Senju Haruto activated his Byakugan without hesitation.
In the thick, suffocating mist, he moved freely, his all-seeing vision cutting through the haze as if it wasn't there. Every detail around him stood out in perfect clarity.
This was one of the rare advantages the Byakugan had over the Sharingan.
His goal today was simple and ruthless — avoid the Mist-nin if possible; if not, kill them. Then, search for severely wounded or already dead members of the Uchiha clan… and take their eyes.
Because of the war, every Uchiha who had entered this misty battlefield had instantly activated their Sharingan, their senses sharp, ready for enemies to leap from the shadows.
Even in death, even in their final, broken breaths, their eyes stayed open, crimson and spinning.
It was something Haruto had always found curious.
According to both Kakashi and the now-dead Shimura Danzō, non-Uchiha who transplanted Sharingan couldn't deactivate them at will.
I wonder… if you transplanted a Sharingan that had never been awakened, would it still evolve to three tomoe?
Haruto couldn't help but muse to himself, though he had no way to test the theory.
Using the Byakugan's 360-degree perception, he quickly located Uchiha targets, then dug out their eyes with clinical precision, adding them to his collection.
For this mission, he had come prepared. He'd brought sealing scrolls, storing the eyes in bottles of nutrient fluid before sealing them away.
Once back in the village, he could unseal them again — much like the way Sasuke once used scrolls to summon shuriken.
"Even with their Sharingan active, most of these Uchiha aren't elite jōnin. In this heavy mist, their eyes — their greatest advantage — are barely useful."
Haruto pried another pair of eyes free, dropped them into the nutrient solution, then moved on.
Along the way, he came across not only Uchiha corpses but also plenty of Mist-nin bodies.
Judging from numbers alone, the Uchiha seemed to have the upper hand here.
But the truth was more complicated — the defensive line in this area was made up solely of Uchiha, and they numbered barely over two hundred.
Haruto estimated the Mist forces were at least double or triple that.
"Doesn't matter. My Wood Clone is still holding the line at the Fire Temple. When it comes down to it, Dilu and those warrior monks will fight too. Even with the Hidden Mist Technique, they're not breaking through that defense."
After all, every one of his Wood Clones could activate the Byakugan.
Against that, the enemy's mist was useless.
With that thought, Haruto kept collecting.
Before long, he spotted two more Uchiha bodies lying ahead and sprinted toward them, flipping them over.
"…Hm?"
His brows furrowed at once.
Both corpses bore the clean puncture wounds of long blades — killed by ninja tools. But their eyes…
Their sockets were hollow.
The Sharingan were gone.
Someone else was collecting them.
And it wasn't him.
Not the Mist-nin, Haruto thought instantly.
It made no sense for enemy shinobi to just pluck out Sharingan and leave. Without skilled medical support, they couldn't perform the transplants.
This was still organ transplantation — even for another Uchiha, rejection could occur. Only someone like Uchiha Madara could bend such rules with impunity.
Besides, a Sharingan left exposed to open air would quickly deteriorate.
If the Mist wanted them, they would have taken the whole body, to study later in the safety of their village.
"…Not Mist-nin," Haruto repeated under his breath, his eyes narrowing as a single name surfaced in his mind.
Uchiha Obito.
The Nine-Tails' attack years ago had been Obito's impulsive work… but afterward, he had used it to drive a wedge between the village and the Uchiha, paving the way for Itachi to slaughter the clan and collect a number of eyes.
Now, with Haruto's interference having altered much of that timeline, the details had shifted — but one thing was certain.
Obito would never stop watching Konoha.
If he'd caught wind of the war, he wouldn't miss this opportunity to harvest Sharingan.
"Obito once said Akatsuki wouldn't touch Konoha as part of the deal with Itachi… but the truth is, they were just holding each other in check."
"Obito feared Itachi's strength. Itachi feared Obito's identity. That's the only reason they kept the balance."
Haruto muttered quietly, then pushed his Byakugan's range to its maximum.
Information was the lifeblood of any shinobi battle, and Obito's Kamui had left many opponents helpless in the past.
But Haruto knew its weakness — the moment Obito tried to warp him into the Kamui dimension, Obito would have to materialize for an instant.
If Haruto struck in that instant, he could kill him outright.
And there was the five-minute limit on his intangibility; if Haruto could sustain an attack for that long, Obito would be forced into physical form.
Right now, Haruto had the power to kill him.
But whether Obito lived or died didn't matter for his current plans.
He wouldn't waste time hunting him down on the battlefield.
The priority was clear — collect as many Sharingan as possible, then drive the Mist-nin out.
If I'm right… once this war is over, the Hidden Mist will enter their 'Bloody Mist' era.
Haruto thought it, but didn't dwell on it.
There was no need to.
He would take things step by step. If he did encounter Obito here, he could decide then.
With that, Haruto left the eyeless Uchiha corpses where they lay and pressed on, hunting more Sharingan and killing any Mist-nin who crossed his path.
Then it happened — a sudden surge of overwhelming chakra flared from the east, making Haruto's brows knit.
"That amount of chakra…"
He wasn't especially skilled at sensing, but with the Byakugan, even he could pick up something this massive.
The last time he'd felt something like this was when he'd crossed paths with Rasa of the Sand.
"…Yagura?"
The name sprang to mind instantly — the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist, the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, and soon to be Obito's puppet.
"Let's take a look."
If Yagura was going all-out, then whoever he was fighting had to be formidable.
And just maybe…
Yagura had run into Obito himself.
That possibility made Haruto break into a full sprint toward the source of the chakra spike.
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