After blowing up the warehouse, Pakura, Inaba Hyuga, and the others quickly made their escape.
Meanwhile, Captain Tomoe and his team out on the water continued fighting for a while longer to buy them enough time before withdrawing.
Once they were far from the docks, the two groups reunited at a secluded stretch of shoreline.
“We’re leaving, little brother.
If you ever run into a hurdle you can’t cross back in Konoha, feel free to think of your big sister~” Before leaving, Pakura didn’t forget to tease Inaba Hyuga one last time, blowing him a kiss.
Of course, this was also a subtle hint that Inaba could secretly contact Sunagakure in the future if he had any intention of becoming a double agent.
Inaba understood her underlying meaning and replied in kind, “Take care of yourself too, sister.
Remember to stay sharp when you get back, and don’t let your newly appointed Kazekage sell you out.
If you ever find yourself with nowhere to run, you can always think of your dear little brother in Konoha.” The two seemed to share a deep sibling bond, pouring their hearts out to each other upon parting.
In truth, both were secretly trying to turn the other, planting a seed for future defection.
Unfortunately, Jiromaru, who was standing to the side, couldn’t read between the lines.
He glared fiercely at Inaba Hyuga.
“Who’s your sister?
‘Dear little brother’?
How shameless!” Inaba ignored him.
It wasn’t worth getting angry at a brainless brat.
After saying their goodbyes, the four Sunagakure ninja leaped into the sea, treading water as they dashed toward their sailboat.
At the same time, Tomoe, Rinfu Gekko, and the others also jumped off their ship, heading toward the shore.
For a brief moment, the two groups crossed paths on the water.
They were extremely close.
All nine shinobi on both sides had their nerves stretched to the limit, secretly clutching their weapons and puppets, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
Their brief cooperation had ended.
Sunagakure and Konoha would eventually return to their original, opposing sides.
Fortunately, everyone was exhausted today, and neither side wanted to court further trouble.
Without any incident, they crossed paths and ran toward their respective teammates.
Back on the ship, the moment Jiromaru got on board, he rushed toward Oki, absolutely thrilled.
“Oki!
Sniffle, my Oki!
I almost thought I’d never see you again!” Unfortunately, Oki didn’t have him in her eyes at all.
Her pupils only reflected Pakura, who was the last to board the ship.
“Lady Pakura, you really came to save me!
I knew you wouldn’t abandon me!
Please let me follow you forever, Lady Pakura!” Oki’s voice trembled with fanatical devotion, a visible blush creeping onto her face, her eyes shining like stars.
In fact, the puppet master and the sandstorm-using companion had realized long ago that Oki’s admiration for Pakura had far transcended the relationship between a subordinate and a captain.
What wafted between them was the scent of citrus and the fragrance of lilies.
Poor Jiromaru had no idea that his unrequited love was doomed from the very start.
*Your genders don’t even match, kid.
What kind of romance are you even hoping for…* They could only offer him half a second of silent mourning.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Captain Tomoe led the others back to land, reuniting with Inaba Hyuga, who had remained behind.
“Fantastic job, Inaba!
We saw the fireworks you set off from out at sea!” The moment Anko stepped ashore, she jumped up excitedly and slapped Inaba hard on the shoulder.
“As expected of the little brother I have high hopes for!” “…” First a woman who called him her little brother, and now another claiming him as hers.
At this moment, Inaba only felt thoroughly exhausted.
However, Anko suddenly stopped.
She moved close to his face, staring intently with suspicion and surprise.
“Inaba, what’s wrong with your eyes?” “My eyes?” Perplexed, Inaba raised his hand to touch his eye sockets.
Only then did he notice the prompt blinking in the bottom-right corner of his vision: [Byakugan EXP is full!] *So my eyes have changed in appearance?* Unfortunately, he couldn’t see himself, so he didn’t know how drastic the change was.
But in the next second, a doubt arose: why did the experience bar stop at 3999 this time instead of leveling up immediately?
This was different from the previous two times he had maxed out his EXP.
On second thought, a guess began to form in his mind.
*Is it because this evolution is a qualitative leap?* he wondered.
There was a basis for this theory.
According to his own deductions, the three previous stages of his Byakugan—Byakugan (Defective), Byakugan (Complete), and Byakugan (Flawless)—should correspond to the one-tomoe, two-tomoe, and three-tomoe Sharingan.
The evolution between those three stages was smooth, so there naturally weren’t any bottlenecks.
But the next stage should correspond to the Mangekyo Sharingan, right?
That represented Kage-level power!
A dojutsu capable of making the world “dance”!
Calling this evolution a qualitative leap was by no means an understatement.
But then, what was the condition for the Byakugan to evolve to the Kage-level?
This put Inaba in a bit of a bind.
In the original story, the details regarding the Sharingan were incredibly thorough; everyone knew the conditions for awakening the Mangekyo.
In contrast, information about the Byakugan was pitifully scarce.
Aside from knowing that the end point of his eye evolution was the Tenseigan and that he had a distant relative on the moon who possessed it, Inaba knew nothing else.
He wasn’t much better off than a native of the Ninja World.
What about the intermediate process?
The details?
The evolutionary path?
The conditions?
The deductions?
He was completely in the dark.
Perhaps the Head House had ancient records, but he obviously had no way to access them.
*I can only take it one step at a time,* he comforted himself, unable to come up with any solid ideas.
Besides, he didn’t have the luxury of time right now to sit down and study it quietly.
“Don’t worry about my eyes for now.
It’s not like I’m going blind.
How much time do we have left?” he turned and asked Captain Tomoe.
“Probably a few dozen minutes.” Their raid had been highly efficient.
From the start of the battle to their retreat, it had taken less than an hour.
Adding the time spent searching for the Sunagakure ninja and negotiating, they still had a small buffer before their two-hour deadline.
Seeing the battered states of Shisui and Kou Uchiha, Inaba suggested, “Let’s find a place to rest.
I’ll treat Kou’s injuries, and then we should head back as soon as possible.” Hearing this, Shisui and Kou both cast grateful looks toward him.
Kou had been severely injured in this battle.
As a red-eyed Uchiha, he had drawn an immense amount of hatred from the Kirigakure ninja on the battlefield.
On top of that, he had been trying to protect Shisui, guarding this precious young bud of the clan.
This had resulted in him being beaten to within an inch of his life.
Even during their journey back across the water, he had to lean on Shisui just to maintain his balance.
Inaba had noticed this, which was why he suggested treating him before they resumed their journey.
This immediately won the favor of both Kou and Shisui.
*Even though many in the village hold prejudices against us Uchiha, Senior Inaba is different.
He truly is a shinobi who embodies the Will of Fire!* At this moment, Inaba had no idea that a casual suggestion of his had raised his status in Shisui’s heart to a level on par with the village high-ups who truly embodied the Will of Fire!
He hadn’t thought that much of it at the time; he just felt that since he was the one who had coaxed them into coming, he couldn’t just abandon them.
Yet, even this simplest, most basic act of human care seemed incredibly precious in the eyes of an Uchiha!
If there were a notification system, Inaba would probably see: [Shisui Uchiha’s favorability is skyrocketing!]