One week later, at the village's main gate.
A young girl stood quietly, carefully adjusting Hyuga Kyou's gear.
From her pale, moonlit eyes, it was clear that she too belonged to the Hyuga clan. She appeared about the same age as Kyou, her soft and elegant face framed by a few loose strands of dark hair. Yet her eyebrows were drawn together ever so slightly, betraying the turmoil in her heart.
Hyuga Kyou, gazing into the distance toward the towering Hokage Rock, gave a relaxed smile.
"Don't worry," he said calmly. "It's just a routine rotation. I'll be back before you know it."
The girl nodded slightly, then reached into her waist pouch and retrieved a brand-new pair of protective goggles, offering them to him in silence.
Kyou glanced at her, then took the goggles without saying much. He tucked them carefully into his own pouch.
Long ago, Kyou had developed the habit of wearing goggles, much like Obito. The ones he used had darker lenses, tinted nearly black like sunglasses. He had adopted this not merely for eye protection, but as a means to conceal his identity on the battlefield. Being a Hyuga made him a priority target, and hiding his dojutsu gave him a valuable layer of defense. More importantly, should his Byakugan evolve into the Tenseigan one day, the goggles would help mask that transformation as well. After all, despite their similarities, the two dojutsu bore noticeable differences in appearance.
The girl, clearly aware of his habit, had purchased the new goggles for him out of concern. She knew his old pair might break during the deployment, and new ones would be nearly impossible to find in the distant borderlands.
Not far away, a middle-aged ninja raised a hand and called out, his voice firm and commanding.
"Time's up. We're moving out."
Kyou responded with a gentle pat on the girl's shoulder.
"Rin," he said softly, "I'm leaving now. Don't worry about me. With any luck, I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone."
The girl named Rin gave a small nod, her lips pressed together, but the sorrow in her expression was impossible to hide.
Before departing, Kyou cast one final glance toward Hokage Rock.
The recent turmoil caused by Orochimaru's defection had made Konoha the biggest loser. With Orochimaru gone and Jiraiya having left in pursuit, the once-feared trio known as the Legendary Sannin had now all abandoned the village.
Orochimaru had lost the protection and resources of the Hidden Leaf, but he had also escaped its shackles. For a man like him, it was a trade he had always been prepared to make. In a way, it was neither defeat nor victory, but the path he had chosen.
Danzo, on the other hand, had emerged as the greatest victor. Having absorbed much of Orochimaru's former network, he had not only consolidated his own power but had likely gained access to the results of some of Orochimaru's secret human experiments. Kyou suspected this would later serve as the foundation for Danzo's acquisition of Sharingan eyes and even the cells of the First Hokage.
But at this point, none of that mattered to Hyuga Kyou.
The higher-ups in the village had already reached an unspoken agreement. All of Orochimaru's former subordinates who had not been absorbed into Root would be quietly reassigned to various distant outposts across the borders of the Fire Nation.
To put it bluntly, they were being exiled. Sent to the edges of the world. Removed from the political center of the Leaf.
Kyou walked over to the middle-aged ninja who had called out and looked over the squad assigned to him.
There were twelve shinobi in total, including himself, divided into three teams. Apart from the three captains leading each unit, the remaining nine were all former subordinates of Orochimaru.
Their destination lay along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, a strategic outpost located in a remote and unforgiving area.
The moment they stepped beyond the village gates, Kyou activated his Byakugan. His expression sharpened as he assumed full combat alertness, as if they had already entered enemy territory.
This was not paranoia. It was instinct forged by experience.
A few months ago, Kyou had been part of a convoy escorting wounded soldiers from the frontlines back to the village. They had been ambushed barely ten kilometers from the gates. The resulting slaughter had left most of his comrades dead or maimed. Had it not been for the timely arrival of reinforcements, his name would already be etched into the Memorial Stone.
War had taught him many lessons. Though the fighting had ended, habits born from survival were not so easily discarded.
He was not the only one who had grown cautious. The other shinobi in the squad also tightened their formation, their body language turning tense and focused.
All except for one.
Kyou glanced toward the rear of the group, where a slender figure lagged behind, moving listlessly.
He sighed quietly.
If there was anyone in the village who found it hardest to accept Orochimaru's defection, it was undoubtedly the young woman following behind him now—Anko Mitarashi.
Almost overnight, she had fallen from grace. Once the apprentice of a Sannin, once hailed as a rising star and a future elite, she had become a prisoner. After weeks of confinement and interrogation, she now stood among the exiled, bound for the same fate as Kyou.
The light had vanished from her eyes. Her once fiery spirit had been replaced by a hollow silence.
Her body moved, but her soul seemed to be somewhere far away.
Kyou didn't speak to her. There were no words that could heal that kind of betrayal. Not now. Not yet.
He only continued forward, scanning the horizon through the lens of his Byakugan, searching for signs of ambush, watching the road, and preparing for what lay ahead.
The borderlands were harsh, but they offered freedom.
Far from the politics of the village, far from Danzo's reach, far from the suffocating eyes of the Hyuga elders.
And for someone like Hyuga Kyou, who walked the line between loyalty and rebellion, that freedom might be worth more than anything else.