Naruto: Fooling the Ninja World, I'm Hailed as a Savior

"Eight Trigrams Palms: Air Palm!"

Facing the giant shuriken that sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, Hyuga Kawa channeled chakra into his arm, bending his fingers and pushing his palm forward.

His clothes flattened against his arm from the wind pressure, highlighting the tensed muscles. The compressed wind pressure instantly unleashed towards the shuriken, like an invisible vacuum cannonball. The sonic boom and wind pressure reverberated in everyone's ears.

Bang!

The powerful, heavy giant shuriken, carrying immense force, sent Hyuga Kawa staggering back several steps. The ground beneath his feet cracked in a spiderweb pattern, but he had, against all odds, managed to withstand the giant shuriken.

"Eight Inner Gates Release: Second Gate, Gate of Healing?"

Aburame Ryoma keenly noticed the bulging veins on Hyuga Kawa's body and instantly recognized the technique Hyuga Kawa was using.

This kid, a member of the Hyuga clan, actually went and learned the Eight Inner Gates, and even opened the Second Gate? No wonder he could block Toroi's attack, but that's not enough.

That's Toroi, a Magnet Release user. Those shuriken were specially made; their inherent weight was terrifying, and they could only be controlled by Magnet Release.

"Cough cough." Aburame Ryoma swallowed a pill, while calling out a warning, "Don't touch his shuriken with your body!"

The other Root ninjas also moved to attack, but Toroi wouldn't give them a chance to form hand signs. Facing the power of the two giant shuriken, the Root ninjas struggled to block them with their swords.

Before Hyuga Kawa, the giant shuriken, which had been halted by the block, began to spin again, creating a meat-grinder-like wind howl, like a fierce beast's fangs tearing at Hyuga Kawa once more.

Buzz! Buzz buzz!

Veins bulged around Hyuga Kawa's eyes. He activated his Byakugan without hesitation. Within the span of a breath, in everyone's peripheral vision, Hyuga Kawa's figure seemed to turn into a blur of afterimages. While dodging, the clashing sounds of the shuriken and Air Palm continued incessantly.

Toroi watched Hyuga Kawa in the distance, forming hand signs to continuously manipulate the shuriken. Noticing the Byakugan, his eyes flickered. "Kid, are you Main House or Branch House?" he suddenly asked. This level of strength didn't seem like Main House, but he could use Rotation, a secret technique only mastered by the Main House.

But Hyuga Kawa didn't respond to him, seemingly having no energy left to do so.

Splatter!

Suddenly, a splash of blood appeared, spraying onto the ground. Hyuga Kawa's figure abruptly stopped. A wound had opened at the corner of his eye. Blood slowly flowed down his face, gathering at his jaw, then dripping onto his feet, warm and wet.

Seeing this, Aburame Ryoma's face darkened. He knew the boy couldn't hold on much longer. According to intel, once touched by Toroi's shuriken, the Magnet Release chakra attached to it would magnetize the body, marking it.

Subsequent magnet-infused attacks would then be unavoidable. Aburame Ryoma was well aware of Toroi's strength. Toroi, a bloodline limit user, was extremely difficult to deal with among jōnin.

"If my internal organs weren't so severely injured, perhaps there'd be a chance to coordinate with others for a sneak attack, but now…" Aburame Ryoma gritted his teeth. His frontal combat strength wasn't formidable; his strength lay in stealth and assassination.

Bang!

Using the force of the giant shuriken, Hyuga Kawa created distance, moving to Aburame Ryoma's side, his voice hoarse and urgent, "Ryoma-senpai, ten o'clock direction, three kilometers away, dozens of ninjas are approaching!"

Ten o'clock direction. Those wouldn't be Konoha personnel. Most likely, they were Hidden Cloud ninjas stationed at the Land of Hot Water border!

"Wait," Aburame Ryoma suddenly reacted, blurting out, "Three kilometers? You can see within a three-kilometer radius?" A Hyuga clan member could see objects within a one-kilometer radius with their Byakugan, but rarely exceeded a two-kilometer limit. If peering in one direction, this limit might increase several times. But Hyuga Kawa clearly wasn't just seeing in one direction; he had to be seeing everything within a three-kilometer radius to detect them. This was somewhat terrifying.

"Senpai! Now isn't the time for this!" Hyuga Kawa urged. "Regardless of what happened with the explosive tags, quickly take Doto-senpai and leave! If we don't go now, it'll really be too late!"

Aburame Ryoma, whose internal injuries hadn't fully healed, almost spat out a mouthful of blood at these words. The explosive tags have nothing to do with me! Why does everyone think I set them?! Although Lord Danzō did say I could act, I haven't even had a chance yet!

"Hmph! You won't talk?"

Facing Hyuga Kawa's disregard, Toroi snorted coldly, seething, "Then I'll chop off your limbs and ask!" With that, he took out a scroll, flung it, and two more giant shuriken appeared.

