Chapter 24: Killing Chiryo, Integrating Byakugan
At the Konoha Ninja Academy, Uchiha Mina stormed into the classroom and made a beeline for Hyuga Chiryo's desk. She yanked open the compartment and retrieved the note Chiryo had left behind. Her eyes darted over the contents, locking on to the location scribbled at the bottom.
"Enjoy your last moonrise, Chiryo. I'm coming for you!"
With a furious cry, Mina crushed the paper in her fist. Her expression twisted into one of bloodthirsty rage as she bolted out of the building, the bright moonlight casting a stark contrast to the storm brewing inside her.
Meanwhile, under the same moonlit sky, Chiryo lay nestled in Tonan's arms. Her body was still, her breathing calm, as if she were dreaming. She had no idea her final moments were slipping away like sand through a sieve.
The night air was crisp and silent.
Tonan's right hand, which had been gently stroking Chiryo's back, came to a slow halt. His arm around her waist remained firm as he shifted to face her, his Sharingan quietly spinning in his eyes.
"Chiryo," he whispered.
"Mm?" she hummed, eyes still closed.
"I have to admit… I admire your resolve," Tonan said, moving his lips closer to hers. Their breaths mingled, warm and close.
"But your dreams are small. You're weak. You chase after love like it's everything. But the strong? We chase power."
He leaned in for a kiss. Chiryo's lips parted slightly, a flicker of ecstasy flashing in her eyes as they fluttered shut. She didn't see his right hand forming seals behind her back.
Their lips met—briefly.
When they parted, Tonan's lips brushed against hers as he whispered, "It's almost time. The Explosion Tags are soaked."
The words hit Chiryo like a kunai to the gut. Her eyes snapped open in shock.
She activated her Byakugan instantly—veins bulging around her eyes—and aimed a Gentle Fist strike at Tonan's chest.
Poof—
Crackle—
In that split second, a Lightning Needle technique shot from Tonan's right hand, piercing straight through the back of Chiryo's head and exiting cleanly through the space between her brows. Her chakra strike fizzled out as her limp hand dropped against his chest. Her body went still—lifeless.
"You love me, but you wanted me to die with you?" Tonan whispered coldly, watching her soul flicker away. "That's not love. That's obsession. Delusion."
His crimson Sharingan glowed ominously as he looked down at her corpse, his expression unreadable.
"No matter your reasons, once you decided I should die, you forced my hand."
Just then, a strange warmth surged through Tonan's body. His eyes widened.
"This chakra… Earth and Water affinity?" He paused, shifting his gaze to the corpse in his arms. "Wait… this is…"
Activating his dojutsu further, Tonan saw the network of chakra meridians throughout Chiryo's body—only this time, his field of vision wasn't the pale monochrome typical of the Byakugan. It was tinted red, like viewing the world through a thermal lens. A full 360-degree view, without a single blind spot.
"The Byakugan has fused with the Sharingan?" he murmured, stunned. "Chiryo… I underestimated your worth."
Grinning, he willed the new power to shift. His Sharingan faded, and the veins around his eyes rose—he had fully activated the Byakugan.
The integration was seamless. With the help of the system, Tonan now had the ability to freely switch between the two dojutsu. Even more impressively, he could augment one with the capabilities of the other.
This was beyond rare—it was revolutionary.
Shwik!
Without hesitation, he drew a kunai and slit Chiryo's throat, beheading her. In the world of shinobi, loose ends meant death. With the Yamanaka Clan's ability to dive into memories, he couldn't risk anyone finding this body intact.
Thud.
Chiryo's headless corpse crumpled to the ground.
Tonan tossed the severed head into the clearing and began forming hand seals.
"Fire Style – Great Fireball Technique."
A roaring fireball erupted from his mouth, engulfing the head in a blazing inferno. Within seconds, it was nothing but scorched ash and bone.
Tonan calmly refastened the buttons on his shirt, straightened his collar, and dusted himself off. His eyes remained cool and calculating.
From this kill, he had gained two chakra affinities—Earth and Water—a rudimentary grasp of the Gentle Fist, and most importantly, the Byakugan. Even more valuable was the knowledge that the Byakugan and Sharingan could be fused and used in tandem.
If the Uchiha and Hyuga clans knew what he had just achieved… they'd lose their minds.
In the surrounding forest, dozens of red-tinted eyes glowed in the shadows—pigeons under his genjutsu, feeding him intel from every direction. Tonan had fused Mirror Heaven and Earth Change with the Sharingan, allowing him to tap into the birds' senses and share their vision.
Now, thanks to the Byakugan integration, he could use this ability with the pigeons' enhanced sight as well. It came at a chakra cost, sure—but it was a small price to pay for a personal surveillance network spanning the entire area.
"Information is everything in this world," Tonan muttered. "Even Madara got caught off guard once."
Just then, one of the pigeons caught sight of a figure rushing through the forest—familiar, furious, and fast.
Mina.
Tonan's eyes darkened.
"So that's why she delayed. You planned to take me down together." His voice dropped to a chill. "You thought you could outplay me?"
He stepped off the trail and disappeared into the jungle. Overhead, a cloud swallowed the moon, casting the forest into deep shadow.
Far ahead, Mina darted through the trees, arriving breathless at the waterfall. Her Sharingan spun faintly in the dark, but visibility was still poor.
She took two steps forward—then paused.
Her foot had landed on something soft.
Looking down, she picked up a piece of cloth.
"…These are her clothes."
Her face scrunched in confusion. She sniffed the air.
"Why does it smell like roasted meat?"
Following the scent, she only made it a few paces before she froze. Her entire body went rigid as she stared at the scene ahead.
There, lying crumpled by the water, was a naked, headless corpse. A few meters away was a charred, unrecognizable head surrounded by blackened grass and scorched soil.
Mina stared down at the clothes in her hand. Her heart thudded in her chest.
"…Chiryo."
She wasn't a stranger to corpses—but this? This was on another level. The brutality. The timing. The message.
Chiryo must have been caught off guard while bathing. She was decapitated before she could even get dressed, and the head had been incinerated afterward.
"Did the killer already flee? Was it an enemy shinobi? Or…" Mina's mind reeled. "A pervert? One of those freaks the clan elders warned about—the ones who sneak around bathhouses?"
The more she thought about it, the more disturbed she felt. Tossing the clothes aside, she bolted back toward the village, leaves crunching loudly beneath her feet.
She had to report this to the Konoha Military Police immediately. Even if Chiryo had been her rival, this was still a murder—and possibly a breach in village security.
"Tch… Good riddance. At least now she won't go sniffing around Tonan-kun anymore." Mina's thoughts twisted in the shadows of her mind. "Still… lucky I showed up late. I might've ended up roasted alongside her."
As that thought crossed her mind, she slowed down.
"…Wait."
Why had Chiryo sent her to the academy for the note instead of just meeting at the river directly?
"She was stalling me," Mina realized, her Sharingan spinning faster. "She planned to meet someone else from the beginning."
Her heart pounded.
"And that someone was… Tonan-kun."