After taking over the snake uncle's foundation, Sasuke came to surrender on his own initiative.

Chapter 254 Red and white eyes!

The trial grounds of Otogakure were shrouded in morning mist, the interwoven chakra marks on the ground still lingering with the warmth of last night's training. Kimimaro stood on the east side of the field, his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly rotating. Pinwheel-like patterns shimmered within his pale red pupils. This was his first official sparring match since awakening his Mangekyō. His opponent was Neji, who had also broken through the shackles of his bloodline and who had once helped him organize his chakra with the Eight Trigrams Binding Palm.

"Can your Atavistic Byakugan see through the chakra flow of my Susanoo?" Kimimaro drew his bone blade from his palm, its blade reflecting the morning mist, a faint reddish sheen. Ever since Ototake had helped Neji unlock the "Atavistic Byakugan" through the system, he had longed to challenge its power—the Atavistic Byakugan could see through every branch of the human meridian and even predict the "future trajectory" of chakra, a perfect test of his Mangekyo prediction abilities.

Neji stood on the west side, his atavistic Byakugan gleaming with golden light. The veins in the whites of his eyes were denser than those of ordinary Byakugan, yet they exuded a gentle power. He didn't attack immediately, but instead scanned Kimimaro's body with his Byakugan, capturing even the slightest fluctuations of his skeletal chakra. "Your Mangekyō chakra holds the Hyuga clan's 'protective intent,' and is more stable than it was at the mine last time." He raised his hand, concentrating his chakra, and a golden Bagua seal appeared on his palm. "However, there's a 0.5-second chakra lag at the joints of Susanoo. This is your weakness."

A smile played at the corner of Kimimaro's mouth, and his Mangekyo suddenly lit up. "That depends on whether you can catch it!" Before he finished speaking, his figure had left an afterimage in the same place. Susanoo's half skeleton condensed from chakra, and with a huge bone blade in his right hand, he slashed at Neji. The strong wind brought by the giant blade tore through the morning mist, carving a deep trench in the ground, and the chakra fluctuations still lingered at the bottom.

Neji's atavistic Byakugan instantly locked onto the giant blade's trajectory, golden chakra radiating through his body in a Bagua formation: "Bagua? Gentle Fist? Sixty-Four Palms!" He nimbly weaved beneath the blade, his palms raining down on Susanoo's bones like a torrential downpour, each strike precisely targeting the points where chakra flowed. Kimimaro could clearly feel Susanoo's chakra being dissipated by the Gentle Fist, and tiny cracks began to appear in the veins of its bones—the atavistic Byakugan's insight was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

"Good, but not enough!" Kimimaro's Mangekyō suddenly brightened, and a layer of chakra armor covered the outer surface of Susanoo's skeleton. At the same time, a pair of bone wings spread out behind it, "Bone Pupils? Susanoo? Mangeki!" Dozens of bone blades shot out from the armor, each with a different chakra trajectory. Some rushed straight towards Neji, while others turned back in the air, forming an impenetrable killing situation.

Neji's atavistic Byakugan remained unfazed. A golden film of light unfolded around him: "Eight Trigrams? Empty Palm!" His palm winds were no longer limited to close-range attacks, but instead transformed into a golden gust of air, sweeping towards the bone blades. The gust of air collided with the blades, sending chakra shards flying through the air. However, three of the bone blades still managed to break through the defenses and shoot towards Neji's chest—this was a killing move that Kimimaro had deliberately left in place, having used his Mangekyō to predict the empty palm's blind spot.

"Sure enough, he's got a back-up plan." Neji's figure suddenly vanished. His Byakugan caught the delayed trajectory of the bone blade, dodging it with the utmost precision. Simultaneously, he slammed his right hand to the ground. "Eight Trigrams? Earth Walk!" Golden chakra spread along the ground, wrapping around Kimimaro's ankles, attempting to restrict his movement. This was the special ability of the Byakugan, which could predict an opponent's next move through chakra fluctuations in the ground, allowing him to set a trap in advance.

