Chapter 96: A Sign of the White-Eyed Evolution

Hinata stood frozen in place, her lips pressed tightly together, her gaze locked on Kakuzu, every fiber of her being sharpened by caution.

Since the last time she had been abducted, the protection around her had been greatly reinforced.

For this man to slip in here without a sound was proof enough of just how formidable he was.

Even so, there was not the slightest trace of retreat in Hinata's eyes.

Submission was impossible. There could only be battle.

Across from her stood Kakuzu, shrouded in an aura of bone-deep menace.

His eyes held nothing but contempt and naked greed; he had not the faintest regard for Hinata.

He could tell she would not surrender.

So he merely folded his arms and waited in silence for her to strike, as though watching a clown whose arrogance had outpaced his skill.

Suddenly, Hinata moved.

She shot forward with the speed of a startled hare, leaving afterimages across Kakuzu's retina.

The veins around her eyes bulged instantly. Her Byakugan awakened.

Those pure white eyes seemed capable of seeing through all things beneath heaven and earth.

When her hands reappeared, they were already fitted with steam-driven gauntlets, the mechanical parts on them gleaming with a searing light beneath the sun. At the same moment, the belt around her waist seemed to come alive, transforming in an instant into eight additional hands.

Hinata gave a clear cry, and all ten of her hands attacked at once.

Her palms moved like butterflies darting through blossoms, carving elegant yet deadly arcs through the air as they struck at every chakra point on Kakuzu's body.

The two flesh-and-blood hands wearing gauntlets contained especially terrifying power; with every swing, they whipped up a sharp gale that seemed capable of tearing the air apart.

"Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"

Hinata's voice rang bright and clear.

Her assault was like a storm unleashed, dense and relentless.

Kakuzu frowned slightly; he had not expected her attack to be so swift. Hastily, he commanded his masked creatures to defend.

One of them opened its mouth and spat out a bolt of lightning, trying to block Hinata's advance.

But Hinata's palm technique was immensely powerful. With a single strike, she sent that creature flying backward.

It crashed through the air with a dull impact, then hit the ground with a heavy thud and shattered to pieces at once.

Hinata did not let the success of that one blow soften her vigilance. She knew Kakuzu would not be defeated so easily.

As expected, a flash of irritation crossed Kakuzu's face. He rapidly formed seals with both hands and began to unleash combined jutsu.

"Fire Style: Head Seeker!"

One of the masked creatures opened its mouth wide and spewed forth a vast sea of fire. The inferno spread at once like a roaring dragon, baring its fangs and claws as it lunged toward Hinata.

The heat warped the air around it, and the gravel on the ground glowed red, as though it might melt at any moment.

"Wind Style: Super Pressure Damage!" another masked creature followed by releasing a raging gale.

Wind and fire mingled together, forming countless attacks like blazing meteors.

These fire meteors hurled themselves fiercely at Hinata, their surfaces flickering with blinding light, as though they could reduce everything to ash.

Hinata's expression grew grave. She drew a deep breath, and her hands swiftly took up the starting stance.

"Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

With a sharp cry, countless threads of chakra shot from her palms. Like nimble tentacles, they obeyed her precise control and shattered every incoming fire meteor one by one.

The meteors exploded around her, their blasts resounding like thunder.

The force of those detonations carved a broad dividing line between Hinata and the Hyuga compound.

"Heh, little girl, not bad moves. Just a bit green."

That had been Kakuzu's plan all along: to separate Hinata from the Hyuga clan's reinforcements, then slowly finish her off.

Hinata saw through his tactics as well, and anxiety surged through her.

I can't let him trap me. I need to break through somehow.

Yet there was no truly effective countermeasure she could use. The gap in raw strength between her and Kakuzu was simply too vast, like an ant trying to challenge an elephant.

Still, Hinata did not sit and wait for death. Her eyes darted rapidly to and fro as her mind raced, desperately searching for a way to survive.

Then, for a fleeting instant, her white eyes seemed to change.

At the next moment, a mass of green light began to bloom in her hand, a mysterious power as if drawn from another world.

By instinct, Hinata flicked her hand, and the green light drifted outward, sinking into the chest of one of the masked creatures.

The instant that sphere of light made contact with the creature, Kakuzu suddenly blanked out for a moment. He felt his control over that masked body seem to fail.

Like a puppet lifted by its strings, the creature abruptly spat clear water toward the ground without warning. The water poured down like a waterfall, instantly becoming a tremendous flood.

The high-temperature barrier torn open by the ninjutsu earlier was cooled at once by the impact of that torrent, hissing as it did so.

A spark of joy lit in Hinata's heart.

Though I don't know why I managed to use a move like that, it seems to have worked a little. I have to seize this chance.

She prepared to seize the opening and escape the trap.

"Not a chance!"

Seeing this, a flash of anger crossed Kakuzu's eyes. He immediately resumed rapid hand seals.

Two of the masked creatures once more spat out ninjutsu at the same time. A sea of fire wreathed in crackling lightning surged viciously toward Hinata again, the lightning flickering through the flames like countless enraged serpents.

Hinata hurriedly raised both hands before her, and green light bloomed again over her palms.

This time, the jutsu were absorbed by Hinata. The green glow became like a ravenous black hole, swallowing every attack that came near.

That opened a pocket of safety for her within the thunderous, lightning-laced inferno.

But being trapped was not a long-term solution. Under Kakuzu's almost frenzied assault, Hinata and the small space around her were like a lone boat in a storm, struggling desperately to find even the faintest chance of survival.

Silently, she repeated to herself: I have to hold on! I can't lose here! Think, Hinata, think of something!

Just as the space around her shrank and shrank, and when Kakuzu was about to seize victory at the last possible moment, a familiar figure burst forth like a gale.

"Naru-to!" Hinata's eyes flashed with delight.

There stood Naruto beside her.

He formed hand seals and pressed his palms against the earth.

"Water Style: Whirlpool Current!"

A gigantic vortex of pure water appeared out of nowhere, washing the raging sea of lightning and fire utterly clean, and Hinata's crisis was instantly averted.

Kakuzu turned toward Naruto in furious humiliation, but his expression quickly changed to one of wild delight.

"So I was only after a little girl, and yet the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki comes gift-wrapped as well! Excellent! My luck today is so good it's almost frightening!"