Tempting Akira Hyuga

Some Hyuga Branch House members had even left their teams after being injured to recover outside.

As a result, the Main House had deemed them deserters and killed them remotely.

Seeing this, Chiba Shun said again, "We truly don't have the ability to remove the Caged Bird. You are destined to never escape that cage in this 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.

Yet Chiba Shun continued, "Kumogakure can find a few female shinobi for you, Senior. You can leave behind descendants!"

"As long as Konoha doesn't know these children exist, they won't do anything to you."

"When those children grow up, who would know they carry your blood? There are so many people in the Branch House—who among them isn't filled with resentment toward the Main House?"

"So you have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

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

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

But the truth was that once a Hyuga Branch House member left descendants outside, that child's eyes would be gouged out the moment they were exposed!

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

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

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

"Actually, you should understand that to a great Shinobi Village, while a pair of Byakugan is important, a member of the Hyuga Clan is even more important!"

"I can tell you frankly that if we captured an adult member of the Hyuga Main House, we would gouge out their Byakugan immediately."

"But if there were a child of the Hyuga Family raised by us, one who truly acknowledged Kumogakure in his heart, do you think we would set our sights on his Byakugan?"

"He could live in Kumogakure and eventually establish an entire Hyuga Clan!"

A subtle change appeared on Akira Hyuga's face. His Byakugan secretly examined Yozuki A.

This man did indeed 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 some villages' confidential archives: the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan can evolve as well!"

Akira Hyuga's pale eyes widened slightly, 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 hoping they can evolve their Byakugan, it would be better to hope that someone from the Branch House can break the Caged Bird!"

"The reason your Hyuga Clan has fallen so low that it can only serve as a tool 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 became rapid.

Yozuki A, Killer B, and Sakai Yushi exchanged glances, their gazes toward Chiba Shun filled with strangeness.

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

Then he said to Akira Hyuga, "We won't kill you, but it's too late for you to leave behind descendants today. Go back to Konoha."

"In the middle of the Land of Moon, there is a small town called Sunshine Town. There is only one tavern there. If you want to leave yourself a bloodline of freedom, Senior, then after this war ends, find an opportunity to come."

With that, Chiba Shun turned and left.

Yozuki A and the other two quickly followed.

Yozuki A chose to believe Chiba Shun. He was only a member of the Hyuga Branch House; whether they killed him or not would not have much impact on Konoha.

What if Chiba Shun had truly persuaded him?

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

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

"Will he really come?"

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

"Although he won't agree right away, as long as the bait is left there, I think he'll eventually be unable to resist."

"Every bit of humiliation he suffers before the Main House will make him want to come to the Land of Moon even more."

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

After thinking for a moment, Yozuki A asked, "The Hyuga Clan has never intermarried with outsiders. If their bloodline is combined with an outsider's, will the children they have possess the Byakugan?"

Chiba Shun was even less certain about that. He guessed, "Probably. In the Shinobi World, bloodlines mainly depend on whichever parent is stronger."

"However, children born between the Hyuga Clan and outsiders probably won't have very pure Byakugan."

Yozuki A clenched his fist. "It doesn't matter if it isn't pure. As long as it can be used, that's enough. The Byakugan is simply too useful in war!"

"The reason we were able to get close to them this time was mainly because there was only one enemy. If they had several pairs of Byakugan taking turns on watch, we would never have had the chance to approach."

"They might even have discovered us in advance and set a trap."

Chiba Shun nodded. He shared the same lingering fear.

The reason he had gone all out from the start in the earlier battle, using the Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique that he had yet to master, was because he wanted to end the fight immediately.

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

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

Killer B also looked over curiously.

Before Chiba Shun could speak, Sakai Yushi burst into laughter. "Yozuki A, you still don't understand Shun. There are barely any truths in that guy's mouth."

"I don't even know how many times he's fooled me."

"There's no need to guess. He was definitely stringing that idiot from the Hyuga Clan along."

"What Byakugan evolution? It has to be nonsense. Anyone who believes it is a puppy."

Yozuki A...

Killer B...

Chiba Shun rolled his eyes as well.

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

Yozuki 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 lit up as he stared fixedly at Chiba Shun. He even unconsciously activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and a powerful aura radiated from his entire body.

The Third Raikage thought, That can be done? Members of the Hyuga Branch House would actually voluntarily leave their bloodline outside?

The Third Raikage and the others truly had not known that the Hyuga Branch House was dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.

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

The Hyuga Clan must be extremely united!

At that moment, Chiba Shun, under the Third Raikage's gaze, went completely stiff. With his chakra already exhausted, he could not move at all.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Several ANBU rushed into the tent after sensing the Third Raikage's aura.

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

After waving the ANBU away, the Third Raikage began considering whether this plan was feasible.

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

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

Killer B replied, "Lord Raikage, I'm perfectly fine. The Eight-Tails is too. There's no problem."

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

"Once the Hokage arrives, we'll have to negotiate. You three will come with me and serve as my guards."

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

A Raikage guard was no lowly position. Though it was 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, "Looks like Lord Raikage knows your heart is black too, so he's having you take part in negotiations with Konoha."

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

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

This time, he had consumed too much. Never before had he expended so much.

If Chiba Shun had been carrying out a mission alone, he definitely would not have allowed himself to consume so much.

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

He had to eat it all back!

Such massive depletion could not be recovered in a day or two. Chiba Shun would inevitably have a period of weakness.

Sakai Yushi did not go with him. He was very happy 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 receive quite a substantial reward.

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

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

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

Not to mention that in order to force Chiba Shun to achieve a Breakthrough under pressure, Yozuki 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.