When the sun had set and the moon had risen, most people from the village had already returned from the circus, leaving only workers around.
At this moment, Hikaru stealthily made his way back into the circus area, hid behind one of the pieces of equipment, and observed the workers. During the afternoon inspection, he had identified numerous potential hiding spots, so he was confident in his choice.
He saw Aruaru, the head of the expedition team, dressed in formal clothes and a top hat, leading his assistants as they walked around inspecting the equipment and animals to ensure they were ready for another day of performances.
Hikaru closely follows their movements from one hiding place to another until he finds an opportunity to initiate his plan.
After completing the round check, Aruaru spoke to his assistant: "Alright, today we did a great job; Nishikawa, tell everyone to keep it up!"
Nishikawa replied shortly, "Yes, boss!"
Aruaru then moved toward his rest area, looking worn out from the first day's performance in Konoha village, where Hikaru decided to follow him.
Hikaru went ahead and waited for him near his tent. As soon as he saw Aruaru approaching, he could detect his distinct scent from a distance. It was the same scent he had smelled in the afternoon.
After watching the expedition's team head master almost enter his tent, Hikaru immediately formed hand seals and used Genjutsu.
"Magen: Chitose Yume no Jutsu" (Demonic Illusion: Dream of a Thousand Year Technique).
Aruaru's eyes began to droop, and his body began to sway as he walked to his tent. But before his body hit the floor, Hikaru caught him drifting into sleep.
"This jutsu is working nicely; thanks, Koji-sensei," Hikaru whispered as he lifted the man, entered his tent, and placed him on the bed. "Whew, a bit heavy for the guy."
"Now let's try this," Hikaru said, forming hand seals, and an identical Hikaru appeared. He immediately felt exhausted from using the technique, just as he did the first time.
After verifying the reserved chakra and calculating the remaining amount, his shadow clone nodded and confirmed that he should have enough for the task.
Hikaru looked at his shadow clone and said, "Alright, you know what to do."
The clone nodded again, then used his transformation skill to transform himself into Aruaru. Before the clone stepped out of the tent to do the job, Hikaru's real body called out, "Wait."
He grabbed a male fragrance from the nearby counter and sniffed it one by one for a few moments. Then, he selected one that had a scent similar to Aruaru today and sprayed it on the clone, saying, "There, this should do now."
The clone could transform into the expedition team's master, but he couldn't copy his smell.
The clone replied shortly, "Alright," and immediately walked out to follow the plan. Hikaru's actual body sits inside the tent while waiting, slowly meditating in an upright posture (lotus position). Even though he could not replicate the same effect as doing Tai Chi, it's still better than doing nothing.
After leaving the tent, Hikaru's clone walked along the circus area, attempting to mimic Aruaru's walking style as much as possible, all the while searching for Nishikawa, his assistant.
After walking around for a while under the guise of Aruaru, Hikaru's clone noticed Nishikawa working on one of the props near the main stadium and decided to approach him when no one else was around.
He walked toward his assistant and said lightly, "Nishikawa."
"Yes, boss," Nishikawa immediately responded, looking at him with respect.
Hikaru's clone nodded and said, "Have you checked the bird yet?"
"No, I have not, sir."
Hikaru's clone lifted his chin, acting as if thinking, and said, "Let's check it together; I want to talk with the special one."
"Maybe I can persuade it today."
Nishikawa's mouth opened wide, seemingly taken aback by his request, before responding, "Yes, sir, but didn't we already try yesterday?"
Hikaru's clone shook his head and said, "Let's try every day; maybe one day it'll change its mind."
"Of course, sir." Nishikawa accepted his decision and led the way to the same tent Hikaru visited earlier in the day.
Hikaru's clone observed the surroundings and noticed that no one else was paying attention to their direction, so he hurrily followed Nishikawa.
The tent was filled not only with the previously empty bird cages, but also with all the birds from the day's performance. As both of them stepped inside, the sounds of birds chirping filled the tent.
Nishikawa grabbed a nearby ladder and ascended to reach the special bird cage before lowering it to the center of the room.
"Here it is, sir," Nishikawa said, setting down the golden eagle's cage.
Hikaru's clone, disguised as Aruaru, said slowly, "Open it."
"But, sir, the eagle will get away if we lift the seal," said Nishikawa with a worried expression.
Hikaru's clone shook his head and replied, lying through his teeth, "Trust goes both ways; you have to put yours first before they can give it back."
Nishikawa hesitated and had doubts about his explanation, but he eventually followed his instructions and slowly lifted the seal.
After witnessing Nishikawa's actions, Hikaru Clone felt a sense of relief, realizing that Nishikawa was capable of lifting the seal. This was a concern he had previously thought of.
It would have been problematic if he had miscalculated and discovered that Nishikawa was only responsible for taking care of the seal matter, but someone else was actually doing the real work, such as hiring a sealing master to uplift the seal rather than doing it himself.
The golden eagle stood still and didn't move, even with the seal lifted. Nishikawa was initially cautious before being amazed by the sight of the obediently standing eagle.
Before he could continue, a sudden panic struck him as he witnessed his boss fall to the floor. Nishikawa immediately attempted to put the seal back, but he was a second too late. His eyes began to grow sleepy, and he fell to his knees, thinking, 'Shoot, the golden eagle attacked; I shouldn't have...'
He tried his best to resist, but it seemed to be in vain, as he eventually collapsed and fell asleep on the floor. From the moment he lifts the seal and opens the bird cage, everything happens so quickly that he can't do anything.
