Inside the Hokage's office.
Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen were discussing Akiyama Shun. It was a rare occasion when the two of them talked about Akiyama Shun without arguing.
"So he really did gain another Kekkei Genkai."
Shimura Danzō furrowed his brow, not in displeasure but in thought.
"I told you Akiyama Shun might have a unique Kekkei Genkai. It could even be an entirely new one. Just as the Three-Tomoe Sharingan can copy ninjutsu, why couldn't there be a Kekkei Genkai that lets its user copy other Kekkei Genkai?"
A satisfied smile appeared on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face. He'd thought as much the first time he saw Akiyama Shun use Ice Release, and his guess had been right!
Back then, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already decided that if Akiyama Shun really obtained a second Kekkei Genkai, he'd assign other ninja with Kekkei Genkai to Shun's team whenever he went on missions.
A few days later, the Third Hokage cited the tense relations between the nations as his reason for refusing to let Akiyama Shun go on missions alone. Even with Tsunade present, he insisted on assigning Shun teammates.
"My name is Hyuga Tota. Nice to meet you, Akiyama Shun."
"Nice to meet you."
Akiyama Shun greeted his teammates, and after they got to know each other a little, they set off.
Tsunade was their team leader.
On his second mission.
"My name is Uchiha Yuyu..."
On his third mission...
As his missions gradually added up, Akiyama Shun began to notice something strange. Why did every team he went on a mission with have someone wearing colored contact lenses?
Hyuga and Uchiha ninja took turns showing up. Sometimes there were two Hyuga or two Uchiha; sometimes the team had one of each. They were starting to run through all the possible combinations!
Akiyama Shun could guess that Sarutobi Hiruzen was arranging it on purpose.
He probably thought that since Shun had gained a new Kekkei Genkai, he'd place a few people with colored contact lenses around him and see if Shun could get a pair too.
Though Akiyama Shun found it a little strange, he didn't mind. The Hyuga and Uchiha were two of Konoha's major clans, and their strength was beyond question. With the Sharingan and Byakugan to help them, they really could complete missions faster.
Besides, after saving up coins for a year, he'd actually managed to draw a pair of colored contact lenses!
Two Byakugan!
The two Byakugan-wielding ninja were the C-rank ninja [Hyuga Neji] and the B-rank ninja [Hinata Hyuga (New Year Limited)].
Hyuga Neji brought with him Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin, Air Palm Strike, and Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
The first time Akiyama Shun used this card, he noticed a serious problem.
In the original story, because of the Main Family and Branch Family system, Hyuga Neji had been marked with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal. His Byakugan, which normally had a full 360-degree field of vision, had a one-degree blind spot.
And when Akiyama Shun used the [Hyuga Neji] card, the Caged Bird took effect on him too!
"The Caged Bird... I can't believe this."
Though he'd never suffered through the hardships of being part of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family, Akiyama Shun could clearly feel just how painful it was.
"When I get stronger, I'm definitely going to find a chance to put you people through the wringer."
[Hyuga Neji] had the Caged Bird, but [Hinata Hyuga (New Year Limited)] was different. As a member of the Main Family, her Byakugan had no restrictions, and she'd even brought along an especially unfair ninjutsu!
It was her second skill, Gentle Fist Art: Flying Leaf!
According to the skill description, she leapt into the air and unleashed Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. But this version of Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms was no ordinary technique!
In the Naruto mobile game, the skill formed a sphere and was an enhanced version of Heavenly Spin with absolutely no blind spots!
And that wasn't even the most unfair part. The worst thing was that she could move while using the technique!
That's right!
Imagine an enormous, invincible sphere chasing you everywhere. You hit it, but your attacks have no effect at all. How would that feel?
Unfortunately, moving while using the technique caused its chakra consumption to skyrocket.
Akiyama Shun estimated that with his current chakra reserves, he could maintain the technique for a little over twenty seconds.
As for the ultimate of [Hinata Hyuga (New Year Limited)], which pulled the opponent into a bridal chamber before delivering a short-range, concentrated punch, Akiyama Shun couldn't pull anyone into a bridal chamber. He could only skip that part and punch his opponent directly.
Her first skill, Gentle Fist Art: Floating Duckweed, simply fired chakra shock waves from both fists. There wasn't much to say about it.
Besides that, he'd also obtained the B-rank ninja [Uzumaki Naruto (Part II)], whose ninjutsu was Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, a high-powered, S-rank offensive technique.
As for Big Ball Rasengan, all he had to do was add more chakra and compress it to the limit. Akiyama Shun had learned to use it after trying it just once.
Besides those three major gains, he'd also obtained many new scrolls, such as [Lightning Release: Lightning Strike], [Water Release: Water Tornado], and [Lightning Release: Lightning Gate], which broadened Akiyama Shun's range of attacks.
His artifacts, summoned beasts, and S-rank and A-rank ninja fragments were also steadily increasing.
Among the entries in the "over a hundred fragments" category, the one he'd made the most progress with was the summoned beast [Gamahiro]. He already had seventy-two fragments.
Among the A-rank ninja, [Haruno Sakura (Byakugō)] and [Gaara (Fourth Shinobi World War)] both had thirty fragments. He'd be able to draw them soon.
The C-rank ninja he got were mostly of little use to Akiyama Shun at the moment.
After sorting through all his gains, Akiyama Shun went to Tsunade's home first. She was still asleep, so he turned around and went to find Jiraiya, who was spying on the women's bathhouse.
"Lord Jiraiya, do you have time to take me to the Hokage's office? I have something to tell Lord Hokage."
"Ah! Oh—oh!"
Jiraiya, who'd been enjoying the view, suddenly heard Akiyama Shun's voice and jumped. Thinking he'd been caught, he only relaxed after seeing Shun.
"Hm? What is it?"
Jiraiya turned around and looked at Akiyama Shun in confusion.
Akiyama Shun didn't waste time explaining.
Unequip [Haku]
Equip [Hinata Hyuga (New Year Limited)]
In an instant, Akiyama Shun's normal eyes became Byakugan!
"Oh, you got the Byakugan. All right, I'll take you to the Hokage's office to report it."
Jiraiya was surprised for only a moment, then quickly returned to normal.
He couldn't help it. He was used to it by now.
After seeing Akiyama Shun obtain Shikotsumyaku last time, Jiraiya had asked Sarutobi Hiruzen about it and learned what Shun's "Kekkei Genkai" could do.
Jiraiya could guess what Akiyama Shun wanted to tell Sarutobi Hiruzen. It was probably something to do with the Hyuga Clan. Since an outsider like Shun had obtained the Byakugan, it was best to report it to the Hokage.
On the way, Akiyama Shun unequipped [Hinata Hyuga (New Year Limited)] and equipped [Haku] again. It was best not to let anyone else see the Byakugan before the Hokage knew about it.
With Jiraiya leading him, Akiyama Shun made it into the Hokage Building.
As they headed toward the Hokage's office, a couple of ninja wearing jonin vests passed by Akiyama Shun. The topic they were discussing immediately caught his attention.
"Hey, have you heard? The Third Kazekage seems to have gone missing."
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