War Approaching

During the dinner gathering, these still-teenage ninja talked about what they had seen and heard lately, using it as casual conversation. They belonged to different mission squads and carried out different assignments, so naturally their experiences differed as well.

Sharing amusing stories from missions could also help bring comrades closer together.

In front of so many people he had only just met, Hyuga Mirai could not very well reveal his appetite. He could only eat four slices of meat at a time. This was a split-the-bill dinner, and if he ate too much, it would be rather embarrassing.

Still, while eating, Hyuga Mirai picked up quite a bit of useful information from the others.

Shiranui Genma and Namiashi Raidō's squad had already received orders to head for the border. That was precisely why they had chosen to gather for a meal.

Looks like the war is about to begin. My information channels are still too limited. If it were Orochimaru, he should be able to obtain news from outside the village easily.

Hyuga Mirai thought to himself. However, after taking inspiration from him, Orochimaru had become increasingly fascinated with experimentation. Orochimaru was probably the one who least wanted to go to war now, since it would interrupt his experiments.

But Hyuga Mirai also had his own way of judging the situation: medical Supplies were becoming more expensive, and the amount supplied to him was gradually decreasing.

Orochimaru had always wanted to step into a broader world. Just as he was about to enter that field, Hyuga Mirai gave him a push. After mastering the methods of research, Orochimaru had grown increasingly disgusted with wars that wasted his time.

Unless war could benefit his scientific research, Orochimaru would rather remain in the Laboratory and continue his studies.

If Hyuga Mirai had not made a habit of skimming off a portion of the supplies, his research materials would have run short long ago.

Once the dinner ended, everyone prepared to leave in satisfaction.

Hyuga Mirai, Hyuga Kiyomi, and Yuhi Kurenai planned to leave together. They were on the same squad, after all, and as their Captain, Hyuga Mirai still had a few things to tell them.

"Uh, Kurenai?"

Sarutobi Asuma had wanted to stop Yuhi Kurenai and ask whether she had time to take a stroll, but before he could speak, she had already left with Hyuga Mirai.

Shiranui Genma, a toothpick dangling from his mouth, patted Asuma on the shoulder and shook his head. "Asuma, you need to be more decisive next time. Otherwise, you won't be able to compete with Hyuga Mirai at all."

"Shut up. I'll definitely ask Kurenai out next time!"

Sarutobi Asuma clenched his fist to encourage himself. He took one more look at Yuhi Kurenai's retreating figure before turning and leaving with Shiranui Genma.

After leaving the barbecue restaurant, the three arrived outside a training ground.

"I'm sure you've all noticed it. The atmosphere in the village is tense. The war should be close."

Hyuga Mirai spoke to the two girls.

"In fact, the Vice Dean of Konoha Hospital has told me more than once that it won't be long before I'm transferred to the Front line. It's just unclear whether I'll be sent there as a Medical-nin or as part of a mission squad."

As he said this, Hyuga Mirai glanced at Hyuga Kiyomi. What capacity he would head to the Front line in had much to do with her.

Hyuga Kiyomi was from the Main Family, and ninja of the Main Family generally did not appear on the battlefield lightly. If Hyuga Kiyomi did not go to war, then Hyuga Mirai's squad would most likely be split apart.

"I'll ask Grandfather when I get back."

Hyuga Kiyomi said in a low voice. Being able to leave the village for missions before had been because the situation in the Ninja World was not yet so tense. But the battlefield was different. Even Jonin could lose their lives at any moment.

Even after death, a Main Family member's Byakugan carried the risk of their Kekkei Genkai being lost. Therefore, the elders of the Main Family might force Hyuga Kiyomi to remain at home.

Yuhi Kurenai sighed when she heard that. "What a shame. If the three of us went to the battlefield together, we would definitely earn a great deal of merit."

Hearing Yuhi Kurenai's words, Hyuga Mirai immediately warned her, "There's nothing we can do about it. Kurenai, don't underestimate war. Even with medical ninja tools, you must not act recklessly."

"I understand, Mirai-kun." Yuhi Kurenai smiled. "If I'm still on the same squad as you, I'll definitely obey the Captain's orders."

Seeing their exchange, Hyuga Kiyomi felt somewhat uncomfortable. She silently made up her mind that once she returned home, she would definitely persuade Grandfather to let her go to the battlefield, using the reason that she wanted to earn merit for the Hyūga Clan.

Afterward, the three went their separate ways. Ever since his research into the Caged Bird Seal had made a breakthrough, Hyuga Mirai rarely went home. Sometimes, he would simply rest at Konoha Hospital, then immediately throw himself back into his experiments after recovering his energy.

That was precisely why he had been able to thoroughly understand the principles of the Caged Bird Seal in such a short time.

When Hyuga Mirai returned to Konoha Hospital, he made a round through the place and discovered that many familiar faces were missing. They had probably received assignments and gone to the border.

With so many people gone, Konoha Hospital was now extremely busy. Many people held several jobs at once, and even Medical-nin with chakra seemed overwhelmed.

Upon noticing this, Hyuga Mirai hurriedly left, afraid that someone would see him idling around and drag him off as cheap labor.

When he returned to the Laboratory, ten Shadow Clones were tirelessly continuing the experiments. Hyuga Mirai took a look and saw that the work was progressing effectively. Moreover, the Shadow Clones had filled the Laboratory, leaving him no room to squeeze in.

So after taking a glance, he left the Laboratory.

I should do some training.

Hyuga Mirai decided inwardly and headed to the forest where he often trained. After his strength had improved, he moved his training grounds even farther from the village.

With Hyuga Mirai's current strength, even if he went to the battlefield, his odds of survival would be high—as long as his luck was not absurdly bad and he was not targeted by some famous powerhouse from an enemy nation.

Gentle Fist remained the Taijutsu Hyuga Mirai was best at. At present, he could smoothly use Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. His Byakugan, nourished by Yang Release Chakra, had reached a viewing distance of six kilometers, and he had also mastered Main Family Ninjutsu such as Revolving Heaven and Air Palm.

Using Konoha's standards for Jonin as a comparison, Hyuga Mirai lacked only mission records and experience. In all other aspects, he fully met the requirements.

As for the forbidden Eight Gates technique, Hyuga Mirai only planned to train in the first three gates. Perhaps he would train further only after he had completely studied the human body's eight gates.

The first three gates were the safe zone of the Eight Gates. The only aftereffect of opening them was exhaustion; they would not damage the body.

Even while wearing forty pounds of weights, the speed Hyuga Mirai could currently unleash far surpassed that of a Chunin. In particular, he had never neglected his training in the Body Flicker Technique.

After several hours of Taijutsu training, Hyuga Mirai stopped, breathing slightly as he rested.

The Shadow Clones in the Laboratory had begun dispelling one after another. Before the final Shadow Clone dispelled itself, it would tidy up the Laboratory and seal away the research results.

Hyuga Mirai closed his eyes and reviewed the memories transmitted back by the Shadow Clones. Then he muttered softly, "The progress is fairly good. We completed thirteen gene fusions in a single day. It looks like we'll be able to produce an injection that removes the Caged Bird Seal in less than ten days."

"Tonight, I'll try practicing the Spirit Transformation Technique."

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