Year 47 of Konoha.
Somewhere inside a bandit lair within the Land of Fire.
A Konoha ninja squad had patronized this place, and the scene was a complete mess.
A handsome and delicate teenage boy blew the bloodstains off his short sword, paying no mind to the desperate begging of the bandit at his feet.
"Zou Hyuga, I've checked, there are no ambushes inside!"
A straight-haired black-haired teenage girl dressed in ninja attire walked out of the cave and came before the handsome boy to report.
The handsome boy looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a grey-green flak jacket with Konoha characteristics. Beneath his gleaming silver forehead protector was well-trimmed short hair that covered a faint cyan mark.
The teenage ninja called Zou Hyuga scratched his head lightly, the hand holding the blade casually slicing the throat of the bandit at his feet. He looked around cautiously before speaking solemnly:
"Oto Uchiha, how many times do I have to say it—caution in all things. The mission we are performing this time is a C-Rank Mission, and there is a possibility of Jonin appearing at any time, a possibility of losing our lives at any moment."
"Jonin... Even though it's clearly a B-Rank Mission where ninjas would appear..."
Oto Uchiha turned her head away and curled her lips, yet she found it hard to refute the boy before her.
A few years ago, during the period when they first performed a C-Rank Mission, they had indeed encountered ninjas from an enemy country. If not for Zou Hyuga turning the tide with brute force, she likely would have already become a corpse.
"Byakugan, activate!"
Zou Hyuga shook his head, helplessly activating the Byakugan. His line of sight swept past the girl before him and gazed toward the interior of the cave.
Very good, there were indeed no hidden ninjas inside the cave.
It seemed this mission was truly and honestly just an ordinary C-Rank Mission, without any unexpected circumstances arising.
If everything went smoothly, a record of a C-Rank Mission would be added to his ninja resume.
Deactivating the Byakugan and instructing Oto Uchiha to clean up the spoils of war, Zou Hyuga leaned against a large tree and let out a helpless sigh in his heart.
He wasn't always this cautious from the very beginning.
When he had yet to understand this world, he always thought this was simply ancient Japan.
Yet after seeing his clansmen's flawless white Byakugan, he understood that this was not the ancient Japan he thought it was, but rather the Shinobi World, where human lives were treated like grass.
Recalling the Shinobi World, Zou Hyuga thought of gorgeous ninjutsu, bizarre genjutsu, and all sorts of strange and eccentric Kekkei Genkai.
In this world, ninjas who mastered formidable power were completely impossible for ordinary people to resist.
The only thing worth celebrating was that he had been born into a prominent Konoha clan, the ancient Hyuga, rather than into those ordinary families that couldn't even learn ninjutsu.
In the Shinobi World, people who could not become ninjas had not even half a chance to seize control of their own destinies.
Therefore, at the age of four, once he was able to refine Chakra, he had constantly engaged in arduous cultivation, gaining accomplishments in both ninjutsu and the Gentle Fist.
He had surpassed the vast majority of his peers.
Unfortunately, because he was born into the Hyuga Branch Family, he was naturally subjected to the control of the Main Family.
With a life bound by the Caged Bird Seal, exposing the identity of a genius would not bring him many benefits.
Thus, during his time at the Ninja Academy, he did not flaunt himself in the slightest or engage in attention-seeking behavior such as graduating early. Instead, he practiced concealment, keeping his grades at the average standard of the masses.
Even though a bizarre tattoo appeared on his body at a young age, he had never leaked it out.
The concealment plan proceeded very successfully, right until they first performed a mission, when his squad ran into an enemy Jonin.
The squad leader Jonin was besieged, and his teammates were coveted by a Chunin.
With no other choice, he exposed his strength, but he only had enough time to save the Uchiha girl among his companions.
That was Oto Uchiha, who was following behind him.
After that unexpected incident, Zou Hyuga became even more certain of the necessity of caution.
Even if he could be promoted to Chunin, he would stall; if he could perform a D-Rank Mission, he would definitely never perform a C-Rank Mission.
Caution was treated as the highest priority in everything, refusing to actively expose his strength and ignoring troublesome matters.
Just like that, he made it through the most dangerous period of the Shinobi World War, successfully surviving until the current era of campaigning for the Fourth Hokage.
