Desolation of the Caged Bird Chapter 44 - Jade Beauty

The Shinobi World had no understanding of the terrifying might of a Jade Beauty.

Overthrowing a country and toppling a city was an appellation given to such a force of nature. Countless cultivators had faced unexpected ends just because a Jade Beauty revered by all smiled at them, such that the action stoked the envy and fire of her suitors, who challenged such pitiful fellows and cut off their immortal path. Indeed, even those Favored Sons of Heavens could find their fate completely upended if they were not careful around a Jade Beauty.

Amongst them, Zi Wuji could recall one select individual, the founding ancestor of the Immortal Ensnaring Music Palace, back when it was still known as the Heavenly Melody Pavilion, whose beauty earned the envy of heaven and earth.

She was the Heavenly Melody Sovereign, the Immortal Peach Fairy, Xi Shi. Historical accounts, recorded by varying scholars, stated Xi Shi was so beautiful that when she washed her silk by the riverside, the fish that saw her reflection in the water forgot to swim and sank to the bottom. 

It was said that when she took to the air, the geese who saw her were entranced, and they forgot how to flap their wings, all dying as they struck the ground. It was said that when she emerged at night, the moon, seeing her radiant features, would become embarrassed, asking itself, ‘How dare I compete with her?’ Thus, hiding itself behind the clouds, ashamed to reveal its light to the world.

It was said, flowers, on seeing her, would turn away their petals, cover themselves, crying out, ‘Ah! I am but a mere flower, whose beauty is fleeting, but she? She is Xi Shi!’

Sixty-six hundred and sixty-six cultivators were said to have died from Qi Deviation, driven mad in an attempt to capture her beauty in paintings and portraits. It is said, she alone was responsible for the devastation of the Painting Dao, crippling the Painting Path, as everyone who dared to paint a thing, asking others if it was beautiful, would be told:

“It is good. But it is not Xi Shi.” 

The phrase, “You are beautiful, but you are not Xi Shi,” became used as a verbal means to cut down a beauty who thought too highly of herself. Such a line became so taboo that merely mentioning it to the wrong beauty had led to the annihilation of entire families and the massacre of entire clans.

For indeed, Xi Shi had reigned supreme, known to be the most beautiful in the Rain World. Who could dare compete with her? To use such a line, were you not asking for death?

The Heavenly Melody Sovereign was a person Zi Wuji had never met, but he had seen the one and only true painting created by her, depicting herself. Indeed, when he had snuck into the Immortal Ensnaring Music Palace as Long Gongji, seeking to pluck flowers, when he had almost died to the Palace Master’s Thousand Heart Seizing Devil Music, he had been chanced to glimpse at a portion of a mere painting of that beauty.

Were his Dao Heart not strong enough, death would have come! Instant! Immediate! A dog’s death!

Surviving such an experience, Zi Wuji comprehended a terrifying technique. Indeed, using his insight, his comprehension, and that horrifying experience, he comprehended a technique! Merely from glimpsing at a portion of a painting of an Ascended Sovereign, he comprehended a technique! 

The problem was, only after comprehending such a technique did he discover it could not be used by a man.

At the time, lacking a Dao Companion and preferring to work alone, Zi Wuji had no use for such a technique. More so, as it needed one to have a certain level of beauty, it was impossible for it to be given to just any toad at the wayside, and even he could not use it himself.

Then, he felt it was a waste! A terrible waste!

Now?

Watering it down a hundred times over, and converting some of the elements that required Qi to require Chakra, Zi Wuji had left instructions for Hinata, passing down that technique he comprehended.

In the Rain World, one would require a higher cultivation level or need to have honed their Divine Sense and Mental Spirit to be able to resist it. But in the Shinobi World, where there were no such things as Cultivation Levels?

Hinata’s voice wafted through the air as she clapped once.

“Shinsai no Jutsu.”

Heartbreak Technique!

Her chakra, seeped in Yin, pulsed throughout the entirety of Kumogakure no Sato.

