Naruto: The Sage Body of Konoha

In the forest.

Two figures darted through the trees, one chasing the other in a fierce pursuit.

"He took the bait after all."

Sawemon glanced behind him. Seeing that Hiashi Hyuga was still hot on his trail, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

From the very beginning, Heiyan had never been his true target. According to the intelligence he'd gathered, Heiyan's strength was monstrous—equal to any Kage across the shinobi villages.

Despite being among the top bounty hunters of the Golden Exchange in the Land of Water, Sawemon still lacked the confidence to assassinate someone as powerful as a Kage.

What's more, Heiyan wasn't alone—he was protected by two prodigies: Fugaku Uchiha and Hiashi Hyuga.

Therefore, assassinating Heiyan would be like trying to climb into heaven with bare hands.

Yet Sawemon couldn't bear to let such a rare opportunity slip away.

So he compromised—manipulating a group of expendable pawns to hold back Heiyan and Fugaku with their lives, while personally acting as bait to lure Hiashi away from the others.

His objective for this operation was crystal clear: Hiashi Hyuga's Byakugan.

Although he possessed [Natural Hawk Eyes], which granted him exceptional vision, compared to the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, it was like comparing a novice to a master.

The Byakugan was the ultimate prize he craved more than anything else.

Once he obtained Hiashi's eyes, Sawemon could perfectly fuse three major systems—Byakugan, Kyūdō, and ninja arts—elevating his archery skills to an unmatched peak.

By then, even someone as strong as Heiyan would inevitably become prey to his arrows.

The timing was just right.

"Break!"

While fleeing, Sawemon suddenly spun around 180 degrees, simultaneously drawing the large bow from his back, nocking an arrow, locking onto Hiashi's figure with hawk-like focus, channeling chakra into the arrow shaft, and finally releasing it in a high-pitched whistle.

This entire sequence flowed seamlessly—clearly rehearsed a thousand times until it became pure instinct.

Whoosh!

The arrow shot through the air, its shaft wrapped in wind-element chakra, not only making it incredibly fast but also sharper.

"Not good!"

By the time Hiashi reacted, the arrow was already upon him, appearing as if he were rushing headlong into it himself.

At this critical moment,

Hiashi twisted his body sideways at full force, barely dodging the edge of the arrow. But immediately afterward—

Boom!

The arrow exploded, releasing a thick cloud of green toxic gas that engulfed Hiashi completely.

"Cough... cough..."

Instantly, Hiashi began coughing violently, having accidentally inhaled some of the poison, causing his limbs to go numb and lose sensation.

Before he could catch his breath,

Whoosh!

Sawemon's second arrow arrived.

This arrow was even faster than the first, unerringly aimed straight at Hiashi's heart. But paralyzed by the poisonous gas, Hiashi couldn't even perform basic evasive maneuvers, let alone defensive techniques like Rotation.

Thus, with his face drained of color, he could do nothing but watch helplessly as the arrow came flying toward him, waiting for death.

Suddenly—

A golden light flashed before Hiashi's eyes.

Then, with a crack, the arrow fired by Sawemon was cut in half by a golden light just meters away from Hiashi.

Swish!

Affected by the impact, the broken arrow changed trajectory and barely skimmed over Hiashi's head, baring his scalp and exposing a bloody wound beneath.

In an instant, Hiashi had become a man with a receding hairline—a classic case of balding. Compared to losing his life, however, he considered himself incredibly fortunate.

"Heiyan..."

Still shaken, Hiashi stared at the figure before him and murmured.

That's right—it was Heiyan.

Clutching the Sword of the Thunder God, he had finally arrived just in time through [Flying Thunder God Technique] at the most critical moment, saving Hiashi's life.

As for the Flying Thunder God formula itself, it was inscribed upon Hiashi Hyuga's back as four large calligraphic characters resembling black tattoos:

[Fu Rin Ka Zan].

This seal had been applied onto both Hiashi and Fugaku with their consent after Heiyan explained the principle behind the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Given Heiyan's current mastery of the technique, so long as he remained within a three-hundred-meter range of the seal, he could instantly teleport there.

Far away,

Sawemon felt a surge of shock and terror.

