Chapter 48: The Eye's Transformation
Traveling with the main force was the least worrying thing; Lord Orochimaru led the group, and there were over three hundred combat-ready ninja. Unless the Third Raikage led an elite squad to infiltrate the Land of Fire, Hyuga Mirai would definitely be safe and sound.
To ensure safety during this march, ninja from the Hyuga Clan took turns scouting. If enemies approached, they would certainly be detected in advance.
Hyuga Mirai also received a reconnaissance mission. He didn't want to expose his relationship with Lord Orochimaru, so Lord Orochimaru didn't give him special treatment but assigned tasks according to Hyuga Mirai's abilities.
His squad was a standard reconnaissance team. During these three days of marching, Hyuga Mirai's three-person squad spent almost two days and more on reconnaissance, resting only for a few hours along the way.
Although ninja have extremely strong physiques, a lack of sufficient rest can still lead to mental fatigue.
Fortunately, their five-hundred-person team quickly reached Kikyō Castle. After settling in, they could finally get some rest.
However, while the ninja below could rest, the Jonin responsible for strategy and tactics still had to continue their meeting.
Kikyō Castle's Jonin Command Meeting
Lord Orochimaru was the overall commander of the Sand Ninja front, and his deputy was Nara Shikaku, the current head of the Ino–Shika–Chō clan.
Lord Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice, "Tell me about the situation on the front lines."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
The Jonin originally in charge of Kikyō Castle began to report recent intelligence on the Sand Ninja.
"The Sand Ninja are gathering more and more forces on the front line. Baosha Town was recently raided by the Third Raikage's elite troops. Although the Fourth Kazekage led a team to repel them, there were still some casualties. However, precisely because of this, it's now difficult to get close and gather specific information."
"However, the number of Sand Ninja in Baosha Town has already exceeded a thousand, and even when the Third Kazekage was still around, strategic supplies were continuously stockpiled in Baosha Town. At this point, I'm afraid..."
Lord Orochimaru pondered after hearing the intelligence, then looked at the map.
"Shikaku, how many Exploding Tags and Healing Tags did we bring?"
"One hundred thousand Exploding Tags, one thousand Healing Tags, Lord Orochimaru, are you planning to..." Nara Shikaku thought for a moment, then a look of surprise appeared on his face, and he roughly guessed Lord Orochimaru's intention.
Lord Orochimaru chuckled hoarsely, "Just as you thought, Shikaku, if even you find it surprising, the Fourth Kazekage will be even less likely to expect it."
Nara Shikaku paused and said, "But taking the initiative to attack will affect Konoha's reputation..."
"What I want is victory. As long as we can achieve sufficiently great results, that's enough; Shikaku, I'm not that idiot Jiraiya!"
Lord Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils shifted, scanning the Jonin in the room.
"Distribute the strategic supplies within one day, then await orders."
"Finally, I can rest a bit. These past two days of constantly activating the Byakugan, especially in this environment, I feel like my vision is a bit blurry."
Hyuga Mirai lay directly in the pitched tent, then took out eye drops, preparing to put two drops in his eyes.
Hyuga Kiyomi saw Hyuga Mirai preparing to use eye drops and subtly reached out as if to say something, but her proud nature made her swallow the words back.
"Kiyomi, do you want to use some? I made it myself, and it works pretty well." Hyuga Mirai caught Hyuga Kiyomi's movement out of the corner of his eye, thinking she also wanted to use some eye drops.
This area was close to the Land of Wind, and the environment was already a bit harsh. It was said that further ahead, the Land of Wind was entirely vast deserts, and when the strong winds blew, even ninja found it difficult to keep their eyes open in such conditions.
He wasn't sure if it was the environmental influence, but whenever Hyuga Mirai activated his Byakugan, he always felt his vision blur intermittently, though it would then return to normal.
Kurenai Yuhi entered the tent at this moment, smiling as she said, "Mirai-kun, let me help you with the eye drops."
"No need for that, just a quick drop will do."
Hyuga Mirai decisively refused. He didn't like getting too close to others. Although he knew Kurenai Yuhi and Hyuga Kiyomi couldn't discover his secret, it was an instinctive refusal.
Kurenai Yuhi wasn't disappointed by the refusal. Instead, she sat down and asked Hyuga Mirai, "Alright, then Mirai-kun, do you know what mission our squad will be doing next?"
"It'll probably still be reconnaissance missions, but given Lord Orochimaru's personality, he's not the type to wait around to be attacked..."
After applying the eye drops, Hyuga Mirai rubbed his eyes and said slowly.
"I heard that nearly half of the Sand Ninja are puppet masters. The poisons on their puppets might be so potent that even the antidotes prepared by Konoha Hospital won't work, especially since current antidotes are formulated based on intelligence from the Second Shinobi World War. It's possible the Sand Ninja have developed even more potent poisons."
"In any case, you must be careful about everything. Always remember..."
"Prioritize staying alive, Mirai-kun really likes to give advice just like Dad!"
Kurenai Yuhi said with a smile, waving her hand. If she didn't stop him, Mirai-kun would definitely be met with Kiyomi-chan's frowning rebuke.
"What exactly is going on with your eyes?"
Hyuga Kiyomi asked with a frown. It had only been a short while, and he was already applying eye drops again.
"I'm not sure, maybe my eyes are really just tired, a bit itchy."
Although Hyuga Mirai said that, he already suspected that his Byakugan Cell Lineage might be undergoing a change.
He had fused the genetic sequence of hashirama cells and also parts of the main branch and other side branches' genes. Based on the ancestral genetic information as a reference, his Byakugan should be becoming more and more perfect.
'Could the genetic sequence of hashirama cells be acting as a catalyst?'
Hyuga Mirai thought to himself. He could thoroughly research his own genetic sequence, but when Chakra was involved, unexpected things could happen.
However, Hyuga Mirai carefully sensed it, and his Byakugan was not in a bad state. Otherwise, Hyuga Mirai would have long sought help from Lord Orochimaru.
"It should be nothing serious, maybe it's just the first time keeping the Byakugan activated for such a long time, and I'm just not used to it."
Hyuga Mirai explained reassuringly.
The two girls found this explanation quite reasonable; after all, in the past, besides going on missions, they rarely saw Hyuga Mirai use his Byakugan, and later, when Hyuga Mirai joined Konoha Hospital, his mission frequency decreased even further.
"Don't forget the foundation of the Hyuga Clan. If your situation gets out, you'll be in trouble."
Hyuga Kiyomi snorted and said. Although she wanted to comfort him, she unconsciously changed to a different tone.
And Hyuga Kiyomi was right. Although Hyuga Mirai had earned a considerable reputation for the Hyuga Clan, he was from the side branch!
A side branch's reputation overshadowing the main branch was not a good sign.
Not all main branch members were like herself. Hyuga Kiyomi recalled the conversation between her grandfather and Jonin Sousuke at that time, as well as the words she had recently overheard during sparring matches among main branch disciples, which led to today's warning.
Hyuga Mirai smiled and said, "I know, Kiyomi, I'll practice Gentle Fist more in the future."
'Why did Mirai-kun's eyes flash with a blue light?'
A hint of doubt flashed in Kurenai Yuhi's mind, but she had been observing Hyuga Mirai for a long time, and everything seemed normal, with no changes.
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