Naruto: Getting Observation Haki By Sacrificing The Byakugan

In the next instant, a large and a small hand blade clashed violently.

Chakra surged wildly as lightning crackled on contact, sending shockwaves through both combatants' bodies.

The Fourth Raikage gritted his teeth, his expression contorting in pain. Despite his immense physical strength, it felt like he had struck an immovable mass.

"That coating…! Is that chakra, or something else? What kind of technique is this?"

Before he could process it, a violent gust hit from behind—Tsunade's strike was incoming. But the Raikage couldn't retreat or counter.

At that moment, Kurenai Yuhi took advantage of the opening.

A towering tree materialized behind the Raikage, its branches surging forth to bind his limbs and torso.

"Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death."

This was one of Kurenai's signature techniques, but unlike the original illusion-type, hers had evolved. With the support of her Kurama clan's kekkei genkai, it took on physical properties—an advanced blend of genjutsu and chakra manipulation.

If she so willed it, Kurenai could blur the boundary between illusion and reality.

Even the lightning flickering across her form was a projection of her empowered genjutsu, misleading to the eye but rooted in advanced Kurama techniques.

"Copy ninjas? Illusionists? They're nothing before the true blood of the Kurama clan."

With the Raikage restrained, Tsunade's chakra-empowered punch landed cleanly against his temple.

The impact was devastating—enough to rattle a bijuu. His consciousness vanished in an instant, his massive form slumping.

Seizing the moment, Kurenai surged forward, her fingers stiffening into a claw. With uncharacteristic brutality, she tore through his shoulder joint, wrenching off his right arm in a spray of blood.

She leapt back just in time, but the arterial burst sprayed Tsunade.

The blood hit Tsunade's face, streaming into her eyes. Her pupils dilated; her body shuddered, and her mind went blank.

Hemophobia.

Even in the manga continuity, Tsunade's trauma from losing her loved ones left her with a crippling fear of blood. Kurenai, unaware, stared at her in concern.

Tsunade's body trembled as she stepped backward, lost in the red haze of memory.

Luckily, the Fourth Raikage was already incapacitated, and Tsunade's sudden condition wouldn't shift the tide of battle—for now.

The remaining Cloud ninjas surged forward, desperate to save their leader. But it was too late.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune cried out, rushing to her mentor's side with Tonton in her arms.

Meanwhile, Shisui and the others launched into action.

Drawing his short sword, Uchiha Shisui moved like a phantom. His Sharingan spun with three tomoe, and his movements—enhanced by the subtle footwork of taijutsu akin to the Shinden: Shadow Clone style—were a dance of death. He was every bit the heir to Hatake Sakumo's legacy in speed and precision.

Kabuto, wielding the Imperial Arm: Cross Tail, struck with surgical precision. The weapon extended and split, trapping enemies in constricting patterns and blocking escape paths. His support skills were exceptional. Using Severing Line, he silently took down a jonin, marking his deadly efficiency.

Mitarashi Anko summoned snakes in large numbers, her style echoing her mentor Orochimaru's methods. Though effective, compared to the deadly grace of Shisui and Kabuto, her efforts seemed lacking.

Kurenai Yuhi watched from the flank, analyzing their performance.

Shisui stood out—his previous restraint had been deliberate. The current level of opposition finally warranted his full strength. He could lead a genin team with ease, if not already qualify for an ANBU position.

Kabuto, aided by the Imperial Arm, was pulling his weight and more. As Kawaki Aoba's younger brother, perhaps he had expectations to meet—but he was meeting them well.

Anko, however, needed enhancement. Her raw potential was solid, but without something to level the playing field, she would lag behind.

"There's a long-range Imperial Arm in the vault... the Romantic Cannon – Pumpkin," Kurenai thought. "If she can master it, her effectiveness will soar. But… Shisui would wield it even better. With his Sharingan, no enemy could evade."

Still, Shisui didn't need the weapon. His raw ability already placed him among the elite.

Kurenai hesitated. That weapon could shift the balance—but who deserved it more?

As she debated, the battle drew to a close.

The remaining Cloud ninja, though elite, fell one by one. Their desperation to recover their leader made them predictable. Had they chosen to flee, Shisui and the others might have struggled to contain them without Kurenai's help.

But in their reckless charge, they had sealed their fate.

Uchiha Shisui's growth trajectory differed drastically from the original timeline. In the canon universe, he rose to prominence during the final stages of the Third Great Ninja War, earning the moniker "Shisui of the Body Flicker" for his unmatched speed and genjutsu prowess.

However, in this alternate space-time, where Kawaki Aoba single-handedly ended the war prematurely, Shisui's path was altered. Though he still received battlefield experience, the crucible that forged his legend was missing.

