"Byakugan, open!"
Blue veins bulged around Kairen's eyes, looking extremely sinister. In the pale white pupils, a faint black mark could be seen.
Kairen looked in Shabei's direction. Within the vision of the Byakugan, he could clearly see the opponent's meridians, acupoints, and skeletal structure.
The Byakugan is divided into insight, x-ray, and telescopic vision, making it a very practical kekkei genkai.
When a shinobi from Kirigakure got hold of one Byakugan, he immediately rose to the rank of elite.
Kairen's Byakugan wasn't bound by the Caged Bird Seal. It was a Main Family level Byakugan.
Kairen was a little puzzled. "System, can my eyes return to their original state?"
The system replied, "Yes. As long as the host cuts off the chakra supply to the Byakugan, you can deactivate it."
"That's good!" After all, Kairen had to return to the village. If the Hyūga clan saw his Byakugan, he'd probably end up as a research subject for life.
Slowly, the bulging veins around Kairen's eyes faded away, but from his body surged an overwhelming killing intent.
Revenge—today was the day!
With a single thought, over 200 explosive tags from the system space were pulled out, scattering across the ground.
The rustling noise immediately drew Shabei's attention. She opened her eyes and saw a pair of white eyes filled with murderous intent.
"Explode!"
"BOOOOM—!"
More than 200 explosive tags detonated at once, like a massive bundle of grenades tied together. The concentrated power easily blew apart Shabei's laboratory, taking the jōnin herself with it.
"Ding!"
"You were killed by your own explosive tags. EXP +5."
The enormous explosion shook Sunagakure's camp in the middle of the night. The sand shinobi immediately sprang to their feet.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"
"Damn it! What were the patrols doing? How did a Konoha shinobi sneak in here?!"
"Cough, cough…"
Kairen revived from within the thick smoke. He coughed twice, spitting the soot from his throat.
He stretched out his hand, feeling his body fully restored.
A chūnin's chakra reserves were far richer than a genin's, and his physical abilities far surpassed them as well.
He immediately formed a hand seal. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With a puff of white smoke, 50 shadow clones appeared. Kairen quickly divided over 1,700 explosive tags among them.
He shouted loudly, "Brothers, let these Sunagakure worms taste the pain!"
"Ohhh!"
The shadow clones roared back. They shared a portion of Kairen's suffering, and their murderous intent burned like fire in their hearts.
"Uraaaa!"
The 50 shadow clones charged in all directions, each carrying 30 explosive tags, igniting them throughout the camp.
"BOOOOM—!"
In an instant, explosions erupted from every corner of the camp.
The night was pitch black, moonlight dim, but the smoke of war was thick.
The continuous detonations made the Sunagakure shinobi believe Konoha's main force had launched an assault. Their gathering became increasingly chaotic.
Several Sunagakure squads encountered Kairen's shadow clones. Without saying a word, the clones rushed into their midst, setting off explosive tags.
"Feel the pain!"
"BOOOOM—!"
The noise of the night reached its peak, carrying Kairen's fury and a month of suppressed killing intent.
Kairen noticed that most of the tags had already gone off, and the clones were gradually being eliminated by the Sunagakure shinobi.
The constant cycle of death crashing into his mind, Kairen quickly ignited another explosive tag, blowing himself apart.
"Ding!"
"You were killed by your own explosive tags. EXP +5."
Revived again, Kairen immediately pressed an explosive tag to his chest.
Activating the Byakugan, enhancing himself with the Body Flicker Technique, he dashed headlong toward the edge of the camp.
On the way, Kairen picked up a strip of white cloth and wrapped it around his eyes.
The Byakugan was his secret. It couldn't be exposed to Sunagakure.
With his Byakugan, he clearly saw the clusters of blue chakra scattered around the camp. He avoided them and ran toward areas with fewer sand shinobi.
The explosions had caused some chaos in Sunagakure's camp, but Rasa soon appeared and stabilized the situation.
Rasa arrived at the place where the explosions had been the fiercest, gazing coldly at the wreckage of Shabei's laboratory.
"Damn brat. After him! He won't get far!"
As soon as the words fell, the ANBU around him vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
...
Outside Sunagakure's main camp, a Sunagakure chūnin blocked Kairen's escape route.
The sand shinobi drew a kunai, staring at Kairen warily.
"Who are you? Why aren't you wearing the village forehead protector? And where do you think you're going?"
Kairen roared, "Eight Gates—Gate of Opening, open!"
In an instant, the restraints on his brain were released, and chakra surpassing his body's limits surged outward.
Kairen's strength rapidly increased under the chakra's boost. He immediately formed the Body Flicker seal, leaving only a fading afterimage in the air.
"So fast!"
The sand shinobi's eyes couldn't follow him. In the blink of an eye, Kairen's punch smashed into his head, sending him flying seven or eight meters.
Another flicker—and Kairen's kick struck his stomach, forcing blood to gush out.
Slapping an explosive tag onto him, Kairen flickered away.
"Explode!"
The tag detonated, blasting the sand shinobi into pieces.
It wasn't that the sand shinobi was weak. As a chūnin, he had solid qualities.
But Kairen had struck with utter surprise, leaving him no chance to defend.
As soon as Kairen closed the Gate of Opening, sudden weakness spread through his body.
No matter which gate it was, using the Eight Gates Release Formation meant burning away the body's strength.
"This won't do. I must keep my body at full power!"
Every second of escape was crucial. Kairen couldn't afford the slightest slack.
Gritting his teeth, Kairen detonated the explosive tag on his body.
"Ding!"
"You were killed by your own explosive tags. EXP +4!"
Revived again, Kairen immediately darted into the shadows of the forest.
Inside the woods, Kairen suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Byakugan, open!"
Blue veins bulged around his eyes, and he immediately saw more than ten powerful chakra signatures rapidly closing in behind him.
Jōnin—Sunagakure's ANBU jōnin!
"Damn! How did they get here so fast?"
Kairen clenched his teeth hard, folding two fingers into the hand seal.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Forcing his chakra output to the limit, he instantly created 50 shadow clones, scattering them in every direction of the forest.
"Shadow clones!"
The ANBU behind him naturally noticed his move. Without Byakugan, they couldn't tell which was the real body.
But even with Byakugan, it would be difficult to distinguish where Kairen had hidden himself among so many clones.
One Sunagakure ANBU stopped, biting his finger and slamming his palm onto the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Puff!
A cloud of white smoke burst open, and over a hundred brown-furred desert mice appeared on the ground.
"Track him! With that much chakra exhausted, his stamina is nearly gone. He won't get far!"
The Sunagakure ANBU split up, following the desert mice as they tracked Kairen's scent.
Kairen was carried on the back of one of his clones, fleeing northwest through the forest.
All his chakra had gone into creating the shadow clones. He was panting even just walking, forced to rely on his clones to keep moving.
After running for about three minutes, Kairen and his clones finally reached the deeper parts of the forest.
Seeing they had pulled a good distance from the ANBU, Kairen immediately pulled out more explosive tags from the system space.
"Hey! Don't blow me up too!" the clone complained helplessly.