Following Sulfur, Hyuga Yu quickly passed through the workshop in the rear courtyard where ninja tools were forged and arrived at the display room where Sulfur kept his collection of ninja tools.
At this moment,
As Sulfur walked, he remarked emotionally, "I really never expected that, in this day and age, there would still be ninjas considering weapons like this."
Saltpeter, walking beside them with his head tilted in confusion, trailed eagerly behind Sulfur and Hyuga Yu. He seemed to want to see for himself what the ninja tool that had taken eight years to forge looked like.
At that moment, Hyuga Yu shook his head and said,
"Though it isn't particularly valuable, the craftsmanship is exceptionally complicated. It has to balance durability in close-range ninja combat with flexibility during use. Thinking it over, back in Konoha at the time, Master Sulfur, you were probably the only one capable of forging a ninja tool like this."
"After all, it's a weapon that has already been eliminated by the times."
"Haha, only an old fossil like me would be willing to make this kind of 'toy'... I'll gladly accept your praise!"
Sulfur laughed heartily, pulled out a key to open the display room's door, and led Hyuga Yu inside.
On the stands of the rather spacious display room, a uniquely shaped ninja tool was placed every meter or so.
Ninja swords, iron staffs, cleavers, steel wire, crutches, chain staffs, iron chains, Explosive Tags, Wolf Fang Iron Balls, Giant Chain Balls, Fuma Shuriken, Explosive Balls...
All kinds of common and uncommon ninja tools were displayed there. Put on exhibit, it could even serve as a small ninja tool museum.
Soon,
The three arrived at the end of the display room. Sulfur removed a giant wooden box over two and a half meters long from the innermost shelf.
Opening the wooden box,
Inside was a large Japanese bow taller than Hyuga Yu himself.
It was about 2.2 meters long overall, longer on top and shorter below, resembling the Demon Breaking Bows used in rural rituals. It was made entirely from solid wood, with white Gohei ornaments at the ends. Several key sections, such as the ear crown joint, collar joint, and princess bend joint, had been fitted with chakra-powered modules. In close combat, the matching Iron Bow Pieces could be fitted into the slots and used to smack people with it. (This was generally not recommended.)
Sulfur took out the Japanese bow and proudly showed his disciple Saltpeter the four words "Sulfur Craft" engraved on its limbs. Then he looked at Hyuga Yu and explained,
"This bow has a draw weight of 150 pounds. Its normal range is within 150 meters, while its limit can reach 300 meters. It isn't heavy, but it's very long, making it troublesome to carry. And it can only use hemp strings. Japanese Arrows shot at this draw weight... that is, arrows, are also difficult to retrieve and reuse."
Hyuga Yu nodded and estimated,
"In other words, it'll be scrapped after around one to two hundred arrows?"
"That's right. Using tanned, elastic Ninja Tool Silk Thread is also an alternative, but it would affect how the bow is used. Since you're having this kind of bow custom-made, you should understand that, right?"
Hyuga Yu nodded.
Japanese bows had their own specialized shooting techniques. The hand holding the bow had to grasp the degree to which the bow vibrated upon release, predict the reactive force produced by the difference in length between the upper and lower strings, and use that force to calculate the arrow's firing direction and the amount of force applied.
As long as that reactive force was properly utilized, the arrow's trajectory could undergo many different changes, such as controlling its range or arc.
Therefore, it could only use specially made hemp strings.
In other words,
This weapon took a long time to forge, cost a great deal to maintain, and even had bowstrings with short service lives.
On top of that, the burst speed of ninjas in combat was comparable to a locomotive. Once battle began, the distance between both sides would rapidly close, and bows and arrows would quickly lose their usefulness—or even become a burden.
Thus, bows and arrows had become relics of a bygone era.
In all of Naruto, the only named bow user one could even find was Kidomaru, who had been killed by Hyuga Neji.
For ordinary ninjas, instead of spending time training with such a difficult and unrewarding ninja tool, they might as well practice the Body Flicker Technique more.
However,
If one added the Byakugan, which could see as far as a kilometer from the outset, and Wind Release: Vacuum Blade, which could be attached to ninja tools to increase their range and piercing power,
Then everything would be completely different.
With that thought in mind, Hyuga Yu accepted the Japanese bow, unable to stop anticipation from rising in his heart.
Of course, the path of [bow and arrow + Byakugan + ninjutsu that could be strongly attached to ninja tools] was only an idea he had deduced based on what he had learned. Its actual combat effectiveness still needed to be specifically tested.
Moreover, Wind Release: Vacuum Blade was still nothing more than a distant prospect.
Though he had already decided to approach Shimura Danzō, whether Danzō would accept him, a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, was another matter altogether.
Hyuga Yu's position was currently quite awkward.
Unlike Might Guy, who had tried to join Root for Kakashi's sake but had been rejected because "there is no darkness in your heart at all,"
Hyuga Yu belonged entirely to the other extreme.
Though Hyuga Yu's sudden resolve to make something of himself was certainly spirited, he still bore the Caged Bird on his forehead. In practical terms, he was already the Hyuga Clan's dog and could be forced by the Main House to leak intelligence at any time.
Given Danzō's suspicious and cautious nature—he did not trust even his subordinates and only dared use them after branding them with Cursed Seals—he would probably... find it difficult to accept him.
But then again,
People's thoughts differed vastly at different stages of life. Just as one always wanted to become an adult as a child, only to envy the days of playing with mud and blowing up shit after growing up.
And Shimura Danzō, who was currently stuck in an even more awkward period than Hyuga Yu,
Perhaps... he could pinch his nose and convince himself?
While Hyuga Yu was making preparations to enter the battlefield on the other side,
The intelligence from the S-Rank Mission Hyuga Yu had posted quickly began to spread, reaching the Jonin Squad, Anbu, and their affiliated organizations first.
For the moment, setting aside whether the mission's rating was reasonable,
Judging solely from the contents of the mission posting, some sharp-minded and well-informed ninjas had already noticed something strange about it—
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade.
At present, only two people in all of Konoha knew this ninjutsu.
One was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third, who had mastered over a thousand ninjutsu and was known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu."
The other was Shimura Danzō, one of Konoha's higher-ups, the leader of Root, and one of the Hokage's Assistants.
Of the two, Shimura Danzō was clearly more proficient in this technique. Or rather, this was precisely the secret Wind Release ninjutsu passed down within the Shimura Clan.
There were, of course, similar ninjutsu, such as the Shirakumo Clan's inherited Wind Release: Vacuum Sword, Wind Release: Shuriken Production wielded by certain small ninja clans, and the Sarutobi Clan's Wind Release: Gale Turbulent Wind. All of them had similar effects.
Yet this mission had specifically named Wind Release: Vacuum Blade as its requirement.
What did that mean? It inevitably set some people's imaginations running wild.
However,
Before the intelligence could spread any further, once the commission process reached the Hokage's Desk, the few ninjas watching the matter discovered in astonishment that
The mission had been taken down.
And soon afterward, the documents related to the mission process, its records, and even all intelligence concerning Hyuga Yu's appearance at the Hokage Building were completely erased.
It was as though this mission had never existed at all.
Before you continue