“I see into the hearts of all your men…” Hyūga Hinata’s voice traveled like ice. “Unworthy.”

“Ahh!”

One shinobi coughed up blood, his eyes went dark, and he collapsed.

“Filthy.”

“Pffft!”

Three more coughed up blood at the same time, clutching their chests, and enjoying a one-way trip to the Pure Land.

“Dirty.”

Six men clutched their chests identically, collapsing one after the other.

The Fourth Raikage, A, watched in horror as one after the other, as his men, his shinobi, collapsed. Coughing up blood, and then giving up the ghost. Dying, one by one, one after the other, clutching their chests, unable to resist, unable to counter, unable to fight. Chills ran down his spine as he sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes becoming bloodshot.

What type of witchery is this?! What sort of technique is this?!

If the likes of Tsunade were there, with her medical insight, she would have recognized the phenomenon as a medical condition known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Or more commonly, broken heart syndrome. 

Dying of a broken heart was thought to be a joke by many, but such a thing was biologically possible. It could be triggered by intense emotional distress, such as the death of a loved one, or by severe physical stress.

The answer was in the body's overwhelming response to stress. A sudden surge of stress hormones, particularly adrenaline, would stun the heart muscle, leading to a temporary weakening and change in shape of the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber. That ‘ballooning’ appearance gave the condition its name, “takotsubo," which was a term for an octopus trap that the ventricle would resemble.

The technique required two things: One to be enchanted by an intense, otherworldly beauty, stimulating a rapid beating of the heart, and an increase in stimulation of Yang Chakra alongside a flood of adrenaline, which would ‘prime’ the heart. Then, that otherworldly beauty had to blatantly reject them, activating as a trigger that caused the gathered Yang Chakra to go haywire and the rapidly beating heart to receive a potent shock.

The result could only be severe arrhythmia, and disruption of the heart's electrical system, and that arrhythmia would cascade into myocardial ruptures, in which the weakened heart muscle tore and ruptured. 

Such a thing immediately led to cardiac arrest—

And death.

Heartbreak Technique.

It was a technique that was stronger the more beautiful one was, as if one’s beauty was not enough, the heart would not be primed, the Yang Chakra would not be gathered, and the shock of rejection would never be enough to stun the heart and kill a man.

Merely a fleeting glance of the portrait portraying the beauty of one woman had been the origin that allowed Zi Wuji to comprehend such a thing. The methods and means of cultivators could not be compared to that of mortals! 

Profound beyond measure, dangerous beyond understanding, a cultivator amidst mortals was akin to a tiger amidst pigs! Even if deprived of cultivation, the richness of their experiences was enough to allow them shine brighter than polished jade!

The Fourth Raikage found himself facing the greatest challenge any Raikage had ever faced before him, and the greatest any would ever face after. If all his shinobi were to fall here, could Kumogakure no Sato continue to exist? If they had no shinobi, they would not be able to take on missions, and they would not be able to maintain their economy, which meant an inevitable, slow death!

Yet, to give in to the enemy, to cut off his hands, his legs, and bow in humiliation, to hand over his own brother, was this something he could do?

Decisiveness! Decisiveness! Decisiveness!

In such situations, a leader needed a level of decisiveness and mental acuity to make the appropriate choice. If this were the Rain World, the moment Hinata had appeared, the leader would have sensed that this matter would be the cause of the destruction of their people and would immediately seek appeasement. However, in the Shinobi World, such an event had never happened before; there had never been a case of a single individual storming into a village by their lonesome and completely incapacitating all the forces present, commanding the leader of the village to hand over their Jinchūriki, or perish.

Perhaps, in another world, another Shinobi World, the man known as Pain would have been the first and only individual to conduct such a feat, but this world was not that world.

As such, this moment was one that would be etched in History!

History would be made, here, and now, depending on A’s choice!

Bow his head and submit, or remain defiant to the bitter end! Allow his name to go down with his village, or to be known as the greatest coward and traitor of Kumogakure no Sato!

The choice was clear!

