Since the Hyuga Clan acquired the Caged Bird Curse Seal hundreds of years ago, the Byakugan leaking out had never happened.

But two days ago, something against their ancestors' wishes occurred.

The Byakugan was stolen by Kirigakure.

Furthermore, Nobuhiko himself was captured, posing the risk of their bloodline leaking out.

In a few decades, if a new Hyuga Clan emerged from the Kirigakure, there might even be rumors that the true Hyuga lineage was in Kirigakure.

If it weren't for the fact that all clan members possessed the Byakugan, and they had been strictly guarding these past few days, the Kirigakure Ninjas would have been able to transfer Nobuhiko.

And this doesn't guarantee that Nobuhiko's genetic material hasn't been extracted.

"Hiashi-sama…"

"Enough. The Uchiha Clan's support unit has arrived. All we can do is ensure that our bloodline and the Byakugan are not leaked."

Hiashi glanced at Ginka, making her afraid to even breathe.

With that, Hiashi left the tent.

The Main House was smaller than the Branch House, and their status was noble.

But that didn't mean they couldn't abandon a Main House member. The top priority now was to confirm whether Kirigakure had extracted genetic material.

"Nobuhiko…"

Ginka felt the world spin, unsure what to do.

"Ginka-sama."

Natsu came in and supported Ginka, who was about to collapse.

In her eyes, however, was hidden a subtle glee.

She, who had always been treated as less than human by Ginka, secretly wished Ginka more misfortune.

"Help me out. I want to participate in this battle too."

Ginka recovered after a moment, pushed Natsu away, and stood up herself.

Nobuhiko couldn't die.

Seeing this, Natsu didn't stop her and silently followed behind Ginka.

...

In the afternoon.

During casual conversation, Kiyoshi learned some intelligence.

That is, the main force on this Kirigakure front line was a surprise attack unit, and Nobuhiko was captured by a Jonin from that unit.

The reason they were rushing now was to prevent them from sending Nobuhiko away and from performing the genetic material extraction operation on him.

Yes, genetic material extraction.

The surprise attack unit had too few females, so whether they could get pregnant was also an issue.

Therefore, the optimal solution was to continuously extract genetic material and preserve it in containers, then send it away via sealing scrolls.

"The Kirigakure unit is here!" A Hyuga Clan member suddenly shouted.

Fugaku, who was talking to Hiashi in front, turned his head.

The ground was shaking.

Kiyoshi keenly perceived this.

It sounded like a rubbing sound, coming from far away and getting closer.

Then came a rumbling sound, like waves crashing against giant rocks on the seashore.

Everyone looked back and saw a vast sea.

Water Release Ninjutsu!

Everyone's heart skipped a beat.

Such a large scale could only be achieved by Water Release Ninjutsu like the Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!

"Quickly use Fire Release Ninjutsu to block it!" Fugaku roared loudly.

He formed the 'Horse' hand seal, and a large stream of flames erupted from above his intertwined index fingers.

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!

As the Uchiha Clan's clan head, a B-rank Fire Release Ninjutsu was nothing to Fugaku.

The other Uchiha, who hadn't received the physical enhancements from the Mangekyo Sharingan, reacted a bit slower.

The Jonin all unleashed B-rank or higher Fire Release Ninjutsu, while the Chunin and weaker Genin quickly used the Fire Release Ninjutsu they knew.

The flames accumulated, turning into a raging inferno, covering the area in front and rushing towards the rolling, vast water flow.

Sizzle!

Vast amounts of steam appeared, rushing madly in all directions.

But… Konoha, visibly, was at a disadvantage.

Kirigakure on the opposite side was well-prepared, having accumulated an unknown amount of Chakra, while the Uchiha could only respond hastily, unable to unleash even a fraction of their strength.

As soon as the flames made contact, there were signs of them being extinguished.

"Damn it."

Hizashi looked at his brother, Hiashi, who was also frowning, and could only worry.

Their strongest defensive Ninjutsu was "Revolving Heaven," but that was for close combat.

Rushing in recklessly, they would be burned to death by the surging flames before they could even block the seawater.

"My hand!"

Blood spurted from a Konoha ninja's left hand, and the severed part of his palm dissolved into fragments in the seawater, rolling along with it.

The incredibly wide-ranging and fast seawater had permeated through.

Like high-pressure water currents, contact meant severe injury.

"There's no time to extract much Chakra."

Yashiro's flames continued to pour out, but the Chakra he had just extracted was already almost exhausted.

They had no time to extract new Chakra!

Everything happened in a flash, no one had time to react.

They had planned to attack Kirigakure as soon as the village's reinforcement troops arrived.

But Kirigakure turned the tables on Konoha, launching a direct counterattack.

"What should we do?"

Asuma was also using Fire Release.

The flames he exhaled gradually stopped, and he could only stop to quickly extract Chakra.

Kurenai shook her head at his words. As a Genjutsu-type Ninja, she clearly had no experience dealing with the current situation.

"Hmph, I wonder how many Konoha Ninja will die this time." Mei wore a gentle smile.

After being influenced by Kiyoshi, she had grown to dislike all Konoha Ninja.

"Most of those using Fire Release Ninjutsu are Uchiha."

Ao, who had only recently transplanted a Byakugan, was using its abilities to observe them, his right eye covered by a black circular eye patch.

Beneath the eye patch was precisely Nobuhiko's Byakugan.

"How many have come?" Mei asked.

No wonder so many Fire Release Ninjutsu had blocked the Water Release Ninjutsu they had all unleashed together just now.

"Many, probably one or two hundred people."

Ao's gray-blue long hair fluttered in the wind, and light yellow ornaments hung from his ears.

Those were sealing tags, which could be pre-commanded to protect a certain object, and when the protected object was threatened, it would protect it in the form of a seal.

The Byakugan was a precious trophy, and both Ao himself and Kirigakure valued it greatly.

"That many?"

Mei raised an eyebrow.