Dawn.
His eyelids twitched as he slowly opened his eyes. The sudden brightness made Rorin raise a hand to shield them. His right eye stung slightly—after all, it had just undergone a transplant.
After taking a moment to adjust, Rorin carefully examined his surroundings.
Ao's corpse at his feet had already disappeared—seems the system had dealt with it. He walked to a puddle near the cave and looked at his reflection.
His right eye had been replaced with the Byakugan. Now, his left eye was green, while his right was pale white.
But soon, he noticed a problem.
Because the Byakugan provided superior vision, it created a discrepancy—things appeared clearer through his right eye, giving him the odd sensation of being half nearsighted.
'System, can this visual difference be fixed?'
[Replying to host: Yes. As long as you wear these new contact lenses, your eyes will automatically adjust during normal use, bringing the difference close to balance. However, since your left eye is still ordinary, there will still be differences when you actively use the Byakugan.]
'Oh, that's fine. Otherwise, what was the point of going through all that trouble to get the Byakugan? By the way, will these lenses be easily seen through?'
[Don't worry. No one will see through them. System-made products are always top quality.]
Hearing this, Rorin felt reassured. A flash of blue light appeared, and a small case—like a contact lens container—materialized in his hand.
He carefully took out the green lens, put it on, and opened his eyes again to test it.
As expected, the effect was immediate. The sense of imbalance vanished.
With the Byakugan transplanted, Rorin was eager to try it. With a thought—
Byakugan!
Looking inward, he could see the flow of chakra throughout his body, even within his bones.
He then tried evenly channeling chakra to activate the power of Shikotsumyaku.
Sure enough, the bone spikes extended faster, more smoothly, and more perfectly. There was no longer any excess chakra forcing osteoblasts and osteoclasts to divide—though the downside was that it required extra focus to control the chakra.
Turning to leave the cave, Rorin glanced at the puddle again and saw the veins bulging around his right eye. He frowned slightly and called out to the system.
'System, these bulging veins when I activate the Byakugan are kind of ruining my looks—and they make it obvious it's the Byakugan. Is there any way to fix that? Hm?'
[Uh… Host, you really do have some strange requests.]
Man and system fell into an awkward silence for a full minute before the system finally broke it.
[Host, this is a new facial mask. Use it for a year or so, and those bulging veins will completely disappear!]
With another flash, a stack of face masks—about 5 kg in weight—appeared at Rorin's feet. The corners of his mouth lifted as he said happily,
"Thanks, system. You're awesome!"
[Then, host, as per our agreement, I'm heading back to restock!]
'Alright. Safe travels. Come back soon!'
A flash of light passed over Rorin, then slowly rose into the sky. He tried to contact the system again, but after a long time, there was no response.
"Looks like it really left…" Rorin said, hands behind his head, about to leave the cave—when another beam of light returned to him.
[Sorry, host, I'm back. My bad—I left my work card with you. I'll grab it and go!]
Rorin stumbled slightly. Why did this system feel so unreliable? Now he seriously doubted whether it would bring back anything useful after a year.
Still, aside from being a bit careless, it had been pretty helpful.
Rorin smiled faintly and continued walking. Then he joked, "Don't go getting lost out there, haha!"
[Ah! Found it. Lost? How could I get lost? Anyway, host, I'm really leaving this time. Before I come back, make sure you stay alive, okay? If I can't find you when I return, it'll affect my performance!]
Rorin waved his hand. "Don't jinx it. I'll definitely be alive and well. You, on the other hand—hurry up!"
[Alright then. Temporary goodbye! I'm off!]
Another beam of light rose from Rorin and flew into the distance. Watching it disappear, he murmured softly,
"Without you… it's going to feel lonely."
Ever since he arrived in the Naruto world, he had spent two months with the system—and it had stayed with him ever since. Even if it didn't grant him overwhelming power, it was still his first companion in this unfamiliar world.
After confirming the system had truly left, Rorin finally set off. He had delayed long enough—it was time to return to the Hidden Leaf Village.
...
Not long after Rorin left the borders of the Land of Water, several ninjas from the Village Hidden in the Mist appeared at the battlefield where he had fought the ANBU. Among them was Chōjūrō.
Crouching down and looking at the bloodstains on the ground, Chōjūrō frowned. Ever since the village lost contact with the pursuit team yesterday, he had a bad feeling.
Yesterday, Genji had contacted him and arranged for an ANBU squad to search for the missing team.
"Something really happened…" Chōjūrō muttered.
"It must have been the Six-Tails jinchūriki! Damn it—not only did he kill our master, he slaughtered our comrades too!" one ANBU said angrily.
Hearing this, Chōjūrō nodded slightly. There were no bodies at the scene—it seemed the Six-Tails jinchūriki had used strong acid to dispose of them.
Afterward, the Village Hidden in the Mist dispatched several more ANBU squads. This time, the objective was no longer to capture the Six-Tails alive, but to kill on sight. Even though it was a strategic weapon, the higher-ups believed that a weapon they couldn't control was better destroyed than left in the wild.
Meanwhile, completely unaware of all this, Rorin traveled for several days and finally returned to the Hidden Leaf Village. Covered in dust from the journey, he passed the familiar gate guards, registered his return at the mission office, and, as usual, went to Ichiraku Ramen.
After eating his fill and heading home, Rorin suddenly felt like he had forgotten something—like something was missing from him.
...
The next day.
"Crap! I forgot to bring back my training weights!" Rorin shouted. No wonder he had felt like something was off yesterday.
Slumping his shoulders, he let out a bitter laugh. He really was a good match for that careless system.
Not wanting to trek all the way back to retrieve them, Rorin decided to head to Tenten's home again. He also planned to have her family make him a new set of weights. Now that he had obtained the Byakugan, his next goal was to further develop the power of Shikotsumyaku.
When Rorin arrived near Tenten's house, he unexpectedly saw someone—Rock Lee.
Ever since he first came to the Hidden Leaf Village, he hadn't seen Lee in a long time. At first, Might Guy and Kakashi would occasionally guide his training. But over time, he had been training alone, so he hadn't seen Lee for quite a while.
While sparring with Tenten, Rock Lee noticed Rorin approaching and waved.
"Rin! Over here!"
Rorin smiled and waved back, then walked up to them.
"Long time no see, Lee. Tenten."