At the Hyūga residence, a sudden scream shattered the early morning tranquility.

  “Look! There’s a huge bck sphere above the young dy’s bedroom!”

  “Oh NO! It’s not good! Lady Hinata is nowhere to be found! Someone hurry and notify the cn head!”

  “You idiot! Ever since the young dy was almost abducted by those Kumogakure ninjas, guards have been stationed everywhere. How could anyone have taken the young dy away without a sound?”

  The Hyūga Cn’s shinobi turned the area upside-down but still couldn’t find Hyūga Hinata.

  “Hey, do you think the young dy might be trapped inside that big bck sphere?”

  “That thing seems to be floating higher and higher. Should we bst it open to check?”

  “Idiot! What if she’s really in there and gets hurt?”

  While the guards bickered, unsure of what to do, the cn head Hyūga Hiashi and other high-ranking family members arrived, accompanied by a few medical ninjas.

  “Use a D-rank fire jutsu, to bst it open,” Hyūga Hiashi ordered gravely.

  Staring at the sphere in the air, he had no idea what kind of material it was made of, but he felt a heavy, oppressive sensation in his heart.

  This bck sphere was no ordinary object.

  Sure enough,

  A small orange fireball whizzed through the air, only to dissolve silently the moment it touched the bck sphere.

  “Again! This time use ten Fireball Jutsu at once!”

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Immediately, the gathered cn shinobi all unched this lowest-level Fire Style attack.

  Again, it was silently absorbed.

  “This time, switch to other nature transformations. Increase the power by one rank!”

  Remaining composed, Hyūga Hiashi gave the order. They couldn’t confirm whether his daughter was inside, so he couldn’t simply unleash a full-scale assault.

  But the cn had numbers on its side. Step by step, they would find a way to break this bck sphere. That was the best approach.

  “Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!”

  “Earth Style: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling!”

  “Water Style: Water Colliding Waves!”

  One after another, the C-rank ninjutsu bsted into the air.

  Boom!!!

  Some of the jutsu collided prematurely, creating massive noise, but still failed to shake the bck sphere, and not even a ripple appeared on the surface of the sphere.

  “How is that possible? Even though they were just C-rank jutsu, used in such rge numbers their combined force should be on par with the destructive force of an ordinary A-rank jutsu.”

  “And yet we haven’t put so much as a crack in it.”

  The nearby crowd wore looks of shock.

  If Natsuki were on the scene, he would have recognized it instantly as a shield formed by a Truth-Seeking Orb.

  Using conventional ninjutsu, it was absolutely impossible to break.

  Unless one used Senjutsu, or possessed Six Paths power, there was no way to destroy it.

  “This time, don’t hold back! Use your best jutsu, one by one!”

  Hyūga Hiashi bellowed.

  “Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!”

  “Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!”

  …

  Rumble!!!

  A series of deafening explosions echoed through the sky above the Hyūga cn grounds, quickly reverberating across all of Konoha.

  This round of attacks featured rge-scale, high-powered jutsu whose combined impact was extraordinary.

  In the blink of an eye, countless figures raced toward the Hyūga compound, streaking in like lightning.

  Nearby civilians turned pale.

  It had only been a few years since the Nine-Tails’ Rampage, was something terrible happening in Konoha again?

  Maybe they really should consider moving out…

  Members of the ANBU, each wearing unique masks, arrived first.

  They were just about to question the Hyūga about the situation when a booming voice resounded:

  “Who dares disrupt Konoha’s peace? Do you think the Konoha Police Force is just for show?”

  One by one, members of the Uchiha Cn, all wearing uniforms embzoned with a fan symbol on the back, filed in.

  At the forefront was Uchiha Fugaku, head of the Uchiha Cn and Captain of the Konoha Police Force.

  “My younger daughter appears to be trapped inside that bck sphere, and no ninjutsu can break it. Captain Fugaku, do you recognize this thing?”

  Hyūga Hiashi stopped his cnsmen, who were about to block the police force’s approach, and turned to ask.

  If anyone in the vilge had the abilities to conjure up something so strange, it would undoubtedly be the Uchiha, capable of awakening the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan with all its bizarre powers.

  Fugaku focused his gaze on the rge bck sphere floating in the air. It looked more profound and unfathomable the longer he stared. Even with his experience, he couldn’t identify what it was.

  Of course, given his cautious nature, even if he did recognize it, he likely wouldn’t say so. He would just let the Hyūga keep struggling and spending their energy.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it. Whoever created this must be truly powerful.

  “Still, there’s nothing in this world that’s truly unbreakable. If you haven’t managed yet, you simply haven’t used enough power.

  “Would you like us to lend a hand?”

  Fugaku offered. After all, he too was curious about what that bck sphere was made of.

  He had seen from a distance how it easily withstood a barrage of attacks from multiple shinobi. If it could be replicated for armor, it would be a major boon to the cn.

  “Heh, the Hyūga Cn is known for its Byakugan and Gentle Fist Taijutsu. Their ninjutsu talents probably don’t measure up to your average shinobi’s,” some of the more arrogant Uchiha officers in the police force scoffed. “No wonder their attacks had so little power. Let us handle it ourselves.”

  These were the same hotheaded Uchiha who, two years ter, would contribute to sparking the Uchiha’s downfall.

  They might have just wanted to look impressive by smashing the bck sphere, but their words were clearly infmmatory.

  Sure enough, before Fugaku could scold them—

  The Hyūga shinobi exploded in fury. “Bastards! Let’s see how powerful you are, then!”

  “We’re not afraid of your Sharingan!”

  “Come on, see what the real number-one cn in Konoha is capable of!”

  They formed up neatly, and the many subordinate ninjas of the Hyūga Cn surrounded the entire police force in an instant.

  “Enough! The Hyūga Cn isn’t so weak that we need help from outsiders.”

  Seeing the situation escate, on the verge of igniting an internal conflict in Konoha, Hiashi hastily called off his cnsmen.

  Right now, rescuing his daughter took priority.

  After speaking, he stomped the ground and propelled himself into the air!

  “If ninjutsu won’t work, then let’s try taijutsu!”

  “Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!”

  A fierce beam of compressed Chakra bsted from his palms, colliding with the bck sphere.

  Boom!!!

  At st, the immovable bck sphere budged.It veered off in a diagonal trajectory from midair, slicing across a rge swathe of Konoha…

  Its nding point? One of Konoha’s most iconic buildings, the Hokage Tower…