It was an hour later when he arrived at Ruri's room.
The other party was holding a scroll, carefully studying something. Hakushi glanced at it and saw that the contents were related to Fire Style Ninjutsu.
"What is it?"
Ruri shifted her gaze from the scroll, looked up, and glanced at Hakushi.
"Ah, um… I want to go to the pharmacy to buy some herbs; there's not enough in the lab anymore."
Hakushi scratched his head. His expression was the same as usual, not revealing anything unusual.
"Alright. Remember to bring back some natto for me when you return."
"Natto?"
Hakushi nodded to indicate he understood, then walked out of the room.
It wasn't until he was outside that he let out a slight sigh of relief; he'd finally managed to get by.
Bringing Ayane here to collect body data really wasn't a reliable plan—it was nearly impossible to pull off, and the chance of being caught was just too high.
This was the Uchiha Clan headquarters, after all. Even with the Byakugan, sneaking in here wouldn't be easy.
Otherwise, the Uchiha Clan wouldn't have such a formidable reputation in the Ninja Realm.
So collecting Ayane's body data should be done outside instead.
Hakushi had already chosen the location—his old home.
With the scroll for storing equipment in hand, Hakushi went to buy some natto first, just in case he forgot on the way back.
Next, he headed for the Hyuga Clan Land to find Ayane.
Sneaking into the Hyuga Family to find Ayane was absolutely impossible. Not to mention the Byakugan, the Hyuga Clan Land was located near the center of the village, completely different from the Uchiha's territory, where the village's defense forces were at their strongest.
Both were bloodline ninja clans, and yet the Hyuga Clan could live near the village core, while the Uchiha were made to acquiesce to a region further back from the center.
What was even stranger was that the Uchiha still had the Security Team as their authority—a department that, if based in the village center, would be better able to mobilize. This arrangement was full of contradictions and made little sense.
Having lived in the Uchiha Clan Land for years, Hakushi honestly didn't know much about the Uchiha's core secrets—Ruri hadn't explained either. But he did know the relationship between the Uchiha and the village leadership was only harmonious on the surface; in truth, it was a mess of mutual vigilance and hostility.
With those thoughts, he soon arrived at the Hyuga Clan Land. He had to admit, compared with the Uchiha, Hyuga ninja put far more emphasis on good manners—they appeared refined, spoke calmly, and while they had the pride of a noble family, they didn't come across as overbearing.
Of course, that was just the outsider's perspective. For Hyuga themselves, that probably wasn't always the case.
After all, the Caged Bird Curse Seal—even if they said it was to protect the Byakugan, that argument didn't really hold up.
If it was really for protecting the Byakugan, they could have just set the Caged Bird's function to destroy the Byakugan upon a branch family member's death.
But that's not how it actually worked—the Caged Bird Curse Seal also had a killing feature, letting the main family torment any branch family ninja who defied them.
Using "protecting the Byakugan" as an excuse was hard to believe. Adding the killing function to the Caged Bird Seal, in Hakushi's opinion, was both redundant and overcomplicated.
If it only sealed the Byakugan when necessary, then maybe you could say it was about protection—and the branch family ninja might not resent the main family so much.
"Hakushi-kun, why are you here? Did Teacher Sakumo give you new orders?"
Ayane wore a spotless white outfit, her long black hair neatly draped behind her. Seeing Hakushi coming to look for her, she looked just a bit puzzled.
"It's not like that. I need to buy some herbs to make medicine for use on missions. But it's a bit much for me alone, so I was hoping you could help."
"I see." Ayane tapped her corner of her snow-white chin with her finger, thought for a moment, then smiled plainly. "Alright. But let's hurry—I have to be back before dinner."
"That's plenty of time."
So Hakushi took Ayane to the Konoha Pharmacy to buy herbs with various medicinal properties.
To say, most pharmacies in Konoha were run by the Nara Clan. This clan excelled at raising deer, and deer antlers happened to be a precious medicinal ingredient. So Nara-run pharmacies stocked deer antlers in all grades—a signature feature.
Even many out-of-town merchants traveled great distances to Konoha for Nara deer antlers, a testament to their outstanding quality. And with fair pricing and honest business, most pharmacy dealers preferred working with the Nara Clan.
Plus, together with the Yamanaka and Akimichi Clans, they formed the so-called "Ino-Shika-Cho" alliance. All three were secret technique blood clans with high prestige in Konoha.
On top of that, the position of Jonin Squad Leader in Konoha had always gone to the Nara Clan's ninja, with strong support from the Yamanaka and Akimichi Clans. From the days of the First Hokage onward, the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance had always remained at the heart of power and leadership in Konoha, trusted by every Hokage.
Compared to that, the Uchiha's position in Konoha was really quite awkward.
They were hailed as one of the two founding ninja clans of Konoha, but at this point, they hardly had any connections worth mentioning. They didn't even stack up to the Hyuga—let alone the Ino-Shika-Cho trio whom the Hokage deeply trusted.