"What exactly are you trying to do, Hyuga Arin?"
Hyuga Hiashi's voice came from the cell next door.
He didn't understand why Hyuga Arin wanted to stay here for a full year. He had heard every word of Hyuga Arin's conversation with Tsunade earlier.
"None of your damn business," Hyuga Arin replied coldly.
Was he supposed to tell Hiashi that he planned to solve the Caged Bird Seal problem during this year?
If he really said that, Hyuga Arin was certain the Hyuga clan would immediately dispatch a squad to take him away—no matter the cost—and lock him up permanently.
The Caged Bird Seal might seem like a measure to prevent the Byakugan from being coveted by outsiders, but in reality, it was the most important tool the main house used to control the entire Hyuga clan.
Even the idea of removing the Caged Bird Seal was something the Hyuga clan would never allow to exist.
Hyuga Arin had no interest in dealing with Hiashi. Even if Hiashi had done nothing at all, he was still a beneficiary of the system—making them natural enemies.
What's more, Hiashi had already used the Caged Bird Seal on him. At that point, all pretense was gone.
Now, the moment Hiashi found an opportunity, he would absolutely use the Caged Bird Seal to kill Hyuga Arin.
And if Hyuga Arin ever found an opportunity—
He would kill Hiashi.
Hyuga Arin touched the area around his eyes. The pain from the first activation of the Caged Bird Seal had already faded, though a faint phantom pain remained.
Still within tolerable limits.
He pulled his thoughts back.
His gaze fell on the skill attached to the set bonus.
[Sap]
He silently chose to activate it.
A transparent circle appeared on the ground beneath his feet.
"The range is kind of short," Hyuga Arin muttered, rubbing his chin.
That transparent circle marked the effective range of Sap. Such a short distance actually made it more suitable for close combat.
The problem was—
He was a ranged DPS.
Using it the old way clearly wouldn't work.
He needed to develop a new combat strategy around Sap, preferably one that allowed him to harvest enemies at high speed and gain experience quickly.
The neighboring cell fell silent.
Hyuga Arin sank into deep thought.
…
While Hyuga Arin was pondering tactics, the prison door suddenly opened.
A man with white hair, dressed in a beige robe, walked in.
He had delicate features and a gentle, scholarly appearance.
"You're Hyuga Arin, right?" the man asked with a friendly smile.
Hyuga Arin stood up and tilted his head slightly, smiling back at the familiar face.
"That's right. And you are?"
Even without an introduction, he already knew who this was.
Jōnin Biwako—
No, correction—
Jōnin Hiruko.
In the future, this man would research the Chimera Technique, becoming a boss capable of dropping four bloodline limits along with the Chimera Technique itself.
But right now, he hadn't reached that stage yet. He probably wouldn't drop anything worthwhile.
Hiruko smiled warmly.
"I'm Hiruko. I'll be your jōnin instructor from now on."
"Huh?" Hyuga Arin looked at him in surprise.
He was actually being assigned a jōnin instructor?
This was a treatment normally given to all ninja after graduating from the Academy. Unfortunately, Hyuga Arin had been directly summoned by the Hyuga clan and never received one.
As for Tsunade, she was their team leader, not an instructor.
A formally organized team leader was only responsible for leading missions—not guiding a ninja's growth.
At most, they were superiors and subordinates.
Hyuga Arin hadn't expected to get a jōnin instructor now—let alone one of this caliber.
This kind of treatment wasn't something an ordinary person received.
And Hiruko, of all people…
"Hiruko-sensei, please take care of me," Hyuga Arin said immediately, bowing sincerely.
Whatever Hiruko might become in the future had nothing to do with him.
Right now, Hiruko possessed a large number of ninTechnique.
One of a jōnin instructor's responsibilities was to teach ninTechnique.
Hiruko nodded with a smile. His gaze lingered briefly on Hyuga Arin's Byakugan, a subtle glint flashing in his eyes before vanishing.
"Where did you put the sealing scrolls you brought?" Hiruko asked.
"Oh—right." Hyuga Arin suddenly realized what he'd forgotten.
He slapped the ground theatrically, releasing a prepared puff of smoke.
As the smoke dispersed, a backpack appeared on the ground.
"Summoning Technique?"
A hint of confusion crossed Hiruko's face.
Hyuga Arin's technique felt off, but Hiruko couldn't quite pinpoint why.
He quickly set the doubt aside and stepped forward, slinging the backpack onto his shoulders.
"Come with me," Hiruko said, turning toward the exit.
Hyuga Arin glanced at the tightly shut door of the neighboring cell.
Looks like his confinement was over.
He hadn't even been locked up for long.
Pretty good luck.
Following Hiruko, Hyuga Arin walked beside him and asked,
"Sensei, I'd like to ask—were we a transport team, or bait?"
Hiruko looked at him in surprise, clearly not expecting a child to think of that.
After a moment, he explained,
"You were the transport team. The bait was the team led by Orochimaru and Jiraiya. After all, who would suspect that three genin and one jōnin were escorting critical supplies?"
Hyuga Arin nodded in realization.
A psychological tactic.
The team that seemed least likely was carrying the most important cargo.
That was why so few enemy ninja intercepted them.
Most of the enemy forces had gone after Orochimaru and Jiraiya instead.
…
Command Tent – Conference Area
Jiraiya and Orochimaru sat in their seats looking rather disheveled.
Their armor was visibly damaged in several places.
"This time we really flushed out most of the foreign ninja hiding in the Land of Fire," Jiraiya said cheerfully.
"Man, I'm exhausted. Tsunade, you have no idea—"
As Jiraiya rambled on, both Orochimaru and Tsunade developed matching headaches.
"Enough," Tsunade snapped, slamming her palm onto the table and cutting him off.
"This isn't the time for that."
"What we need now is intelligence on the Land of Rain."
The Land of Rain was a key strategic location. Neither Iwagakure nor Sand Village would give it up lightly.
Once war broke out, they would inevitably invade the Land of Rain.
And intelligence from within the Land of Rain was the clearest indicator of both villages' movements.
"Just send a few people to scout," Jiraiya said casually.
Orochimaru sighed helplessly.
"Most intelligence within the Land of Rain is controlled by Amegakure. Getting information from them won't be easy."
Jiraiya scratched his head.
Ninja were experts at stealing intelligence—but also experts at protecting it.
Taking information from Amegakure ninja was indeed difficult.
And the Rain Hidden Village ninja had already gone into hiding, making them even harder to find.
They, too, sensed that war could break out at any moment.
"So what do we do?" Jiraiya asked, completely out of ideas.
Thinking wasn't his strong suit.
Orochimaru unconsciously licked his lips.
"We need to send infiltrators into Amegakure. Spies who can steal intelligence from within."
At that moment—
Hiruko lifted the tent flap and walked in with Hyuga Arin.
Tsunade glanced at Hyuga Arin, then looked away.
Hiruko smiled at the three of them.
"The supplies are intact. We have more than enough to handle emergencies."
Seeing all three of them frowning, he asked curiously,
"What are you discussing?"
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