Chapter 43: War Approaches
During the meal, these young ninja, still in their youth, would discuss what they had seen and heard recently, serving as casual dinner conversation. Being in different mission teams and performing different tasks, their experiences naturally varied.
Sharing interesting anecdotes from their missions also served as a way to strengthen their camaraderie.
In front of so many newly acquainted people, Hyuga Mirai found it inconvenient to expose his true appetite, so he could only eat four slices of meat at a time. This was an all-you-can-eat buffet, and if Hyuga Mirai ate too much, it would be a bit embarrassing.
However, while eating, Hyuga Mirai also gathered a lot of useful information from others.
Shiranui Genma and his team had already received a mission to head to the border, which was why they chose to have this meal together.
'It seems war is about to break out. My information channels are still too limited. If it were Orochimaru, he would easily get news from outside the Konoha Village.'
Hyuga Mirai thought to himself, but Orochimaru, inspired by him, had grown increasingly interested in his experiments. Currently, Orochimaru was probably the last person who wanted to go to war, as it would interrupt his experiments.
However, Hyuga Mirai also had his own means of assessing information: the increasing cost of medical supplies and the gradual reduction in their supply to him.
Orochimaru had always wanted to venture into a broader world. Just as he was about to make a breakthrough, Hyuga Mirai gave him a push. After mastering research methods, Orochimaru grew increasingly disgusted with wars that would waste his time.
Unless war could benefit his research, Orochimaru would rather stay in his laboratory and continue his studies.
If not for Hyuga Mirai's habit of intercepting supplies, his research materials would have run out long ago.
After the meal, everyone prepared to leave, feeling satisfied.
Hyuga Mirai, Hyuga Kiyomi, and Kurenai Yuhi planned to leave together. After all, they were on the same team, and Hyuga Mirai, as the captain, had a few words to instruct them.
"Uh, Kurenai?"
Asuma Sarutobi had wanted to call out to Kurenai Yuhi and ask if she had time to go for a stroll, but before he could speak, Kurenai Yuhi had already left with Hyuga Mirai.
Shiranui Genma, standing nearby with a toothpick in his mouth, patted Asuma's shoulder and shook his head, saying, "Asuma, you need to be more decisive next time, otherwise you won't be able to compete with that guy, Hyuga Mirai."
"Nonsense! I'll definitely be able to ask Kurenai out next time!"
Asuma Sarutobi clenched his fist to cheer himself on, then glanced at Kurenai Yuhi's retreating figure before turning and leaving with Shiranui Genma.
After leaving the barbecue restaurant, Hyuga Mirai and the two women arrived outside a training ground.
"I believe you've probably noticed that the atmosphere in the Konoha Village is very tense. War should be approaching," Hyuga Mirai said to the two women.
"In fact, the vice-director of Konoha Hospital has told me more than once that it won't be long before I'm transferred to the front lines; it's just unknown whether it will be as a Medical Ninja or as part of a mission team."
As he said this, Hyuga Mirai glanced at Hyuga Kiyomi. The identity he would take to the front lines was closely related to Hyuga Kiyomi.
Hyuga Kiyomi was from the Main Family, and Main Family ninja generally did not easily appear on the battlefield. If Hyuga Kiyomi did not go to the battlefield, then Hyuga Mirai's team would very likely be disbanded.
"I'll ask my grandfather when I get back," Hyuga Kiyomi said in a deep voice. In the past, being able to leave the Konoha Village for missions was because the situation in the Ninja World was not so tense. But going to the battlefield was different; even a Jonin could die at any moment.
And for the Main Family's Byakugan, there was a risk of Cell Lineage loss even if a person died, so Hyuga Kiyomi might be forcibly kept at home by the Main Family elders.
Kurenai Yuhi sighed upon hearing this. "It's such a shame. If the three of us went to the battlefield together, we would definitely achieve many merits."
Upon hearing Kurenai Yuhi's words, Hyuga Mirai immediately admonished her, "There's nothing we can do about it, Kurenai. Never underestimate war. Even with Medical Ninja, you can't be impulsive."
"Got it, Mirai-kun," Kurenai Yuhi said with a smile. "If I'm still on your team, I'll definitely obey the captain's orders."
Hyuga Kiyomi, seeing their exchange, felt a little uncomfortable. So, she secretly resolved that when she returned, she would definitely persuade her grandfather to let her go to the battlefield, with the reason being to earn merit for the Hyuga Clan.
Afterward, the three parted ways. Since the breakthrough in his research on the Caged Bird Curse Mark, Hyuga Mirai rarely went home. Sometimes he would simply rest at Konoha Hospital, and after recovering his Chakra, he would immediately throw himself into his experiments.
It was precisely because of this that he was able to thoroughly research the principle of the Caged Bird Curse Mark in such a short time.
When he returned to Konoha Hospital, Hyuga Mirai walked around inside and found that many familiar faces were missing, likely having received missions and gone to the border.
Because there were so many fewer people, Konoha Hospital was now extremely busy, with many people holding multiple positions. Even Medical Ninja with Chakra felt somewhat overwhelmed.
Upon realizing this situation, Hyuga Mirai quickly left, fearing that someone would see him idle and force him to do manual labor.
Back in the laboratory, ten Shadow Clones were busily continuing the experiments. Hyuga Mirai took a look and saw that progress was being effectively made, and the Shadow Clones had filled the laboratory, making it difficult for Hyuga Mirai to squeeze in.
So, after a glance, he left the laboratory.
"I should go train."
Hyuga Mirai decided in his heart and went to the forest he usually frequented. After his strength increased, he moved his training location a bit further from the Konoha Village.
With Hyuga Mirai's current strength, even if he went to the battlefield, he would have a high survival rate, as long as he wasn't incredibly unlucky and targeted by a famous strong person from an enemy country.
Gentle Fist remained Hyuga Mirai's most proficient taijutsu. Currently, he could smoothly use Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, Rotation, and Empty Palm, which are secret techniques of the Main Family. Under the nourishment of Yang Release Chakra, his Byakugan's visible range had also reached six kilometers.
If evaluated by the Jonin standards of Konoha Village, Hyuga Mirai would only be lacking in mission experience; everything else was completely up to par.
Regarding the Eight Gates, a forbidden jutsu, Hyuga Mirai only intended to train the first three gates. Perhaps he would only train them after he completely understood the human Eight Gates in the future.
The first three gates are the safe zone of the Eight Gates. The only side effect of opening them is fatigue, which will not cause damage to the body.
Even with a forty-pound weight, Hyuga Mirai's current speed far exceeded that of a Chunin, especially since he had never neglected his Body Flicker Technique training.
After several hours of taijutsu training, Hyuga Mirai stopped to rest, breathing slightly.
The Shadow Clones in the laboratory had already begun to disperse. Before the last Shadow Clone dispersed, it would tidy up the laboratory and seal the research results.
Hyuga Mirai closed his eyes, reviewed the memories transmitted by the Shadow Clones, and then murmured, "Progress is quite good. Thirteen gene fusions were completed in one day. It seems it won't take ten days to create an antidote for the Caged Bird Curse Seal."
"Tonight, I'll try to practice the Spiritualization Technique."
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