27 Neji Versus Konohagakure Forces
AN: To clarify some misunderstandings I have seen in the comments:
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1. He didn't spare Hiashi out of pity. He needs him alive in order to try and later locate his chakra energy source, the Hyuga's Giant Tenseigan for himself. He now lacks chakra to use his Tenseigan and that could give him a boost.
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2. He is still nowhere near Toneri's level. The guy had the most Otsutsuki-like appearance and genes out of any descendants and offshoots of them in the story. His chakra was probably massive. Neji still has many strong opponents that are stronger than himself, especially with the Butterfly Effect that he caused.
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3. Hinata and Hanabi can't do shit to him if they cast that Curse Mark even when he has Tenseigan off. He could just turn it back on. He would just experience a short time of pain and small nerve damage.
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Somewhere inside the Land of Fire, a little further away from the Konoha village itself, Neji patiently waited for his company. He didn't want to fight it out inside the Konoha and mess with the plot too much, so he decided to do it here. As for why he didn't just run away, it was because he wanted to test his own limits next. He's gotten way bolder now than he ever was before. He wanted to test just how far he has come in this Ninja World and by crushing Konoha's full forces he would do just that.
'Huhu, this many of you came just for me! It seems Hiashi chickened out, I was right, he's not fully ready yet to fight me. It's a pity, that I didn't fully get my revenge by killing him and his daughter. However, it's good for now. I should hurry up and find a way to steal that Giant Tenseigan of his, though it's probably not even close in power to the Giant Tenseigan on the Moon, made by Hamura with his unstoppable eyes as well. I should try and get that one too! That's where I will get my chakra next!', Neji smiled after checking ahead with his Byakugan. He also prepared his next moves ahead. He was truly greedy for more power, meaning more chakra reserves required for his Tenseigan eyes, 'But, judging by the strength Hiashi displayed against me, Toneri would really be a huge challenge, with that Hamura's Giant Tenseigan he has, I'm certainly not his match for now!'
Hundreds of different ordinary shinobi forces and Anbu members came into view inside of this usual Land of Fire-like forest full of dense trees, small rivers, and hills. Neji noticed a few familiar faces as well, there was the full Team Asuma, Kakashi, and the older Ino-Shika-Cho trio, alongside many others, "It seems that you want to follow me guys, so I decided to wait and ask what is the problem...", Neji confidently stated loudly as they were getting into some kind of a formation around him, 'This is nice, let's see how well I managed to grasp the powers of my Tenseigan hehe!'
"Neji Hyuga, you were declared an S-class rebel by the Lady Hokage! Surrender yourself peacefully or else we were tasked to bring you back, for trial, with force!", Shikaku Nara suddenly spoke from a tree above. He was the Konoha's Jonin Commander and held the highest authority out of them all.
"To be honest, I don't have any malice against Konoha. I'm more indifferent toward it so to speak. My problem lay mostly with the Hyuga clan slave ownership practice, which I effectively solved just now, so there is no need for you to be against me now. You're not my match!", Neji replied calmly.
'It's as I thought, damn you Hiashi!', Shikaku thought tiredly. But there was no choice now. Hyuga clan was the strongest and the most important clan of Konoha, and this teenager in front already killed dozens of its members. It was strictly prohibited, and now Konoha could only offer him death. The most promising and the strongest Hyuga in history becomes its biggest enemy, it was really unfortunate and ironic. Many other people present looked at Neji feeling a bit of regret and pity.
All of a sudden, two seconds after Neji replied, dozens of weird shadows suddenly rushed toward him. But then, to the surprise of everyone, Neji suddenly levitated high into the air. He could do it now, even without turning his Tenseigan Chakra Mode on, "Your Nara shadows can't reach me here!", Everyone looked as Neji's arctic blue colored eyes started slowly spinning like small stars.
'Damn, he can even fly now...? I always thought that this guy was a drag...', Shikamaru sighed.
