Information Black Hole

His thoughts raced, Hyuga Yu quickly considered another possibility—

A spy.

This person was a spy from another village, lurking within Konohagakure.

And the reason they targeted him was likely related to his contact with the Main Family's Hyuga Genko earlier that day. Based on this, the opponent was probably a spy belonging to Kirigakure.

Thinking this, Hyuga Yu's brow furrowed slightly, still unable to fully comprehend why they would attack him.

But the incident had already happened. What was more important at this moment was, resolving this sudden crisis.

Hyuga Yu smoothed his expression, deactivated his Byakugan, and continued down the street without a change in demeanor.

The apartment he lived in was on the edge of the clan compound, close to the Konoha Second Ring. While not large, the location was undeniably prime real estate within Konohagakure.

It was near Konoha Famous Tea Street in the center of Konohagakure, the future residence of young Naruto. In fact, Hyuga Yu's neighbor was Hatake Kakashi, who had recently sold his ancestral property and rented here for convenience, having been promoted to Jonin at just 12 years old.

These details weren't meant to imply Hyuga Yu was wealthy or held high social status, nor how well the Hyuga Clan treated its ordinary members, but rather to say—

his residence was in an area populated by Konoha's elite shinobi.

If an enemy was hiding and intended to attack Hyuga Yu, they wouldn't wait until he reached his street. The only place where they could make a move and conceal their tracks was in an alley connecting the Hyuga Clan compound and the street where his apartment was located.

Knowing this, could Hyuga Yu run?

No, he couldn't.

After all, Hyuga Yu was merely a Genin with scarce Chakra. What he feared most was a desperate frontal assault from the enemy.

With his mastery of the Gentle Fist Style, even at full power, he could only contend with a Chunin opponent for a few minutes at most before collapsing from exhaustion and inability to refine Chakra.

Therefore, he couldn't call for help, because he might already be dead before any reinforcements arrived.

He had to comply with the enemy, lull them into a false sense of security, and then...

In an instant, kill the enemy!

At this moment, the sun dipped below the horizon, the chirping of cicadas like raindrops in his ears, Hyuga Yu calmly crossed the long street, passing beneath the eaves where the enemy was hidden, until he reached the mouth of the alley, arriving at the place the enemy had prepared as his grave.

Hyuga Yu's pure white pupils suddenly contracted, tightening, revealing a sharp, cold arc of killing intent.

Taking a step, he entered the darkness.

With a seemingly normal swing of his arm, as it moved backward, he subtly drew a kunai from the tool pouch tied to the waist of his open-fronted gray kimono, its end adorned with a paper-wrapped pellet.

The moment he gripped the kunai's handle, Hyuga Yu tensed his body, his toes digging into the ground. He flickered slightly in the elongated shadow of the alley, suddenly accelerating!

He plunged headfirst into the alley, only three hundred meters long.

And in the same instant, the hairs on his neck stood on end.

An extraordinary "sense" allowed Hyuga Yu to immediately and keenly perceive that the gaze focused on his back, after suddenly losing its target, only hesitated for less than half a second before sweeping back into the alley's shadows to lock onto him, becoming even more dangerous, sharper, almost piercing his skin!

"Hoo!"

A rapid gust of wind sounded behind him, the sound of the enemy realizing something was wrong and using the Body Flicker Technique to close in rapidly!

Hyuga Yu's pupils suddenly widened, veins bulging at the corners of his eyes!

"Byakugan, activate!"

Catching sight of the enemy pursuing him urgently from behind with his expanded, god-like perspective, Hyuga Yu lowered his body, stopped abruptly, and rolled to the side.

The broad-faced ninja, wearing a cat mask with only two whiskers and dressed in an Anbu style, under the inertia of the Body Flicker Technique, brandished a kunai glinting with cold light and narrowly missed the rolling Hyuga Yu.

At that instant, he saw the boy lying on the ground, looking up, and saw... a pair of white eyes, as naive as a camel's, yet instantly turning as ferocious as a lion's.

#

Yajima Jyunin was an intelligence ninja.

He was at the lowest level of Kirigakure's spy network within Konohagakure.

In layman's terms, he was the type that didn't matter if he was exposed, or rather, he was dispatched precisely to be exposed when necessary, sacrificing his life to assist his direct superior in obtaining intelligence and clearing obstacles—a pawn.

At 10 AM today, He received a mission--

To disguise himself as a Konohagakure Anbu ninja and assassinate a Hyuga Clan branch family Genin named [Hyuga Yu].

Yajima Jyunin didn't know why his superior wanted to eliminate this Hyuga Clan branch family Genin, but he could roughly guess--

At 9 AM, he had seen Hyuga Yu leaving the residence of Hyuga Sousuke, an elder of the Hyuga Clan Main Family.

This indicated that the target had most likely come into contact with Hyuga Genko, a Main Family member he had been closely monitoring.

Combined with the subsequent intelligence from the mission that [Hyuga Yu] was a Medical Ninja.

His superior judged:

Hyuga Yu's existence might impact Kirigakure's subsequent actions, so this variable needed to be nipped in the bud.

As for what Kirigakure's subsequent actions would be?

Why would such a weak Hyuga Yu impact their actions?

Wouldn't killing Hyuga Yu now alert the enemy, leading to even greater variables in the mission?

Yajima Jyunin had a direction for the answers in his heart, but he couldn't know.

Ninjas selected as spies couldn't be fools, especially with the Yamanaka Clan, capable of reading minds, existing within Konohagakure.

He only knew that at this time and place, he had to use his strength as a seasoned Chunin to eliminate a weak Hyuga Clan branch family Genin, who hadn't even fully mastered his clan's secret techniques, without causing too much of a stir.

However, After reviewing the intel on his assassination target, Yajima Jyunin instinctively sensed something amiss from the opponent's meager resume.

The resume read as follows:

[Hyuga Yu: Genin]

[Missions Completed: D-Rank 46, C-Rank 12.]

[Strength Assessment: Genin. Kekkei Genkai activated: Byakugan, but has not mastered Gentle Fist Style: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō. Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and throwing techniques are all mediocre. Through self-study, mastered several Medical Ninjutsu, including a high-difficulty B-Rank Medical Ninjutsu.]

[Konoha Year 46, graduated early from the Ninja Academy. Konoha Year 47, joined Reconnaissance Unit Squad Eight, participated in the Third Shinobi World War. In the same year, during a Kirigakure raid on the Land of Grass, the leading Chunin died, and two teammates died.]

[Konoha Year 48, joined the reorganized Reconnaissance Unit Squad Eight. In the same year, the leading Chunin died. Later participated in the Chunin Exams held by Konoha, and two teammates died under mysterious circumstances.]

[Recovering from injuries until Konoha Year 49 to present.]

Looking at this resume, Yajima Jyunin made his judgment:

This was an ordinary Genin who hadn't even fully mastered the clan's secret techniques to protect himself. Besides a pair of Byakugan, which were more of a burden to him than an asset, his combat power alone was inferior to some elite Genin who had just graduated.

Yet, such a ninja, weak in every sense of the word, had managed to survive until now during the Third Shinobi World War, with his leading Chunin and teammates dying one after another over two terms.

This person was likely problematic...

Either he was so lucky that even heaven wouldn't take his life, or--

Hyuga Yu possessed abilities that intelligence could not record.

And such people, spies who lived by information, usually called them:

[Information Black Hole].