He had believed Hiashi was surely doomed, the Byakugan already his prize—yet unexpectedly, Heiyan had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and destroyed his attack with a single sword strike.

It was simply unbelievable.

This brat whose bounty was worth one hundred million ryō was even stronger than he had anticipated.

Retreat!

Thinking this, Sawemon didn't hesitate for a moment—he immediately chose to flee.

This time, without looking back, he ran for his life.

Whoosh!

Moving through the woods, Sawemon darted forward like a rabbit or falcon. Leveraging his familiarity with the terrain, he sprinted nonstop until he had put ten kilometers between himself and the battlefield. He was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

Only then did he dare to relax slightly and look back.

However, that very glance sent chills down his spine.

A blue flash—Heiyan—was rapidly closing in on him at lightning speed!

Crack!

Lightning Release Chakra erupted from Heiyan's legs, accompanied by a loud crackling sound as he propelled himself forward dozens of meters. Using Chidori Shunshin, he had relentlessly pursued Sawemon, keeping up with his desperate flight without letting him escape.

Now, Sawemon had finally entered Heiyan's attack range.

Hiss!

With a cold gaze, Heiyan hurled the Thunder God Sword in his hand, its speed matching that of Sawemon's arrows without falling behind.

Sawemon's pupils dilated in fear; he dove desperately to the side, narrowly dodging the strike.

Yet, he had no chance to celebrate his narrow escape.

[Flying Thunder God Technique!]

Heiyan instantly appeared within three steps of him, gripping the Thunder God Sword as he slashed it across.

Puchi!

Sawemon's head flew backward, severed forever from its body.

This renowned Bounty Hunter had died in confusion, without even managing to unleash any resistance.

His face bore no pain or despair—only stunned confusion. Even in death, Sawemon couldn't understand how Heiyan had teleported in front of him…

Such was the might of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Thud!

Sawemon's headless body crumpled to the ground, and Heiyan sheathed the Thunder God Sword before stepping toward the corpse.

From Sawemon's possession, he retrieved a thick Wanted Poster manual—hundreds of pages long—recording every bounty and wanted criminal in the shinobi world, ranging from one hundred thousand ryō to tens of millions of ryō.

The first page displayed Heiyan's name alongside a bold red number: one hundred million ryō.

"One hundred million ryō?"

Heiyan couldn't help but freeze at the sight of it. He hadn't expected his own life to carry such a high price.

That was equivalent to three Asuma Sarutobi's bounty.

"It must be Black Zetsu's doing."

After a moment of thought, Heiyan mused inwardly.

After all, the only person he had recently angered was Black Zetsu. Given the latter's reputation as a shadowy manipulator behind the scenes of the shinobi world, issuing a bounty of this magnitude was hardly surprising.

"Heiyan!"

At that moment, Fugaku Uchiha arrived, supporting Hiashi Hyuga.

"Is he alright?"

Heiyan glanced at Hiashi, noting his limp and lifeless limbs and pale complexion, clearly on the brink of collapse.

"Nothing serious. He was lucky—he only inhaled a small amount of paralyzing gas. He'll recover after some rest."

Fugaku replied in a sardonic tone.

"Heiyan, you saved my life."

Hiashi expressed deep gratitude, still shaken by the experience. Then he patted his newly styled balding look, clearly embarrassed.

This time, he had let his guard down—rushing headlong into an ambush.

It nearly cost him his life.

"That hairstyle actually suits you," Fugaku added mercilessly, twisting the knife.

"Make sure you remember this one."

With a quiet sigh, Heiyan continued cleaning up the battlefield.

"Looks like they're all bounty hunters," Fugaku muttered with restrained laughter, shifting his gaze away from Sawemon's corpse while frowning.

"That's right. They came after me."

Heiyan nodded, revealing his Wanted Poster to both men.

"Whoa!" Both Fugaku and Hiashi gasped instinctively upon seeing the staggering bounty of one hundred million ryō.

"Come to think of it, Sawemon himself had a thirty million ryō bounty too."

Flipping through the wanted manual, Heiyan found Sawemon's page and smirked.

Then, he used a Storage Scroll to seal away Sawemon's corpse.

Next, he picked up Sawemon's man-sized iron-black greatbow and tossed it toward Hiashi Hyuga.

"Catch!" Heiyan barked.

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