Although the current Shinobi World was still somewhat unstable, at least it didn't require a Genin like him to head to the front lines and throw his life away.
A Genin like his kind should honestly stay in the rear, play the slacker, and complete a few D-Rank Missions.
Wasn't this wonderful?
Just like this time, if not for the lack of D-Rank Missions, would he have ventured out of the village to perform a C-Rank Mission?
Heaven knew what kind of battles the white-haired captain who performed that C-Rank Mission in the future would experience while leading a pink, yellow, and black-haired crew.
It perfectly interpreted what nine lives... or rather, a narrow escape from death was.
Therefore, possessing the experience of predecessors and personal lessons, he would never accept missions beyond his capability.
At this moment, Oto Uchiha, having finished processing the spoils of war, appeared before Zou Hyuga, her eye sockets holding the Sharingan with Tomoe.
Eh?
Zou Hyuga's gaze lingered slightly on Oto Uchiha's pretty face, swept past the barren mound, and finally landed on the burlap sack in Oto Uchiha's hands, his brows furrowing deeply.
"Are these the only spoils of war this time?"
"Only these."
Oto Uchiha helplessly nodded and spread her hands, signaling that she had not embezzled anything.
Zou Hyuga stepped forward, took the sack of spoils, and opened it to take a look. His expression turned somewhat unsightly, and he was already cursing inwardly in his heart.
These bandits were truly so poor there wasn't an ounce of grease on them; put together, over a dozen people didn't even have the wealth of an ordinary Ninja.
He began to reminisce about the Shinobi World War, following behind the main forces and looting corpses-the money earned back then...
What? You say corpses might have Explosive Tags buried beneath them during the Shinobi War? Please, he possessed the Byakugan, would he be afraid of those?
Wasn't that keeping the Byakugan activated the entire time, seeing everyone in perspective.
Of course, he didn't resell spoils because he had a difficult-to-break habit for money, but rather because his combat style consumed a massive amount of funds, and he was so poor he was practically running out of food.
How could a Ninja's affairs be called being greedy for money?
Taking the slightly valuable items and storing them away, Zou Hyuga's gaze returned to Oto Uchiha.
Oto Uchiha did not have the Uchiha Clan's Gunbai symbol on her body, which was very good.
As expected of someone he had specifically instructed, after all, an Uchiha identity easily attracted the attention of hostile Ninja.
In terms of caution, Oto Uchiha still listened to his words quite a bit, truly living up to being the only Ninja qualified to follow behind him.
"Let's go, return to Konoha," Zou Hyuga said to Oto Uchiha, and the latter nodded.
After completing the mission to wipe out the bandits, they would immediately return to the village to avoid complications.
As far as the current Shinobi World was concerned, Konoha was undoubtedly the safest place he could find, one that could accommodate a Genin and also allow a Genin to safely execute D-rank missions.
However, before that, Zou Hyuga took out a mirror, adjusted the Forehead Protector on his head to reveal the pale blue Caged Bird Seal, and nodded in satisfaction.
Oto Uchiha beside him was long used to it.
She had previously asked Zou Hyuga for the reason behind this, and the reply she got was: the Caged Bird Seal would dispel enemies' covetous glances toward the Byakugan.
Zou Hyuga, really was overly cautious.
Zou Hyuga did not know Oto Uchiha's thoughts at the moment; he patted Oto Uchiha's shoulder and leaped up onto a tree branch.
Oto Uchiha's body shuddered slightly; she understood Zou Hyuga's meaning and closely followed behind him.
Rumble!
Not long after getting up into the trees, a fierce sound of fighting came from afar.
Familiar with the sound of explosions, Oto Uchiha quickly realized that was the commotion produced by Explosive Tags, which meant Ninja were participating in the nearby battle.
Shifting her gaze toward Zou Hyuga, Oto Uchiha only saw Zou Hyuga shake his head, having no intention of breaking away from hiding.
"We are merely ordinary Genin, and do not yet have the qualifications to participate in battles between Ninja..."
Oto Uchiha gently nodded; she knew the consequences of meddling in other people's business, and a Ninja only needed to complete the duties within their own share.
Yet she still couldn't help but look toward the direction of the battle.
Before you continue