Hinata and Naruto made it to the site of the explosion just in time to see the gang of bandits appear from the smoke. In between the men, who seemed to be coming out of some sort of space and time teleportation jutsu that was linked to the explosion, Gokurukon's black monsters stomped and flew into the village. They swiped at villagers, freezing anyone who they touched into solid blocks of ice.

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other. Naruto growled, "Not these guys again."

Hinata replied, "Gokurukon is nearby. His monsters are only this powerful if he's close."

"Can you find him?" Naruto asked.

Hinata activated her byakugan. "I'll search for him. But he can't be defeated unless all of his creatures are destroyed first. I'll have to keep him distracted until you can get rid of all the monsters. As long as he's fighting me, he can't create any more."

A coldness covered Hinata's white eyes. "Then I'll kill him."

Naruto looked at Hinata hesitantly after she said this. "Maybe I should go after the bandit."

"No." Hinata said firmly. She drew her sword. "You are the only one who can get rid of his creatures before they freeze more people and destroy the village."

Then she put her hand on Naruto's arm reassuringly. "I'm ok. I just want to protect the village too."

He nodded. He kissed Hinata on the lips and then switched to tail beast mode before turning back to the melee. Hinata ran off in the other direction, searching the village with her byakugan.

She picked up Gokurukon's chakra in the area of the Hyuga compound. What was he doing over there? She frowned and ran as fast as she could in that direction. He was after Hanabi.

Gokurukon did not know much about Hinata's life before she joined his gang, but he did know she that she was a Hyuga and she had a sister. Was he going after Hanabi to draw her out?

When she reached the compound, she slipped in over the wall and followed the overgrown brush to the main family house. She could see Gokurukon's chakra inside and close to Hanabi's chakra.

Gokurkon's chakra was distributed through his body differently than others. While his creatures existed, it seemed to spike out of him like thin antenna. One for each of the creatures he was controlling. If he was fatally wounded before all of those antennae were gone, he would pull in the chakra from the remaining creatures and reform himself. But once all of his creatures were destroyed, Gokurukon would be at his full strength. And at full strength, Gokurukon was able to use genjutsu.

Hinata could see some of the antenna, disappearing as she crept towards the room where he and Hanabi were located. She just hoped Naruto was able to get rid of all of the creatures quickly. She had a split second between the time all of his creatures were gone and the time he gained his full strength. During the years she hid from Gokurukon, she had acquired the ability to use her byakugan to see through genjutsu, but Gokurukon was still much more skilled than she was.

Hinata made some hand seals and cloaked herself, so she blended into the walls of the house. She snuck into Hanabi's bedroom where Gokurukon held Hanabi.

Gokurukon had Hanabi seated on the bed with a gag around her mouth and both her arms and legs tied. Hanabi's brown hair was strewn around her face, and her clothes were torn like she had struggled. Gokurukon had a knife to Hanabi's throat, and he stood like he was waiting for someone.

Hinata knew he was waiting for her. She calculated whether she would be able to disarm Gokurukon before he slit Hanabi's throat. She would have to release her cloaked jutsu to disperse and reform. She could unarm Gokurukon, if he was hesitant to kill her sister. But, Hinata knew Gokurukon well enough to know that he would slit Hanabi's throat without a second thought. She was just a means to an end.

She could not take that chance with Hanabi's life. Hinata uncloaked herself.

"Ahh! Hinata, dear, I knew you would show up soon." Gokurukon said. Over half of his antennae were gone. The house shook with the sounds of the battle at the center of the village. "Your sister and I were just waiting for you."

"What do you want?" Hinata asked. She could see Hanabi start to become agitated at the sight of her. Hanabi's byakugan activated and was she grunting and moving her arms and legs restlessly. "Look. If it's me you want, I'll come with you. Just leave Hanabi and the village alone."

Gokurukon laughed. Almost all of his chakra antennae were gone. "You already know that its not you that I want. But you'll come with me to make sure I get what I want."

Hinata unsheathed her katana and set it on the floor. She held her hands up in the air and walked forward. "I'm surrendering. Now let my sister go."

Gokurukon smiled. All of the antennae were gone now. He made a motion to move the knife away from Hanabi's throat. But then, he brought his knife hand back down to stab Hanabi through the heart.

"NO!" Hinata dispersed, reforming in front of Hanabi and covering her. The knife went deep into her back before she could disperse again. Hinata gasped, looking into her sister's wide white eyes. She coughed up blood on Hanabi's shoulder and then she blacked out.