However, suddenly, Inoichi Yamanaka took a step forward and performed some kind of square motion with his hands, 'Mind Disturbance Technique!', The user of this secret jutsu sends part of their chakra into a target's nervous system, giving them full control over the target's body. It was safer to use than Yamanaka's standard Mind Body Switch Tehniuqe as it doesn't transmit damage back onto the caster of the jutsu. It was Inoichi's strongest jutsu currently.
However, as soon as that part of Inochi's soul touched Neji's own, he suddenly experienced a feeling of seeing and hitting a giant wall, 'W-What on Earth...?', Inoichi screamed in agony and suddenly collapsed. He, who was the person with the strongest spiritual energy inside the whole Konoha, presently got injured because of a backlash just from touching Neji's own inner soul.
"Father!", Ino, who was a part of Inochi's group of nearby Konoha's forces, came and picked him up while feeling shocked and scared. She couldn't believe what just happened as she glanced at the floating Neji in distance, 'Just how far did he come...?', She looked at his now playful and cocky expression and divine-like, blue eyes, not recognizing him anymore. She still remembered how she used to run around and pester him before, trying to charm him, in every way, ever since that episode back in the Forest of Death. But, he was always stone-cold and rejected her, not even wanting to exchange many words with her. However, now, he was not so cold, he was just cocky.
'That technique could be quite a killer against opponents who don't excel in the field of spiritual energy, however against me, it is the worst move to perform...', Neji watched that scene and smiled.
'Damn, it was probably because of that strange dojutsu, no one of us is a match for him in spiritual energy! Moreover, our Nara shadows can't reach him so far above...', Shikaku thought as he ordered all of the forces next, "Yamanaka clan members, don't try and use your jutsu on him! We're going to use the full force against him next!", And immediately after hearing him, everyone quickly prepared.
"Choji, this is not the battle you could participate in yet! This time, just watch and learn from me!", Choza Akimichi said to Choji who was standing right behind him and prepared to enter the action. Choji wanted to say something, but after receiving a stern gaze in response, he decided to shut up.
Even though he looked stupid, he was still ashamed of himself because of such a huge strength difference between him and Neji, who was only one year apart in a generation. Even his father couldn't take him out alone. He then remembered how Neji always looked down on him before, 'Maybe, he was right...', Choji clenched his fists a little, deciding to train even harder than before.
Choza had a very large bo spear inside his hand and a traditional Akimichi armored outfit and tattoos. It was previously decided that he would be the main attack force to take out the rebel.
'Calorie control!', That was the hijutsu utilized by the Akimichi clan and it formed the basis of all their clan techniques. The technique granted the user the ability to freely convert the calories they store in their bodies into chakra to be used in their unique fighting style which ranges from expanding parts of, or, their entire body. That's why the members of the Akimichi always like to eat in huge quantities, and why they, among others, own a chain of restaurants inside the Konoha.
"Super Multi-Size Technique!", In an instant, Choza went ahead as his body started expanding into a huge giant the size of a mountain. This is the trademark ability of the Akimichi clan. When performed, the Akimichi grows in size, proportionately increasing their weight and strength and thus making their physical attacks more powerful. The clothes they're wearing will change in size to accommodate them, as will certain weaponry, such as the bo, he currently brought with him.
However, such a significant change in size places a great burden on the user's body. Choza could currently perform this technique without much danger associated with the use of those Three Colored Pills, unlike Choji. By forcibly converting the body's fat reserves into chakra, each successive pill ingested gives a tremendous power boost. The Chilli Pill is even said to increase one's power a hundred times. However, the pills have a drawback. As they burn the entirety of your fat, so the user will become dangerously emaciated. It is even said that after the third Chilli pill, death is imminent.
'So this is the rumored Yang Release?', Neji looked with interest. He already knew that most of the so-called hidden techniques were just made of Yin or Yang releases. Kiba and Shino probably used the Yang Release, and Konan from Akatsuki too. Yin and Yang were chakra natures that existed outside of the five other elements.
Whereas the five elements are created by changing the characteristics of chakra, these two unique elements are created by changing their composition. Chakra is made by mixing together physical energy and spiritual energy in equal amounts to fuel ninjutsu. So by changing the ratio of the energies being mixed together, it can create a different kind of chakra altogether like those two.
