Shinji Hyuga walked out of the ninja tool shop with a 2.5-meter-long bow case slung across his shoulder, beginning his journey home.
Inside the large case, besides the massive sulfur-forged bow, were three hemp strings, fifty arrows, and the corresponding quiver, finger tab, and armguard accessories.
Carrying such an exaggeratedly large case on the street was quite eye-catching.
Along the way, Shinji could faintly hear passing ninjas pointing and whispering about him:
"Wow, what kind of ninja tool is that guy carrying? Even a Fūma Shuriken isn't that big!"
"Huh? Isn't that Shinji Hyuga, that oddball from the Hyuga clan?"
"Who's Shinji Hyuga?"
"Tch... a jinx. Keep your voice down, or he might pick you as his next teammate."
"That weird kid from the Ninja Academy days. He didn't learn the Hyuga clan's proper secret techniques. Back in school, he often practiced Strong Fist with that perpetual genin, Might Dai, and his son. Pity his talent was so poor even Might Dai grew tired of him."
"After becoming a genin, he lost two teammates in a row..."
"He was always the weakest one to survive,almost as if he drained all the luck from his teammates..."
"Now,I guess he's realized practicing ninjutsu or taijutsu is useless, so he's switched to ninja tool throwing, which doesn't need chakra. Hah, no wonder he's the Hyuga clan's disgrace."
He listened to the hushed discussions all the way.
Words of pity, sarcasm, or thinly veiled schadenfreude drifted past his ears.
Shinji Hyuga's gaze darkened slightly. He didn't argue but quickened his pace, hurrying away from the vicinity of the Konoha training grounds.
The shadow of war had now fallen over Konoha.
After leaving the training grounds, the streets grew increasingly deserted, with few pedestrians lingering. The Konoha villagers who hurried past all wore somber expressions.
Heavy,hurried footsteps.
Shops were closed,entertainment venues shut down.
Only the areas around Konoha Hospital and the training grounds were more congested than usual.
Soon, the sun began to set.
Having traveled to several places in a single day and made all possible preparations for battle, Shinji Hyuga returned to the vicinity of the Hyuga clan's territory.
He had two residences.
One was a side room within the residence of Hyuga Takahiro,an elder of the main family, used as living quarters for servants.
The other was the cramped apartment on the edge of the Hyuga clan's territory left to him by his parents.
By refusing the main family's appointment letter, Shinji had essentially severed that tie, so he could only return to that small apartment.
Fortunately, although the apartment was tiny, it gave Shinji Hyuga a unique sense of security.
However,
Just as he was about to step into the Hyuga clan's territory,
Walking down the street, Shinji Hyuga suddenly noticed something.
A gaze, hidden in the shadows of the street, was watching him!
Shinji Hyuga felt a chill run down his spine.
Born with very weak chakra, Shinji, whose core ability was the bloodline limit [Byakugan], was extremely sensitive to the gaze of others.
It could even be said that this sensitivity was precisely why he had survived two years on the battlefield as a cannon-fodder genin in the Third Shinobi World War, while almost all his teammates perished—
A keen, almost tactile sense for the abstract concept of 'sight'.
The human eye's field of vision is generally 180 degrees horizontally and 135 degrees vertically.
When looking straight ahead,the central field is about 120 degrees. Peripheral vision can perceive about 60 degrees to each side, 60 degrees upward, and about 75 degrees downward.
The Byakugan's field of vision is nearly 360 degrees. Even a branch family member like Shinji Hyuga had a 359-degree field. Moreover, it was a penetrating, god's-eye view.
In other words, even standing behind an enemy, Shinji could discern the direction of the enemy's eye movement through their body and vision, thus determining where they were looking.
In theory, by properly utilizing this disparity in lines of sight, Shinji could remain directly behind an enemy at close range, achieving a unique form of 'invisibility'.
That's right, this was the "invisibility technique" created by the genius young protagonist in the movie "Empty Room".
After mastering this ability and combining it with the common Three Basic Ninjutsu,
Shinji Hyuga'ssurvivability on the battlefield instantly increased by more than one level.
Just like at this moment—
The perceptive Shinji instantly sensed a murderous intent within the gaze directed at him.
A ruthless and decisive gaze,like those he had encountered on the battlefield—devoid of personal emotion, solely for the purpose of completing a mission, willing to take a life.
A killing gaze!
Shinji Hyuga didn't understand where this murderous intent came from, nor did he know who had the audacity to plan an ambush near the Hyuga clan's territory with intent to kill.
Upon noticing this gaze, he didn't immediately activate his Byakugan. Instead, relying on the instincts honed on the battlefield, he continued moving forward.
He turned his toes slightly and walked along the right side of the street into a patch of shadows cast by buildings in the setting sun.
The gaze quickly followed Shinji's figure, shifting from a different angle.
Using this change in 'tactile' sensation, Shinji quickly deduced the opponent's location—
Directly to the right,behind the eaves of a two-story wooden house.
The area near the Hyuga clan was mostly comprised of these simple, traditional Japanese buildings.
Gray tiles,white walls, wooden structures—the overall design was quite grand.
Consequently,this also created many blind spots.
Shinji Hyuga remained calm. When he was about fifty meters away from the other party, he suddenly sidestepped, wedging himself behind the shadow of a building and a telephone pole.
From the perspective of the enemy hidden in the shadows, Shinji appeared like someone who had suddenly noticed a posting on a telephone pole, become slightly interested, and walked around to get a closer look.
The large wooden case,the telephone pole, the building's shadow, and the blind spot behind it all obscured Shinji's figure.
Then—
"Byakugan,open!"
The veins around his eyes instantly bulged, and his colorful vision turned monochrome gray-white.
Then,
Expand further, expand further!
As his sight covered a one-kilometer radius,
he finally saw the face of the ninja secretly watching him.
The other person wore a cat-faced mask with only two whiskers and a light yellow hooded coat that completely concealed their figure.
Beneath the mask was a broad face that appeared somewhat sinister.
Root. Their attire was similar to Konoha's Anbu, and yet...
Shinji Hyuga frowned slightly and immediately recognized the other party as the owner of a pharmacy that had opened on the street in the Hyuga clan's territory three months ago.
Shinjihad passed by that pharmacy.
In his memory,this kind, broad face had always worn a very approachable smile.
So, this was a Root operative?
Someone sent by Shimura Danzo to contact him?
But that didn't seem quite right...
Shinji frowned deeply, thinking that Konoha's Anbu and Root had no reason to surveil the Hyuga clan at this time.
Furthermore,surveilling the Hyuga clan was pointless; any observation of the Hyuga or their Byakugan was almost guaranteed to be exposed.
Moreover,this Root/Anbu operative clearly harbored ill intent.
Why did he want to kill him?
Shinji Hyuga hadn't provoked the Anbu, and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wouldn't bother sending an Anbu to kill Shinji, who had absolutely no connection to him.
Shinjihad just submitted what was essentially an application to join Root that morning, disguised as an S-rank mission posting.
Even if Danzo despised him and didn't want him in Root,as long as Shinji didn't touch Danzo's personal affairs or compromise Root's secrets,
Danzo had no reason to kill him.
Shinji Hyuga had a very clear understanding of his own worth.
The fact that someone as seemingly useless as himhadn't been killed by Danzo was proof of that worth.
So now,
Whose side did this person who wanted to kill him belong to?