The Sin of Arrogance

The night was as black as ink, without stars or moon.

Whoosh!

Inside a shabby wooden cabin, a stove burned brightly, bringing warmth to the cold night.

Two Kusagakure shinobi lay on the bed, fast asleep, soft snores escaping their noses. Two other figures sat near the window, keeping watch.

The young Kusagakure shinobi picked up the sake flask from the stove and poured himself a full bowl.

As steam rose, the intoxicating aroma of the sake wafted toward him.

"What a fine drink!"

Eagerly gulping down a large mouthful, the young Kusagakure shinobi closed his eyes, wearing an intoxicated expression.

"This is premium sake from the Land of Earth. It's expensive for a reason." The middle-aged Kusagakure shinobi took a small sip and smiled.

Shinobi had three taboos: money, women, and alcohol. They were all vices that corroded the will, and shinobi weren't supposed to indulge in them.

Who knew who had come up with that?

It made no sense in reality.

Shinobi were people too, and they carried far more mental strain than ordinary people from their years of missions.

Many shinobi indulged in at least one of those three things.

The Strongest Hokage in History over in Konoha had once been a regular at the pleasure houses.

And there was no need to mention his three students.

Hardy men like the Fourth Raikage, who avoided alcohol and women and spent all day lifting weights, were a rare sight.

If shinobi from the great villages were like that, it went without saying that things were worse in small villages.

Shinobi on night watch, secretly drinking.

Had Kusagakure really become this corrupt and depraved?

"It's late. Take it easy." The middle-aged Kusagakure shinobi set down his ceramic bowl and spoke.

"There's half a flask left. I'll stop once I finish it."

The young Kusagakure shinobi didn't care.

The harsh conditions and monotonous daily missions had made him sick of everything about Kusagakure.

Without alcohol, he wouldn't have made it this far.

Hearing this, the middle-aged Kusagakure shinobi sighed softly but said nothing. He turned to look out into the dark, deep night.

Drip! Drip!

The middle-aged Kusagakure shinobi frowned slightly.

That wasn't the sound of sake being poured. It sounded like rainwater dripping from the eaves to the ground.

Where was it raining?

A flicker of confusion rose in his heart, and he instinctively looked back.

Thud.

He saw the young Kusagakure shinobi topple to the floor, his head rolling away and leaving a long streak of blood. A satisfied smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

A cold wind had begun blowing through the cabin at some point.

The stench of blood spread with it.

An enemy attack!

Only then did the thought flash through the middle-aged Kusagakure shinobi's mind.

He tried to shout, but it was too late.

Szz!

A streak of black lightning flashed past. In the dim cabin, warm blood sprayed across the walls.

Hyuga Neji, carrying a katana on his back and wearing no Forehead Protector, was clad from head to toe in tight black clothing. Only his Byakugan were exposed. His feet rested against the ceiling, and his fingers, held together, poured out black electricity.

[You used Black Lightning. Your related insights have improved. Experience +1]

Neji tensed his waist and dropped from the ceiling, landing lightly on the floor without making a sound.

"How sluggish!"

"If everyone in Kusagakure is this useless, the village would have been wiped out already."

"Strange."

Though Neji felt that things had gone too smoothly, he didn't dwell on it.

He glanced at the two Kusagakure shinobi lying asleep on the bed.

Sweet smiles rested on their faces. Black Lightning had pierced their throats, killing them in their sleep.

Neji slowly raised his hand. A faint blue light flickered in his pearly white eyes as a small amount of Tenseigan chakra gathered in his palm, forming a blue orb.

With a flick of his finger, he sent it flying into the middle-aged Kusagakure shinobi's chest.

Curse Seal of the Mind!

It was the only ocular technique the Tenseigan could currently use.

By sending the blue orb into someone's body, he could read their memories and even alter their will.

It wasn't as effective at controlling people as Kotoamatsukami.

But it had a shorter cooldown, and could control puppets as well as people.

If his ocular power was strong enough, he could even give puppets a measure of intelligence.

Neji's ocular power was limited for now, so he could only control ten people at a time.

It wasn't much, but it was enough.

He gave the dead middle-aged Kusagakure shinobi the order to keep watch.

Then, like a nimble cat, Neji darted out of the cabin and disappeared into the darkness.

He needed to control a high-ranking Kusagakure shinobi and read their memories to see if he could find the Box of Paradise.

At this point in time, the Box of Paradise was most likely in Hozuki Castle.

But what if it wasn't?

As Neji crossed a wide-open space, he suddenly stopped, an inexplicable sense of unease rising within him.

There were no sentries nearby. Everything was pitch-black and far too quiet.

His Byakugan narrowed slightly as he glanced at the ground.

The next moment, the earth beneath his feet suddenly split open.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Boom!

Two hands burst from the ground, each gripping a Kunai as they stabbed fiercely at Neji's lower legs.

Blue lightning surged at his will, covering him from the knees down. Then he brought his foot down hard.

Squish!

Neji stomped the ambushing Kusagakure shinobi's head apart, spraying blood and gore.

At that moment, several spotlights suddenly blazed to life around them, illuminating the open ground as brightly as day.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!

Dozens of Kusagakure shinobi dropped from the sky. Some stood with their hands behind their backs, some perched on treetops, and others crouched on telephone poles. They watched Neji with hostile expressions.

Next, a tall Kusagakure shinobi used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Neji.

"Throughout the day, I repeatedly sensed a faint feeling of being watched. I figured someone would come calling tonight."

"Just as I expected. Here you are."

Neji furrowed his brows, realizing that he had made a mistake on this infiltration.

His biggest mistake had been committing the sin of arrogance.

With the Tenseigan, Lightning Release Chakra Mode, God Vacuum Attack, Black Lightning, and all his other abilities, he had looked down on shinobi from small nations.

But thinking it over, Kusagakure had managed to establish itself in the Shinobi World for so long despite being a tiny village. It shouldn't have been underestimated.

His second mistake had been trusting the Byakugan too much.

When he used the Byakugan, its chakra reaction varied in intensity depending on the strength of his ocular power.

Ordinary shinobi might not notice, but sensory shinobi could detect that reaction quite clearly.

That was precisely why the Hyuga clan had been able to maintain its standing in Konoha for so long.

If the Hyuga could spy on others without a trace and with impunity, the clan would have been treated even worse than the Uchiha.

No one could tolerate outsiders prying into their secrets.

Not even the mere ability to spy on them.

Neji glanced at the Kusagakure shinobi leading the group.

The man's chakra was formidable. He was an elite jonin.

Once an infiltration failed, the best course of action was to run.

But if Neji retreated now, the Fourth Raikage would be disappointed—and so would Neji himself.

Ever since he had put on his Forehead Protector and become a true shinobi, he had refused to accept failure.

Neji pondered for a moment, then spoke in a hoarse voice. "So what if I did?"

His taunt enraged the Kusagakure elite jonin, but then the man noticed Neji's pearly white eyes, and his pupils contracted.

"Byakugan? The Hyuga clan? Are you from Konoha?"

"Idiot. You finally figured it out? Konoha could wipe your tiny village off the map in the blink of an eye."