Naruto: Drop System

"Konoha ninja, huh? They remind me of someone I really hate," the leader of the group wearing black raincoats muttered as Team 8 heightened their vigilance.

Sensing the shift in the leader's mood, a boy's voice came from the bulging mass on the back of the raincoat: "Should we prepare a funeral for them?"

"Heh..." The raincoat-clad figure didn't respond directly but instead grinned ominously.

Soon, Team 8 and the group of black raincoat-clad individuals passed by each other. During the encounter, both sides kept a sharp eye on one another, like they were ready to attack at the slightest provocation. However, neither side made a move as they passed.

Just when Kurenai was about to let her guard down, a thick white mist suddenly filled the air, turning the entire area into a dense, foggy blur in an instant.

"Not good, it's the Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Kurenai's face showed immediate concern.

"Byakugan—Activate!" Hinata instantly activated her Byakugan and turned to unleash a swirling blast of energy behind them. "Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"

The twisted air, like an invisible cannonball, struck one of the raincoat-wearing figures, sending them flying.

"Aaaahh!" A scream pierced through the mist.

But a second later, Hinata's expression drastically changed as she urgently called out, "It's an ambush! There are at least a hundred of them!"

Through her Byakugan's perspective, she saw a large group of people with visible chakra pathways appearing in the mist at an alarming speed.

"Don't worry, it's just an illusion," Shino said calmly while observing his insects crawling on his finger. "It's amazing that an illusion can fool the Byakugan, but my insects tell me that the scent of our surroundings hasn't changed."

Hearing this, Yagyu—who had also activated his Sharingan and noticed the presence of hundreds of chakra sources in the mist—paused his hand seals for a moment.

He then adjusted his technique. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Boom!

The dense white mist obscured their view, but the sound of a popping clone could be heard.

"Rasengan Water Tornado!" Yagyu took a few steps forward, raising his right hand above his head, palm facing upward.

Blue spirals of chakra appeared from thin air, forming a small blue tornado. As soon as the blue tornado formed, a massive surge of water descended from the sky.

The water was so vast that it could have easily swept Team 8 away, but instead, it converged toward Yagyu's hand as if drawn by a magnetic force. The water spun into an ever-growing water tornado.

Before it was fully formed, Yagyu hurled the water tornado forward.

As it flew, the base of the spinning vortex carved a deep trench into the ground. Stones and debris were sucked into the rotating mass, turning the water tornado into a far more destructive force.

The powerful suction from the tornado pulled the surrounding mist into it, resembling a giant vacuum cleaner.

The water tornado, growing larger and packed with more debris, sped toward the group of black raincoat-clad figures.

Due to the tornado's speed and the mist clouding their vision, the black-clad figures didn't react in time. They were caught in the suction and dragged into the violent vortex.

"AAAAHHHH!" Screams echoed through the mountains.

When the mist finally cleared, a massive water tornado filled with debris and bodies was seen rapidly moving away from Team 8's line of sight. Unless it encountered a thick mountain wall, the tornado would likely continue on its path for quite some distance before dissipating.

Seeing the devastating effect it had even on land, both Kurenai and Shino couldn't begin to imagine the destruction Yagyu's technique would unleash if used at sea.

Hinata, with veins bulging around her temples, was in disbelief. "It was really just an illusion? How is that possible?"

Like the Sharingan, the Byakugan is known for being a counter to genjutsu. When activated, Hinata could see a person's chakra pathways. Any ninja with chakra flowing through their bodies would be visible to her.

Unless it was a physical clone like the Shadow Clone Jutsu, illusions created by genjutsu couldn't replicate chakra pathways.

Yet, moments ago, Hinata had seen at least a hundred individuals with flowing chakra pathways in the mist.

That couldn't have been a mere illusion.

But somehow, it was.

For the first time, Hinata started to doubt the power of her clan's Byakugan.

Rumble...

Suddenly, the sound of thunder echoed through the mountains.

In the next second, both Yagyu and Kurenai seemed to sense something dangerous. Their faces changed as they urgently shouted, "Scatter!"

Yagyu quickly grabbed the still-dazed Hinata and leaped away in a flash.

Boom!

A massive bolt of lightning struck the spot where Team 8 had just been standing.

The ground exploded on impact, sending debris flying everywhere, while blue-white arcs of electricity crackled and flickered across the scorched earth.

Team 8 regrouped a short distance away, forming a triangle formation as they scanned the surrounding mountain path.

Kurenai's expression was serious. "Hinata, quickly use your Byakugan and search for the person who used that lightning jutsu!"

Still cradled in Yagyu's arms, Hinata frantically looked around with her Byakugan activated. "I can't find anyone! Other than the people hit by the water tornado, I don't see any chakra signatures at all."

"My insects can't find them either," Shino said grimly.

Yagyu, on the other hand, with his three-tomoe Sharingan glowing under his fake contact lenses, seemed to have spotted something. He gently reassured Hinata in his arms, "Don't worry. It's not that you can't see them, it's that they have a way to counter both the Byakugan and sensory techniques."

"I've found him—look over there!"

Yagyu pointed towards a mountain trail.

Following Yagyu's direction, Team 8 spotted a figure—the leader with the bulging raincoat.

The person had removed their raincoat hood, revealing green hair and a pair of uniquely shaped swords, crackling with blue-white lightning, in both hands.

Seeing this person and the infamous weapons, Kurenai's beautiful face turned pale with cold sweat. "That's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist... Raiga Kurosuki."

Without hesitation, Kurenai pulled out a kunai, her expression resolute. "I'll hold him off. You three must leave here immediately."

"Sensei, aren't you going to escape with us?" Hinata asked urgently.

"I can't run!" Kurenai replied in a serious tone. "He's a rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist, a Jonin skilled in the Silent Killing technique. If we flee together, he'll just pick us off one by one."

"If that's the case, then let Team 8 take him on together," Yagyu said with a confident smile. "I can test my new jutsu on him!"

Hinata's face filled with determination as she stepped beside Yagyu.

Shino, though silent, also moved to stand on Yagyu's other side.

"You all..." Kurenai was taken aback by their resolve, a wave of warmth washing over her.

A small smile formed on her lips as she said, "Then let's take down this rogue ninja together, as Team 8!"

Rumble...

Thunder echoed through the mountains once more, the sound reverberating through the landscape.

Suddenly, another massive bolt of lightning descended from the sky, heading straight for Team 8.

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