Kimimaro's Susanoo suddenly disintegrated, its skeletal wings transforming into countless bone spikes, severing the chakra wrapped around his ankle. His Mangekyo flashed past Neji's position, and the bone blades gathered again, this time not to attack, but to slash at the ground: "Bone pupils? Earth crack!" The ground suddenly cracked, and countless bone spikes rose from the cracks, spreading towards Neji—he wanted to use the terrain to limit the prediction range of his atavistic Byakugan.

Neji's Byakugan instantly saw through the bone spur's trajectory, and golden chakra formed a vortex beneath his feet: "Eight Trigrams? Kaiten!" The spinning chakra blocked all the bone spurs. At the same time, his figure, using the inertia of Kaiten, rushed towards Kimimaro, and the chakra in his palm condensed into a spike: "This time, I will break your Susanoo!"

In Kimimaro's Mangekyo, scenes of fighting side by side with Neji suddenly flashed by: Neji blocking Zetsu's clone for him in the mine, Neji helping him to hone the precision of the bone blade in the training ground, and Ototake saying, "Your bond can make your dojutsu more powerful"... These scenes passed through his mind like electric currents, and Susanoo's chakra suddenly changed, and the patterns on the armor glowed with golden light - that was the power integrated into the "bond", and it was also the "Susanoo Soul" that he had been missing before.

"Bone Eyes? Susanoo? Binding Blade!" Kimimaro's massive blade suddenly condensed with a blend of golden and red chakra. It was no longer a simple attack, but instead carried a wave of vibrations that resonated with Neji's Baguazhang. The massive blade collided with Neji's chakra spikes, but instead of a violent impact, a gentle chakra shield formed, enveloping both of them.

Surprise flashed through Neji's atavistic Byakugan eyes. He could sense no hostility in Kimimaro's chakra, only the purity of "competence" and the trust of a "comrade." His palm wind gradually slowed, and the golden chakra merged with Kimimaro's golden-red shield. "You've finally found the 'soul' of Susanoo."

Kimimaro's Mangekyō softened, and his Susanoo slowly disintegrated. He looked at Neji, his eyes filled with understanding. "It was your atavistic Byakugan that made me realize that the true power of dojutsu lies not in prediction and destruction, but in resonance with one's companions." He extended his hand, and the bone blade transformed into a small bone crystal in his palm. "I lost the sparring match just now. Your atavistic Byakugan truly saw through my weakness."

Neji shook his head and extended his hand, golden chakra condensing into a Bagua seal on his palm. "There's no winning or losing. Your Mangekyō has taught me that the Byakugan can not only see through flaws, but can also sense the intentions of your companions." He paused, the golden light of his Byakugan growing softer. "I used to always dream of breaking the fate of being a 'caged bird,' but now I understand that true freedom lies in having companions worth protecting, and being able to fight alongside them."

Kimimaro grasped Neji's hand, their chakra mingling in their palms, forming a ball of golden and red light. The morning mist from the trial grounds gradually dissipated, and sunlight shone on the two, lengthening their shadows. In the distance, Ototake stood at the edge of the training ground, a pleased smile playing on his face as the system panel flashed: "Kimimaro and Neji's eye technique resonance rate is 100%, unlocking the bond skill 'Bone Eye Bagua Formation'."

"Next time we compete, I will make Susanoo more perfect." Kimimaro withdrew his hand, and a light of anticipation flashed in the Mangekyo.

Neji nodded, and his Atavistic Byakugan returned to its normal form: "I'll be waiting. When the time comes, my Baguazhang will let you see the true power of the Atavistic Byakugan."

The two walked side by side toward the exit of the trial field, their footsteps echoing on the ground. No longer the tension of a sparring match, but the relaxed, tacit understanding of companionship. Kimimaro's bone blade glowed a faint red in the sunlight, and Neji's palm still clung to the warmth of Bagua chakra—they both knew that this sparring match was not just a test of strength, but also a deepening of their bond. In the battles to come, their eye techniques would become the sharpest weapon of the Sound Village, and the resonance forged through this sparring match would eventually shine even brighter amidst the storms of the ninja world.

The bell of Otogakure rang at this moment, signaling a new mission. Kimimaro and Neji smiled at each other and quickened their pace.