Yin Release uses chakra which is two parts spiritual energy and one part physical energy. It governs imagination and manipulates the spirit, creating form from nothingness to give shape to that which has none. Genjutsu is an example of Yin Release as it uses yin chakra to manipulate the chakra flow of the target's cerebral nervous system, allowing them to control the five senses and alter their perceptions with illusions of all kinds.
Yang Release uses chakra which is two parts physical energy and one part spiritual energy. It governs vitality and manipulates the body, breathing life into form to animate that which lacks the life of its own. Medical ninjutsu is an example of Yang Release as it uses yang chakra to stimulate the natural healing process of the body when channeled into the target's cells, allowing them to heal from injuries at an accelerated rate.
It is fairly common for ninja clans to have their hidden ninjutsu based on Yin Release or Yang Release, separating them from other clans with distinctive fighting styles and unique training methods.
For instance, the Yamanaka Clan use Yin Release to project their consciousness from their own bodies and delve into the minds of others, and the Nara Clan use it to give their shadows a physical presence and even take on a three-dimensional shape. The Akimichi Clan use Yang Release to increase the mass of their bodies to multiply their size several times over, and the Inuzuka Clan use it to enhance their body to grant them beast-like strength and senses.
Choza immediately, with a gust of wind accompanying, moved his spear toward Neji in an attack. However, Neji just smiled, 'Forth Gate!', before he suddenly caught it with his bare hand. The spear was hundreds of times larger than him, however, he and Choza currently had the same level of force. He then instantly sent a little shockwave of chakra into it, with his chakra control, somehow, breaking it in half. Choza, Shikaku, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and others, all opened their mouths wide in shock. That was the ancient, distinctive weapon of the Akimichi clan broken like it was nothing.
"Akimichi patriarch, aren't you underestimating me a little? You should enter your Butterfly Mode!", Neji confidently spoke to Choza who just gritted his teeth, 'To break my bo, made of the finest materials, from the Land of Iron, like it was nothing... Not just spiritual, his physical energy is also off the charts...', 'And he already knows about our Butterfly Mode...? Well, it's the only thing remaining!'
The user of the Butterfly Mode could enter this mode by converting the calories of their body into chakra. The chakra, when visible, is shaped into two large butterfly wings that can be compressed into smaller wings. The technique uses an enormous amount of chakra. In this form, the user's combat ability is greatly enhanced, allowing the use of the clan's high-level techniques such as Butterfly Bullet Bombing, and the ability to use the chakra wings to create gusts of chakra. Choza could currently enter this ability without the use of dangerous pills as well, but Choji still couldn't.
Choza suddenly, manifested humongous blue chakra wings on his back, before channeling all of that chakra toward his right arm, "Butterfly Bullet Bombing", When an Akimichi enters Butterfly Mode, fat in their body is converted into densely concentrated chakra. As the chakra leaks from their backbone, it becomes visible through friction with the shoulder blade, taking the appearance of butterfly wings. The Akimichi can then focus the chakra from the wings into their fist, allowing them to use this technique, a single punch to a target with the Akimichi's full weight placed behind it. The Akimichi's natural strength, combined with the sheer amount of gathered chakra, makes this punch devastating, and capable of fracturing the ground. Choza right arm suddenly glowed in blue.
"This is way better... You are the strongest person out of the last generation's Ino-Shika-Cho, it seems, and probably even on a low-Kage level...", Neji smiled. In this form, he couldn't confidently take that powerful attack head-on, but, the most Akamichi lacked was speed, and he would now show it to him. However, just before he moved from his position, he noticed three different presences jumping toward him from the ground, as if attempting to isolate him from all four directions next.
'This is stupid!', He immediately launched his Senjustu: Rotation to deal with them, however, before he managed to petrify them all, he suddenly saw Choza's arm stopping in motion as he fell back to dodge, and the three people that attacked him from behind, Kakashi, Asuma, and Yugao of Anbu, suddenly turned into smoke. Yes, even Neji's Byakugan and Senju cells sensing can't distinguish Shadow Clones from real people. It was one of the most amazing abilities created by Tobirama.
