After using Rotation (Hakkeshō Kaiten) twice in quick succession, Hyuga Hanabi had almost depleted her chakra.
In order to locate Ye Dou as quickly as possible, she had left the Chunin Exam grounds without resting and kept her Byakugan active the entire time. Though she was a Hyuga, and activating the Byakugan was second nature, maintaining it continuously still consumed a steady stream of chakra—something she could ill afford right now.
Unlike those without Hyuga blood—like Ao of the Hidden Mist—who had to use chakra suppression techniques to manage the transplanted dōjutsu, Hanabi's problem wasn't control. It was endurance. Her chakra reserves were simply running too low.
Facing the two Sand shinobi charging toward her again, Hanabi instinctively tried to activate Rotation once more, but her body suddenly felt weak and sluggish. Her limbs wouldn't respond.
This is chakra exhaustion, she realized grimly. The backlash made her dizzy, and her vision blurred. She could no longer defend herself.
"I wonder if Ye Dou made it to the shelter…" she thought. Oddly enough, in that moment before death, she felt no regret for disobeying her father's warnings or running headfirst into the battlefield. Her only concern was Ye Dou's safety.
Clang! Sparks burst into the air as steel clashed—not against her flesh, but against something else. The enemy's kunai had been intercepted.
She looked up—and saw him.
Her lips parted in relief. "Ye Dou!"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Ye Dou barked, catching a kunai with his backhand. He raised it like an umbrella, deflecting both blades.
His brow was furrowed with uncharacteristic anger, his piercing gaze fixed on her.
"My father saw the emergency flare and said the village was under attack," Hanabi stammered, temporarily forgetting the danger around them. "I saw your shadow clone at the rest station vanish, so I…"
Ye Dou's expression darkened. He was speechless for a moment. This girl… you actually used your Byakugan just to track me?
"You idiot," he muttered. "This is a battlefield—not some place to wander around like a child!"
The two Sand shinobi were stunned. Their attacks had been blocked effortlessly by a single boy. Reacting in unison, they each drew another kunai and lunged again, one aiming for Hanabi, the other for Ye Dou.
"Ye Dou!" Hanabi cried.
He didn't need the warning. With a flick of his heel, he dashed forward in a blur, dragging Hanabi out of the kill zone. His movement was so fast it left afterimages in the air.
Then, gripping his blade with both hands, Ye Dou focused. Observation Haki—activated.
He locked onto the two enemies instantly.
Too slow.
In an instant, he vanished from view—and then reappeared between them. Two clean, arcing slashes lit up the air.
Shing!
Shing!
Both enemy shinobi froze in place. Thin red lines traced across their throats before they collapsed, blood spraying into the dirt.
The technique he used was a fusion of Soru (Shave) and his gravity-enhanced blade draw—a style known as "Hien Zan" (Flying Swallow Slash).
["Why do they do this?"] Hanabi's thoughts raced.
She stood there, wide-eyed, unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed. He's… that strong?
She'd known Ye Dou was powerful—she'd admired him from a young age—but this was beyond anything she imagined. Even with her Byakugan active, she couldn't track his blade movements. It was like watching a dream.
"Ye Dou, you…" she began.
"Can you still walk?" he interrupted curtly.
She gave a quick nod. "Yes…"
But as soon as she took a step, her vision dimmed. Her knees buckled.
Ye Dou caught her in time.
With a quiet groan from Hanabi, he picked her up effortlessly and started running.
Under any other circumstance, being carried like a princess might've made her blush.
But there were no petals in the air. No music. Only corpses and blood.
Why am I thinking about romance now…? she chided herself silently, shaking her head.
"Where… where are we going?" she asked.
"To your clan compound. It's a designated evacuation site and better defended than anywhere else."
Ye Dou pressed on, weaving through alleyways and over rooftops. His Observation Haki remained active, alert to every hostile presence.
Konoha, at this point, was deep in Phase Two of its emergency response protocol.
According to Konoha's crisis manual, the village's defense strategy was split into three stages:
Stage One: Eliminate the threat via ambush or preemptive strike.
Stage Two: If the threat persisted, evacuate all civilians and non-combatants to underground shelters.
Stage Three: Once civilians were secure, every remaining shinobi would go all-in—mobilizing all available forces to destroy the invaders.
Ye Dou could feel it—the civilians were already gone. Which meant: Stage Two was complete. Konoha would now move into Stage Three.
This village is gearing up for all-out war.
Meanwhile, atop the Four Violet Flames Barrier that surrounded the Chunin Exam finals arena, Sarutobi Hiruzen was locked in a life-and-death battle with Orochimaru.
"Sensei," Orochimaru sneered. "Can't you see? Your beloved village is crumbling. Sand and Sound have already broken through your defenses."
He gestured toward the chaos below.
"Men, women, even children—soon, they'll all be slaughtered. Konoha is finished. Just like you, wasting your final breath on a sealing jutsu. You're all destined to fall!"
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