Morning mist shrouded the dense forest outside Konoha like a thin veil.
Hyuga Xiao leaned against a tree trunk, watching Kurenai Yuhi wrap the final layer of bandages around his left shoulder. What came from the wound was not pain, but a numb, burning sensation—the aftermath of the Caged Bird Seal's backlash. Strange grayish-white patterns covered the surface of his skin, as though it had been soaked in some corrosive liquid.
"This should be enough to fool ordinary patrols," Hong said softly, tying off the end of the bandage.
Her movements were gentle. Whenever her fingertips brushed Xiao's shoulder, she would unconsciously pause for half a second.
Xiao could feel it.
Through the thin bandages, he could clearly "see" the warmth of Hong's fingertips and the subtle disturbances in the flow of chakra within her body—the sign of emotional fluctuations. Since that night in the Forest of Death, there had been something more in Hong's gaze when she looked at him.
"Thank you," Xiao said calmly.
He deliberately looked away, his gaze settling on a forest path in the distance. Several early-rising birds hopped along the branches there. Their trajectories, the frequency of their wingbeats, even the rhythm of their heartbeats—all of it was laid bare in the vision of his Byakugan.
This power of perception was growing stronger and stronger.
So strong that sometimes, he felt the entire world had become a precise blueprint made of countless lines and points of light. Human emotions, the growth of plants, the movement of air... everything was broken down into its most basic data within his field of vision.
Was this Divine Erosion?
Xiao clenched his left hand. The sensation in his palm was real, proof that he still existed as a "human."
"Asuma's route map." Hong took out a roll of