A’s Choice, it would be the same as that of Konoha, in a world where a lone individual invaded their village, seeking their Jinchūriki.

Resist!

Fight to the bitter end!

Cutting off his hands? Giving up his brother? It was out of the question!

If he perished, he perished! If Kumo perished, it perished!

But they would do so, standing tall on their feet, rather than groveling on their knees!

He was a Shinobi! 

“Raiton: Chakura Mōdo!”

Lightning Release! Chakra Mode!

A’s entire body was coated fully in Lightning Chakra. He charged with everything he had, lunging towards Hinata floating in the air, becoming a streak of blue lightning that left behind a still afterimage in its wake. He moved so fast that many, with their naked eye, would never be able to catch a glimpse of him. Even with the Sharingan, one would have had difficulties tracing him. 

“Good! Good! Good!”

Up above, Zi Wuji smiled, slowly clapping his hands.

An unwavering spirit, one that refuses to bow, even in the face of death. In another world, you could be considered a person who shines under the spotlight, a main character of an era. 

Alas, in this world… there was Namikaze Minato. 

And in this world…

There exists Zi Wuji!

Hinata stopped performing the Shinsai no Jutsu, the Heartbreak Technique, and formed a floating platform of ice beneath her feet to give her a solid standing. The act was simple, just as her walking on the air was simple, as it relied on the Water Walking Technique and the Byakugan to walk on tiny, trace portions of condensation in the air, on water vapor itself, pushing constantly to stay aloft.

Perfect chakra control, perfect reflexes. As the Raikage soared to her, she instantly spun about on the balls of her feet, standing on that ice platform.

“Suiton: Hakkeshō: Kaiten.”

BOOM!

A’s body made contact with an abrupt, incredibly condensed spinning ball of water and slammed back down into the ground with the force of a meteorite. The shockwave of the impact traveled all across Kumogakure no Sato, and many of the Shinobi, still enraptured, turned towards the location, each of them screaming in fury.

“Ah!! He tried to attack our goddess!”

“How dare he?! Raikage-sama! Stop it! Stop it! I won’t forgive you, Raikage-sama!”

“Raikage-sama! Don’t attack her! You’ll have to kill me if you want to attack her!”

“No, you’ll have to kill me! I’m the one who will protect her!”

Dozens of shinobi swarmed him, firing off techniques, firing off attacks, obstructing his way, all willing to give their lives if need be. 

“Damn it! Snap out of it! Snap out of it, you fools! Don’t—”

His words fell on deaf ears. They had no resistance to the Yin Chakra flooding their senses, overwhelming their minds, giving them no ability to resist. To counter such ensnarement, one needed to channel Yang Chakra in a specific way to balance out the flood of Yin, but who, ensnared already, would have the state of mind to do such a thing?

A roared, lunging again, his heart bleeding as he was forced to cut through his own shinobi, lunging even faster than before—

Yet, as before, Hinata spun, and he was repelled.

The Heavenly Rotation—

It was an absolute defense. 

Barring a sword that could cut through chakra, stopping a person before they began to spin, it was impossible to pierce.

Such a fight was nothing other than an unstoppable force against an immovable object.

Yet, only one side suffered casualties, as the more he tried to attack, the more frenzied and mad his shinobi came, throwing themselves in his path, doing everything they could to stop him, some even slitting their own throats as penance for failing to prevent his attacks against their ‘goddess.’

A was beginning to loathe such a despicable technique, and as his body was drenched in the blood of his shinobi, he let out a frenzied roar, with bloodshot, manic eyes.

“Raikage-sama! I’m here!”

A blonde-haired woman, covered in a blue, flame-like chakra cloak, appeared by his side. A’s heart swelled, then it filled with dread.

“Yugito!”

“Hinata. Capture her.”

“Hai, Neji-ni-sama!”

The blasted woman glided forward with almost perfect, flawless, and pristine grace. Water vapor condensed around her fingers before forming delicate, careful, sharpened, twelve-inch nails around them.

“Suiton: Jūkenhō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō.”