"Now!", After seeing Neji's giant rotational force finalizing, Shikaku suddenly yelled to all the forces. Immediately, Neji saw many different elemental and special ninjutsu attacks coming toward him, as well as sneaky kunai and shuriken from all sides, enveloped in various poisons and explosive tags. Ninjutsu was launched by Konoha's ordinary forces, while weapons dripped in poisons and marked with explosive tags by Anbus present on the scene. After all, Anbu members were generally on chunin level of strength, as they mostly specialized in espionage, assassinations, and similar things.
Senjutsu: Rotation had a cooling period of at least ten seconds before it could be used again due to the danger natural energy always presented. Previously the cooldown was even twenty seconds, however with Senju cells, it was shortened to half of that. So, this time, Neji could only stop all the incoming attacks with his Tenseigan's ordinary gravitational ability, and he promptly did just that.
Shikamaru and Shikaku both suddenly opened their eyes, 'So, this previous attack has a cooldown?', They prepared to determine the duration of the cooldown next as well, because any info on Neji was good. Even if Neji manages to escape, then at least getting some info on him was necessary.
Everyone around looked in shock, as Neji not only managed to stop the attacks but then forced most of them back into their positions. So, they could only move to escape or shield themselves. However, they soon noticed that Neji even changed the trajectories of their attacks in different ways. Yes, Tenseigan had complete control of gravity, while Rinnegan could only pull and push.
And depending on the scale of attack used, it had different cooling periods. This one was also ten seconds. And Choza, Yugao, Kakashi, and Asuma, decided to strike just then at Neji, who was still in the air, from all directions around him, with multiple moves at the same time.
And seeing Neji's previous display of physical strength against Choza, they decided to attack him all from the distance with their most powerful moves, as they thought that he was still on a cooldown. Choza was the first to act as he picked some large nearby boulders and threw them straight at him.
Yugao launched an arsenal of Kunai toward Neji and then summoned and sent two Shadow Clones in addition, toward Neji, both performing two secret kenjutsu techniques, at the same time, in the air, "Dance of the Crescent Moon!", "Hazy Moon Night", The first move makes it so that as they move towards their target, the clones usually leap through the air in a formation reminiscent of the crescent moon, hence the name. Because all the attacks are meant to simultaneously come from a blindspot, targets can't reasonably defend against all of them.
Moreover, because of the power behind the strikes, if even one of them lands successfully, the target is likely to be fatally wounded. And the second technique creates similar afterimages, however, now just with their swords in a circular motion, leaving a trace of afterimages behind, which befitting to name, mirrors that of a moon. She performed it all masterfully in a few seconds without much thought.
'Not bad, really an elite jonin!', Neji nodded as he watched the myriad of different motions in front of him. And as he had no kinetic vision ability like Sharingan users did, he couldn't figure it all out. It looked almost like some kind of version of gentaijutsu, fusing those two styles perfectly together.
On the other side, Asuma also launched two long-range attacks as well, "Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning", The user of this jutsu spews a stream of chakra-infused gunpowder from their mouth, which surrounds the region. As the gunpowder is composed entirely of ash, it stays in the air around the victim like a cloud, which can be used as a smokescreen. After surrounding the enemy with the ash, the user can ignite it with a flint placed on their teeth beforehand to create a spark, resulting in a violent explosion, burning the enemy. And next, Asuma also summoned a Shadow Clone of himself to attack Neji up close. The clone fired up its trench knives made of special chakra-transmitting materials from the Land of Iron. It then also extended it further with sharp wind chakra.
'Asuma Sarutobi, a standard elite jonin level ninja!', Neji looked at his moves and thought quickly. Asuma was a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, he was quite rebellious against his father when he was young so he escaped there to get away. That was a small prestigious group of elite shinobi that served and protected the Daimyo of the Land of Fire as his personal bodyguards, permanently living in the imperial palace with the royal family. They would constantly remain by the Daimyo side to provide protection from any enemy or misfortune, no matter where they might be.