Deprived of wartime trauma and the death of comrades—the stimuli that would have catalyzed further evolution—Shisui's Sharingan remained at the three-tomoe stage.

He and Kabuto Yakushi had just finished off the last standing Cloud jonin. The few surviving enemies now lay incapacitated on stretchers.

"Though they were our enemies, they were respectable shinobi—willing to die trying to save their comrades," Shisui murmured solemnly, letting the corpse in his hand fall to the blood-soaked earth.

This was characteristic of Shisui: he empathized with his foes but offered respect only after their deaths. It was a demeanor reminiscent of Minato Namikaze—gentle but resolute. In another timeline, had Shisui not been born into the Uchiha clan, perhaps he would have become Minato's trusted comrade, maybe even a candidate for Hokage.

But now, the politics of Konoha had changed. The old, rigid elders no longer held sway, and being an Uchiha was no longer a disadvantage.

Elsewhere in the courtyard, Shizune gently wiped the blood from Tsunade's face, carefully cleaning the corners of her eyes.

But Tsunade remained unconscious, her eyelids tightly shut. The battle had left the entire courtyard drenched in blood. Kabuto's medical-nin-based technique, Dead Soul Manipulation: Cross Tail, was especially cruel—its precision lethal, leaving no enemy corpse intact.

"Is this… hemophobia? And a severe case," Kurenai Yuhi muttered, finally recognizing Tsunade's condition.

She hadn't anticipated the intensity of Tsunade's blood phobia. Surveying the battlefield, Kurenai realized that even with medical ninjutsu, cleaning up the blood would take hours.

After a moment's thought, she stepped forward and motioned for the others to stand back. Then, with a single elegant gesture, she conjured a roaring blaze—not ordinary fire release, but a manifestation of Illusionary True Creation, a kekkei genkai of the Kurama clan.

The clan's unique Bloodline Limit allowed them to manifest illusions into reality. Although they couldn't erase objects outright, transforming the battlefield's blood into ash was within Kurenai's ability.

"I've cleared the blood. Lady Tsunade can open her eyes now."

Tsunade stirred and slowly opened her eyes. The gory sight was gone, and though the air still carried an acrid smell, it no longer triggered her phobia.

Relieved, Shizune bowed gratefully. "Thank you all. Without your help, Lady Tsunade and I might not have made it."

Kurenai gave a modest wave. "We just happened to be here. Besides, this is technically part of our mission."

"Mission?" Shizune blinked in confusion.

"Ahem… that can wait. What we really need to figure out is: why did the Fourth Raikage appear here? And why did he attack you?"

Shizune hesitated. "I'm not sure. The Raikage sought Lady Tsunade's aid to treat several critically wounded subordinates. He didn't explain much, and we didn't ask. But I don't think they were targeting us. Our encounter may have just been… bad luck."

She glanced meaningfully toward the battlefield. "But I suppose they brought the misfortune upon themselves. If the Raikage hadn't attacked, this massacre wouldn't have happened."

"Fair point," Kurenai said flatly. She looked at the wounded shinobi on the stretchers. "But I don't believe the Fourth Raikage brought elite Cloud-nin here for sightseeing. Let's find out what they were really after."

The interrogations would be brief. Most of the Cloud-nin were barely clinging to life. A light touch of genjutsu would draw out the truth.

Naturally, this task fell to Shisui. His Uchiha heritage and three-tomoe Sharingan made him a genjutsu specialist—capable of reading minds with ease.

With minimal resistance, Shisui pulled the memories from their fractured psyches. While the others expected answers about Iwagakure or Konoha, what he discovered was… bizarre.

The Fourth Raikage had come in pursuit of a Tailed Beast—but not one of the Nine. This creature was something unheard of: a so-called Zero-Tail.

"A Zero-Tail?" Kurenai echoed. "A Tailed Beast… with no tail?"

The very concept was strange. But if it was considered a Bijū, then perhaps it was some kind of monstrous chakra entity.

Yet, the interrogation revealed another twist. The Cloud-nin hadn't been wounded by a Tailed Beast at all.

They were defeated by a single man.

And not just any man—someone known across the shinobi world.

"Shinno?" Kurenai repeated, puzzled. "You mean that wandering healer? The one who travels the continent treating patients for free?"

The name rang a bell. Tsunade, owing to her medical expertise, had studied records of this Shinno. He was a renowned doctor, reputed to offer his services selflessly, helping civilians and shinobi alike. Though not a ninja, his medical techniques were said to rival top-tier medics.

But now… could this same man have felled an entire Cloud platoon?

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