Brown fur.
A massive frame.
A scarred face twisted with rage as it let out a furious roar.
A brown bear.
A chakra-infused beast—and one that had once forced Hyūga Ming to retreat in disgrace.
A bear… but not an ordinary one.
"Well, old friend. Long time no see."
Hyūga Ming looked down from the tree, smiling without warmth.
The bear saw him too.
Enemies meeting again—hatred flared instantly.
Just as Hyūga Ming had never forgotten it, the bear had never forgotten him either. The scar on its face was proof enough—left behind by Hyūga Ming himself.
This bastard actually dared to show up again?!
Back then, it had been a handsome stud among its pack. All it did was pass by and glance at this human once—
And got a shuriken to the face for it.
What did it ever do wrong?!
The more it thought about it, the angrier it became.
"ROAR!!"
The brown bear charged straight at Hyūga Ming.
Hyūga Ming slid the bronze saber back into his belt, shuriken already in both hands. His arms blurred into afterimages as he hurled them forward.
"Flaming Shuriken!"
The shuriken ignited midair, turning into streaks of fire that slammed into the bear's body.
Sparks flew. Shuriken scattered.
But the result was… disappointing.
The bear's hide was absurdly tough. The only visible effect was patches of scorched fur.
That only made it angrier.
The bear rushed beneath the tree and slammed its paw into the trunk.
CRACK!
The tree snapped in half.
Hyūga Ming leapt to another tree, never stopping his barrage.
Finally fed up, the bear veered away and ducked behind a massive rock.
Only then did Hyūga Ming stop throwing.
"That rock's tougher than the last one," he muttered.
He jumped down from the tree and began circling the boulder at a sprint.
Seeing Hyūga Ming come down to the ground, the bear stopped hiding. It burst out, charging on all fours.
The Hyūga-brand Shuriken Gatling Gun activated again.
"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!"
Fireballs streaked through the air as the bear tanked the hits and kept charging, completely ignoring the damage.
Hyūga Ming finally stopped throwing.
Instead, he drew the bronze saber.
"This thing's defense is ridiculous."
He abandoned shuriken altogether. Regular ones couldn't hurt it, and even last time he'd only managed to wound its face after a long struggle.
Flaming shuriken drained chakra far too quickly.
Better to cut it down directly.
After all, the bronze saber boosted attack power.
He kicked off the ground—
And in an instant, appeared beside the bear.
The bear swiped a massive paw at him.
BOOM!
Smoke exploded outward.
Hyūga Ming turned into a chunk of wood that shattered under the impact.
A proper use of the Substitution Technique.
Hyūga Ming reappeared behind the shattered log and swung his saber hard, carving a bloody gash into the bear's arm.
"ROAR!!"
The bear howled in pain and lunged forward, jaws snapping.
Hyūga Ming flicked his wrist.
A kunai—somehow already in his hand—shot upward into the air.
The bear bit down… and chomped straight onto the kunai.
The blade pierced the soft flesh inside its mouth.
Hyūga Ming appeared above it.
The saber in his hands came crashing down toward the bear's neck.
The blade sank in—
And met terrifying resistance.
"Thick hide," Hyūga Ming growled through clenched teeth.
Chakra surged into his arms.
"Pseudo–Monster Strength!"
Veins bulged as he forced the blade down inch by inch, overpowering the resistance. The saber finally cut through, slicing cleanly across the neck.
The blade swept through empty air in a wide arc as momentum carried it onward.
The bear's massive head tumbled to the ground, rolling several times.
A notification flashed before Hyūga Ming's eyes.
[Experience +763]
"Hah…"
Hyūga Ming let out a slow breath.
"That was annoying to kill."
On the bear's corpse, one claw glowed faintly.
He stepped forward and picked up the drop.
[Skill Book: Bear Grapple]
"…No equipment?" Hyūga Ming frowned. "Skills are the last thing I need right now. My chakra can't keep up."
Still, he opened the book and learned it.
Memories flooded his mind.
Bear Grapple didn't require hand seals—it was a technique that enhanced chakra control to massively increase hand strength.
"Kind of like Monster Strength… but worse."
Activating it granted the power of a bear, scaling with level.
Senju Monster Strength amplified the whole body based on chakra volume.
This only boosted the arms.
"And I still can't properly learn Monster Strength…"
He'd seen Nawaki use it countless times. With the Byakugan, he could observe chakra flow, and after enough attempts, he'd managed a crude imitation.
But since no skill formed, it was clearly just raw technique.
Monster Strength consumed enormous chakra—only someone with Senju reserves could use it casually.
And that bloodline clearly gave extra compatibility.
Hyūga Ming used his saber to carve several more wounds into the bear's corpse, letting blood spill freely.
The stench spread outward.
A single bear wasn't nearly enough.
Blood was the best way to draw aggro.
Night slowly fell.
In the darkness, pairs of green eyes began to appear.
Hyūga Ming flicked the blood from his blade and smiled faintly.
He walked into the shadows—slowly at first, then faster, until he leapt forward, raising his saber with both hands and bringing it down into the dark.
Elsewhere.
Nawaki hung lifelessly from a tree, ropes tied around his ankles. His once-broken arm had already healed.
Minato had reset the bone, and with Senju recovery, half a day was enough.
His body had recovered.
His brain… hadn't.
Minato stood nearby, watching Nawaki and Kushina—who was also tied up—with a complicated expression.
"AAAAAH!! DAMN IT!! I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD!!"
Kushina screamed furiously. The timid, wounded-animal version of her was long gone—replaced by a raging tyrant.
"How twisted do you have to be to set this many traps?!"
Every two steps was a trap. Every three steps, an explosive tag.
She and Nawaki had stepped on nearly all of them.
She was actually the better one—she could at least spot some traps.
Nawaki was on another level.
A walking trap detector.
Anywhere he went, a trap definitely existed.
Judging by the tears and rips in his clothes, it was obvious how many he'd triggered.
Normal trap detection relied on observation and awareness.
Nawaki detected traps by face-checking them.
If a trap existed, he would activate it.
Minato glanced at him.
"…Nawaki-san, have you ever considered specializing in traps?"
Nawaki sagged.
"…You know what, Minato? I think I might."
He stared blankly into the distance.
"At least then… it'd make sense."
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