Among the Shinobi World's three great dojutsu,
the Sharingan placed an extremely severe burden on anyone who was not an Uchiha, so it was rarely stolen. Even if it was stolen, dealing with the still-powerful, hot-tempered, fiercely protective Uchiha Clan would be an even greater problem.
The Rinnegan had been lost for ages and was not even present in the intelligence networks of the various nations.
So,
the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, which placed little burden on recipients, held great strategic significance, and possessed all sorts of peculiar effects, quickly became an object of desire for the major nations of the Shinobi World.
(PS: For example, the future Ao of the Mist used the Byakugan without any difficulty. The young Hyuga who had already been born by this time and appeared in the official novel Itachi Shinden also possessed a single Byakugan with no side effects.)
But at this time,
the Hyuga Clan's inherited Caged Bird Cursed Seal became an obstacle that simply could not be bypassed.
This meant that although the major nations and villages of the Shinobi World coveted the Byakugan, they could only set their sights on the heavily protected Hyuga Main Family.
The difficulty of hunting a member of the Hyuga Main Family could be seen from the forces Kirigakure had dispatched this time. They had practically mobilized enough Kirigakure ninja to wage a localized war, sending them all to infiltrate the Land of Fire and carry out covert operations deep behind enemy lines.
The intelligence work and advance preparations behind that operation had come at an incalculable cost.
But then—
A member of the Hyuga Branch Family appeared who could withstand the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, remove a Main House member's Byakugan, transplant it into himself, and survive even after Caged Bird activated!
That meant,
to a certain extent, this Hyuga Branch Family member had cracked the "Caged Bird"!
Then,
if they could get hold of him, would they only need to capture Hyuga Branch Family ninja serving on the front lines of the Reconnaissance Unit in the future, have them remove their Byakugan, and transplant them into their own village's ninja to easily obtain this strategically significant Kekkei Genkai?
Would obtaining him mean obtaining a Byakugan army?
Viewed that way,
the "value" possessed by this Hyuga Branch Family ninja named "Hyuga Yu" began to soar wildly after he completed the Shinobi World's first Byakugan transplant surgery.
In reality,
Hyuga Yu could not remove the Byakugan of a Hyuga Branch Family member, nor had he cracked Caged Bird at all.
His own Byakugan had been effortlessly destroyed when Caged Bird activated, and Hyuga Yu had been completely unable to stop the process.
What he had truly done was use extraordinarily refined Medical Ninjutsu after Caged Bird destroyed his eyes, filling his eye sockets with a pair of Main House Byakugan that anyone could have removed, then surviving the eruption of the utterly incomprehensible Caged Bird Cursed Seal through sheer dumb luck.
He had merely gambled with his life,
and then won through even greater luck!
What was practically a gift from fate had, at this moment, given him a piece of badly misinterpreted false intelligence.
Hyuga Yu immediately played along.
The current situation was this:
the entire Byakugan leak had actually been bait deliberately released by Root to lure out a bigger fish.
Hyuga Yu did not know what kind of target warranted such precious bait.
But he knew—
Kirigakure's actions were actually under Root's surveillance.
And what Hyuga Yu needed to prove now was that he possessed greater "value"—or greater "trouble"—than the target Root truly wanted to hunt,
to the point that
Root would realize the intelligence could not be leaked, could not be allowed to return with Kirigakure and spread throughout the Shinobi World.
Otherwise, there would be even greater trouble!
And not a single Kirigakure ninja present who knew Hyuga Yu's secret could be allowed to escape. They all had to die.
Thus,
the identities of prey and hunter reversed once more!
At this time,
elsewhere, at the entrance to an abandoned laboratory roughly four kilometers from the Nameless Forest battlefield.
"What did you say?"
Aburame Ryūma abruptly raised his head and looked at Terai, the bird-masked Root ninja before him.
Terai reported in a low voice, "Hyuga Yu brought back the Byakugan."
"Only, he used another method—he transplanted the Main House's Byakugan into himself."
Hearing this unexpected news, Aburame Ryūma's eyes widened slightly. His gaze passed blankly through his sunglasses toward Terai, a trace of confused bewilderment flashing through them.
"Wait, Caged Bird didn't activate?"
"It did, but... Hyuga Yu survived."
Aburame Ryūma's expression immediately darkened.
"This is troublesome."
Aburame Ryūma had originally thought Hyuga Yu would complete the task he had assigned through another method—
abandon Hyuga Natsu and bring back Hyuga Genko.
Those in Root should not possess the luxury of emotions.
Only by becoming utterly ruthless could one have no weaknesses and reach a level of "invincibility."
That was precisely what Aburame Ryūma had hoped Hyuga Yu would become.
Based on his observations, after opening the Third Gate of the Eight Inner Gates and working with the Kikaichu he had given him, Hyuga Yu had roughly a ten percent chance of completing this mission.
But now,
Hyuga Yu had proven himself in a way no one had expected, a way even the entire Shinobi World had not expected.
He had not only proven that he possessed the means to resist the Hyuga Main Family, but also that his current "value" far exceeded his status as a Hyuga Branch Family ninja.
But,
that "value" was directed at their enemies.
Thinking of this, Aburame Ryūma immediately frowned, his expression grim as he extended a hand to the side.
"Bring me the deployment map for our personnel!"
A Root ninja quickly handed him an extremely detailed map.
Aburame Ryūma took the map and swept his eyes over it. He swiftly located Hyuga Yu's position, as well as the direction he might flee toward—
Crow Forest.
It was a forest between the southern Land of Fire and the western side of Nameless Forest. Continuing west from there would lead to River Country, wedged between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
Though they had not spoken face-to-face, Aburame Ryūma immediately understood Hyuga Yu's intentions.
Clearly, Hyuga Yu was a smart person. Since he had chosen to go this far, he naturally had plans for how to deal with the aftermath.
However, that calculation was exceptionally ruthless.
For his own benefit, to protect the people he wanted to protect, that brat had not hesitated to use Root as his tool.
Just like that "Darkness of the Shinobi"!
Aburame Ryūma could not help muttering inwardly, Tch... what kind of person is this brat, exactly?
At that moment, a Root ninja beside him suddenly spoke, interrupting Aburame Ryūma's thoughts.
"Lord Ryūma, what should we do?"
"Mobilize the Root ninja stationed at Grass Wave Coast, Nameless Forest, and the River Country border, then head to Crow Forest and prepare to wipe out every member of Kirigakure involved in this Byakugan-hunting operation—"
At this point, Aburame Ryūma suddenly paused, narrowing his eyes.
After pondering for a moment,
he abruptly waved a hand and changed his mind.
"Wait."
Aburame Ryūma pointed at the abandoned laboratory before them.
"Go bring out the one inside."
"There is no need to mobilize Root from the other locations. Terai, take the Third Squad and follow behind Kirigakure's pursuit force. Take out a few Chunin, then stop."
"Remember to make a little noise."
This time, Terai, who was usually so inquisitive, did not ask why. He immediately dropped to one knee and accepted the order.
"Yes!"
Before you continue