Chapter 263: New Eyes
Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 263: New Eyes
"This is…" Hinata felt like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and not in a metaphorical way.
The gravity created by Kakuzu was gone, and her body felt even lighter than usual. She instinctively knew that she was now capable of moving many times faster than before, as her body was brimming with energy.
However, she did not have the luxury of exploring this sudden surge of power. The black strings from Kakuzu were just inches away from her.
Hinata released a burst of chakra to push everything away from her. The ground cracked beneath her feet before she disappeared from her spot.
'Nine seconds left…' Hinata thought as she reached her opponent.
Kakuzu's green eyes moved to meet hers, and she noticed something in them… he was afraid.
She manifested three shadow clones around her target in an instant, surrounding him completely.
Kakuzu knew there was no time for hand signs or jutsu; the only thing he could do was use his strings to protect his vital organs and survive the attack.
"Kaiten!"
"Kaiten!"
"Kaiten!"
"Kaiten!"
The real Hinata and her three clones created four separate vortexes of pure rotating chakra, hitting Kakuzu from all directions.
The number one signature defensive jutsu of the Hyuga clan was now being used as an offensive weapon, tearing apart Kakuzu's flesh and bones without giving him a chance to fight back, like a meat grinder.
'Six seconds left.' Hinata ended the jutsu; her clones were gone…
destroyed by the violence of the technique she had just unleashed.
Her eyes immediately tracked down all the body pieces of Kakuzu flying through the air and found the two remaining hearts.
Moving faster than lightning, Hinata unleashed a flurry of attacks on the defenseless Kakuzu, obliterating what was left of him.
'Five seconds left.' The fight was over.
"Hinata!"
She saw her friend Ino running toward her with a worried expression.
Hinata shut off the massive flow of chakra and expelled all the remaining natural energy from her body, ending Sage Mode.
Her eyes returned to normal, and she felt all the exhaustion hitting her at once.
Ino caught her before she could fall down and wasted no time starting her medical examination.
"I'm fine, Ino… just a bit tired." She tried to reassure her friend.
"Shh! Let me check. You've never used Sage Mode for this long before. I have to make sure you don't have any lasting damage to your body."
"He's really dead, right?" Shikamaru asked while looking around at Kakuzu's remains.
"He is. I've destroyed all his hearts. It was the only thing keeping him alive." Hinata assured him with a tired voice.
"Hinata… that was…" Asuma didn't know what to say. He had never seen a Hyuga fight like this. She killed an extremely dangerous S-rank missing-nin in less than a minute. "Very impressive."
"Indeed. But you really cut it close this time." Naruto arrived at their side. He was carrying the kidnapped girl on his shoulders.
None of them had even noticed when he went to pick her up.
"That's because you didn't let us help her before." Ino frowned. "She could have died."
"Ino… don't be too harsh on Naruto." Hinata told her friend before looking at him with her white eyes. "Did you know I could do that?"
"I knew you had some potential ability to awaken. You just needed to be pushed hard enough to do it." Naruto responded.
"What did I awaken, though?" Hinata was confused. She had never heard of the Byakugan having any other ability that she didn't already know how to use.
"Your eyes changed shape back then, they turned...kinda blue. " Ino told her.
"They did?" Hinata had obviously not noticed any physical change in her, only a burst of powerful energy filling her body.
"Hmm… we know that the Sharingan has some hidden abilities. Perhaps the Byakugan has something like that." Shikamaru suggested.
"Do you know something about it?" Hinata asked Naruto, since he always seemed to know everything when it came to these things.
But Naruto could only shrug. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you about your own bloodline ability. Perhaps it would be something to consult with your father." Naruto did know something else but didn't want to mention it in front of the others.
He was sure that the secret to awakening that ability resided in the residual divine energy inside Hinata's body.
Divine energy is, as the name indicates, energy that originates from a real God, the ones living in the upper realms.
Normally, one would not find that type of energy in the mortal realm, but there is always a way.
Gods can transfer tiny amounts of divine energy to their followers in the lower realms, like with that Hidan guy.
But the best source of this type of energy is divine artifacts, as these always carry divine energy inside them to make them work.
Naruto, in particular, had a very strong artifact like this. The Golden Scripture was a very mysterious and powerful divine artifact from an unknown source. And it contained a tremendous amount of divine energy.
Probably more than Naruto could even imagine at this point.
As he cultivates and grows in power, more and more traces of this energy become imbued into his body and soul. And when he dual cultivates with Hinata and Ino, traces of divine energy inevitably enter their bodies.
Naruto believes that it was this exchange that helped awaken Hinata's new ability.
However, he was not willing to speak a word about these matters in front of them. He was too wary for that. The existence of his divine artifact was not something he wished to share.
"We can talk more once you are all back in the village." Naruto glanced at Asuma. "You still have a mission to complete. Bring this girl back to her village." He handed the unconscious jinchuriki to the jonin.
"Right…" Asuma was exhausted, but he knew that Naruto was correct. They could not bring this jinchuriki back to Konoha with them. The Hidden Rain Village would not take that lightly.
"Do we have to do that now?" Shikamaru looked down at Choji. The boy was just waking up.
"Urgh…" He groaned. "I'm hungry… wait… what happened?" He looked around in confusion.
"We'll catch you up on the way." Asuma told his student.
"Hinata, go with them. I know you're tired, but there's no rush. You can take a slow pace and rest a bit." Naruto told her.
"No problem, I'll stay with Ino and the others…" Hinata could tell that there was something strange with Naruto.
"Naruto…" Ino was thinking exactly the same. It felt like Naruto was in a hurry to get them away from here.
"You're not coming with us?" Shikamaru asked.
"Sorry. I have something else to do. But if you run into trouble, those two know how to call me." He pointed at Ino and Hinata.
After a few brief exchanges, the group parted north, leaving Naruto alone in the ruins of the old fort.
Naruto's voice then broke the eerie silence. "You've been very patient… but you can come out now, Itachi."
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters.
-.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to .com/kriogenix