Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 257 What's wrong with your eyes?

"Hyuga Neji! Are you insane?!"

Faced with the shock and questioning of Hyuga Aoi and Hyuga Himon, Hyuga Neji's expression remained unchanged, only as cold as still water.

“You’ve come back after all.” His voice was hoarse and steady, devoid of any emotion. “Unfortunately, you’re too late.”

"Everything I sought..." He slowly raised his blood-stained hand, his gaze falling on his palm, and said in a complicated tone, "I have now obtained it all."

"what have you done?"

Hinata Aoi suppressed her thoughts, her brows furrowed, and her sharp gaze swept over Neji. When her eyes landed on Neji's forehead, she suddenly froze, exclaiming in surprise, "Your cursed seal..."

what happened?

The caged bird curse mark, which should have been as clear as a brand, had become extremely blurry and dim.

Could it be that Neji has found a way to seal or even break the Caged Bird Seal?

Is this why he was able to injure or even kill the Sun Foot Clan Chief, instead of being executed directly by him using the cursed seal?

"Miss Aoi".

Just then, Hinata Himon's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I'll leave Hyuga Neji to you for now. I'll go in and check on Lord Hiashi immediately!" His tone was more serious and urgent than ever before.

Several days earlier, Hyuga Higo had used a mission as an excuse to have him accompany Hyuga Aoi on a mission away from the village.

However, Hinata Hinata knew very well that Higo-sama was preparing to take action against the branch family and was worried that Hinata Aoi would obstruct the main family's actions against the branch family.

But now, thinking back to what he had seen along the way—the corpses of the branch family guards, and the deathly silent main family mansion…

An unbelievable and chilling thought had uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.

However, the sense of superiority stemming from his loyalty to the main family and his fear of the Caged Bird Seal made it impossible for Hyuga Himon to accept this crazy and terrifying conjecture from the bottom of his heart.

He couldn't believe it, nor did he want to believe it: how could Hyuga Neji, a branch family member bound by the Caged Bird Seal, possibly pose a threat to Lord Hiashi or even the main family?
Hyuga Aoi did not answer Hyuga Himon immediately, her attention focused on Hyuga Neji.

"Neji." She stared intently at Neji and whispered, "Stay here and don't do anything dangerous. I promise you'll be safe."

Earlier, Hyuga Aoi had been reprimanded by Hyuga Higo for helping Hyuga Takashi stop Hyuga Haruto, and was then kicked out under the pretext of a mission.

She was unaware of either the attack on Hyuga Haruto or the subsequent intrusion of the main family into the hospital room and the violent removal of Hyuga Takashi.

Naturally, they were unaware of the extent to which the accumulated conflicts between the branch family and the main family had intensified, and still believed that the two sides were in a state of mutual distrust and maintaining a fragile balance.

Upon returning, she saw the corpses of the branch family guards. Her first reaction was that there had been an invasion by foreign enemies, and she immediately rushed to the clan chief's residence to report it.

However, even with the worst premonition, she never imagined that all of this would be related to Hyuga Neji.

Even so, if she could, she still wouldn't want to kill Hyuga Neji.

She didn't care about Hyuga Neji's life or death; what she cared about was Hyuga Kumokawa's feelings.

Because of Hyuga Kumokawa's attitude towards Hyuga Neji, although he was very strict during training, both the main family and the branch family knew that he cared about Hyuga Neji.

"If the clan leader is still alive, and when Yun Chuan returns from his trip, perhaps... perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope to save Hyuga Neji's life..." Hyuga Aoi thought to herself.

Just as she was trying to speak again to calm Hyuga Neji down.

Swish!
Hinata Himon's figure suddenly vanished from his spot, unleashing the Body Flicker Technique to its fullest extent, shooting off like an arrow with a rapid whooshing sound.

He attempted to slip past Hyuga Neji and rush towards the entrance to the secret chamber behind him. His movements were so fast that ordinary ninjas had no time to react, not even able to catch a glimpse of his afterimage.

However, the moment he arrived beside Hyuga Neji.

Hyuga Neji didn't even turn his gaze, but suddenly raised his other free hand.

There were no hand seals, and not even any signs of activating the Byakugan.

He simply raised his palm forward, facing the direction from which Hyuga Himon was charging, and thrust it out.

hum!
A highly compressed and solidified chakra, almost visible to the naked eye, burst forth from his palm like a cannonball, blasting towards Hyuga Hinata beside him!

"what?"

Hyuga Himon's pupils suddenly contracted, his keen intuition and experience as a Jonin triggering an unprecedented and frantic alarm.

At the critical moment, relying on his rich combat instincts, he forcibly reversed the momentum of his forward charge, turned around, raised his arm, poured all his chakra into his palm, and swung it out!

Bang! !

The two forces collided, but the expected stalemate did not occur.

What followed that muffled thud was not the explosion of chakra colliding, but the dense, chilling cracking sound of bones breaking under unbearable pressure!
Click! Click!
A series of crisp, fine sounds, like dry leaves being crushed, burst forth from Hyuga Himon's arm bones, as well as the shoulder blades, collarbones, and ribcage connected to them!

"Ugh!!"

Hinata only had time to let out a short, distorted scream, feeling as if he had not been met with an impact of chakra, but rather had crashed head-on into a solid wall!
Like a kite with a broken string, he was powerless to resist and was blasted away by the terrifying impact, his body twisting in the air.

Boom! !
His back slammed heavily against the hard stone wall with a thud that sent chills down one's spine. Spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across the wall surface from the point of impact!

"puff!"

A large mouthful of thick blood mixed with shattered internal organs spurted from Hyuga Himon's mouth, raining down on the ground and sliding down the walls before he collapsed to the ground.

The limbs were bent at bizarre angles, clearly broken and shattered. Each weak and painful twitch was accompanied by more blood gushing from the mouth and nose.

He struggled to lift his head, his face filled with pain and fear, and looked at Hyuga Neji, who was still standing there. He forced out a broken and terrified voice from deep in his throat:

"How, is it possible?!"

When did Hyuga Neji become so strong?!
Hinata Aoi's pupils narrowed involuntarily. She subconsciously pulled Hinata away from Neji, shielding Hinata behind her, and adopted a Gentle Fist stance, her body tense.

She could see that the principle behind Hyuga Neji's palm strike was the same as that of the "Eight Trigrams Empty Palm"—both involved compressing chakra and then using it to strike the enemy's vital points with fierce force.

However, this power and speed are completely different from "Bagua Empty Palm".

How could such a rapid and terrifying impact be unleashed so instantly without any hand seals, activation of the Byakugan, or even any charging up of energy?

How could one possibly mobilize such a large amount of chakra instantly with ease?

Hyuga Neji raised his lowered eyes, and Hyuga Aoi, who was staring intently at him, met his gaze. She narrowed her Byakugan and asked in a serious tone, "What's wrong with your eyes?"

Seeing those eyes, which were clearly different from the white ones, she sensed the power hidden deep within them, a faint, suppressed, heavy, suffocating feeling.

How could Hyuga Neji have changed so much in just a few days?

　and also

　　
　
(End of this chapter)