Byakugan.
The bloodline limit of the Hyuga clan, granting abilities such as long-distance vision, X-ray vision, and enhanced perception.
Long-distance vision effectively turned the eyes into binoculars. X-ray vision allowed one to see straight through objects and clearly observe the flow of chakra within the human body.
Not to mention that in this world, everyone's body possessed chakra to some extent—making it impossible for anyone to escape the lock-on of the Byakugan.
The most suitable role for a Hyuga clan member was actually a sniper.
Yet somehow, this bunch insisted on playing melee combat.
The enemy was probably laughing themselves to death.
Coupled with the nearly 360-degree field of vision—though due to the Caged Bird Seal, one degree was missing—
It still posed no real problem for ranged combat.
Hyuga Arin stepped on a bandit beneath his foot. In his other hand, five shuriken appeared at once.
With a flick of his wrist, he threw them out.
From the moment they left his hand to when they reappeared, the five shuriken were already embedded in the throats of five people.
Notifications flashed before his eyes.
[EXP: 13][EXP: 11][EXP: 10]…
Six people provided him with a total of 68 EXP.
Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi quickly rushed to his side.
Hyuga Hiashi, whose expression had been ugly the entire time, directly questioned him:
"Why didn't you follow orders?!"
His suspicious gaze fell on the spiked club lying on the ground.
That move just now—was that the Substitution Technique?
It had to be the Substitution Technique.
But then why did a spiked club appear?
Where the hell was he storing that thing?
In response to Hyuga Hiashi's questioning, Hyuga Arin completely ignored him. He stepped forward and picked up the spiked club—this was his substitution prop.
The Substitution Technique was a misdirection technique where, at the instant of being attacked, the user quickly replaced their body with wood, making the opponent believe the attack had succeeded.
To put it bluntly, it was about blocking at the critical moment with an object.
Having trained the Substitution Technique to level five, Hyuga Arin was no longer limited to using wood.
"I'm talking to you!" Hyuga Hiashi snapped angrily when he saw Hyuga Arin completely disregarding him.
Hyuga Arin continued doing things his own way, picking up the items dropped on the ground.
[Silver: 8 taels]
That was the total from all the drops combined.
"Too weak. They don't drop anything good at all," Hyuga Arin sighed inwardly, then turned his sharp gaze toward the Hyuga brothers.
"If you steal my mobs, I'll kill you."
Hyuga Hiashi completely lost his temper. Even though he didn't understand what "stealing mobs" meant, he still charged straight at Hyuga Arin.
Hyuga Hizashi hesitated for a moment—then stopped in place.
Watching from a tree, Tsunade shook her head.
"This generation's Hyuga main family is really hard to deal with."
Mostly because of that one kid who refused to play by the rules—Hyuga Arin.
Even so, openly triggering internal conflict during a mission wasn't exactly a wise choice.
The Hyuga clan had protected Hyuga Hiashi far too well.
If not for the fact that this brat had the same eyes as the Hyuga clan, she would've suspected he was from the Uchiha.
Facing Hyuga Hiashi's sudden attack, Hyuga Arin's eyes lit up.
This guy wasn't using the Caged Bird Seal—and actually dared to attack directly?
He'd been waiting for this for a long time.
The veins around Hyuga Hiashi's eyes bulged as he activated the Byakugan as well. His hands lashed out like whips, raining down blows like a violent storm.
Gentle Fist.
The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist was less a punching style and more an art of striking pressure points—its main purpose was to hit the opponent's chakra points.
Hyuga Arin's hands moved just as quickly, blocking the torrential assault.
Like an unyielding rock—no matter how fiercely the opponent attacked, he couldn't harm him in the slightest.
Seeing that he couldn't break through for so long, Hyuga Hiashi grew even more anxious.
A palm strike infused with dense chakra slammed forward.
Hyuga Arin raised both palms to block. If this hit landed, he'd be sent flying.
Bang!
"AAAH!!"
A shrill scream rang out.
But the one screaming wasn't Hyuga Arin—it was Hyuga Hiashi.
His palm had slammed into a spiked club, the spikes piercing straight through his hand.
Hyuga Arin appeared behind Hyuga Hiashi, his lips moving slightly.
"You really are useless."
Before Hyuga Hiashi could react, Hyuga Arin tapped a finger against his temple, instantly knocking him unconscious.
Hyuga Hizashi rushed forward several steps, launching rapid palm strikes toward Hyuga Arin, followed by a backward kick.
Hyuga Arin jumped back, dodging Hyuga Hizashi's kick.
"Relax. He's still alive."
A mocking expression appeared on Hyuga Arin's face. He had no intention of defecting from Konoha just yet.
He glanced at the notification in front of him.
[EXP: 115]
"Not bad."
Seeing Hyuga Hizashi itching to continue, Hyuga Arin thought for a moment—then chose to let him off.
He turned and ran toward the mountain.
Hyuga Hizashi let out a sigh of relief. He hoisted the unconscious Hyuga Hiashi onto his back, his expression complicated as he looked toward Hyuga Arin's retreating figure.
"Hyuga Arin…"
"Is this guy really a genius?"
He ground his teeth in frustration.
Which Hyuga clan member would use the Substitution Technique in battle?
And with a spiked club, no less!!
What kind of ninja does that?!
He'd heard of Hyuga Arin's reputation—invincible among his peers, hailed as a genius of the Hyuga clan.
Now he seriously wondered how those people had even lost to him.
Tsunade appeared beside the two of them, looking at the brothers with disappointment written across her face.
"Engaging in internal conflict during a mission—both of you are extremely unqualified."
Hyuga Hizashi protested, "It was Hyuga Arin—"
"Enough. I don't want to hear your excuses," Tsunade cut him off coldly.
She had no interest in getting involved in the Hyuga clan's internal mess.
Hyuga Hiashi's lofty, condescending tone had already irritated her.
She really didn't understand what the Hyuga clan had been thinking, forcing these three together.
This squad was clearly arranged entirely by the Hyuga clan themselves.
And the contradictions were simply far too intense.
…
Hyuga Arin didn't care what the others did.
If they didn't follow him, even better.
That way, they wouldn't steal his mobs.
More bandits had already appeared ahead—and there were even more than at the foot of the mountain.
"Who goes there?!"
"How did you get up here?!"
"This kid's a ninja!!"
They saw Hyuga Arin lean his body forward, arms stretched behind him, charging toward them at extreme speed.
But just before fully closing the distance, he suddenly stopped. His arms swung forward, and shuriken flew from his hands one after another.
As the foremost group had shuriken buried in their necks and collapsed forward—
"Enemy attack!!"
A shrill cry echoed through the mountains.
But what they were facing was an endless barrage of shuriken.
To the naked eye, it looked like a wall of shuriken, constantly firing toward them.
Necks, shoulders, chests, arms—blood blossoms burst open one after another.
Hyuga Arin was like a human shuriken-throwing machine.
Standing in place, doing nothing but throwing shuriken.
His inventory held more than ten stacks of shuriken, each stacked to ninety-nine.
As he watched the notifications endlessly scroll before his eyes, the smile on his face grew even brighter.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted to a three-meter-high broken ledge to the side.
Someone jumped down from it, gripping a blade.
"I've been waiting for you."
Before the person who jumped down could even react, he was pierced by countless shuriken and lost his life.
This wasn't a fighting game.
This—
was a shooting game!!!