More than a decade of living in this world had made the memories of his previous life distant and hazy.
Because of that, Hyuga Kagami truly couldn’t remember whether Otsutsuki Toneri needed to form hand seals when entering Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
“If hand seals are required, then what seals am I supposed to form?
And how is the chakra inside the body supposed to circulate?”
Faced with these questions, Hyuga Kagami finally experienced firsthand just how troublesome it was to lack a proper inheritance.
It was like possessing a mountain of treasure, yet having no way to enter it!
Thinking further about people like Obito, Nagato, Itachi, the Fourth Hokage, and the other figures who either currently stood at the forefront of the era or would do so in the future, Hyuga Kagami realized that every one of them had, to some extent, received careful guidance from Kage-level experts and inherited all sorts of teachings.
As for him?
He had nothing!
Hyuga Kagami wasn’t the type to wallow in self-pity.
Since he had discovered the problem, then he would simply find a way to solve it.
When it came to the most suitable inheritance, that would naturally be the legacy of Otsutsuki Hamura on the moon.
However, the current Hyuga Kagami had no idea how to reach the moon.
On top of that, Toneri Otsutsuki’s branch of the clan still lived there, and the moon was also guarded by the Giant Tenseigan formed from the fusion of countless Byakugan.
So for the time being, he could set that inheritance aside.
The Hyuga Main Family might also be hiding some secret inheritances.
That was something worth Hyuga Kagami putting some effort into investigating.
Orochimaru’s research and development abilities ranked among the very best in the entire world.
So if Hyuga Kagami wanted to take his strength another step further, he couldn’t afford to sever his connection with Orochimaru.
However, Hyuga Kagami felt that the nature of their relationship had to change.
Continuing to serve as Orochimaru’s spy, nothing more than a puppet on strings without any autonomy of his own, would lead him nowhere.
He had to change his position from subordinate to collaborator.
Only then could he truly benefit from their relationship.
But that brought him back to the issue of strength.
In the shinobi world, the weak had no right to negotiate cooperation with the strong.
After thoroughly adjusting his mindset, Hyuga Kagami began assessing his current combat strength.
In terms of chakra reserves, he had undoubtedly reached the level of a jonin.
Combined with the Tenseigan’s unparalleled powers of perception, his Gentle Fist, and the strange and unpredictable Wheel of Will, which required no hand seals, Hyuga Kagami believed that barring any unexpected circumstances, he had a very good chance of defeating a special jonin.
But if he were to face a true jonin, then nine times out of ten, he would be the one who died.
Of course, that was only for now.
As he accumulated more experience and further developed the Tenseigan, Hyuga Kagami believed it wouldn’t take long before his strength reached the level of a jonin, or perhaps even an elite jonin.
By then, he would finally have the qualifications to sit down and properly negotiate with Orochimaru.
After briefly envisioning the future, Hyuga Kagami brought his thoughts back to the present.
Right now, he was still caught up in the village’s purge, and his strength was nowhere near the point where he could contend with the village head-on.
As soon as he returned to the outpost, Mitsui Chuichi summoned Hyuga Kagami and coldly ordered, “Get ready.
We have a mission tomorrow.”
Hyuga Kagami’s expression immediately turned serious.
“What mission?”
Mitsui Chuichi replied, “I’ll be leading the team personally.
I’ll tell you the specifics on the way tomorrow.”
Hyuga Kagami initially wanted to refuse, but after pondering for a moment, he ultimately nodded.
In truth, he knew that because of his “illness,” he had already managed to avoid one round of the purge.
Now that he had recovered, there was no way he could keep making excuses to avoid it.
The next day.
Fully equipped, Hyuga Kagami set out with Mitsui Chuichi.
Since Anko had yet to recover from her injuries, only the two of them would be participating in this mission.
Along the way, Mitsui Chuichi briefly explained the details of their assignment.
Just like the previous mission given to Anko and Oda, they were to rendezvous with a Konoha spy embedded in Sunagakure and retrieve the intelligence the spy had gathered on the Sunagakure.
