A Hyūga's Gate Between Worlds

"ROOM · Amputate."

Seeing that Hizashi had understood his thoughts, Tanaka raised his kunai and slashed through the air.

Crack.

Just like Hiashi, his entire face was sliced off.

The faces of the two brothers, nearly identical in appearance, now floated silently in midair.

Tanaka raised his left hand, fingers spread, and twisted his palm in the air.

Hiashi's face disappeared from midair and perfectly covered Hizashi's.

On the other side, Hizashi's face was now placed over Hiashi's.

Not even the Byakugan can detect a single flaw. Natsu, witnessing this scene, instinctively activated her Byakugan, examining Hizashi, who now bore Hiashi's face.

Even though she was a servant of the main house and highly familiar with Hiashi, and even with the insight of the Byakugan, she had to carefully study their height and subtle differences in body shape to tell them apart.

If someone wasn't deeply familiar with them, only a sensory ninja who knew Hiashi's chakra intimately would have any chance of seeing through the disguise.

The main house... is doomed. Watching Hizashi complete the face swap, Hiashi widened his eyes, tears streaming uncontrollably.

Even without his Byakugan, he could find no flaws in Hizashi, who now wore his face—let alone the members of the main house.

Even though Tanaka had yet to begin his slaughter, Hiashi had already seen the inevitable downfall of the main house.

Because the Hyūga main house had once established a strict clan rule: During peacetime, using the Byakugan on main house members without permission was strictly forbidden. Furthermore, no one was allowed to use it to spy on the clan leader or elders' residences.

No ninja wanted to live under the constant surveillance of another's Byakugan.

Even the Hyūga themselves despised it.

Especially the main house.

Thus, beyond establishing this rule, they had also set up barriers around the residences of the clan leader and elders to block Byakugan vision.

With these barriers in place, even using the Byakugan would only reveal the existence of a barrier—it was impossible to see what lay inside.

At least, a normal Byakugan could not see through the main house's defenses.

Because of this... Hiashi knew very well that before a Hyūga elder slid open the door and stepped into this room, even if they stood right outside and used the Byakugan, they would have no way of seeing what was happening inside.

And the moment they stepped in, death awaited them.

"Natsu, in the name of Hiashi, summon all the elders of the main house. Can you do this?"

After helping Hizashi swap faces, Tanaka rested briefly before instructing Natsu to summon the clan elders under the pretense of Hiashi's authority.

"I can."

Natsu bowed to Tanaka, then turned and left.

For someone who had once served as the clan leader's attendant, this task was as simple as breathing—it would not raise any suspicion among the main house elders.

After all, transmitting messages in Hiashi's name was something she had done countless times before.

The only difference was that before, she had truly acted under Hiashi's orders.

Now, she served Tanaka.

Once Natsu left, Hizashi did not remain idle. Instead, he began detailing everything he knew about the six elders of the main house to Tanaka.

First Elder of the main house: Hyūga Mitsuhiko, 58 years old, jonin. Skilled in Wind and Fire Release techniques, particularly adept at chakra shape transformation-based Gentle Fist techniques.

Second Elder of the main house: Hyūga Wataru, 53 years old, jonin. Proficient in Water and Fire Release techniques, specializing in mid-to-long-range Gentle Fist techniques.

Third Elder of the main house: Hyūga Reiji, 50 years old, jonin. Skilled in Water, Fire, and Earth Release techniques. Possesses the most powerful Byakugan in the clan, second only to Hiashi. Specializes in close-quarters Gentle Fist combat.

Fourth Elder of the main house: Hyūga Tetsuto, 48 years old, jonin. Expert in Sealing Techniques and Wind Release. Especially skilled in acupoint strikes, having developed a technique that combines sealing jutsu with acupoint strikes—once struck at close range, a target's chakra is completely sealed.

Fifth Elder of the main house: Hyūga Yuzuru, 45 years old, jonin. Proficient in Water and Wind Release techniques. A genius of the main house, he once combined the Vacuum Palm with acupoint strikes to develop a secret taijutsu technique that allows him to strike acupoints from a distance.

Sixth Elder of the main house: Hyūga Eito, 43 years old, jonin. Specializes in genjutsu and taijutsu. A master of the Revolving Heaven, he is considered the main house's strongest defender.

---

As Hizashi meticulously relayed every detail he knew about the six elders of the main house to Tanaka, Natsu, under the guise of the clan leader's authority, had already summoned them one by one.

"This way, please. Hiashi-sama is waiting for you in the study."

With a humble and respectful demeanor, she led the elders forward.

None of them sensed anything unusual. Instead, their minds were preoccupied with curiosity—what matter was so urgent that Hiashi had summoned them in the middle of the night?

After all, in less than four hours, all the main house elders were scheduled to gather in the clan's council hall. Whatever this was, it couldn't wait until then? The urgency only made them more intrigued.

Despite their curiosity, none of them activated their Byakugan.

Even though they had already stepped inside, where the barrier no longer blocked their vision, and activating their Byakugan would allow them to see everything within the residence, they refrained from doing so.

After all, this was the clan leader's home. Using the Byakugan to peer inside was a serious taboo—it could easily reveal things they weren't meant to see.

If they were caught, especially by Hiashi himself, it would be an unforgivable offense.

As high-ranking elders of the main house, they were well aware of the consequences such an act could bring.

However... What the six elders didn't know was that while they chose not to use their Byakugan, it didn't mean they weren't being watched by someone else's.

The moment they passed through the barrier and entered the clan leader's residence, two pairs of Byakugan had already locked onto their every move.

Following Natsu's lead, the six elders walked steadily toward the study.

Just as they were less than ten meters from the sliding door, an invisible space—undetectable even by the Byakugan—silently expanded from within the study, enveloping all six elders.

At the same time, the elders failed to notice that Natsu, walking ahead of them, had already activated her Byakugan, watching them closely.

Seeing that none of the elders had activated their Byakugan, and that through her own, she could see behind the sliding door—where Tanaka had already activated his Byakugan, kunai drawn and poised to strike—a cold glint flickered deep within her eyes.

Then—

Shhh—

Natsu reached for the door handle and gently slid the sliding door open.

At the front of the group, Mitsuhiko had not activated his Byakugan, but through the narrow opening of the door, he could already see Hiashi standing behind it, seemingly waiting for them.

However, he did not see the pile of dismembered body parts strewn across the floor behind Hiashi.

Nor did he see the boy standing beside him, kunai in hand, aimed directly at him and the other elders.

"Hiashi—"

As the sliding door opened halfway and Mitsuhiko was about to speak, Tanaka's kunai shot forward.