Water Release: Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms.

A moved to shield Yugito, and Hinata was like water, her palms blurring as she struck him. Two strikes landed, and the water around her hand pierced through his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, causing blood to spurt out of his body. His eyes went wide, and his entire body instantly froze in disbelief. The following assault came faster than the Raikage could move. Four strikes, then eight strikes and sixteen strikes, then thirty-two strikes, before the final sixty-four barrage unleashed as one.

Boom!

He was sent rumbling head over heels as the final palm struck, soaring through buildings and crashing into a shallow lake.

His body was riddled with holes, small, tiny holes, where the water-clad fingers had struck. His Lightning Chakra Mode dissipated, and A coughed out blood, feeling pain he could not recall feeling in years.

Water… Water pierced my…

He instantly tried to channel his Lightning Chakra Mode again, only to feel unspeakable agony in the attempt, the likes of which nearly forced him to lose consciousness.

What…? What just…?

A’s body trembled.

The Gentle Fist.

When pushed to its pinnacle, in direct taijutsu, it could not be beaten. As it struck the tenketsu, it sealed off the chakra of the individual, and without chakra, one was a sitting duck.

It could even seal off the tenketsu of a Jinchūriki, forcing such an individual to ‘force open’ the tenketsu by channeling their Tailed Beast’s Chakra.

However, that was under normal circumstances.

Adding Water Release to the Gentle Fist meant that each strike injected water directly into the tenketsu as it sealed it. Water was something that could be hard, or soft, flow gently, or rush turbulently. When condensed into a single point and forced with extreme speed, it moved with high pressure, and when high-pressure water was injected into a human body, it wrought unspeakable havoc.

The tenketsu were meant only to have chakra flowing through them, not fluid. Thus, blocked and then injected with water, they burst, each and every point that was struck by the Sixty Four Palms.

The result?

Crippling!

Permanent! Crippling!

A had been crippled.

He could no longer channel chakra. 

There was permanent damage to his chakra pathways, and he could not mold chakra for ninjutsu or any shinobi art that required chakra. Healing the tenketsu required one to see the extent of the damage, but no one could see it, not without a Byakugan.

His career as a shinobi was over. 

In the history of the Shinobi World, many sought methods to kill their enemies faster and more effectively, but few would waste their time thinking of a means or a method to cripple their enemies without killing them.

In the Rain World, such was not the case. Crippling was often seen as more humiliating than killing, after all, once one died, their soul would enter the cycle of reincarnation, and all grievances would end. However, to cut off an enemy’s chance on the Immortal Path, to make them unable to break through to higher realms, linger eternally at their current level, watching as you ascend to greater and greater heights, therein lay the truest, most profound means of defeating a foe!

Indeed, crippling was also preferred because one could always seek countless opportunities to turn around one's crippled fate. Moreso, if one had the backing of powerful figures, such figures could solve the issue of one being crippled, and would not be as willing to seek vengeance than if one had just killed their disciple or family member outright.

Zi Wuji himself had seen individuals who faced such situations hundreds of times.

Kill the Young One, and the Old One Comes!

Kill the Old One, and the Ancient One Comes!

Kill the Ancient One, and an older, Primordial One would come!

But if you cripple the Young One, the Old One would instead arrange for that Young One to resolve the matter himself. This was because, if the Old One resolved it for them, it would become a permanent black mark on their record, a Heart Devil that could never be resolved, knowing that their peer defeated them, and they needed to hug a thick thigh to seek vengeance. Such a thing would make them unable to advance!

More so, the Old One and the Ancient One would not be willing to interfere in a matter between juniors if death was not involved, unless they had an exceptionally thick face.

As such, possessing a means to cripple one’s foe was an absolute must for every Cultivator. Zi Wuji had made such considerations when elevating the Gentle Fist to a new level, ensuring that no matter which elemental nature was added to the Gentle Fist, it would, upon striking, instantly cripple an enemy.

Fire Release? The tenketsu would be burned away! Crippled!

