Hyuga Mirai racked his brain, trying to think of some lighthearted words to cheer the girl up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember how "Jin-san," who had felt like an older brother earlier, spoke. Despite using the same phrases, they seemed to have a completely different meaning when spoken by him.
"By the way, Kiyo-sama, today that Jin-san gave me a ring. It looks really valuable. I wanted to return it, but after I grabbed a lunchbox, he just disappeared." As Mirai spoke, he tried to take off the ring to show Kiyomi.
"I can't make out where this ring came from, but I thought you might know a little about it… Ah, wait, why can't I get it off!?" Mirai struggled with the ring for a while, gradually putting more force into pulling it off. His face was slightly flushed from the effort, but the ring refused to budge.
"Never mind, Mirai, don't hurt your fingers." Kiyo observed the redness in his fingers and realized he had given it his all. The ring must have been something unusual.
"Strange, I put it on so easily..." Mirai felt a bit embarrassed in front of Kiyo. He patted his chest and assured her, "Kiyo-sama, I'll study it when I get back. I'm sure I'll figure out how to take it off."
"That's alright, Mirai. Since it was given to you, just keep it," Kiyo said with a forced smile. Mirai noticed a flicker of something in her eyes, something a bit dark.
"Are they back again?" Mirai asked, his tone suddenly turning serious.
"No."
"Kiyo-sama, you're terrible at lying. Especially to me. You can't hide anything from me."
After Mirai said this, Kiyomi seemed to give in, lowering her head slightly, as if some of her energy had drained away.
"Those bastards... We're part of the same clan, yet they push us so much. I swear, I'll make them pay for this," Mirai said bitterly. He was furious. It was for the village that he fought, yet it was Kiyo who suffered. After returning, they were met with criticism from all sides.
They lost their original home, their ninja status was revoked, and Kiyo, once full of vitality, had become a mere shadow of herself. Despite that, those bastards still mocked them every single day with their words.
"Tomorrow, I won't practice outside anymore. If they come after us, I'll make them regret it!" Mirai said decisively. Having lost the most important Byakugan in their family, their branch had been expelled from the main family, their status reduced by almost 90%. All the guards once assigned to Kiyo had been removed, leaving only a Genin like Mirai to protect her.
The importance of the Byakugan, a bloodline trait revered for centuries, had been ingrained in the Hyuga clan's blood. To protect it, they would sacrifice their lives. During the recent war, the enemy managed to capture one Byakugan, which was a huge blow to the clan.
The Hyuga clan had issued high bounties, and even Konoha had placed a kill order on the Mist village's Shinobi who took it, but to no avail. Even if they killed the Shinobi, the Byakugan would be lost forever.
Mirai and Kiyo knew well the impact their failure had on the clan and the village. But even after the punishment was meted out, some people still wouldn't let them off the hook. Many of the branch family members seemed to enjoy the idea of stepping on the main family's fallen members, as if they longed for their own rise. Even the training grounds within the clan were unwelcoming to Mirai. If he wanted to train, he had to go to a remote forest outside the village, where even there, the whispers of others would reach his ears if he was noticed.
"Don't do it, Mirai. The clan forbids fighting among ourselves. I don't care, but if you take action against them, you'll be punished," Kiyo said sternly. She didn't believe Mirai stood a chance against those people. Kiyo knew better than anyone what Mirai was capable of. At best, he might become a Jonin, but Chunin seemed like his limit.
"Mirai, tomorrow I'll teach you Gentle Fist techniques," she offered.
"Kiyo-sama."
"Don't underestimate me. Though I haven't trained in a while, I was once at the level of an elite Chunin in terms of Taijutsu."
The clan head had given strict orders not to pass on the family's secret techniques, threatening severe punishment if broken. However, there were no such restrictions on basic Gentle Fist techniques.
"Alright, thank you, Kiyo-sama." Mirai had always been unable to refuse Kiyomi's kindness.
After saying his thanks, Mirai made his way to the garden to clear the weeds, while Kiyomi stood up to help clean the corridor. As she put it, she wasn't the young lady anymore, so it was time to get used to doing household chores.
