Hyuga Soei and Hyuga Soji were jonin from the Hyuga Clan of Konoha. They looked incredibly young—only around twenty-three or twenty-four. For a ninja, that was their prime.
Like many other Hyuga ninjas, they both had long black hair and appeared quiet and artistically inclined—in layman's terms, they were typical "strong, silent types"—quiet as a tomb. But overall, they were ambitious ninjas.
Eager to prove themselves, young and new-gen ninjas were often more driven than ever. And today, they had received orders from the Third Hokage, requiring them to participate in an important mission. Naturally, they were more than happy to accept such a command.
The first step of this critical mission was to report to "Kagenami." What came next would require them to fully follow the arrangements of Kagenami's leader, the jonin Haseo Yu.
Haseo Yu's name might not have been on everyone's lips like it used to be, but that didn't mean he'd faded into obscurity. Quite the contrary; over time, many Konoha ninjas had already mentally labeled Haseo as an "elite ninja."
Even some might secretly think of him as a "terrifyingly powerful Kagenami warrior."
Faced with Haseo's legendary exploits, even the proud Hyuga ninjas kept a respectful distance... especially since hyugas were typically known for their reserved sense of pride to begin with.
Following orders, the two Hyuga ninjas arrived at the entrance of a nondescript building. After opening the door, they entered and found a hidden downward passage inside the room… when using Byakugan, most hide-and-seek attempts became meaningless.
After entering a completely unfamiliar underground space that was pitch-black, the two naturally activated their Byakugan to observe their surroundings. But gradually, they realized their perception ability had been severely disrupted.
Even after further focusing their ocular power, they could only see a thick wall of chakra barrier. Beyond that, they couldn't see a thing.
"It's a barrier designed to block perception techniques."
"Yeah, and the chakra density in this area is unusually high."
They whispered to each other like this. However, just as their attention was entirely focused on the barrier surrounding the Kagenami Underground Base, a voice cut through the silence right beside them.
"You two must be the Hyuga ninjas sent by the Third Hokage. Please come with me."
Startled so badly they flinched—the two Hyugas jumped in shock. How did this person appear like a ghost?
Appearing so suddenly next to the ultimate reconnaissance experts could literally scare someone to death. Fortunately, the two Hyūgas still remembered that this was Konoha territory, so they merely got startled without instinctively attacking.
"Lord Haseo?"
"It is indeed me. Please follow me."
The person who had appeared behind them was none other than Haseo himself.
Inside the barrier constructed by Uzumaki, Haseo could "move freely" as he pleased. Or to put it bluntly, if he couldn't even evade the Byakugan inside Nagare's base, then all those years of building barriers were basically just a waste of time—total junk.
And just as these two Hyūga ninjas instinctively turned around to face Haseo, an even more eye-blinding phenomenon occurred… It was especially shocking since both of them were currently using their Byakugan, meaning they could clearly see the chakra circulation within Haseo's body.
Under the penetrating light of the Byakugan, any minor secrets a ninja might have would be laid completely bare. So how in the world could Haseo possibly have two chakra pathways? That was totally absurd—it defied all logic.
Could it be that this was the legendary Copy Ninja? One who copied not just techniques but the very chakra pathways themselves?
The Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist style was all about attacking meridians and pressure points to seal an enemy's chakra circulation—that was their signature technique. Therefore, the question arose: how exactly was one supposed to deal with a case like Haseo?
So in a certain sense, Haseo really did somewhat counteract the power of the two great dojutsu.
"You two?"
After taking a couple steps forward, Haseo noticed the two Hyūga ninjas still hadn't moved, forcing him to stop as well. He turned around again and called out to remind them. In his mind, he thought—could the Third really have sent two defective units? These two looked seriously off.
His assumption wasn't wrong. The two Hyūga ninjas dispatched by the Third were definitely branch members… Those bearing the Cursed Seal of the "Caged Bird" were nothing more than defective units—they couldn't even reset their own systems.
Based on Haseo's understanding of the Hyūga, ever since the first generation, only the head of the family or its designated successor was considered main house upon reaching adulthood. This meant that in each generation, there was only one pair of complete Byakugan eyes—eyes so incredibly valuable. Therefore, during the upcoming missions under Kagenami, there was no way the Hyūga would dispatch their clan leader.
Later on, this situation seemed to improve slightly… After all, strict as the Hyūga traditions were, they wouldn't dare to carve a green seal into the forehead of the Hokage's wife, right?
From a neutral observer's perspective, though… Although the "Caged Bird" Seal elevated the status of the Hyūga leader so greatly that even an incompetent clan head could decide life or death for branch members, it was undeniable that this seal also served a protective function—for both the Byakugan and the entire Hyūga Clan.
After all, during large-scale conflicts, the Byakugan was an extremely valuable strategic asset—one far more coveted than the Sharingan.
Therefore, while perhaps inhumane, the Caged Bird Seal provided enormous benefits. From this perspective, the Hyūga were indeed the most conservative and bloodline-obsessed among all the ninja sects.
Of course, that was just Haseo's casual observation; if he had actually been born into the Hyūga branch family, he, as Haseo, probably wouldn't feel this way at all.
"Yes, honored Haseo."
Reminded by Haseo, the two Hyuga ninjas finally realized what was happening and immediately deactivated their Byakugan... watching allies so openly could be seen as casually collecting intelligence, which was undoubtedly extremely impolite—in fact, it could even be considered an act of hostility.
Luckily, Haseo didn't mind such things. Let them look all they want—it wouldn't make him lose a piece of flesh anyway.
The two Hyuga ninjas kept their doubts to themselves, cautiously following behind Haseo as the three arrived at the upper platform above Kagenami's underground space.
Here, the ninjas preparing for the mission had already assembled.
Haseo, Sakumo Hatake, six Uzumaki ninjas led by Uzumaki Shikou, plus these two newly arrived Hyuga ninjas—exactly formed a ten-man team.
Seeing Haseo arrive, Shikou immediately showed him a black scroll with red trim, indicating everything was ready, then carefully put the scroll away.
Haseo nodded slightly. The most important items had been prepared just in time before departure.
"The team has assembled completely," he said, "so we'll be heading out now. Our first destination is the Land of Hot Springs... It's just a small island country with a minor ninja village. I heard it's actually a famous sightseeing spot.
Mist isn't particularly aggressive either, so there's no need to be tense. This mission should feel more like a sightseeing trip."
The two Hyuga glanced at each other. They still didn't clearly understand what their specific task would be, but... sightseeing? That would be great if it were truly the case.
...
Without causing any disturbance, Haseo led the group out from Konoha, passing through uneventful stretches of land until reaching the Land of Hot Springs.
However, when this group set foot onto the territory of the Land of Hot Springs and reached their first coastal town, they ran right into an elite squad of Mist shinobi about equal in number to their own party...
There goes that vacation idea.
PS
I've already reported this to the online authorities, but since this is my first time dealing with something like this, I don't have much experience handling it. Just need to see whether the issue can be resolved later. Probably doesn't meet the criteria for case filing though.
To those fools who think they can hide behind screens: Do you really believe you're invisible online? Your IP address, your mobile phone registration license, your phone's IMEI and IMSI code aren't all stored on servers? Aren't these verifiable one hundred percent?
The only somewhat clever thing that troll did was reference a group that long ago disbanded, thinking there's no evidence left, yet he doesn't realize our dear group administrator saved the chat logs... Plus servers always keep backups. Data doesn't just vanish overnight.
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