Wind Release? The tenketsu would be sliced into microscopic pieces! Crippled!

Lightning Release? The tenketsu would be disintegrated! Crippled!

Earth Release? The tenketsu would calcify and turn to stone! Crippled!

Without a Dantian, what did it matter if you knew countless spells and varying mystical methods?

Likewise, without a functioning chakra network, what did it matter if you had mastered countless ninjutsu or were a genjutsu god?

If you encountered a user of the Gentle Fist, they would cripple you!

Who would not have fear in their heart, facing an enemy that could end their shinobi careers with a simple touch? Such knowledge alone would make the world revere the Hyūga!

“GRRAAAAA! HYŪGAAAAAA!!”

A had been prepared to die, to go out in a final blaze of glory along his village if need be, but to be crippled in this manner was a fate worse than death. He could still fight with taijutsu, plain, ordinary taijutsu, but, without his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, to engage a Hyūga in pure taijutsu, was it not the same as asking for someone to slap his face?

“Raikage-sama!”

Yugito began to transform fully, with blue chakra bursting from her body as the power of the Two-Tailed Cat was unleashed. In this regard, A held hope, at least. The Hyūga, their tricks, their methods, against a Tailed Beast, what chance did they have? As long as Yugito fully transformed, they would be able to fight back the invaders.

It was unfortunate that his brother was not in Kumo currently, but on the Island Turtle… if he was, then, with their combined might, their combined transformations—

No, there was no time for ifs.

The full might of Two-Tailed Cat, at least, would turn things around.

“Hinata.”

Hyūga Hinata blurred forward, her fingers containing a flaming sigil. She slammed the fingers into Yugito’s stomach. Spittle flew out of Yugito’s mouth as her body stiffened, and the chakra of the Two-Tails vanished.

“Five Elements: Seal.”

A’s entire body trembled.

The blasted woman knew fūinjutsu.

It’s over.

The Fourth Raikage stared numbly, dumbly, on his knees, as Yugito was carted away, and put into the hands of Hyūga Neji with deference. Hyūga Neji, who, as if examining a slave at the market, held Yugito’s unconscious body up with one arm, and hummed.

“She is lacking… but there is potential. Once we return, I’ll leave her in your care, Hinata.”

“Yes, Neji-ni-sama.”

From start to finish, that man had only been watching and providing side commentary.

One Hyūga, one… kunoichi—

Had completely devastated Kumogakure.

Yet, the kunoichi with such devastating power displayed utmost subservience to Hyūga Neji, such that it was clear she considered him her superior. What, then, was that man capable of?

Why had this war continued for so long if such a terrifying duo existed in Konoha?

Why had they waited until the death of Namikaze Minato to make a move?

A did not know.

A sensed, it was something he would never know.

Hyūga Hinata gently walked towards him, floated towards him, on his knees, with a smile that made A’s heart tremble.

“I want to thank you.”

“...what?”

“Had your shinobi not come to abduct me, Neji-ni-sama would likely never have trained me as he did. I used to have horrible dreams about you. About Kumo, kidnapping me again, abducting me again. Dreams about the Raikage, doing horrible things to me, after I was captured. It was because of those nightmares, Neji-ni-sama said, that once I became strong enough, I would take vengeance with my own hands. That I would look you in the eye, and wash away those fears. That I would tell you, Hyūga Hinata will never belong to Kumogakure no Sato.”

With a smile, the woman’s hand flashed.

“That I would tell you, Hyūga Hinata, will never belong—”

The entire world spun upside down. A saw the woman’s still smiling face, unable to understand what had happened, before he saw his headless body slowly drop to the ground.

“To the likes of you.”

XXXXX

Uchiha Fugaku was tired.

“The other villages are thinking to themselves, whatever method was used to eliminate Amegakure no Sato, whatever weapon or technique Hokage-sama used to cause so much harm, is something that cannot be replicated, and they are correct—”

The Clan Head Meeting was being held this time by a young Uzumaki Mito, who had taken charge as a result of her father’s death, and they were now once again holding discussions on Konoha’s next course of action, following the death of their Hokage.

