Before long, Guy, having already released the Eight Gates, slowly made his way back into the small grove.
Seeing that Guy had deactivated the Eight Gates, Hyuga Kagami inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Outwardly, however, he said coldly, “Under the perfect defense of my Rotation, any attack is useless.
I’m sure you’ve realized that yourself.”
Still panting, Guy replied, “Kagami, the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan and Gentle Fist really do live up to their reputation.
I feel like every single move I make is completely exposed to your eyes!”
While in the Fourth Gate state, Guy had launched two attacks at full strength, yet both had been stopped by Hyuga Kagami with what appeared to be effortless ease.
As far as Guy was concerned, even if they continued fighting, he had no chance of winning.
Hyuga Kagami remained perfectly composed.
“Of course.
I saw through every one of your attacks.”
Guy plopped down onto the ground with a sigh.
“Ahh…
I lost again.”
“Forcing me to use Rotation means your secret technique does have some merit.”
After a brief pause, Hyuga Kagami continued, “Get some proper rest today.
Meet me at the Mission Center tomorrow morning.”
Guy froze for a moment.
Then his eyes widened in surprise.
“Y-You’re willing to team up with me for missions?!”
“I don’t like waiting for people.
Don’t be late!”
After coldly tossing out those words, Hyuga Kagami said nothing more and hurried home.
At this point, his entire body felt like it was about to fall apart.
If he stayed any longer, he really wouldn’t be able to keep up the act.
The thick-headed Guy, on the other hand, seemed completely fine.
Cheering happily, he practically skipped his way home.
Not long after Hyuga Kagami and Guy had left, a squad of ANBU appeared in the small grove where the two had fought.
After briefly surveying the scene, one of the ANBU said, “There are no traces of ninjutsu, and it doesn’t look like they used any ninja tools either.
This seems to have been purely a taijutsu battle.”
The ANBU leader asked in a low voice, “Have we confirmed the identities of the two who fought?”
An ANBU member beside him replied, “Yes.
One is a chunin from the Hyuga Branch Family named Hyuga Kagami.
The other is Dai’s son, the chunin Might Guy.
Judging from the traces left behind, it seems the Hyuga kid won!”
Looking around at the trees knocked askew in every direction and the ground riddled with craters of various sizes, the ANBU squad captain said, “They caused this much destruction with taijutsu alone…
Report this to the Hokage.
These two kids are worth keeping an eye on!”
A warmth immediately spread through his heart.
Rei hurried out to greet him.
“Kagami, welcome home!”
Hyuga Kagami smiled.
“Thanks for all your hard work!”
In front of Rei, Hyuga Kagami dropped all his pretenses and vigilance.
If there was anyone in the village he could trust unconditionally, it was this innocent girl standing before him.
At that moment, Rei noticed Hyuga Kagami’s swollen, reddened arms and exclaimed in alarm, “How did you get hurt?
Come on, let me bandage them for you.”
“It’s nothing.
I got a little careless during a spar.”
Rei pulled Hyuga Kagami over to the tatami and began applying medicine to his injuries.
As she worked, she said, “Kagami, Lord Hizashi asked me to apologize to you on his behalf.
He hopes you can forgive him.”
Hyuga Hizashi was the twin brother of the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi.
Normally, he assisted his elder brother in managing the members of the Branch Family.
Hyuga Kagami was baffled.
“Forgive him!?
For what?”
Rei replied, “You’re not angry?
Everyone thought you were upset with the clan, and that’s why you haven’t been willing to return to the clan compound lately.”
Hearing this, Hyuga Kagami immediately understood.
There was no doubt about it—the clan had misunderstood him.
Apparently, the clan believed Hyuga Kagami harbored resentment toward them, blaming them for failing to speak up for him when he became implicated in Orochimaru’s defection.
They assumed that was why he had been distancing himself from the clan.
But in truth, Hyuga Kagami had never resented the clan.
