Byakugan

Although Uchiha Akira was a Chunin, he had no teammates and carried out missions alone.

He had originally had three teammates, Genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy.

There was no need to dwell on the cruelty of war. Even Senju Hashirama's grandson had fallen, let alone three Genin who had only just graduated and immediately been sent to the battlefield.

All three had died in a large-scale battle.

Though Uchiha Akira belonged to the Uchiha Clan and was considered strong, he hadn't been able to look after his subordinates at all times in a large-scale war.

After the Genin assigned to him had died, the village hadn't assigned him anyone else.

During the war, there weren't enough Genin graduating from the Ninja Academy to replace those lost, so there was no one to assign him a second time.

Uchiha Akira didn't mind. He was fine on his own, and it meant he didn't have to split his attention to look after anyone during daily missions.

Alone, he could do whatever he wanted and rest whenever he liked. He didn't have to worry about anyone reporting on him after he returned or talking behind his back.

Just like now. As soon as Uchiha Akira left Konoha's camp, he started slacking off.

He had no intention of taking this mission too seriously.

Or rather, he never intended to take missions from the Konoha High Command too seriously.

If it wasn't too dangerous, then fine—he'd do it while he was at it.

But if it meant risking his life, forget it. As a member of the Uchiha Clan, he didn't need the paltry rewards Konoha offered for missions.

Besides, there was no way the Konoha High Command would let the Uchiha Clan use the ninjutsu in the Scroll of Sealing. There was no point in risking his life.

And so, Uchiha Akira wandered along the border of the Land of Fire.

Maybe he'd used up all his luck when he'd snatched Uchiha Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan, or maybe Murphy's law had struck again.

That day, while Uchiha Akira was pretending to track Kirigakure Ninja, he suddenly looked up and stared into the depths of the Dark Forest.

The dim forest rustled, and two figures wearing masks and Kirigakure Anbu uniforms flashed out with the Body Flicker Technique.

Uchiha Akira immediately locked onto the Kirigakure Anbu with long gray-blue hair.

If he remembered correctly, the Kirigakure Jonin who had acquired the Byakugan in the original story had hair that color.

"Another little Konoha brat here to die! What a pain!"

Before Ao could speak, the Mist Ninja beside him, who wore a face covering, spoke up.

Ao scanned Uchiha Akira and said gravely, "Tsuki, don't let your guard down. He's a brat from the Uchiha Clan. If they let him operate alone, he's no ordinary kid."

"I know. We've come this far, so I'm not about to get careless." The Anbu named Tsuki glanced at Uchiha Akira and said gravely, "Ao, we need to end this quickly. We can't let him stall us for too long. Konoha's strong fighters could arrive at any moment."

"Water Style: Water Fang Blade!"

As an elite Kirigakure unit, they formed Hand Seals quickly. In an instant, a stream of bright blue water turned into a spinning blade in his hand.

The Mist Ninja named Tsuki used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Uchiha Akira, swinging the blue water blade to cut him in two.

A wet, slicing sound rang out.

Beneath Tsuki's mask, a sneer appeared on his face. Then he felt an indescribable pain in his neck.

"Ghk..." Clutching his neck helplessly, the Anbu named Tsuki toppled stiffly to the ground.

As his consciousness faded into darkness, he heard a detached voice: "Who told you to meet my eyes? As a Kirigakure Anbu, don't you know not to look a member of the Uchiha Clan in the eyes?"

"But he didn't even activate his Sharingan..." Tsuki's consciousness vanished, his mind filled with confusion and terror.

Uchiha Akira coldly watched Ao take two steps back. The chakra in his body was already primed, and threads of electricity crackled around him.

If Ao made a move, Uchiha Akira would strike him down with a thunderous blow.

Beneath his mask, Ao glared in rage. His comrade had just fallen under the Uchiha brat's Genjutsu without making a sound, then run his own neck into the other man's Ninja Blade.

Right in front of him, he had killed himself.

Ao was deeply relieved. If he'd been the first to charge in, he would probably have met the same fate.

"This is bad. The Uchiha brat may be young, but he's strong. He can even catch a Jonin like Tsuki with Genjutsu without using his Sharingan..." Ao was already considering how to retreat.

They had indeed been worn down while trapped inside Konoha's encirclement, but they were still Jonin. Their strength spoke for itself.

He had never imagined that Tsuki, a Jonin, could be taken out by the other man's Genjutsu after just a moment's carelessness.

"What are you waiting for?"

The next moment, a cold voice rang beside Ao's ear, making him shudder.

Then, a blue flash as swift as lightning appeared right in front of him.

"Lightning Style: Palm Lightning!"

He saw a hand wreathed in blinding blue light aimed straight at his heart.

Boom—

A roar echoed through the Dark Forest. Blinding arcs of electricity burst and exploded, engulfing Ao's entire body.

With a scream, everything fell silent.

When facing the Sharingan one-on-one, you had to run. That was the conclusion Sunagakure had reached after countless deaths.

Ao had made a fatal mistake by not fleeing the moment he saw his teammate die.

Against Uchiha Akira, who now possessed the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and greatly enhanced ocular power, Ao would have had a sliver of hope if he'd run immediately. Staying meant certain death.

After searching the dead Ao's body, Uchiha Akira found a scroll marked with the character "Seal" in his ninja tool pouch.

This kind of sealing scroll wasn't difficult to undo. With his Sharingan, Uchiha Akira knew how to open it.

Once he undid the seal, he saw a Byakugan inside a container filled with pale green liquid.

Looking at the Byakugan in the container, Uchiha Akira's lips curved into a smile. "Excellent. This Byakugan is mine."

He had no intention of returning it to the Hyuga Clan. If he hadn't come across it, that would have been one thing.

But now that the Byakugan was in his hands, there was no reason to return it to the Hyuga Clan.

The Byakugan's potential was in no way inferior to the Sharingan.

The Tenseigan was on the same level as the Rinnegan.

After the Sharingan evolved into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, combining it with the chakra of Indra and Asura could draw out the Sage of Six Paths' chakra and turn it into the Rinnegan.

The Byakugan could likewise be combined with the chakra of the Ōtsutsuki Clan to evolve into the Tenseigan.

Compared with the complicated process of awakening the Rinnegan, the Tenseigan was much more straightforward and forceful.

Honestly, Uchiha Akira thought the Tenseigan was somewhat stronger in battle than the Rinnegan.

After putting the Byakugan away, quickly disposing of the bodies and cleaning up the battlefield, Uchiha Akira continued wandering along the border.

No one knew the Byakugan had fallen into his hands, so he might as well drag out the mission a little longer.

Fate had other plans. Uchiha Akira had only been slacking off on the Land of Fire's border for an hour.

Suddenly, with a bang, a brilliant flare burst above the forest several hundred meters ahead.