The topics varied constantly, with varying tempers running hot and running high, and morale could be considered to be at an all-time low.

“Even we do not know the specifics of how Minato managed it,” Shiba voiced out. “That we do not know does not mean this may be used as a deterrent in the upcoming Shinobi Leader Summit—”

“Once means they can still fight, still struggle, and still wage war. They believe such an occurrence or means cannot occur again, and they still have their fighting spirit. If it could occur twice—” Tsume muttered.

“Are you saying we should, what, destroy another Hidden Village?” Chōza frowned. “Or send shinobi teleporting randomly across the world again? We can’t.”

He turned to Uzumaki Mito, the Uzumaki Princess.

“...Can we?”

“No,” she said stiffly. “My father’s technique is no longer functional.”

“I am aware that we cannot,” said Shimura Yoshito, the Head of the Shimura Clan. “They also believe we cannot. Which is why, rather than being daunted, they will no doubt rally to think of ways to destroy us. Remember, we still have our Jinchūriki!”

“Minato specifically never wished for his wife to be used in that manner,” Fugaku immediately objected to that. 

“Well, he isn’t here, is he?” Yoshito said. “Instead, he went off on his own, on a whim—”

“Watch your words, Yoshito,” Tsume snarled. “He was the Hokage. He did not need to answer to you.”

“We still have to discuss the topic of the appointment of the Fifth Hokage—” Yamanaka Inoichi cut in, clearing his throat. “It has almost been a month. We need to decide on a new candidate.”

“Typically, the previous Hokage decides their successor,” Nara Shikaku nodded. “It has always been this way… the First Hokage chose the Second, the Second chose the Third, the Third chose the Fourth. According to the will left behind, if the Hokage was killed in combat and had no successor chosen, it would be up to the Konoha Council, the Elders, and the Daimyō, but—”

“Minato abolished the Konoha Council and made the Elders into ceremonial figureheads.. Shimura Danzō passed away quietly in his sleep—”

“Coincidentally,” Shimura Yoshito interjected. “After being paid a final visit from Lord Fourth…”

“What are you implying, Yoshito?”

“I—”

“Enough,” Shiba cut in. “What of Lord Third? Can he not decide a successor?”

“He is still comatose,” Inoichi sighed. “The news of hearing what befell Minato-kun and Jiraiya was… too much for his aged heart to bear. We are unaware of when he will awaken… if he does.”

“Mito-sama, did your father not leave behind anything? Something that would provide us with a hint as to who he intended to be his successor?”

“No. Not to my knowledge,” Mito admitted. “I suspect he may have intentionally been raising his student, Kakashi, for the position before the war. However…” Mito paused. “All I know for certain is that he wished for his successor to be someone of the younger generation, and someone we all universally decide upon.”

“We’re to call it to a vote? The position of Hokage?” Tsume scowled. “That’s never been done before.”

“It is unprecedented,” Inoichi admitted. “But these are unprecedented times.”

“If we are to vote, and vote amongst the younger generation, there are two names in particular that stand out the most—”

Two dossiers were dropped on the table.

“The first is him. His record speaks for itself. The second is—”

The door to the room burst open as a Chūnin emerged, panting rapidly.

“What is the meaning of this, Kotetsu?”

“Sorry to interrupt, Clan Leaders, but — but we’ve just received an urgent missive from Kumogakure no Sato. They say— they say… it… It has been conquered!”

Everyone went quiet.

“What?”

“Conquered?”

“What do you mean, conquered?"

“According to the reports, a sole individual went there and conquered it. A sole individual from our village!”

The room was so silent that a pin could have dropped in the Forest of Death and be heard in their presence.

Nara Shikaku was the first to speak.

“Who?”

“It is Hyūga—”

Fugaku’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be? Had his son’s teammate, his son’s best friend, truly, on his own managed to—

“Hinata.”

Silence.

Then, collective uproar.

“WHAT?!”