And finally, Kakashi, launched a Shadow Clone at Neji, who performed Chidori, while he used his, "Lightning Hound", The hound is highly fast and its movements are unpredictable, making it very difficult to avoid. As the Kakashi's hand remains connected to the hound by a cord of lightning, adjusting the amount of chakra used for the technique allows him to freely manipulate its speed and range. While Chidori was an S-rank close range, nature, and shape transformation technique.
Nature transformation was one of two necessary components for creating or modifying a technique, the second component being shape transformation. While nature transformation changes the properties of the chakra, into one of the five basic chakra natures, shape transformation changes the actual form and movement, altering its abilities. The five basic natures are the five elemental chakra natures, which are the foundation of all elemental ninjutsu. They are so vital to the shinobi lifestyle that each of the Five Great Shinobi Countries is named after one of the five. Each element is naturally weaker than and stronger than another one of the elements.
The ultimate example of shape manipulation is the Rasengan, which is described as shape manipulation that has been taken to the highest possible level. The Rasengan relies heavily on chakra control and does not require the use of hand seals. Kakashi modeled his Chidori after it.
And regarding nature transformations, in general, every person's chakra has an affinity towards one of the five basic nature transformations. Affinity can at times be genetic, or at least common to a particular family. Most members of the Uchiha clan have an affinity towards the fire nature. One's affinity can be determined using pieces of paper made from a special type of tree that is grown and fed with chakra. Nature Transformation users could also borrow the elements around them in nature to try and save their chakra in that way so as to not create it from the thin air. Every element also had a counter element it was especially weak against, or an element it performs better against.
Shinobi have an easier time learning to create and control a chakra nature that matches their affinity, although even then it may take a number of years. Shinobi are not limited to the nature they have an affinity for, and it is in fact common for jonin to have mastered two natures Although it is technically possible to master all five natures, it is very rare because of how all individuals are naturally less inclined to certain elements, requiring much more training, Third Hokage was one of the few who managed to master jutsu in all of the five natures, and even use them in combination.
'Kakashi, at this time, is maybe already aware of his Mangekyo Sharingan and Kamui, however, he still isn't confident to use them. Without it, he is only a peak jonin!', Neji looked at him with interest.
'Well to break this onslaught, coming from all directions, is impossible, as my cooldowns still aren't down!...', It all happened in a few short seconds. Neji thought and decided to end this showdown already with pure might and show them something extraordinary next, "Tenseigan Chakra Mode!",
Everyone in the forest looked in astonishment as Neji's whole body suddenly turned into some kind of flamy, azure-blue chakra form. And not just that, Neji instantly vanished from his previous place.
He dodged all the attacks in some way and then appeared higher than he was before, eclipsed by the Sun, he spoke, "Everyone, I already entered the realm of demigods, the Six Paths reams it's what I named it. There is no point in struggling against me. Showing you this form is my thanks to you for giving me so much fun and practice. I won't kill any of you, for the good old times, and as a show of goodwill to your Hokage. Go and tell her that she should just give up on me, as you all have more important things to deal with it. You would just die pointlessly against me.", Neji spoke powerfully, before glancing at Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Ino, for some reason, and disappearing.
And a few moments after he left, Kakashi suddenly thought with his one Sharingan eye still open, 'God, what was that speed...? My Sharingan couldn't track any of it... If he wanted, all of us would be dead... Obito... Do I really need to try and use your eye in that form...?', Kakashi thought tiredly.
Akatsuki, Orochimaru, Sasuke's disappearance, and now Neji, he felt like he was really lagging behind. And the only way he thought of to advance now was to use that eye more in the future. He already realized that he didn't just have an ordinary Sharingan at that time after he encountered Itachi in Konoha a while back. He also realized that he had another special ability like Itachi as well.
He was famous around the world as a "Copy Ninja", who mastered over one thousand jutsu, however, recently he increasingly felt that it wasn't enough. His usual method of fighting relying on intelligence, decoys, and most basic E-rank techniques to figure out his opponents, simply wasn't effective anymore in these troubled times. Even his base Sharingan couldn't keep up with Neji. Shikamaru and Ino, both fell to their knees in shock while thinking about what Neji's gaze meant.
