Hyuga Ritsu held a document personally signed by Orochimaru and left the heavily guarded Frontline Camp without hindrance. Once he was outside the camp gates, he bounded away in a few swift leaps and disappeared into the northern forest. After traveling about six kilometers through the shadowy, chilly woods, where dappled shadows lay beneath the trees, he stopped.
"Byakugan, activate!"
Hyuga Ritsu activated his Byakugan.
His eyes turned pure white, and veins bulged around them.
The 359-degree field of vision brought the surrounding scenery into his mind, but he quickly narrowed it to a normal range. Then he turned around, faced south, and steadily extended his sight. Before long, the Frontline Camp came into view.
The Byakugan's ability to see in every direction without blind spots, its range of several kilometers, and its capacity to see through the body and perceive Chakra pathways could all be freely adjusted. After all, if these abilities couldn't be controlled, the eyes wouldn't just be useless in battle—they'd make ordinary life inconvenient, too.
However,
Hyuga Ritsu's observation ran into an obstacle. The entire Frontline Camp was enveloped by a massive spherical barrier, and his vision couldn't penetrate it. As a result, he couldn't make out what was happening inside. But he hadn't intended to spy on the camp; his main concern was the stretch of land between the camp and his current location.
Everything was normal.
No one was following him.
He then scanned the other directions, and only after confirming there was nothing unusual did he continue on his way, keeping his Byakugan activated.
Caution and vigilance—
Those were habits he had honed as a ninja, through countless missions and repeated brushes with death.
Although he possessed the "otherworldly reincarnation perk" that most transmigrators seemed to get, his luck wasn't particularly good. Apparently, the goddess responsible for handling his lottery draw had just come back from the toilet and forgotten to wash her hands, because he ended up with a superpower called "Body Regeneration."
It came from Academy City.
It was a Level 1 low-level ability. Its specific effect was to form a membrane over ruptured blood vessels and temporarily stop the bleeding. It activated automatically, without requiring conscious effort.
In the world of ninjas, a Cheat Ability of that caliber might as well have been nothing.
Hyuga Ritsu didn't have what it took to be some "overpowered protagonist," so he could only strive to act prudently. Fortunately, his superpower could grow. He had started training at five, and over the past ten years, his "Body Regeneration" ability had evolved twice.
After its first evolution, his regenerative ability improved to the point where minor cuts and bruises healed quickly;
After its second evolution, his regenerative ability improved to the point where he could heal himself from any injury that wasn't fatal or caused the loss of a body part;
And that,
Was one of the reasons Hyuga Ritsu dared to use the Chimera Technique in an "unorthodox way."
Nine years had passed since he began studying under Hiruko at the age of six, and he had played a part in improving the Chimera Technique. According to the research he and his teacher had conducted, the greatest challenge in performing the Chimera Technique wasn't taking another person's Kekkei Genkai—it was merging with the stolen Kekkei Genkai.
The merging process was extremely dangerous and difficult, and placed great demands on the user's vitality.
Hiruko had developed a way to seize five Kekkei Genkai at once not to steal more of them, but to use the principles of the five elements' mutual generation and restraint to reduce the risks of the merging process as much as possible.
After two evolutions, Hyuga Ritsu's "Body Regeneration" superpower should now be at Level 3, giving him a much greater ability to withstand the risks.
Furthermore,
His other source of confidence was the target he had chosen: the Kaguya Clan's "Shikotsumyaku."
Both the Byakugan and Shikotsumyaku could be traced back to Kaguya Otsutsuki. Unlike Ice Release and Lava Release, which were ninjutsu-based Kekkei Genkai, they were Kekkei Genkai that directly affected the body. The changes they brought to the body were far more intense and pronounced.
Based on his calculations, merging with Shikotsumyaku would certainly cause some change in his Byakugan Kekkei Genkai. It could directly dismantle the foundation of the Caged Bird Seal, reducing it to a castle in the air and making it collapse on its own.
By the time the moon had set and the stars had faded, with dawn approaching,
Hyuga Ritsu, who had traveled all night without stopping, finally came to a halt deep in an uninhabited forest teeming with the scent of wild animals. He stood before a towering dead tree, climbed into its hollow, and opened a mechanism at the bottom, revealing a passage leading deep underground.
Hyuga Ritsu jumped in and ran swiftly down the vertical rock wall, landing steadily.
It was pitch-black inside, so dark he couldn't see his own hand in front of him.
But that was no obstacle at all for the Byakugan. Even before climbing down, he had used it to inspect the "secret laboratory." Everything was normal. Nothing had gone wrong during the two days he and Teacher Hiruko had been away.
The "precious specimen" locked up in the laboratory was still alive, too.
Hyuga Ritsu walked through the darkness, heading straight to the cell where the "precious specimen" was being held.
"Click!"
The candle was lit.
The darkness receded within a radius of seven or eight meters.
Inside the cell, which was less than ten square meters, a man hung suspended. He wore tattered white clothes, and long black hair fell loose around him. Two red dots marked his brow, and his face was fierce. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the candlelight. Seven or eight seconds later, he opened them and looked at Hyuga Ritsu. A crazed expression flashed across his face as he let out a hoarse roar,
"Hyuga brat, I'm going to kill you!!!"
He struggled with all his might.
The chains rattled as he strained against them, ringing out with a clear clinking sound.
Hyuga Ritsu paid no attention to his futile rage.
Hyuga Ritsu had struck his pressure points with Gentle Fist, blocking the flow of his Chakra. Without Chakra, no matter how hard the man struggled, it was useless.
Instead, Hyuga Ritsu was delighted by the man's tenacious vitality.
The man was a Jonin from Kirigakure's Kaguya Clan who had awakened the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai. He was a particularly ferocious fighter and had killed many people on Konoha's side of the front lines. Hyuga Ritsu and Hiruko had lured him to an isolated place and, after a great deal of effort, defeated and captured him. They had kept the news hidden instead of reporting it. Their submitted report merely claimed that they had lured him into a trap, where Explosive Tags had blown him to pieces.
Thus, the man had become the pair's private spoils of war.
After all,
Any prisoner who possessed a Kekkei Genkai and was brought back to camp would be handed over to the Anbu. That would leave Hyuga Ritsu and Hiruko with no claim to him, let alone any chance to use him to practice the Forbidden Jutsu known as the Chimera Technique, which the village had banned.
Hyuga Ritsu stepped forward and sharply jabbed the man in the neck with his right hand. The hoarse cursing abruptly stopped.
The precious specimen immediately fell unconscious.
Then,
Hyuga Ritsu sat down on the floor in front of the cell, took out the rations and water he had brought with him, and ate and drank to recover the strength he had expended traveling all night. He needed to get himself into peak condition before performing the Chimera Technique.
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