32 Honorable Sacrifice

Souei eyed the two Konoha ninja in front of him. At first, he did a double take. The two men in front of him were completely identical. He originally thought it to be a clone, but he saw the way the other one fought, and that told him that the other one was as much a person as the other.

Which means they were twins. It was Souei's first time seeing identical people like this, but he moved on pretty quickly.

They both had long black hair and featureless wide eyes. One thing he noted were the veins visible on the sides of their eyes. A fact that told him one thing.

"The Hyuga clan, huh? Is it true that you can see for miles around you and even see through walls and such?"

Souei was genuinely curious. Kekkei Genkai that takes the form of Doujutsu don't exist in Suna after all.

The one on the left, whose headband was fitted into a bandanna-style, raised an eyebrow before it was reduced back to his stoic features. The other one, who had a regular headband didn't even twitch a muscle.

"So not the talking type, eh? Well, neither am I really. So let's just get this over with."

Souei paid their silence no mind. His eyes went to the dead sand shinobi that littered the ground around the two and his anger flared at the sight.

At his words, the two tensed, and Souei sent the four spider legs careening to the one on the left. They moved at speeds most chunin would struggle to follow, but his opponent gracefully parried them with fingers coated in blue chakra.

'Interesting.' Souei eyed their technique with interest.

He focused back as the other one closed the distance with him, dodging the sharp strings Souei sent his way and started to engage him in a taijutsu match. Now Souei considered himself to be well versed in Taijutsu. It was part of his fighting style that he honed the most aside from his Ninjutsu and Thread release training.

But even so, he can't help but notice how outclassed he was in this particular field. The Hyuga clan member was fierce in his movement. Every jab was aimed towards specific parts of his body and Souei found himself struggling to keep up.

He managed to maneuver away from the strikes, but most of his own punches and kicks were parried away. He tried to create distance but that plan was rendered moot when the other twin appeared.

They moved in perfect unison, their Byakugan activated, allowing them to see any and all of Souei's plans from his fluctuations in his chakra. If he had struggled before with one twin, Souei could now just barely skirt through their attacks now that they were working together.

All three continued to trade blows. Souei had tried to even out the playing field by creating string clones, but all of them had immediately been dispelled with one hit from his assailants.

Eventually, a hit managed to pierce through his defenses, followed by another. A jab from the one using the regular headband had glanced at his left thigh, and immediately he felt it lock in place as if paralyzed. The other hit grazed his right shoulder rendering it immobile.

Souei widened his eyes as his mobility was suddenly cut in half. Another part of his mind whirled at the fact that he could no longer mold chakra at the points of impact. As small bits of panic flared in his head, Souei unleashed a flurry of sharp, deadly strings from the rest of his  body, forcing both to leap backward to avoid getting cut. Needing to keep his distance, he aimed his remaining usable hand and sent condensed strings towards them in a cluster.

'Bullet String: Rapid Fire'

The siblings weaved in and out of the projectiles, narrowly dodging a few. Some did find purchase, as miniscule lines of blood appeared all over their bodies.

Knowing that he'd be done for if they get close, strings were spawned from Souei's back that extended to the tallest spires around them. Souei took to the air, far from the reach of the Hyuga's famed Gentle Fist as he then called back the golden spikes to his side.

The two Hyuga paused, a slight widening in their eyes showing the surprise to the unexpected move. It was then they were forced to dodge the now flaming spider legs, ignited with fire chakra, that are also spinning like a drill. Each one punctured the earth beneath them and kept on going. It was only their Byakugan's that allowed them to survive the next onslaught.

As the golden spike drilled through the ground, instead of being pulled back up, they simply burrowed to the earth and came back up behind them, threatening to pierce their back had they not suddenly spun, a blue dome of chakra deflecting the golden projectiles.

Up in the air, Souei eyed the new jutsu, trying to gauge for weaknesses. He sent the spikes back against them, and watched with a critical eye as the twins used the same move to defend themselves.

