The border of the Land of Fire is usually patrolled by Konoha Ninja.
Aoran, without a mission scroll, could only pass through areas with weak patrols.
As a Hyuga Clan member, crossing the border undetected was much simpler than for an ordinary person.
Even if the border guards had binoculars, they would be useless, as binoculars cannot see through objects.
Aoran formed hand seals, and numerous blue veins bulged around his eyes: "Byakugan!"
Instantly, his vision changed, and he began to scan in all directions like a radar.
One kilometer, three kilometers, five kilometers... hmm?
Aoran suddenly discovered many Chakra reactions gathered together in his field of vision.
He focused his attention and found that what appeared to be a cliff face actually had a downward pit beneath it.
The pit twisted and turned, eventually leading to the bottom of the cliff.
There were a full two hundred people stationed here, and all of them wore Konoha headbands on their foreheads.
"Why would Konoha send so many people to guard this place?"
Aoran felt something was amiss; border outposts usually had a maximum of fifteen people.
Spread across the border, it was actually difficult to spot anyone.
Having over two hundred people gathered here was an extreme waste of personnel.
Moreover, these people were disciplined, following orders strictly and behaving with great order.
Aoran noticed they were all diligently performing various physical training exercises.
Sensing something fishy, he decided to observe for a while longer.
Finally, after their physical training ended, they began their Ninjutsu training.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Technique!"
In groups of twenty, they formed hand seals and unleashed flames that directly covered the valley floor in layers of fire.
[Great Flame Technique? This Fire Release is so familiar... hmm, someone's coming!]
While Aoran was secretly observing, he spotted a figure in his vision rapidly approaching.
After estimating the opponent's speed, Aoran didn't hesitate. He picked up Karin, turned, and crossed the border, heading towards Konoha.
Fifteen minutes after Aoran left, a Konoha Ninja with a short sword at his waist appeared on the scene. His name was Sarutobi Enmori, an elite of the Sarutobi Clan.
He frowned, looking at the empty area.
[No, there must have been a gaze peeking.]
[Kunihiko's perception has never been wrong.]
He began searching the ground, then jumped onto a tree, where he saw footprints on the branches.
[This angle!?]
From the angle where Aoran had just stood, he took out his binoculars, and a moment later, his expression suddenly turned grim.
From this spot, let alone peeking at their training, one couldn't even see the bottom of the cliff.
Unless, the other party had x-ray vision!?
[Hyuga Clan!?]
He was startled, this conjecture made his scalp tingle.
If the village knew that the Sarutobi Clan had trained so many private soldiers, it would be extremely detrimental to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He immediately flashed away towards the base; he needed to report to the village immediately... Aoran, five kilometers away, only withdrew his gaze after seeing the person leave.
He remembered.
The "Great Flame Technique" was a secret family Fire Release technique of the Sarutobi Clan.
The people training below were all from the Sarutobi Clan.
[I didn't expect Hiruzen Sarutobi to hide so many people at the border.]
When Aoran watched the anime before, he always felt there was something wrong with the Third Hokage.
Later, after rewatching it two or three times, he found that in some subtle details, Hiruzen Sarutobi was impossibly dark.
The Uchiha deployed hundreds of combat personnel to withstand the attack of an entire Hidden Mist village during the Third Great Ninja War because the Uchiha were the foremost noble clan in the Ninja World.
There wasn't a single weak ninja with Uchiha blood.
Even without activating their Sharingan, their Chakra reserves were far greater than those of ordinary ninjas.
But even under these circumstances, the Uchiha at its peak never exceeded 500 combat personnel.
There was no other reason; they simply couldn't afford to support that many.
But the Sarutobi Clan was even more terrifying, with over a thousand combat personnel during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
How much financial power would that take to accumulate?
The Uchiha were all battle maniacs, skilled at clearing missions.
But the Sarutobi Clan was obscure, without so many masters.
Trying to support a thousand ninjas with mission funds was simply laughable.
Moreover, from what Aoran had just observed, these Sarutobi Clan members were training full-time, not out on missions at all.
This consumption would be even greater.
[Tsk tsk tsk, it seems Hiruzen Sarutobi is quite greedy.]
After committing this information to memory, Aoran didn't linger, heading quickly towards Konoha... Upon nearing Konoha, Aoran put Karin down.
He formed a hand seal, and with a 'bang', transformed into a Hyuga Clan member in his twenties, his external alias.
"Don't speak for a while, okay?" Aoran whispered to Karin.
Karin had seen Transformation Jutsu before, and although she didn't know what Aoran was planning, she obediently remained silent.
Aoran took a detour, not entering through Konoha's main gate, but heading towards the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Soon after, a ninja squad landed.
The leader, with a bulbous nose and short hair, carrying a sword on his back, was none other than Uchiha Shisui.
"It's Xiao. Why are you coming this way again?"
Shisui saw Aoran and showed a helpless smile.
Aoran, under the alias Xiao, chuckled: "Isn't it about saving a little bit?"
Shisui nodded: "Go on. The Kumogakure peace envoy is arriving soon, so next time, there will be more than just us on patrol."
"Understood. I'll be going then."
Aoran responded, greeted them, picked up Karin, and entered Konoha through the Uchiha Clan Compound... Every mission undertaken by the Hyuga Branch Family is recorded, and a portion is offered to the Main Family each month.
To conceal his single Byakugan, Aoran always used Transformation Jutsu when going out. Through his deliberate efforts, he had befriended a few Uchiha members.
Since his transformed self was an unregistered person, he used the excuse of not wanting to pay tribute to the Main Family.
He didn't put his name on mission scrolls and split the money afterwards.
When returning to Konoha, he naturally took the route patrolled by the Uchiha.
Although the Uchiha Clan had a bad temper, they sympathized with Xiao, a Hyuga Branch Family member, so they generally turned a blind eye.
After Xiao successfully entered Konoha, he didn't go home or cancel his transformation.
Instead, he immediately took Karin to Hyuga Hizashi's residence.
The guards at the entrance were already familiar with Xiao and let him in directly.
"Lord Hizashi, I'm back."
Xiao and Karin quickly arrived at Hizashi's study.
After closing the door, he finally canceled his Transformation Jutsu.
Hizashi was currently processing documents at his desk and looked up when he heard the voice.
"It's good that you returned safely."
Seeing Aoran return unharmed, Hizashi smiled...