"Ah, so this is what happened." Hyuga Mirai understood from the message transmitted by the ring that changes had taken place within the Hyuga clan. In his original world, the Hidden Mist had never managed to steal the Byakugan. However, due to his defection, things were probably not going well for him either.
The ring was actually a transmitter made from the nanostructures of his T1 combat armor. It could be called a "golden finger." The sealing technique within the ring allowed him to transmit Sage Chakra to the "Hyuga Mirai" of this world. It also acted as a locator, so when he slept at night, he would unconsciously receive the inheritance of the Gentle Fist.
As for the matter of Kiyo Hyuga having her Byakugan taken away in this world, he felt no particular emotion. Instead, he saw it as something he could make use of. However, using "Hyuga Mirai" to influence changes in the shinobi world would require more than just this bit of power. He needed more preparation.
The first step was to undo the ugly seal on his forehead.
"Boss, check, please!" Hyuga Mirai shouted, calling for the owner of the barbecue shop. He had been eating while listening to the news, and by the time he realized it, he had consumed over a hundred plates of barbecue. The people in the shop were now staring at him.
"That'll be three hundred and fifty thousand ryo. Thank you for your business," the shop owner said with a smile.
Mirai didn't say much, accurately pulling out the three hundred and fifty thousand ryo from his pocket and handing it to the owner before standing up and leaving.
"Do you want to follow him? It's the first time I've seen an ordinary person eat so much. That kid definitely has something off with him," one ninja at a nearby table said, speaking quietly to his companion after Mirai left.
"Forget it, it's rare to have a break, and someone's already following him." The other ninja replied, then pointed with his chin in the direction Mirai had gone. The first ninja turned his head and immediately spotted the back of a Uchiha clan fan leaving the shop.
The Uchiha ninja followed him for a while, but after turning a few alleys, he lost sight of Mirai.
"Definitely a spy from an enemy nation," Uchiha Shisui thought, frowning. He was about to head back to the security team to inform his clan and get them to track the person down. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall any specific features of the person's face. From the moment he started eating the barbecue, the stranger had kept his face covered with one hand, making it impossible for Shisui to see.
"This person must have noticed that I was watching him. He's definitely a high-level spy. I have to find him!" After reviewing the events in his mind, Shisui's suspicion of Hyuga Mirai grew, and he quickly made his way to the security team's base, ready to gather his clan and intercept Mirai before he left Konoha. If this person was allowed to leave, a leak of information could stir up turmoil in the peace the shinobi world had just found.
"It should be here," Hyuga Mirai said to himself as he escaped the pursuers and, using his Byakugan, found Orochimaru's secret base in the village. The details were somewhat different from the world he came from, but he still found it.
It was on the outskirts of Konoha, a sparsely populated area that was easy to escape from once discovered.
"The barrier technique is different, but breaking it isn't too difficult." As a master of sealing and barrier techniques, Mirai had no trouble breaking the barrier around Orochimaru's lab. Once the barrier failed, Orochimaru would know that something had happened in his lab.
The cold, damp underground tunnels made Mirai feel uncomfortable. It wasn't because of the environment, but because of how crude Orochimaru's experimental setup was. In Mirai's world, he had corrected Orochimaru's reptilian tendencies several times before.
Just before reaching the lab's front door, Mirai was met by a ninja with an icy aura and golden vertical pupils.
"Heh, I didn't expect someone to intrude here. Looks like the village's defenses are too lax," Orochimaru said with an edge in his voice. This lab was extremely important to him, and any leaks about the secrets inside would cause him major trouble.
"Don't worry, Orochimaru. I'm not from Konoha. I've come to make a deal with you." Mirai waved a scroll in front of Orochimaru, then gave a slight chuckle. "The technique I have here, I'm sure you'll be interested in."
"And, by the way, stop exuding killing intent in front of me. If we do fight, you might just end up dead."
The moment those words left his mouth, a tsunami-like chakra erupted from Mirai's body. The underground passage was soon filled with a gust of wind.
(End of Chapter)