Let the Bullets Fly for a While

It had been a while since he left the Hyuga compound, yet the faint sound of laughter could still be heard drifting from within.

There was no need to guess; Hyuga Hiashi had likely bought into it.

"Truly, life is full of surprises..."

Hyuga Qinglan couldn't help but sigh once more, reflecting on how far-sighted his past self had been.

That scroll was something he had compiled based on records and his own fabrications back when he was still living in the Otsutsuki main family.

It was one of the idle moves he had set up while taking advantage of the opportunity to observe the ninja world alongside the main family.

The goal was to one day use it to enter the ninja world, seize the pure Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, and eventually evolve them into the Tenseigan.

"It's just a pity about the preparations on the moon; they probably won't be of any use now."

Hyuga Qinglan whispered silently in his heart.

"The scroll should be in the secret vault by now, and the one guarding it is likely Hyuga Yumi's grandfather..."

Hyuga Tianyun.

That old bastard.

At the mere thought of the pathetic state he had been in when that pair of grandfather and granddaughter punished him with the Caged Bird, Hyuga Qinglan couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"The days of searching for Otsutsuki remains are long and arduous..."

"I should be able to have some peace for a while now..."

"As for the next step..."

As he pondered, he rounded a street corner.

Bang!

"Ouch!"

A small, slender figure slammed firmly into him, causing the bag of medicinal herbs in her hands to fly out and scatter across the ground with a clatter.

"That hurts..."

Mitarashi Anko clutched her head and crouched down, then looked at the herbs scattered everywhere, a nameless fire instantly flaring up within her.

She looked up sharply, her brows knitted together.

"You guy... you made me drop my medicine..."

"Do you know who I am? I'm Orochimaru-sensei's student..."

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly froze when she saw the face of the person before her.

"Captain Qinglan?"

Her anger seemed to have been hit with a pause button; she blinked, looking at the person in front of her in disbelief.

"Why is it you?"

"Anko?"

Hyuga Qinglan was also slightly stunned, clearly not expecting the dark shadow rushing out from the corner to be Anko.

He quickly relaxed, however. Seeing her puffed-up expression and recalling that the end of this street was that dango shop, he understood everything.

"I was wondering who was running so fast."

Hyuga Qinglan revealed a gentle smile, his gaze falling on the herbs scattered across the ground.

"What is this...?"

"This is medicine I bought for Orochimaru-sensei... it's all Captain Qinglan's fault."

Anko pouted, her tone carrying a hint of spoiled complaint, as if she wanted Hyuga Qinglan to give her an explanation.

Orochimaru?

Hyuga Qinglan glanced at Anko with some surprise.

He hadn't expected that Anko had already become a student of Orochimaru.

Back when he had just been promoted to chunin and formed a squad on the Cloud Battlefield, Anko had been one of its members. At that time, she was still a reckless little girl who always charged to the front during missions, making people both worried and amused.

Later, he was transferred away from the Cloud Battlefield to the Mist Battlefield to guard the main family, and the squad was disbanded.

In the blink of an eye, the little girl from back then had become Orochimaru's disciple.

Perhaps... he could change his plans a little.

"It's alright, these are all dried; they'll be fine once we pick them up."

Hyuga Qinglan pulled back his thoughts and, just as he had done when they were in the squad, gently comforted her.

He crouched down and began to pick up the scattered herbs one by one. After picking up a few, he noticed that Anko was still standing there with an awkward look on her face, showing no intention of helping.

Hyuga Qinglan looked up at her, seeing right through the scheme she was plotting.

"Alright," he smiled helplessly, "I'll treat you to dango later."

"That's more like it..."

Mitarashi Anko instantly broke character, the awkwardness on her face vanishing into thin air as she beamed with a smile as bright as if nothing had happened at all.

Inside the dango shop.

Hyuga Qinglan sat across from her, watching quietly as she devoured the dango in front of her, lost in his own thoughts.

"Right, Captain Qinglan, how is it that I ran into you on the street today?"

Anko bit into a dango, a smudge of syrup still clinging to the corner of her mouth, and asked vaguely, "How do you have time to be out on the street today? Every other time I've run into you, you were either on the front lines or hanging around with that... that Hyuga Yumi."

"I couldn't even get a word in to say hello..."

"..."

Hyuga Qinglan paused for a moment, choosing not to pick up that thread, and instead asked her in return, "Aren't you the same? The last time I saw you, it was at the main gate while you were heading out on a mission."

"Hehehe... I've been busy assisting Lord Orochimaru with his experiments lately!"

"You didn't know? Master Orochimaru is going to be the Hokage soon, and when that happens, I'll be a student of the Hokage..."

At the mere thought of it, Anko's eyes crinkled into crescents, and she couldn't help but giggle out loud.

Her laughter was a bit loud, drawing side-glances and strange looks from the other ninjas in the shop.

Orochimaru as Hokage?

That sounds like a pipe dream...

Hyuga Qinglan glanced at the ninjas wearing those strange expressions and signaled for Anko to keep her voice down.

At this point in time, Namikaze Minato had already made a name for himself across the ninja world.

On the Cloud Village and Rock Battlefield, whenever the situation reached a critical point, it was always Minato who arrived to turn the tide.

His primary opponents were also incredibly troublesome: the rising AB Brothers of the Cloud Village.

No, to be precise, that would be the Fourth Raikage and the Perfect Jinchuriki.

And what about Orochimaru?

He had long since been sidelined by the Third Hokage and was becoming increasingly marginalized.

Ordinary citizens might think the choice for the Fourth Hokage would be a toss-up between Orochimaru and Namikaze Minato.

But for Hyuga Qinglan, who had read the original Naruto series.

There was only one candidate for the Fourth Hokage.

And that was Namikaze Minato.

But for now...

"Ahem..."

Anko seemed to notice the surrounding gazes, gave a light cough, offered a sheepish smile to those around her, and lowered her voice: "Captain Qinglan, you still haven't told me why you're out by yourself today?"

"Me?"

Hyuga Qinglan's eyes curved, and he picked up his teacup for a sip, calmly taking control of the conversation.

"The clan head ordered a few days of leave for me; there's going to be a celebration in a few days."

"I heard rumors that something huge happened, though I don't know the specifics, but I can tell... the clan head is very excited."

He paused, then added, "Generally speaking, aside from those Hyuga members currently on the front lines, everyone else is required to attend the clan's celebration."

"Oh~"

Mitarashi Anko nodded blankly, not quite understanding why the Hyuga clan would hold a celebration at a time like this.

She suddenly remembered something and asked, "If you're holding a celebration, doesn't that mean no one will be doing missions?"

"The situation isn't ideal right now... quite a few spies have infiltrated the village lately."

"If the Hyuga clan holds a celebration during this period, what about the Hokage..."

Hyuga Qinglan smiled, his expression calm.

"It doesn't matter; those who need to go on missions will still go."

"Besides, even the one guarding the secret vault will be Elder Hyuga Tianyun."

"His strength is greater than two of me... or rather, three or four of me combined."

"Oh~"

Anko nodded as if she understood, her attention quickly drawn back to the dango in front of her as she picked up a skewer and continued to feast.

Hyuga Qinglan smiled and said nothing more, his eyes dropping to the skewer of crystal-clear three-colored dango on the table.

On the bamboo stick, three round dango were lined up in order—white, pink, and green—their colors reflecting off one another, the sugar glaze shimmering slightly under the lights.

"Squish!"

The white dango at the very top was pierced by the bamboo skewer and fell apart.