raised her palms to meet his attacks.

At the same time, the veins around her temples bulged slightly—

Her Byakugan activated in that very instant.

But with Kagami already this close...

Even activating the Byakugan wouldn’t help her now.

Thud...

Within only a few exchanges, Kagami’s movements suddenly became elusive. Slipping around behind Rei, he lightly struck the back of her neck with the back of his hand, knocking her unconscious.

Catching Rei as she collapsed, Kagami gently lowered her to the ground before shaking his head.

"You’re still hesitating whenever you attack or pull back. How many times have I told you already...?"

After carefully laying Rei down, Kagami glanced toward the village, which was growing increasingly noisy.

Then, without looking back, he leaped from Konoha’s outer wall and sped away from the village.

He had already made up his mind.

Once this whole affair was over, he would find some way to have Rei transferred to duty within the Hyuga Clan compound.

Rei was too innocent by nature, and her vigilance was far too low. She simply wasn’t suited to serving as a guard on the outer wall.

Besides, the outer wall was Konoha’s first line of defense. It was inherently one of the more dangerous postings in the village.

It was the kind of assignment where nothing might happen for years...

But the moment something did happen, it would be something major.

Just as Kagami was still thinking about Rei, two figures suddenly appeared and blocked his path.

Both were dressed as Konoha ANBU.

And Kagami knew them extremely well.

After all, they were none other than his fellow members of ANBU Team 11—

Kakashi and Guy.

Kakashi, wearing his fox mask, carefully studied the equally masked Kagami for a moment before saying coldly,

"Surrender quietly. You won’t escape."

Guy, wearing his dog mask, shouted,

"You bastard who’s trying to destroy the peace! I’ll never let you get away with this!"