"Magnet Release: Hornet Tw–"

"Don't you dare!"

As Toroi was about to throw the two shuriken, a violent voice suddenly reached his ears. Akimichi Doto, who had been unconscious, awoke under the protection and medical treatment of the Anbu ninjas.

Seeing Hyuga Kawa blocking in front of him, he didn't hesitate to pop a green pill and a yellow pill into his mouth. These were the Akimichi clan's secret medicines: the "Green Spinach Pill," which could instantly unleash 30% of a human's physical potential and increase strength by more than three times their limit, and the "Yellow Curry Pill" to replenish vitality and blood.

The cost was the pain and weakness that followed the pills' effects. But for now, it was enough.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu: Super Open Hand Slap!"

Boom!!

A giant hand descended from the sky, crashing towards Toroi. The ground, where the massive impact erupted, cracked and caved in like a crumbling mountain. The entire earth was shattered by an unimaginably terrifying force. Several corpses, even their blood and bones, were crushed into dust and squeezed into the soil.

"Troublesome guy."

Toroi's figure appeared further away, his expression somewhat grim. He had been forced to sever the connection to his shuriken and could only recall them.

"Doto-senpai!" Hyuga Kawa looked up at Akimichi Doto, his face showing timely joy. "You…"

"Kawa, listen to me."

Before he could finish, Akimichi Doto interrupted him, saying grimly, "This incident was most likely perpetrated by the Hidden Stone Village. You and the others immediately return to Konoha and report everything to the Third Hokage!"

"Hidden Stone Village?" Hyuga Kawa hadn't spoken yet when Aburame Ryoma's pupils constricted. "How could it be the Hidden Stone Village?"

Akimichi Doto coldly glanced at him, thinking, Does it have nothing to do with your Root, then?

"Remember the rogue Hidden Stone ninjas we encountered on the way?" Akimichi Doto explained. "The scroll containing Hiashi's body was likely swapped then."

"What?" Hyuga Kawa paused, as if realizing something, his pale face becoming even paler. "So, it was me…"

"This isn't your fault," Akimichi Doto said, giving him a complex look. Akimichi Doto had witnessed Hyuga Kawa's selfless act of protection and his displayed strength and talent firsthand. When he realized the explosive tags were placed in the coffin, his first reaction was naturally to suspect Hyuga Kawa, who possessed the scroll.

But he quickly realized that explosive tags were a very important strategic material, not something that could simply be bought with money.

And such a large quantity of explosive tags – even if Hyuga Kawa had the money, he couldn't possibly acquire them. In fact, if he even attempted to buy them, the Anbu would instantly arrive and interrogate him about his intentions.

Therefore, the explosive tags couldn't have been placed by Hyuga Kawa; the only possibility was a swap. This child was simply too inexperienced. Such a promising young talent absolutely could not perish in this place today.

"Hurry and go," Akimichi Doto said grimly.

"No, no, if we leave, Senpai, you…"

Hyuga Kawa was about to say more, but he heard a sharp whooshing sound.

"None of you are escaping today!"

"Go!"

Several more giant shuriken flew in. Akimichi Doto roared, unleashing a chakra-infused palm strike.

Boom!!

The ground beneath their feet trembled noticeably again. Everyone could feel the sound like distant thunder. But this time, it didn't gradually subside like before. Akimichi Doto's palm strike seemed to have broken something. The tremor beneath their feet actually became more and more pronounced.

Buzz buzz!

"What's going on?" Everyone's expressions subtly changed. And in the next moment, after the ground began to shake, there was a deafening roar.

Thud!

Beneath everyone's feet, the ground suddenly bulged, and terrifying cracks, a hundred meters in diameter, appeared. It was as if an invisible monster was writhing beneath the earth, eager to break free from its cage.

Even through the ground, they could feel an immense power. Heavy objects around them floated as if weightless, shaken into the air.

Bang! Crack!!

After the ground bulged into a massive arc, a deafening explosion once again resounded through heaven and earth. In that instant, everyone felt a sense of weightlessness, as if they themselves had been shaken into the air.

No, they weren't lifted into the air.

The ground beneath their feet had collapsed.

"Retreat!"

Both Toroi and the Konoha ninjas, upon seeing this, simultaneously stopped their actions and body-flickered away.

Rumble!!

They watched in horror as a pitch-black fissure tore open beneath the inn. The ground split into massive stone blocks and collapsed, being "swallowed" by the expanding hole. The incredibly solid earth seemed as fragile and soft as a dough ball being kneaded by fingers.

Moments later, after the tremors completely subsided and the rising dust gradually cleared, what appeared before them was an abyss-like, bottomless black hole.

"What… is this?"

Everyone watched the abyss, their expressions a mix of surprise and uncertainty, feeling as though deep darkness surged within it.