"You came back!" Fushigi exclaimed with joy, looking at Hikaru's clone forming hand seals.
Hikaru's clone raised his eyebrows and asked, "You knew it was me?"
The golden eagle flew out of the cage and stood on top of another bird cage nearby, saying, "Your illusion could fool some people, but not me."
Hikaru's clone immediately dispelled the transformation jutsu, returning his body to his real appearance, and said, "Well, I did promise that I would come back."
"I didn't think it would be this soon." Fushigi looked at the boy in front of him and observed him more closely. He was indeed surprised that the boy could actually pull it off.
Before Fushigi could express his gratitude, Hikaru interrupted, saying, "I need to cause some havoc here before the guy wakes up; you need to leave when it happens."
Hikaru's clone then initiated the next step of his plan by opening all the bird cages in the tent, causing the birds to go wild.
Fushigi said, "Thanks," and immediately flew away during the chaos. Hikaru's clone then applied another genjutsu to Nishikawa to make his dream go wildly enough to forget the events that transpired here before he automatically dispelled himself as the clone chakra was completely depleted.
Genjutsu, which requires immense imagination, seems to be his forte after all. It was simple to make someone dream as if he were in the movie "Inception," which could stall him for a long time.
Once Hikaru's real body received all the information from his clone, he immediately applied another genjutsu to Aruaru, hoping that his dream would mimic how he went outside and collapsed in the bird tent.
He hoped that when he woke up, Aruaru would believe he was the one who caused the bird to escape.
Hikaru then left the area using the escape route he had planned, removing the fragrance from his body. Once he ensured his identity was untraceable, he headed back to his home.
...
The next morning was just as excited as yesterday; people in the village who hadn't yet attended the circus were all flocking toward the outskirts.
Hikaru was incredibly relieved that, despite the commotion that numerous birds caused last night, the expedition teams didn't express any voice complaints. Neither Aruaru, the master of the expedition team, nor Nishikawa, his assistant, spoke in public about the situation. The reason might have been that his dream had still taken effect.
Despite many flaws Hikaru could think of, he got away this time.
Because they were still in Konoha, the incident didn't concern the village civilians. They were still enjoying the event as usual, as it will only be here for another four days until they depart.
Hikaru, sitting on the training ground under a tree, removed his equipment from storage and prepared to continue his work with regard to the new Fūinjutsu (sealing technique) he developed, which he got inspired by the game he had played once.
Hikaru is determined to get the thing back on track as soon as possible. He now had less than a month left before reporting to the new Sensei. To be more ready for the real Shinobi job, he must now make every minute count.
"You're here," A nearby voice distracted Hikaru from his hours-long practice of brush writing. Fushigi, seated on a nearby tree, scratched its face with its neck and continued to speak, saying, "I have been looking for you since the morning."
Looking at the golden eagle in surprise, Hikaru replied, "Why are you still here? I thought you'd leave already last night."
"I have to properly thank you for saving me; last night I didn't get a chance." Fushigi stated his intentions.
"Aw, you don't have to," Hikaru said, smiling at the bird, before suddenly becoming scared at the fact that the golden eagle is right here with him. "Wait, no one saw you coming to me, right?"
Fushigi raised his head in pride and said, "Nope, no one found me when I came here." After a brief pause, he continued, "I already drove one of them away when he was watching you about three hundred meters away, though."
"Wait! Someone was watching me?" Hikaru asked with a serious expression, thinking that it might have been because of the incident last night. "Did you see how he looks?"
"He wears a mask and has a sword on his back," Fushigi answers, and adds, "That's all I could tell; I drove him away already."
"I'm strong, you know?"
'Anbu? or the root?' Hikaru thought about the information he just heard but then realized, "You're amazing; how did you do it?"
Fushigi opens its wing wide and flaps for a few seconds before answering, "It's one of our specialty skills; we're specializing in illusion technique."
Hikaru was somewhat taken aback when he learned about its specialization. He had expected the golden eagle to be skilled in wind release jutsu or something similar, but the truth was very different. He was already aware of its uniqueness due to its confinement within a bird cage, which imposed numerous seal constraints.
The Fūinjutsu master must be really a genius to be able to trap this bird with the sealing technique.
Hikaru muttered with his thumb up, "Sounds cool," and added, "I wish I could drive them off too."
Fushigi shook his head and replied, "I couldn't teach it to you without the elder's permission; our special technique has never been taught to anyone outside." With a pitying expression, he continued. "You will have to come and find me at the Kodokuna Peak (Lonely Peak) in the Land of Snow; I will try to convince the elders to make you the first exception for humans."
Fushigi observed Hikaru for a few seconds, looking up and down, as if inspecting, before finally saying, "But you need at least ten times the amount of chakra you have today; you're too weak."
Hikaru's eyes twitched, and he could only respond with a bitter smile when Fushigi mentioned his weakness. Given his slow progress with the reserved chakra, it might take him a long time to be able to learn the special technique of the golden eagle beast.
"What about a summoning contract?" Hikaru asked with a look of hope and expectation.
Fushigi tilted his head in confusion before saying, "We never made a contract with anyone before, so I don't know if we even have one."
"I have to go back now. It's been six months without seeing my family."
"Farewell; I hope to see you again soon." After saying these last words, Fushigi swiftly spread its wings and soared towards the north.
Hikaru could only watch as the golden eagle flew away, feeling helpless in his situation.
Clenching his fist, he couldn't help but become more determined to complete his training faster.