Recovering the Byakugan

At this moment, the many Kumogakure Ninja watched as Yota first severely injured the Fourth Raikage, then sent the Eight-Tails’ Jinchuriki flying with a single move. They were shocked and enraged. With both of them already knocked away, there was no need to fear friendly fire, and a barrage of ninjutsu came crashing down.

Yota snorted. He had no interest in using his own body and Haki to withstand the enemy’s attacks. With a wave of his hand, vast amounts of black mist surged forth and swallowed every attack whole.

"Take them back!"

A black circular hole opened in the sky. This was a move Blackbeard had used before—throwing the things inside Dark Hole back out to smash his enemies. This time, what came flying out were the ninjas’ own attacks.

Amid a series of crashes, those ninjas never expected such a move. They were caught in the brief opening right after casting their ninjutsu and were immediately struck head-on by their own attacks. It was unknown how many were killed.

"Roar!" With a thunderous roar, Gyūki the Eight-Tails could no longer worry about friendly fire. Opening its mouth, it unleashed a Tailed Beast Ball, a terrifying beam blasting straight at Yota.

With an earth-shaking boom, even the black mist Yota created with the Dark-Dark Fruit failed to completely block the tailed beast’s ultimate attack. The remaining force exploded against him and sent him flying.

"Cough, cough." Yota slowly climbed to his feet. "It seems that even though the Dark-Dark Fruit possesses spatial properties, sufficiently powerful and overly concentrated energy attacks can still burst through it."

Though the natural phenomenon represented by the Dark-Dark Fruit was a black hole, its power was clearly nowhere near that terrifying. Its spatial absorption ability was highly advantageous, but it was by no means an unbreakable defense.

Fortunately, Yota’s physical strength and Haki were both formidable. This attack, which could have vaporized an ordinary ninja without leaving even a hair behind, had merely knocked him over.

As he rose to his feet, Gyūki the Eight-Tails prepared to repeat the move, gathering another enormous Tailed Beast Ball. Having just lost some face, Yota’s expression turned serious as he brought his hands together.

"Wood Release—Dark Tree World Descent!"

The moment Gyūki the Eight-Tails saw countless trees erupting from the ground, it was horrified. The Tailed Beast Ball it had just swallowed into its mouth slipped out of control and exploded inside its maw, causing it to spit several mouthfuls of blood.

"This guy can actually use Wood Release!"

Wood Release could be considered an inferior version of the power derived from the God Tree. After all, the God Tree’s strongest move was called God Tree World Advent. As a tailed beast split from the Ten-Tails’ God Tree, Gyuki was naturally suppressed by this technique.

More than that, Gyūki the Eight-Tails could sense that this ninja’s Wood Release was even more terrifying than Hashirama Senju’s, with far stronger suppressive effects. Even Hashirama Senju could never subdue Gyuki, the second strongest of the Tailed Beasts, with Tree World Descent alone. At the very least, he would have needed to follow it up with Wood Dragon Technique.

Yet Yota’s Dark Tree World Descent exerted over ten times the Chakra-draining pull of ordinary Tree World Descent. After being wrapped by only a few thick trunks, Gyuki felt nearly half the Chakra within its body drain away. Though it struggled desperately, it was completely drained in a short time, revealing Killer B’s true body, hanging upside down from a tree trunk.

Moreover, after absorbing Gyuki’s Chakra, the range of Dark Tree World Descent immediately expanded severalfold. The Kumogakure Ninja who had gathered around were instantly struck by disaster, all of them suspended from trees by the spreading Dark Tree World Descent, their forces nearly wiped out.

Yota swept the area with Observation Haki and frowned. He had not seen the ninja with the Byakugan among them.

"Right, reconnaissance ninjas should be at the rear. Could he have already escaped?"

With that thought, Yota prepared to head for the Kumogakure camp and catch all the remaining ninjas in one sweep.

However, the moment he stepped out of the woods, surprise appeared on Yota’s face. A large group of Kumogakure Ninja were already kneeling before him, carrying white flags.

"Aren’t these people supposed to be the most warlike and steadfast of the Five Great Shinobi Villages? Why did they raise the white flag so quickly?"

In truth, Yota had not considered that he had already captured every high-level combatant Kumogakure possessed. Other than surrendering, the remaining Kumogakure Ninja likely had only one path left: total annihilation.

These Kumogakure Ninja were not afraid of death, but no one wanted to die. If there had been any chance of defeating Yota, they might still have had some hope by charging together and fighting for their lives. But judging from the current situation, even every person in Kumogakure combined was no match for Yota alone. What was the point of stubbornly throwing their lives away?

If Kumogakure truly had been so unwilling to yield even unto death, Madara Uchiha would likely have flattened it when it was first established!

"Lord Black Shadow Ninja, Kumogakure surrenders unconditionally in this war. Please state your terms."

Kneeling at the very front, Dodai spoke hoarsely, his face pale.

Yota tilted his head slightly. "Return Hinata Hyuga’s Byakugan first."

Dodai did not know who Hinata Hyuga was, but there was only one Byakugan in Kumogakure. His gaze immediately shifted to Kamui behind him.

Kamui gave a bitter smile. He had not expected life’s ups and downs to come so quickly. Still, he was a ruthless man—after all, he had dared to undertake a mission that was practically suicidal.

From Yota’s blade-like gaze, he could already see Yota’s displeasure. Though he did not know what relationship Yota had with that young lady of the Hyuga Main Family, he knew that the survival of all Kumogakure was now in the other man’s hands.

Nothing else was needed. If this Black Shadow Ninja simply applied a little more force and killed every Kumogakure Ninja inside Tree World Descent, along with the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails’ Jinchuriki, Kumogakure’s strength would immediately fall below that of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. It might even be completely wiped out by villages that had once held grudges against it.

Casually reaching up, he gouged out the Byakugan that had only recently been implanted and handed it over. Then the Kumogakure Ninja drew his Wakizashi and slashed across his abdomen, blood immediately pouring out.

Yota put away the Byakugan in his hand and curled his lip slightly. Though this man deserved to die in Yota’s eyes, he was clearly another ninja who had been thoroughly brainwashed by his village.

Under the banner of putting the village’s interests above all else, such people had completely lost themselves and any moral bottom line. It would have been one thing if Kumogakure had any self-restraint, but it was more like a den of bandits to begin with. Naturally, no one could expect this man to do anything good.

Still, his death did indeed dispel Yota’s desire to kill. This was an entire major shinobi village. If Yota slaughtered most of its fighting strength, the result would inevitably be a Ninja World War. No matter how terrible the current world was, it was still better than during a Ninja World War.

Besides, all ninjas could be considered crops to harvest. Yota already had some ideas about reaping them, so naturally, he hoped his wealth would grow as much as possible.