It didn't take long for him to notice it, the defensive technique may be powerful, but it had one glaring weakness. The user had to be completely immobile as they utilized the technique. From what he can tell, it also takes up quite a bit of chakra as well.

Therefore, he didn't stop. He kept on peppering them with small attacks that didn't take much chakra. He threw kunai and shuriken, sent forth bullet strings, and a few low level fire techniques continuously. Not allowing them a single chance to stop.

Back on the ground and within the safety of the Kaiten, Hiashi was sweating in effort as he felt his reserves dwindle. His byakugan could see his opponent unleashing more and more attacks against them and not giving them a single chance to breathe. The moment he and Hizashi stopped, both would be hit by either a kunai or even the dangerous strings.

His mind ran a mile a minute as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. It was either succumb to death by chakra exhaustion, or by the attacks sent by Souei Matsuri.

However, his choice was taken away from him as all of a sudden, he felt his Kaiten dispelled forcibly. His Byakugan captured it all in slow motion, Hizashi, his younger twin brother, had switched the direction of his rotation, opposing Hiashi's Kaiten.

As they were standing beside one another, the clashing direction forced both techniques to fall and dispel. In any other circumstances, he would've thought his brother a traitor.

But seeing the man rush ahead and stand in front of him, his hands outstretched to the side and eyes resolute, as Hizashi sent the most powerful vacuum palm he had ever seen him do, pushing away most of the ranged attacks that Souei sent at them.

But Hiashi knew it wasn't enough. The Vacuum Palm was never meant to save them both, it was meant to save him. Hizashi had deflected all the attacks that would get past him, the rest immediately landed on their location.

*BOOM*

An explosion covered their side of the battlefield, covering both twins in thick, heavy smoke. As the dust settled, it revealed Hiashi relatively unharmed with his eyes wide in shock as his little brother stood in front of him with deadly injuries, having blocked nearly all the projectiles with his own body.

He knew. Hizashi knew that their situation was one they couldn't escape from easily. So he took it upon himself to save the life of his twin brother. The one who was born first, and by extension, the life of his future clan leader.

"...A-Are you okay..Hiashi?" Hizashi's question was accompanied with a gout of blood escaping from his lips. His chest had a few kunai and shuriken sticking out of it. His arms and shoulder were covered in blood from the thin holes that pierced all the way through. A golden spike leg was stuck through his thigh and his entire body was covered in burns and ashes.

"H-Hizashi! Why did you-" Hiashi screamed.

"Y-You know why." He coughed even more blood. "You…are the future of the Hyuga clan. There's no way…I'd let you die."

Hiashi's eyes widened as Hizashi gave him a small smile. It was then that Hizashi's headband came undone and revealed the Hyuga's greatest shame.

A seal covered the entirety of Hizashi's forehead. A seal that cemented Hizashi's future as a member of the Branch Family. A seal that Hiashi regretted was ever put on the skin of his twin brother.

"Live on…brother."

Hizashi's body fell down with a resounding thud. And yet, even in death, Hiashi saw how Hizashi's face remained a small smile, as he died protecting that which was cherish to him.

Hiashi then saw how the seal dissipated, and Hizashi's eyes lost its color.

It was then that Souei reappeared. He subtly landed a few feet away, standing on one leg as his other one was still paralyzed. His right arm remained slack on his side.

"Your brother truly loved you." Souei commented with an even tone. Hiashi saw how he gave a nod of respect towards his brother's corpse.

And for some reason, that action only angered him.

Hiashi screamed. Just as he was about to charge and get revenge against Hizashi's killer, a loud horn sounded. One that neither he nor Souei recognized.

.

.

The battle was still raging, all over the rocky fields that surrounded the outpost, ninja wearing leaf and sand attire battled for supremacy. Although the ambush from Suna's reinforcements had caught the Konoha forces off guard, that advantage had soon been taken away as Konoha launched a counter attack.

