Fate, Wonderfully Mysterious

The next day, after the treatment ended, the three of them wandered the streets, taking in the sights of a foreign land.

After sightseeing until noon, they entered a restaurant to settle the matter of lunch.

The Land of Water had a thriving fishing industry, so fish and seafood were cheap.

The seafood dishes here were famous throughout the Ninja World, and they tasted quite good.

They were only halfway through their meal when a filthy little kid poked most of his head in through the door, drooling nonstop at the sight of the food.

"I still have a business to run! Don't scare away my customers, kid!"

The owner walked outside and scolded him helplessly.

"Boss! Get a bowl of seafood noodles for that little guy. Put it on my tab!"

Doichi Hyuga said.

"Yes, sir! ...Kid, why aren't you thanking this gentleman?"

The owner answered and went into the kitchen to get busy.

"Th... thank... thank you, sir! I... I have two companions too. Could you...?"

The kid was initially unable to believe it, then looked at Doichi Hyuga expectantly.

"Sure. Boss, make that two more bowls."

"Yes, sir!"

After finishing their meal, Doichi Hyuga took the three packed bowls of seafood noodles from the owner and walked outside, handing them to the little kid.

The kid accepted them with thanks, then turned and ran into an alley across the street.

Two children hurried over, their faces breaking into smiles when they saw the food.

The three little kids sat on the ground, grabbing the noodles with their filthy hands and stuffing them straight into their mouths.

"We can't possibly take care of every situation like this."

Aburame Shikuroo spoke quietly, his tone carrying a hint of sentiment.

"Meeting them was fate. Think of it as doing a good deed."

Doichi Hyuga said with a light smile.

Kakashi watched without saying anything, lost in thought.

Inside the shop across the street, three Hidden Mist Village ANBU agents who were eating glanced in their direction. The ANBU captain curled his lip and thought, Ridiculous kindness.

At that moment, another child crawled out from behind a trash bin behind the three little kids, watching them devour the food with envy.

Doichi Hyuga turned around, went back into the restaurant, and came out carrying another serving of food as he headed toward the trash bin.

"This is for you."

The child sat beside the trash bin, staring blankly at Doichi Hyuga. He was skin and bones, while his head and eyes were abnormally large.

He cautiously accepted it, opened it, and placed it on the ground. The child grabbed some noodles and put them before the two puppies behind him.

"Eat! Hurry and eat!"

The child grabbed more noodles and urged the two puppies on.

Doichi Hyuga turned to leave, but after taking two steps, inspiration suddenly struck him.

"What's your name?"

Doichi Hyuga turned back, crouched down, and asked with a smile.

"Huh? ...I, I'm Haku."

The child seemed startled as he stammered out his answer.

"How old are you?"

"N... nine."

"Would you like to come with me? I think I need you."

Though he was already nine, long-term malnutrition made him look only seven or eight.

A miserable little fellow, the legendary cross-dressing Haku. That was how the world worked. Good people never got happy endings, especially in this world, where people's fates were even more difficult.

Doichi Hyuga thought to himself.

"I... I'm willing."

Light gradually returned to Haku's eyes, as if he had found a reason to keep existing.

"Then go with him. He'll take you somewhere no one will hate you."

Doichi Hyuga created a Shadow Clone. The clone formed hand seals and transformed into an ordinary citizen of the Land of Water.

After Haku finished eating, the Shadow Clone took his hand, and the two left the trash bin together.

Back on the main street, the tall and small figures merged into the crowd and headed out of the city.

Doichi Hyuga and the other two had long since gone far away in the opposite direction.

Of course, the three Hidden Mist Village ANBU agents were still following them from afar.

"You're taking that kid away?"

Kakashi asked in a low voice.

The Hidden Mist Village ANBU agents could not see into the alley from the restaurant, but Kakashi and Aburame Shikuroo had seen Doichi Hyuga's little move.

"Yeah! The kid seemed pleasant enough. Consider it charity."

Doichi Hyuga said with a smile.

Aburame Shikuroo remained silent and simply followed along.

The next few days passed without incident.

Once the final treatment was completed tomorrow and they collected their payment, they could return to Konoha.

Doichi Hyuga lay on his bed reading, occasionally lifting his teacup for a sip. He was quite at ease.

Late in the night, Kakashi and Aburame Shikuroo quietly returned to their room.

As usual, Doichi Hyuga activated his Byakugan and scanned everything within a radius of twenty kilometers.

This time, there was an unexpected development. A one-eyed Hidden Mist Village ninja appeared in his field of vision.