After hearing the mission briefing, Hyuga Kagami was now one hundred percent certain that this mission was a trap meant to eliminate him as part of the purge.
His expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he pondered,
“Who will actually make the move?
Root?
ANBU?
Or perhaps someone from Sunagakure?”
If it was Root, then there was a nine-in-ten chance that Danzo was the one overseeing the purge.
If it was ANBU, then the Third Hokage was most likely behind it.
But if it was the Sand shinobi, then things became much more complicated.
If the Sand shinobi were the ones who attacked, it would mean that Konoha and Sunagakure had reached some sort of understanding.
In other words, this would no longer be merely an internal matter within the village.
It would be an affair between two hidden villages, which meant the ones orchestrating everything from behind the scenes might not be any single individual, but the entire upper echelon of Konoha.
As they sped along, Hyuga Kagami rapidly analyzed the situation he was about to face.
“To deal with a chunin like me who was only promoted during wartime, there’s no need to send a jonin.
The other side should probably be a four-man squad made up of chunin.”
“Since I’m a member of the Hyuga Clan, they probably won’t set up an ambush in advance.
That would risk exposing themselves too early.”
“They’ll probably wait until I reach the rendezvous point, then attack simultaneously from all directions and surround me.
Or perhaps they’ll disguise themselves as the contact and suddenly strike when my guard is down!”
“What role will Mitsui Chuichi play in all this?
Is he only responsible for luring me into the trap, or will he join in the attack as well?”
Ever since awakening the Tenseigan, Hyuga Kagami’s mentality had gradually begun to change.
But now, more desires—and greater ambitions—had begun to take root in his heart.
And because he possessed the Tenseigan, he had confidence to spare.
Once he cast aside negative emotions such as fear and uncertainty, he was able to calmly and accurately analyze the situations he was likely to face.
A long while later.
Mitsui Chuichi and Hyuga Kagami arrived at the rendezvous point.
It was a rocky stretch of barren wasteland, with scattered stones covering the ground and an unobstructed view in every direction.
No matter how one looked at it, this was hardly a suitable place for a secret rendezvous.
In the distance stood a solitary figure, its silhouette blurred by the windblown sand.
Hyuga Kagami focused his gaze on the figure and immediately discovered that the person possessed an enormous amount of chakra.
Judging solely by their chakra reserves, they had already far surpassed the level of an ordinary chunin.
In addition, Hyuga Kagami noticed several corpses of Sand shinobi lying haphazardly on the ground beside the figure.
The bizarre sight immediately gave Hyuga Kagami a sense of danger.
He stopped in his tracks and said in a low voice, “Captain, something seems wrong.”
Mitsui Chuichi was also frowning deeply by now.
Clearly, the situation before him was somewhat different from what he had expected.
However, he lacked Hyuga Kagami’s extraordinary powers of perception.
Through the wind and swirling sand, he could neither gauge the stranger’s strength nor make out the corpses half-buried in the sand at the stranger’s feet.
After hesitating for a moment, Mitsui Chuichi ordered, “Come on.
Let’s go over there!”
Mitsui Chuichi was the team captain, and since he had given the order, Hyuga Kagami had little choice but to follow him as they slowly approached the stranger.
A short while later, the two arrived before him.
The stranger’s entire body was wrapped in a grayish-brown cloak, and even his face was covered by a cloth mask, leaving only a pair of bright eyes exposed.
Yet there was something deeply unsettling about the look in those eyes.
They were like the eyes of a wild beast staring at its prey.
Only then did Mitsui Chuichi notice the corpses dressed in Sunagakure attire lying beside the stranger.
His expression immediately turned grim.
“You…
Just who the hell are you?”
The stranger slowly pulled back his hood and removed the cloth covering his face.
Tilting his head, he spoke with a teasing expression.
“Oh?
So you’re the ones they were waiting for.”
“Sasori of the Red Sand!?”