Tempting Akira Hyuga

Some members of the Hyuga Branch House were even injured and left their teams to recuperate elsewhere.

As a result, they were deemed deserters by the Main House and remotely executed.

Seeing this, Chiba Shun said again, "We truly do not have the ability to remove the Caged Bird. You are destined to never escape that cage for the rest of your life."

"But your children can!"

Akira Hyuga thought of his son back in the village. However, that child, like him, had already been branded with the Cursed Seal.

But Chiba Shun then said, "Kumogakure can find several female shinobi for you, senior. You can leave behind descendants!"

"As long as Konoha does not know those children exist, they will not do anything to you."

"When those children grow up, who will know they are your offspring? There are so many people in your Branch House. Which one of them is not filled with resentment toward the Main House?"

"So you have absolutely no need to worry!"

"And your children will be able to breathe the air of freedom."

Akira Hyuga said nothing. If escaping the Caged Bird were that simple, members of the Hyuga Branch House would have done it long ago.

But the truth was that once someone from the Hyuga Branch House left their bloodline outside, that child's eyes would be dug out the moment they were exposed!

Chiba Shun naturally knew his concerns. He pointed at A and said, "Do you know who this is?"

"This is the only son of our Third Raikage, the future Fourth Raikage!"

"He can promise that your children will grow up safely, and no one will set their sights on their Byakugan."

"Actually, you should know that for a great shinobi village, a pair of Byakugan is important, but an entire Hyuga Clan is even more important!"

"I can be frank with you. If we captured an adult member of the Hyuga Main House, we would dig out their Byakugan at once."

"But if there were a child of the Hyuga Family raised by us and who sincerely acknowledged Kumogakure, do you think we would set our sights on their Byakugan?"

"They could live in Kumogakure and eventually reproduce an entire Hyuga Clan!"

A subtle change appeared in Akira Hyuga's expression. His Byakugan secretly studied A.

This man did seem somewhat similar to the Third Raikage described in the intelligence reports.

Chiba Shun continued, "The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan can evolve. Lord Raikage once said that he had seen a record in the secret archives of certain villages: the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan can evolve as well!"

Akira Hyuga's pale eyes widened, but he quickly revealed a suspicious expression.

Chiba Shun knew what he was thinking and explained, "The reason the Hyuga Branch House has never developed an evolved Byakugan is because of the Caged Bird!"

"As for the Hyuga Main House, every one of them is nothing but a house dog hiding in Konoha. Rather than expecting them to evolve the Byakugan, you would be better off hoping someone from the Branch House can break the Caged Bird!"

"The reason the Hyuga Clan has fallen to the point of becoming mere tools for carrying out missions under the suppression of Konoha's Hokage Lineage is because no one has evolved the Byakugan."

"And Lord Raikage knows how to evolve the Byakugan!"

This time, Akira Hyuga's eyes opened as wide as they could, and even his breathing grew rapid.

A, Killer B, and Sakai Yushi exchanged glances, their eyes filled with strange looks as they stared at Chiba Shun.

Chiba Shun beckoned to the three of them and said, "Let's go."

Then he said to Akira Hyuga, "We will not kill you, but there is no time for you to leave behind descendants today. Go back to Konoha."

"In the central region of the Land of Moon, there is a town called Sunshine Town. There is only one izakaya there. If you wish to leave behind a strand of free bloodline for yourself, come when you have the chance after this war ends."

With that, Chiba Shun turned and left.

A and the other two quickly followed him.

A chose to trust Chiba Shun. He was only a member of the Hyuga Branch House; whether he lived or died would not have much impact on Konoha.

What if Chiba Shun had truly persuaded him?

On the way back, A felt that Chiba Shun, whose chakra had been exhausted, was walking too slowly, so he directly slung him over his shoulder.

As he hurried toward the Kumogakure army camp, he asked, "Shun, will your method work?"

"Will he really come?"

Chiba Shun shook his head. "I do not know either, but judging from that Hyuga's expression, he was definitely tempted."

"Though he will not agree right away, I think that as long as the bait is there, sooner or later he will not be able to resist."

"Every bit of humiliation he suffers before the Main House will strengthen his desire to come to the Land of Moon."

"If he sees the Main House use the Caged Bird to punish the Branch House a few more times, perhaps he will come to the Land of Moon."

A thought for a moment and asked, "The Hyuga Clan has never married outsiders. If their bloodline combines with an outsider's, will the child born from it have a Byakugan?"

Chiba Shun was even less certain about that. He guessed, "Probably. Bloodlines in the Shinobi World mainly depend on which parent is stronger."

"But a child born between a member of the Hyuga Clan and an outsider probably would not have a very pure Byakugan."

