Hyuga Hizashi was the first to react, stepping forward to block in front of Hyuga Hiashi.
Hyuga Hiashi's face was livid as he stared at Hyuga Arin. If Tsunade weren't present, he would have taught Hyuga Arin a harsh lesson on the spot.
A member of the branch family daring to release killing intent toward the main family—
That was outright treason.
Hyuga Arin let out a scoff and shot Hyuga Hiashi a look full of disdain.
"Trash."
"You—!" Hyuga Hiashi angrily pointed at him. He hadn't expected this person to be exactly as rumored within the clan, showing not the slightest respect toward the main family.
Boom!
A violent impact rang out as the ground beneath Tsunade's feet shattered. Green chakra erupted from her body.
This time, even Hyuga Arin felt his breathing become labored.
"This is not your Hyuga clan's territory," Tsunade said coldly.
"My apologies, Lady Tsunade," Hyuga Hiashi said respectfully.
In terms of etiquette, there wasn't a single fault to pick at.
Hyuga Hizashi followed Hyuga Hiashi's lead, retreating a step to stand behind him.
Hyuga Arin also stepped back, deliberately widening the distance between himself and the two brothers, wearing an expression that clearly said don't come near me.
Tsunade's expression wasn't pleasant. She knew she shouldn't have accepted this team-leading assignment.
She'd originally thought members of the Hyuga clan would be easy to handle. She glanced at Hyuga Arin, who wore an utterly indifferent expression.
Who would've thought the Hyuga clan could produce such a thorn in the side?
It made her head ache.
"I don't care how you behave inside the Hyuga clan," Tsunade said sternly. "Right now, you are my subordinates!"
Under Tsunade's pressure, Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi both pursed their lips and didn't dare say anything more.
Hyuga Arin sucked in a sharp breath. "The might of a jonin—terrifying indeed."
This brat really wasn't afraid of her at all.
The corner of Tsunade's eye twitched. She shot Hyuga Arin a fierce glare, while Hyuga Arin whistled and looked away.
At that moment, Tsunade took out a scroll and held it up in front of the three of them.
"This time, I've accepted a C-rank mission—clearing out bandits. It's also meant to help your team build some coordination."
Her role as the team leader, put bluntly, was basically that of a babysitter.
It wasn't that she truly acknowledged the three of them as a proper squad yet. Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi had already graduated for two years, yet they still hadn't once left the village on a mission.
As the precious heir of the main family, Hyuga Hiashi had naturally been protected extremely well.
After two years of training, the Hyuga clan wanted this future clan head to gain some real experience. To prevent any accidents—
Tsunade had been selected.
As for Hyuga Hizashi, he had already completed quite a few missions and was a qualified genin. His duty this time was to protect Hyuga Hiashi.
As for Hyuga Arin—he had just graduated this year. Originally, he was supposed to be assigned to a genin squad, but the Hyuga clan forcibly inserted him into this newly formed team.
He joined under the identity of a death guard. If the other two encountered danger, Hyuga Arin would be required to protect them at the cost of his life.
Hyuga Arin bared his teeth at Hyuga Hiashi, revealing chilling white fangs.
He would make Hyuga Hiashi understand that sometimes, teammates were the most dangerous of all.
"Any objections?" Tsunade asked, looking at the three of them. "If not, we'll depart immediately."
Hyuga Arin raised an eyebrow. He hadn't known they were going on a mission right away—Hyuga Dema hadn't mentioned a single word about this.
He glanced at Hyuga Hizashi and Hyuga Hiashi. Neither of them looked surprised at all.
So he was the only one kept in the dark.
Seeing Hyuga Arin's reaction, Tsunade said in a deep voice, "A ninja must always be ready for battle. With a sloppy attitude like that, you won't even know how you died."
"However, if you're not fully prepared, we can wait for you here."
This time, Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi didn't say anything either, clearly agreeing with Tsunade.
"You guys are actually pretty nice," Hyuga Arin said with a cheerful grin.
It was obvious the three of them weren't trying to force him.
"I've always kept the ninja handbook in mind—ready for combat at any time," Hyuga Arin said, patting the ninja tool pouch at his waist.
Of course, that thing was just for show. All his real items were in his inventory, stacked up to ninety-nine per slot.
Tsunade nodded in satisfaction. "Then let's move out."
…
At the village gate, Tsunade submitted the mission documents to the two guards, and their squad was allowed to pass directly.
For a ninja to leave the village, a mission report was mandatory—to prevent defections or spies slipping away.
Not only were there two ninja guarding the gate, there were also many ANBU hidden nearby.
Hyuga Arin glanced at the two gate guards.
He didn't recognize either of them.
As expected of the two great gate guardians whom even Uchiha Madara would fear in the future.
Hyuga Arin chuckled softly.
The other three gave him puzzled looks, not knowing what he was laughing about.
The team quickly left the village and began moving through the forest.
Chakra really was amazing—it could directly enhance the human body.
Hyuga Arin brought up the rear of the team, leaping from branch to branch among the trees.
Beast roars and birdsong echoed through the forest, masking the sounds of their movement.
Since none of them were familiar with one another, there wasn't much to talk about.
Hyuga Arin, meanwhile, was thinking about chakra as a power system.
Chakra was incredibly versatile. It could enhance physical abilities, increase defense, transform into elements, even affect space itself and condense into tangible forms.
On his game panel, chakra was just a string of numerical data, but its true manifestations weren't directly shown.
What were concretely displayed were his ninTechnique and innate abilities.
Skills like throwing techniques or setting traps were technical abilities, but they didn't condense into skills on the panel.
Those required diligent practice and training.
Abilities that could condense into skills could be upgraded directly by consuming EXP.
Depending on the difficulty of the skill, the EXP cost varied.
For example—
[Substitution Technique (Lv5)]
Skills could be expanded further. Once expanded, it became:
[Substitution Technique (Lv5) EXP (0/500) Traits (None)]
Once a skill was upgraded to max level, it would gain a trait.
And similar skills could even be fused together later on.
However, for now, he didn't meet the conditions for that.
Before entering the closed beta, he had been extremely familiar with all the in-game guides.
For instance, the evolution of the Byakugan into the Tenseigan.
The requirements were a max-level [Byakugan] plus the item [Ōtsutsuki Chakra], which would then allow it to evolve into [Tenseigan].
But the problem was that [Ōtsutsuki Chakra] only dropped from members of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
And all the Ōtsutsuki on this planet were enemies he couldn't afford to provoke—like the Sage of Six Paths in the Pure Land, or the hidden boss Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
Going up against them would just be suicide.
The nearest option left was the moon.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who was sealed, was obviously out of the question. That left only the Ōtsutsuki clan living on the moon.
But the problem was—he had no way to get to the moon.
"Byakugan really has no future. Better to find a way to farm Uchiha and get a Sharingan instead."
Hyuga Arin cursed inwardly. He looked up and noticed that Hyuga Hizashi had slowed down slightly, gradually falling into step with him.
Hyuga Arin shot him a sideways glance.
"What? You got something to say?"
He had no interest in Byakugan implanted with the Caged Bird Seal anyway—at best, it would only drop a [Byakugan (Damaged)].