After Kakashi lost consciousness, Hyuga Kagami had effectively taken over the role of Squad Eleven's captain. Because of this, Guy didn't argue and immediately carried the unconscious Kakashi, breaking through the encirclement and fleeing the valley.
Several teams of Hidden Cloud ninjas instantly split off to pursue them.
At that moment, the lead Hidden Cloud elite jonin took a moment to observe Hyuga Kagami and Shisui standing their ground. With a sudden smile, he said, "Such outstanding young shinobi!"
Hyuga Kagami replied coldly, "Thanks for the compliment."
"My name is Fukado. I'm the commanding officer of this defense force," the elite jonin said. "I really do admire you all. But unfortunately, you'll all die here today — even those two who tried to escape."
Hyuga Kagami didn't respond. He swept his gaze around the area, his expression dark and grim.
Excluding the few Cloud teams that had just gone after Guy, there were still over a hundred Hidden Cloud ninjas surrounding him and Shisui. Of those, more than ten emitted chakra levels consistent with jonin-class shinobi.
Furthermore, the signal of the secret storage raid had already been sent out. Reinforcements from the Hidden Cloud would likely be arriving from all directions very soon.
Seeing Hyuga Kagami and Shisui still standing resolute despite being trapped, Fukado chuckled. "If I can kill such promising Konoha shinobi, maybe Lord Raikage won't hold me too responsible for my failure to protect the outpost."
Hyuga Kagami kept his eyes fixed on Fukado, waiting for an opening.
With his power steadily growing, the range of his Rotational Gravitational Field technique ("Rotating Providence") had expanded to about 22 meters. If he was willing to overdraw his chakra reserves and suffer damage to his body, he could extend it up to 25 meters.
Fukado stood about 21 meters away — just inside that range.
But since Fukado was a Hidden Cloud elite jonin, and thus likely very powerful, 21 meters still felt too risky. Ideally, he wanted to close the distance to about 15 meters to ensure success.
As he mentally measured the gap, Hyuga Kagami took a small vial of poison from his pouch.
During the last fight, the paralyzing toxin on his Kusanagi Blade had nearly run out. He needed to reapply it to keep its effectiveness.
He had arrived too abruptly to do it before, so now, under the watchful eyes of his enemies, he hurriedly coated his blade.
The surrounding Cloud ninjas showed a variety of reactions upon seeing him do this.
Fukado's brow furrowed slightly. "Where is Kurapa? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"
The Cloud ninjas hadn't attacked yet because they were waiting for Kurapa, a fellow interrogator-nin from the village. In Fukado's mind, Hyuga Kagami and Shisui were already as good as dead. But before they were killed, he intended to squeeze out every bit of intel they might have.
The Hidden Cloud hadn't yet developed a secret technique capable of extracting intel directly from a corpse's brain. Thus, they needed Kurapa to perform live interrogation. Even if they maimed Kagami and Shisui to the brink of death, Kurapa could still get what they needed.
Shisui noticed something odd. He leaned in and whispered to Hyuga Kagami, "Senior, something doesn't feel right. I think they're waiting for something."
Kagami had sensed the same. There was no time to delay further.
"When I move," Kagami said, "you activate Susanoo immediately."
Shisui nodded without question.
After that, Hyuga Kagami slowly began walking toward Fukado.
Fukado's expression sharpened. "Forget waiting. Attack now!"
Before he even finished speaking, a powerful, indescribable gravitational pull suddenly yanked him straight toward Hyuga Kagami. Not just him — everyone within a 21-meter radius, Shisui included, was pulled toward Kagami.
"Heavenly Sword of Rotation!" Kagami shouted.
The technique was something he had improvised after obtaining the Kusanagi Blade.
In theory, by using his Rotating Providence to draw in all enemies around him, then unleashing a Hakkeshou Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palm: Heavenly Spin) while wielding the Kusanagi Blade, he could simultaneously defend and attack.
He'd never had a chance to practice it before, but now, with his life on the line, he had to gamble.
The immense gravitational force pulled a dozen ninjas, including Fukado and Shisui, directly into Hyuga Kagami's proximity.
Even Shisui was shocked, having never experienced the Rotational Gravitational Field firsthand despite seeing Kagami use it before.
Fortunately, Kagami had warned him, so Shisui calmly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and manifested Susanoo in time.
The blade of the Kusanagi whistled as it tore through the air.
Everyone caught by the gravitational pull — except for the Susanoo-protected Shisui — was struck by Kagami's paralyzing sword.
Panting heavily, Hyuga Kagami surveyed the results.
The large-scale, high-intensity use of his gravitational technique had drained almost all his chakra. He needed to confirm that Fukado had been hit.
But just then, several of the injured "jonin" who had been slashed by the Kusanagi Blade suddenly vanished with a burst of lightning.
"Lightning Clones!?"
Kagami's heart sank.
Lightning clones were among the most deceptive shadow clone techniques — even eye techniques couldn't always distinguish them. Kakashi had once used this to fool even the Rinnegan-wielding Pain.
Now it had happened to him. And in this desperate moment, the sting of being fooled was devastating.
He had actually felt something was off. His Tenseigan had sensed an oddity in how the jonin, especially Fukado, moved. But having never encountered Lightning Clones before, he didn't realize what he was looking at.
At that moment, several Hidden Cloud jonin stepped out from the shadows — their Lightning Clones gone.
Fukado, looking intrigued by Shisui's Susanoo, chuckled. "Heh. Seems I underestimated you two. I suppose Konoha doesn't send just anyone to die on suicide missions in enemy territory. You've got some real skill."