[Genin Kunai: +20–25 Attack Power]
[Regeneration Ring: +1 HP recovery per second]
[Chakra Ring: +50 Chakra]
These three pieces of equipment were obtained from killing genin and chūnin.
Fortunately, the kunai could be equipped as an off-hand weapon. Otherwise, he would've had to take off his war blade.
A character could only carry one main weapon and one off-hand weapon.
The Regeneration Ring and Chakra Ring were accessory-type equipment. As long as there was a finger to wear them on, accessories had very few restrictions.
The regeneration effect restored physical injuries. After putting it on, Hyuga Arin could already feel the pain in his abdomen easing—though the speed wasn't particularly fast.
The Chakra Ring increased his chakra cap.
[Chakra: 80 / 130 + 50]
The upper limit jumped straight to 180. He had only thirty chakra left after the previous battle—this instantly restored fifty points.
In his current state, he could still handle another fight.
Next was experience.
[Experience Pool: 4365]
This was already enough to level up once. However, Hyuga Arin only pushed the level progress to 2499, leaving 1991 experience points in the pool.
This was in preparation for the next battle.
Leveling up didn't provide a huge stat boost—roughly a ten percent increase in strength. Its direct impact on combat wasn't that great.
But leveling up fully restored HP and chakra, which was enormously impactful in a real fight.
He planned to save the actual level-up for a critical moment.
With 1991 experience remaining, he didn't plan to hoard all of it.
His gaze shifted to Bear Wrestling Hands.
[Bear Wrestling Hands (Lv1) — EXP (100/0), Trait (None)]
He began pouring experience into it.
[Bear Wrestling Hands (Lv2) — EXP (0/200), Trait (None)]
[Bear Wrestling Hands (Lv3) — EXP (0/400), Trait (None)]
[Bear Wrestling Hands (Lv4) — EXP (0/800), Trait (None)]
Hyuga Arin quietly activated Bear Wrestling Hands. This time, the chakra consumption had increased noticeably.
"In actual combat, I can't keep this up for long."
Otherwise, using Bear Wrestling Hands would drain his chakra dry very quickly.
Even when upgrading skills, he had to consider his own chakra reserves. A powerful skill was meaningless if it left him empty and unable to keep fighting.
Next, he upgraded his medical ninTechnique.
[Medical NinTechnique (Lv2) — EXP (0/1000), Trait (None)]
Medical ninTechnique could save lives at critical moments.
He still had seven hundred experience left. There weren't many skills he could upgrade with that amount—and most of them weren't ones he used often.
The most useful among them was Eight Trigrams Air Palm, but honestly, it wasn't nearly as effective as his shuriken.
In the end, he chose to stop.
Experience was limited—it couldn't be spent recklessly.
[Name: I'm Hyuga Arin]
[Profession: None]
[Level: Lv13 (2499/2500)]
[Chakra: 180 / 130 + 50]
[Skills: Gentle Fist (Lv5), Clone Technique (Lv2), Substitution Technique (Lv10), Transformation Technique (Lv2), Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Lv3), Byakugan (Lv3), Fire Release · Unknown Fire (Lv4), Medical NinTechnique (Lv2), Bear Wrestling Hands (Lv4)]
[Experience Pool: 791]
[Equipment: (Bandit's Left Greave), (Bandit's Right Greave), (Bandit's Right Bracer), (Bandit's War Blade), (Bandit's Armor), (Regeneration Ring), (Chakra Ring), (Genin Kunai)]
[Inventory: Kunai (10), Explosive Tags (9), Shuriken (99), Steel Wire (10)…]
After reviewing the changes to his status panel, Hyuga Arin closed his eyes and began to rest.
The remaining stretch of the journey could very well bring more enemies. He needed to recover his chakra as quickly as possible.
The night passed without incident.
…
The next day, the group resumed their march.
They moved swiftly through the forest, maintaining the standard formation.
However, every time Hyuga Hiashi's gaze swept over Hyuga Arin, it was no longer the same—it carried a trace of coldness.
Hyuga Arin understood.
Hiashi had completely given up on subduing him.
Unconsciously, Hyuga Arin touched the forehead protector on his brow.
Hiashi abandoning the idea of controlling him was both good news and bad news.
The good news was obvious.
The bad news was that the Hyuga clan would now completely tear off the mask. Once he returned, the punishment awaiting him would be far harsher—
Possibly even activating the Caged Bird Seal.
He didn't know whether he could endure it.
But as long as he could withstand the Caged Bird Seal, the Hyuga clan wouldn't have many options left.
"Once we're back, I can't keep interacting with the Hyuga clan. I'm under Tsunade now—they won't dare act openly."
"After I change professions, I'll accelerate solving the Caged Bird problem. Then, during the Second Ninja War, I'll harvest experience and quickly break free from the Hyuga clan's control."
This had always been Hyuga Arin's plan.
If not for Hiashi, no one in the Hyuga clan would've cared about him at all. By the time they reacted, it would already be too late.
Yet because of Hiashi, he still had to suffer quite a bit.
Even though Hiashi hadn't technically done anything, how could Hyuga Arin not resent him?
"Someday, I'll kill you," Hyuga Arin shot Hiashi a vicious glare.
The team continued forward at high speed.
The three Hyuga never stopped using the Byakugan to scout.
Before long, chakra fluctuations appeared in multiple distant areas.
"Jōnin Tsunade!" Hiashi called out in warning, and the four halted simultaneously.
Hyuga Arin jumped to Tsunade's side, his expression grave.
"This time there are a lot of them. At least five jōnin."
That surging chakra made him deeply envious.
There were also many with chūnin-level chakra signatures—and notably, no genin at all.
No matter how confident Hyuga Arin was, he knew that if they ran into these people head-on, he wouldn't have the slightest chance of surviving.
Now it was up to Tsunade to decide.
If they forced their way through, it would be a dead end.
Even as strong as Tsunade was, facing five jōnin at once meant zero chance of victory.
Tsunade thought for a moment, then made her decision.
Detour.
"We go around them—wide."
The four quietly began to pull back, attempting to disengage without a sound.
But the moment they moved, the ninja waiting in the distance reacted immediately as well.
"They have sensory-type ninja too!" Hizashi said in a low voice.
"Scatter and withdraw. Survival is the top priority. If necessary, discard the backpacks. Regroup at the designated location within seven days."
Tsunade rattled off the orders rapidly, including the exact rendezvous point.
"Withdraw!" Tsunade commanded.
The four split instantly, fleeing in four different directions.
Hyuga Arin didn't dare hesitate for even a second, sprinting away at full speed.
As he ran, his gaze flicked briefly toward Tsunade.
Among the four, the one in the greatest danger was actually Tsunade herself.
With enemy sensors present, they would inevitably focus on the jōnin.
Genin simply didn't know enough to be worth prioritizing.
"As long as Tsunade can tie down the jōnin…"
Without needing to look back, Hyuga Arin could already see several figures chasing him.
The Byakugan's 360-degree vision wasn't just for show.
There were no blind spots—though the farther the distance, the larger the area swallowed by darkness beyond his vision.
"Damn Caged Bird," Hyuga Arin cursed under his breath and accelerated.
At least three chūnin were in pursuit of him.
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