Far within the thick of the combat, Orochimaru stood amongst the corpses of Suna shinobi. The Sword of Kusanagi held firmly in his hand, having been used to bisect plenty of poor souls that decided he was an easy target.

He licked the blood on his lips as he took a moment to study his surroundings. All in all, the battle still went within his expectations. He knew coming here that taking the outpost wouldn't be easy, and everything was still going according to plan.

The old bag Chiyo's presence was worrying, but nothing he couldn't handle. He had confidence in his own skills. Besides, this wasn't the first time the snake had seen the legendary 'Toxic Maiden' of Suna in action. He had since prepared his own countermeasures just in case he had to face the powerful woman.

That was exactly when he saw a wooden puppet in the shape of a regular human, but with four arms. It had turned its four arms into a variety of different weapons and used them to annihilate a squadron of Konoha ninja.

He didn't hesitate and ran forwards, his form a blur to anyone on the battlefield and cut the resounding puppet in two with the Kusanagi. It fell in two pieces and immediately stopped moving.

Orochimaru chuckled ruefully as he was suddenly surrounded by nine other puppets.

"Fufufu, how exciting. To face Chiyo of the Hidden Sand in battle."

The snake sannin couldn't say any more words as he was suddenly charged. Credit where it was due, Orochimaru was impressed with the way the puppets were controlled. The way they moved with a grace that defied their artificial bodies spoke volumes of the mastery Chiyo had achieved in this particular ninja art. Just one puppet would be more than a match for an average Jonin.

But he was Orochimaru. Newly dubbed Sannin and student of the Third Hokage. Just this is nowhere near enough to kill him.

A swing of the Kusanagi forced two of the puppets to clatter back, but the blade of the sword suddenly extended, catching Chiyo off guard and managing to cut both puppets in half.

Another two puppets kept their distance and opened their mouths and launched a flurry of poison tipped senbon towards Orochimaru. An attack that the snake summoner didn't even bother to dodge or defend, but one he charged through.

Most of the senbon struck, hitting Orochimaru's vital areas and unleashing the poison within.

But it didn't affect him the slightest. He had studied the poisons used by the Toxic Maiden and concocted a contingency. At this point, he is already immune to most of the poisons Chiyo has in her arsenal.

Going through hand signs with a speed few could follow, he unleashed a barrage of wind blades that shattered the puppets around him.

Out of the remaining seven, only four had survived Orochimaru's counterattack. Ones that Chiyo had pulled back in caution.

"Truly, this cannot be the only thing that you are capable of? I know you can hear me, Chiyo. You Suna puppeteers always did like fighting from a distance." Orochimaru said with an amused smile. He then approached one of the broken puppets, his eyes still trained on the remaining four as he sent a pulse of chakra towards the head of the broken puppet.

His head then swerved to the right, his sharp eyes picking up a figure standing on top of a hill, her hands outstretched with invisible chakra strings connected to the puppets surrounding him.

"Fufufufu, found you~"

Just as he was about to charge to Chiyo's position, a titanic wall of earth suddenly rose from the ground, covering the entire battle field in a large square. Retreat routes of both Suna and Konoha forces were cut off as the next second, an enormous chasm opened from below and swallowed a large number of both leaf and sand shinobi before closing permanently shut.

That was when a loud horn emanated throughout the entire field. One that sent warning bells to Orochimaru's mind. He had noticed it just before a man in a suna uniform bellowed.

"AMBUSH!"

____________________

AN: What's this? A cliffhanger?! Muahaha bet y'all didn't expect that did ya.

Anyways, rip to my man Hizashi Hyuga. Quite possibly the picture perfect symbol of loyalty who got fucked back in canon. I decided to give him at least an honorable death here, dying to protect his brother instead of being randomly sacrificed. Also RIP Neji.

Surprise appearance by the Snake Man himself! I love writing a POV from him. The crazed genius whose arrogance isn't without merit and looks down on everything and everyone.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

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