Because he understood better than anyone that prestigious clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga might appear immensely powerful and influential within the village, but in reality, they had very little ability to influence the village’s highest levels of decision-making.
Hyuga Hizashi’s future death was a perfect example.
Even when acting in legitimate self-defense, the clan would be unable to protect even its own clan head.
In the end, they would have to sacrifice the clan head’s twin brother, Hyuga Hizashi, just to barely put the matter to rest.
What ability did the clan have to protect him during Orochimaru’s defection in the first place?
That was why Hyuga Kagami didn’t resent the clan.
He knew they genuinely wanted to help but simply lacked the power to do so.
As for distancing himself from the clan, that had only been to protect the secret of his Tenseigan.
Still, this misunderstanding could actually be put to good use.
Otherwise, distancing himself from the clan for no apparent reason would inevitably arouse the suspicions of the village’s higher-ups.
The innocent Rei failed to notice that Hyuga Kagami’s thoughts had wandered and continued, “Lord Hizashi also said that during today’s meeting, Lord Jiraiya praised you!
He said you remained calm and composed when facing Kumogakure’s Two-Tails Jinchuriki and didn’t disgrace the village!”
“Lord Jiraiya is back in the village?”
Rei nodded.
“Lord Jiraiya returned today.”
Hearing this, Hyuga Kagami thought to himself, “For Jiraiya to set aside his obsession with pursuing Orochimaru and return to the village…
it means Konoha’s troubles are even greater than I expected.”
In truth, during the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha had already lost the overwhelming advantage it once held over the other major hidden villages during the First and Second Shinobi World Wars.
If the Fourth Hokage hadn’t risen to prominence and single-handedly turned the tide on several battlefields, the war might still have been locked in a stalemate even now.
So when the other major hidden villages learned that Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, had defected, while the Fourth Hokage and his wife—the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki—had both unexpectedly died, it was impossible to believe that none of them would harbor ulterior ambitions.
After Rei finished applying medicine to all the swollen areas of his body, Hyuga Kagami went to bed early.
His battle with Guy could be considered the toughest fight he had experienced since obtaining the Tenseigan.
At the same time, however, the battle had also given him a great deal of valuable experience and insight.
As a taijutsu sparring partner, Guy was simply impeccable.
Early the next morning, Hyuga Kagami wrapped both his arms and legs in bandages before heading toward the Mission Center.
A single night of rest was nowhere near enough for all the bruises on his body to completely heal.
For the sake of his pride, Hyuga Kagami certainly didn’t want Guy to discover that he was covered in injuries.
Guy had already been waiting outside the Mission Center for quite some time.
The moment he spotted Hyuga Kagami approaching, he began waving from afar.
“Kagami!
Over here!
I’m over here!”
Watching Guy jump up and down in front of the Mission Center while enthusiastically waving at him, Hyuga Kagami looked thoroughly embarrassed.
After entering the Mission Center, Hyuga Kagami immediately began browsing through the list of A-rank missions.
Standing beside him, Guy quietly asked, “Kagami, aren’t A-rank missions only available to jonin?”
Hyuga Kagami casually explained, “A few days ago, I led a team that completed an A-rank mission, so I was granted special permission to accept certain A-rank missions.”
Guy’s eyes widened.
“What!?
You’ve completed an A-rank mission before?”
For Guy, who spent his days dealing with C-rank and D-rank missions, completing an A-rank mission was something that existed only in his imagination.
So naturally, he was stunned to hear that Hyuga Kagami, despite being only a chunin, had actually led a team and completed an A-rank mission.
Hyuga Kagami glanced at Guy.
“What’s so surprising about that?
With me and a kid from the Uchiha Clan together, isn’t completing an A-rank mission perfectly normal?”
Guy scratched his head and laughed.
“That’s true.
You’re a genius, after all!”
Hyuga Kagami nodded in satisfaction.
That was exactly the kind of powerful image he wanted to establish in Guy’s mind.
Even though, as far as Hyuga Kagami himself was concerned, the word “genius” had very little to do with him…