257: The New God & The False God (1)

Chapter 257: The New God & The False God (1)

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The raiding of the Yamanaka Clan’s underground Jutsu Vault was done without any interference—so was the raiding of all the other clans that had underground Jutsu vaults (because the ones who were above ground were simply crumbled down to dust). Though his initial target was Yamanaka alone, now with this golden opportunity at hand—why should he hold back?

As his raiding continued, meanwhile, one of himself made way to the Hokage Tower—or at least where it was previously located. Now it was just dust, rods, and wood that the building was previously made of. Neji used his telekinesis—now far stronger since his Tenseigan was completely unlocked—and started to clear the debris to open the entrance for himself. When he was done, he instantly jumped in and flew through the tunnel, his flight faster too.

Since it was underground he still had to maintain a slow enough speed, yet in less than three minutes, he caught up with the escapee. They had reached an exit, it seemed, but the entrance was blocked with debris that had crumbled from the ceiling because of the earthquake caused by Pain’s Almighty Push. They looked genuinely frightened, having sensed someone flying toward them—but everyone visibly calmed down when one of the escapees, a Hyuga, opened his eyes and realised it was Neji who was coming.

Neji dropped from the air in front of the gathered group and immediately spotted Shizune, his nurse-date whose name he had already forgotten, the onsen owner Mira Tsubakihara. At last, surprisingly, amongst the five Hyugas, Hiashi’s wife—Arima Hyuga—was also present.

“Neji!” It was Shizune who came running, she wasn’t crying and was putting on a rather serious expression, but Neji’s eyes saw through it all as she hugged him tightly. Neji hugged her back and gave the others a nod over her shoulders. Rather than asking about why he had left the village, Shizune’s stoic demeanour shook and her voice cracked. “L-lady Tsunade! S-she was…!”

“Calm down,” Neji patted her back. “I met her before coming down here—she needed medical attention, but she’s fine now.”

Speaking of medical attention—a few people in this group were hurt as well—especially Arima, who was bleeding profusely from her right arm.

Neji kept hugging Shizune, but at the same time made a clone to go close to Arima, who turned her head to the side with a bitter look on her face.

“Aunt,” Neji said, reaching out a hand. “Apologies for my rude behaviour that day, but I am here to help. Grab my hand.” Though at first she looked like she would rather die bleeding, the older woman soon sighed in defeat and accepted his hand. Neji used [High Heal] on her right away, causing her body to shine golden and her wounds to close. “There."

He created a few more clones who went to help the other injured, while keeping his focus on Arima.

She still looked bitter, biting her lips, but gave him a grateful nod.

"It's fine. Where is uncle? I don't see him.” Neji asked, already expecting the bad news.

Her expression became weak as her lips quivered. “He…" So it was as he had expected. "He saved me. He sacrificed himself… for me. Or it would have been my head, not my arm where that thin rod pierced.” She said, looking up at his eyes. 

Honestly… Neji failed to feel anything for Hiashi—except for a bit of sadness in Hanabi’s stead—but he still gave Arima a sympathetic look. Tears finally broke out from the older, beautiful woman as she started to explain the scene in detail, her tears painting her face. Neji gave the other Hyugas a look, gesturing them to give them some space, while Neji pulled Arima in a respectful hug.

“N…Neji, come here for a moment!” Shizune called the Neji that she was hugging, pulling him by the sleeves and taking him to a corner where he froze at the sight.

Kurenai? She had one of Pain’s chakra rods piercing her belly. Shit, wasn’t she pregnant?

Neji quickly gave her an X-ray scan and sighed with a hiss. Innocent little thing, it had died. She didn't even have a properly formed body.

But wait…

“Hey, enlighten me, but,” Neji leaned to the side and whispered to Shizune. “Tsunade told me Team Kurenai was sent after me? Then why is she here?”

“…Danzo-sama forbade her to go on the mission since she will just be a hassle with her pregnancy. Her team was led by Kakashi for this mission.” Shizune explained and Neji nodded in understatement.

It was just Kurenai's bad luck…

“N-neji?” the Kunoichi in question, barely awake, called out in hope when she noticed Neji. “I-I heard from Kakashi that you can heal—”

“I am sorry,” Neji sighed. “She… your daughter… is already gone.” He finished as her expression froze.

Neji could try saving the girl, but that might kill the mother since reviving someone healed their entire body and healing the child might cause it to entangle with the organs inside Kurenai. 

The stakes was too high. It may have worked if Shizune quickly did a surgery to take the child out, but past of that child had mixed with Kurenai's stomach. It was a ugly thing to see using his eyes.

“Ah…” Kurenai released a small whimper as her body lost its strength, her gaze losing its focus.

Neji was about to apologise again, but surprising him Lady Luck’s voice flowed into his ears. [“Revive her,”] the Omniversal said. [“Put 100 points in your Luck stat before doing so. I may have lost my authority, but I can tell with that many points in Luck the chances of both of them surviving will be at its peak.”]

He in fact had 300 points from the 30 levels he gained in the battle in Kumo.

‘So I still have a bit of humanity left…’ Neji wowed to himself in self-mockery before he did as Lady Luck suggested, putting on a [Blurred Barrier] to stop the others from peeking and then putting his hand on top of Kurenai’s belly. 

“Listen. I will help you,” he said to her, grabbing the rod and making it vanish in his inventory. “and you will serve me in return.” 

There. Not so humane now. In any case, he felt the need to collect believers now that he was a True God, he felt how that made him stronger. So it didn’t hurt if he got help in return for helping her.

Neji took a deep breath and chanted, “Tenseigan: Empyrean Rebirth Technique.”

Before either Shizune or Kurenai could inquire him about what he just said and what he was doing—Neji released a pulse of green life force that spread to Kurenai’s entire body and consequently her dead child. Kurenai’s body healed, the hole in her stomach closing while at the same time the baby phased out from inside her and healed on the ground beside her. Not only that, as the baby healed and showed signs of life it also grew—inch by inch and foot by foot—easily growing into a little girl no-less than 10 years old.

‘...Didn’t see that coming.’ Neji blinked and stopped his technique. He felt drained in Mana, but not enough to lose consciousness like with Gaara and Temari. “There, please live by the end of our bargain.”

Neji stood up, stretching his arms and cancelling the blurred barrier as everyone had their eyes locked on the breathing, living, sleeping, 10-year-old little girl. Neji leaned forward again to put a piece of children's clothing that Nejire used to wear (he didn’t know why he had them in his inventory) over the baby's body, just as the situation snapped in Kurenai's head. With a shriek, she immediately brought the sleeping girl to a hug while kissing her head rapidly.

Ignoring Shizune's awed gaze, Neji kept looking at the long-haired loli’s sleeping face. “...Good luck with your life, I suppose.”

Oh… Hey, that apparently counted as a [Blessing] from him. 

Also, he felt satisfied for some reason.

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