A clenched his fist. "Purity does not matter. As long as it can be used, that is enough. The Byakugan is simply too powerful in war!"

"The reason we were able to approach them this time was mainly because there was only one of them. If they had several pairs of Byakugan taking turns keeping watch, we would have had no chance to get close."

"We might even have been detected in advance and walked into a trap."

Chiba Shun nodded. He had the same lingering fear.

The reason he had immediately used the Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique at full power in the earlier battle, despite not having mastered it yet, was because he wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible.

If the enemy had companions nearby, then once those companions arrived, they might still be able to fight their way out if they had already dealt with the enemy here.

Suddenly, A thought of something and asked, "Shun, did my father ever tell you about the Byakugan evolving?"

Killer B also looked over curiously.

Before Chiba Shun could speak, Sakai Yushi burst out laughing. "A, you still do not understand Shun. There are barely any truthful words in that man's mouth."

"I do not know how many times he has tricked me."

"There is no need to guess. He was definitely bluffing that idiot from the Hyuga Clan."

"Byakugan evolution? That is definitely nonsense. Anyone who believes it is a puppy."

A...

Killer B...

Chiba Shun rolled his eyes as well.

Because of Akira Hyuga's incident, they no longer had any desire to continue hunting Konoha shinobi and quickly returned to camp.

A brought Chiba Shun to find the Third Raikage, who was personally overseeing the camp.

When the Third Raikage heard Chiba Shun's words, he rose directly from his seat.

His eyes shone as he stared fixedly at Chiba Shun. He even unconsciously activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his entire body radiating a powerful aura.

The Third Raikage thought, It can be done like this? Members of the Hyuga Branch House would willingly leave their bloodline outside?

The Third Raikage and the others truly did not know that the Hyuga Branch House was dissatisfied with its situation.

In their eyes, the Caged Bird existed to protect the Hyuga Branch House, and the Branch House protected the Main House. What a perfect cycle.

The Hyuga Clan must be extremely united!

At that moment, Chiba Shun, who was being stared at by the Third Raikage, stiffened completely. Already drained of chakra, he could not move at all.

Several ANBU rushed into the tent as soon as they sensed the Third Raikage's aura.

Only when he saw the ANBU enter did the Third Raikage come to his senses. He deactivated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, reined in his aura, and stopped staring at Chiba Shun.

After waving the ANBU away, the Third Raikage began considering the feasibility of the matter.

He paced around the command center a few times before saying, "Good. We will do it this way. I will send several female shinobi to stay at that izakaya long-term!"

Then he looked at Killer B, who had entered the command center with them, and asked, "Killer B, how is your condition?"

Killer B said, "Lord Raikage, I am perfectly fine. So is the Eight-Tails. There is no problem."

The Third Raikage did not mind Killer B's tone. He nodded and said, "The Iwa Shinobi have remained in their territory without moving, while the Kirigakure shinobi have set their sights on the Land of Whirlpools. Only the Suna Shinobi are left. It seems we will not gain much this time."

"Once the Hokage arrives, we will begin negotiations. You three will come with me and serve as my guards."

A did not feel much about it, but Chiba Shun's eyes lit up.

A Raikage's guard was no lowly status. Though it was only temporary, it would still benefit his future standing in Kumogakure.

After leaving the command center, Chiba Shun told Sakai Yushi that he would be serving as the Raikage's temporary guard.

Sakai Yushi gave Chiba Shun a strange look and said, "It seems Lord Raikage also knows your heart is black, so he is letting you take part in the negotiations with Konoha."

Chiba Shun's expression froze. Was that really the reason?

With that doubt in mind, Chiba Shun went straight to get something to eat.

He had expended far too much this time, more than ever before.

If Chiba Shun had been carrying out a mission alone, he definitely would not have let himself suffer such massive depletion.

It was only because A had forced him to take risks that he had overexerted himself.

He had to eat it all back!

Such enormous depletion could not be replenished in a day or two. Chiba Shun would inevitably go through a period of weakness.

Sakai Yushi did not go with him. He was very happy right now and was going to collect the mission reward.

The four of them had hunted quite a few Konoha reconnaissance shinobi this time, and the command center had counted it as two A-Rank Missions.

He could collect quite a substantial reward.

Although Chiba Shun was also part of the four-man team, he would receive almost no reward.

That was easy to understand. If one Jonin led three Chunin on a mission, one of those Chunin would more or less receive a share.

But if three Jonin led one Chunin on a mission, that Chunin would not receive much of a reward.

Not to mention that in order to let Chiba Shun force a Breakthrough under pressure, A and the other two had all taken enormous risks.

Therefore, Chiba Shun gave up his mission reward, including all the spoils of war.

Successfully using an A-Rank Mission was the greatest reward he had received.