The one-eyed ninja had veins bulging around his eye and was spying on Kakashi and Aburame Shikuroo from a forest five kilometers away.

Fortunately, Doichi Hyuga had been cautious enough to set up the Two Principles Barrier Technique in the room on the very first day, specifically against secret surveillance techniques. He had not expected it to actually come in handy.

Ever since Hyuga Hiashi had spied on him several years ago, Doichi Hyuga had worked overtime to create a cheap imitation of the Two Principles Barrier Technique. That version had been difficult to use, and the Byakugan could still vaguely see humanoid chakra.

Only after obtaining the Uzumaki Sealing Arts from Root had the technique finally been perfected.

The Two Principles Barrier Technique was based on the transformation of yin and yang and used Natural Energy to take form. Once completed, it was colorless and invisible from the outside, revealing only a false image.

What the other party should be seeing now was Doichi Hyuga sleeping with his eyes closed.

What you saw was merely what I wanted you to see!

Ao had been training on an outer island these past few days and only returned tonight. Because Kirigakure was shrouded in thick mist year-round, he had kept his Byakugan activated while traveling.

Before he even entered the village, he spotted two black figures sneaking away from the direction of Kirigakure.

So he followed far behind them, tracking them all the way to the capital of the Land of Water.

So they were Konoha ninja. I have to report this to the Mizukage.

After confirming their identities, Ao deactivated his Byakugan and rushed at full speed toward Kirigakure.

He had traveled for less than twenty minutes when a hand suddenly appeared and reached for his right eye.

Eye Armor!

Two green patches appeared over Ao's right eye, stopping the hand from advancing any farther.

"Who are you?"

Ao covered his Byakugan with his right hand, fear lingering in his heart.

Thankfully, the village's sealing experts had set up this barrier technique. Otherwise, if my Byakugan had been taken, I would have been too ashamed to return to the village.

"Byakugan Killer Ao! Not a bad title!"

Doichi Hyuga stepped out of the shadows, smiling at Ao.

"A Hyuga brat? You actually dared to come to Hidden Mist Village alone to die! Are you here to deliver your Byakugan to me?"

Ao's entire body tensed as his hand discreetly slipped into his ninja tool pouch and touched a signal flare.

Four Symbols Barrier!

The signal flare shot into the air and slammed directly into the lid of the black barrier, with not even a glimmer of light escaping.

Doichi Hyuga and Ao were trapped inside the barrier, while four Shadow Clones crouched outside it.

The Four Symbols Barrier was an improved version of the Four Violet Flames Formation. From the outside, neither sounds nor images within could be seen.

The Four Violet Flames Formation itself could be cast while standing outside the formation. During Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan, he had crouched inside only to keep his subordinates from being attacked. After all, if one person crouching outside got killed, the formation would break immediately!

"Byakugan Killer, I heard the Byakugan in your right eye was a trophy of war. Well then, you are my trophy now."

Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!

He clapped his hands together, merely going through the motions. A tribute to the First Hokage.

Towering trees erupted from the ground, swiftly filling the entire barrier.

"Wood Release? How is that possible?"

Ao dodged frantically, unable to find anywhere to stand.

He had only just cut through several vines when a web of branches sealed off all his paths of escape.

After struggling for several exchanges, a thick tree root lashed violently across Ao's chest.

Ao crashed to the ground as vines and branches tightly wrapped him into a dumpling. Only his head was exposed as he was suspended upside down in midair.

"I never thought the Hyuga Clan would possess Wood Release. Cough... cough, cough... cough, cough..."

Blood dripped from Ao's mouth down his hair onto the ground. Every bone in his chest had been shattered.

Contract Seal!

Doichi Hyuga walked over to Ao and grasped the two green patch earrings with both hands.

Sealing runes quickly spread across the patch earrings, and the Eye Armor completely lost its effect.

The Eye Armor was essentially a contract-style sealing barrier, a contract protection technique based on the Byakugan. Though crude, it was fairly practical and more than sufficient for preventing the loss of the Byakugan.

If it were forcibly broken, the Byakugan would be destroyed as well.

As for Hidden Mist Village's sealing skills, Doichi Hyuga had no comment.

"Hidden Mist Village... won't... won't let you go. Lord Mizukage... will definitely... avenge... me."

As the Wood Release tightened, Ao gradually fell silent.

Doichi Hyuga removed the Byakugan, placed it in a small bottle to soak, and then sealed it inside a scroll.

He released the Wood Release, scattered Ao's ashes with a fire, then used Earth Release to erase all traces of the battle before closing the Four Symbols Barrier.

He left several Shadow Clones behind to monitor Hidden Mist Village while his true body returned to rest.