Hyuga Kagami had already reached a conclusion in his heart.
From the brief exchange between Mitsui Chuichi and Anko Mitarashi, he had more or less deduced the truth.
The so-called "special mission" Mitsui had assigned to Oda and Anko was most likely meant to contact a spy the Village had planted inside Sunagakure.
But for a mission of that level of secrecy, how could the Village possibly send two Chunin who were still under observation?
From any rational or logical standpoint, it made no sense at all.
Which meant Anko's instincts had been right. The "special mission" was a trap. The Village had likely decided to abandon Orochimaru's former subordinates and quietly eliminate them one by one under the guise of legitimate operations.
"Was it Danzo? Or the Third Hokage? Or… the Fourth?"
Hyuga Kagami's first suspicion fell on Danzo Shimura.
Orochimaru's premature defection was riddled with hidden factors, and Kagami couldn't clearly judge what role Danzo had played in it. However, one thing was undeniable—Danzo was the greatest beneficiary of Orochimaru's early departure. By the logic of whoever benefits most is the mastermind, Danzo was highly likely to be the one who had pushed Orochimaru into defecting ahead of schedule.
If that were the case, then Danzo and Orochimaru would have completely severed ties. In that light, it was perfectly reasonable for Danzo to eliminate Orochimaru's former subordinates who refused to join Root.
Suspicion toward the Third Hokage couldn't be ruled out either.
The Third was the kind of man who, in the name of "stability," was capable of making decisions that were both incomprehensible and foolish. There was precedent for this: standing by as the White Fang was driven to suicide, later bowing to Kumogakure's pressure and forcing the Hyuga Clan to sacrifice Hyuga Hizashi, and allowing Uzumaki Naruto, the orphan of the Fourth, to grow up amid the Village's scorn and hostility.
As for the Fourth Hokage, Hyuga Kagami felt it was unlikely.
Not because of blind trust in his character, but because the Fourth came from a civilian background and lacked the backing of a powerful clan. Moreover, the Third had not yet fully relinquished authority. Under such circumstances, the Fourth simply didn't have the influence necessary to orchestrate something like this.
In addition, given the Fourth's age advantage, there was no urgency for him to carry out an internal purge.
In short, no matter who was behind it, Hyuga Kagami knew one thing for certain—he had already become a target. Danger was hanging over his head, ready to strike at any moment.
---
Time passed quietly.
One week after Anko's ambush, Hyuga Kagami finally made it safely through the Tenseigan's adaptation period.
The dizziness and stabbing pain vanished completely, replaced by a comprehensive enhancement to his vision.
The Tenseigan retained part of the Byakugan's abilities, yet in terms of fine perception, it was vastly superior. With nothing more than casual observation, Hyuga Kagami could roughly predict an opponent's next move by reading the flow of chakra through their body and the subtle expansion and contraction of their muscles.
Beyond perception, the most dramatic change lay in his chakra reserves.
Conservatively speaking, Hyuga Kagami estimated that his current chakra was forty to fifty times greater than before he injected the gene fluid—already exceeding that of an average Jonin.
He also vaguely sensed that his body had awakened additional abilities. Unfortunately, stationed at the outpost and constantly monitored by Mitsui Chuichi, he had no opportunity to test them freely.
Suppressing his excitement, Hyuga Kagami finally waited for a chance to go on solo patrol a few days later.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, the yellow sand in the distance surged toward his outstretched right hand like a flood breaking through a dam!
With a single thought, the rushing sand seemed to collide with an invisible hurricane and was blasted violently away.
Standing alone in the remote desert, watching the sand respond to his call and scatter at his command, Hyuga Kagami's lips curled slightly.
This technique fused the principles of Pain's Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in, both based on attraction and repulsion. In his memories from his previous life, Ōtsutsuki Toneri had used a similar ability on the moon.
"Since this is an ability of the Tenseigan," Hyuga Kagami muttered,
"then I'll call it… Rinnegan."
After testing the Rinnegan several more times, the initial excitement gradually faded, and its shortcomings became apparent.
Its effective range was only about fifteen meters. Beyond that, the farther the distance, the weaker the effect.
Hyuga Kagami frowned, panting lightly.
Most offensive C-rank or higher ninjutsu exceeded twenty meters in range, some even reaching fifty meters. Even thrown weapons like kunai and shuriken, when wielded by experts, could easily surpass twenty meters.
In other words, if an enemy kept their distance, the Rinnegan in its current state could only serve as a defensive or interference tool.
Setting aside the issue of range, another flaw soon revealed itself—the very chakra reserves that had once thrilled him.
After using the Rinnegan repeatedly, Hyuga Kagami was shocked to discover that his chakra was already running low.
Only then did realization dawn on him.
The forty-to-fiftyfold increase had distorted his sense of judgment.
Because his original chakra levels were only at the low end of Genin standards, even multiplying them by that amount merely pushed him slightly beyond the average Jonin. It was nowhere near the realm of casting ninjutsu recklessly—let alone comparable to Ōtsutsuki Toneri, who could treat the moon itself like a toy.
Hyuga Kagami had subconsciously used Ōtsutsuki Toneri as his benchmark.
Reality, however, struck him mercilessly.
"Why is it like this?"
"Where did things go wrong?"
"Did I make a mistake in how I evolved the Tenseigan?"
Questions piled up one after another.
Doubt, anxiety, even panic churned in his mind—until, after a long while, he finally calmed down.
Then, changing his perspective, everything suddenly made sense.
In his past-life memories, Ōtsutsuki Toneri was the only person to ever possess the Tenseigan. Subconsciously, Hyuga Kagami had assumed that obtaining the Tenseigan meant obtaining Toneri's power.
But bloodline limits differed from person to person.
Even among those with the Byakugan, many members of the Hyuga Clan were far stronger than Hyuga Kagami. And even with the Sharingan, the vast majority of the Uchiha were nothing more than ants before Uchiha Madara.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri was the last surviving descendant of the moon's branch family—a true genius who monopolized all of Ōtsutsuki Hamura's legacy. Even without the Tenseigan, his strength had already reached Kage level.
Someone like that was never a fair comparison for Hyuga Kagami, who had started as nothing more than a Genin.
For Toneri, reaching a Super-Kage level after obtaining the Tenseigan was only natural.
For Hyuga Kagami, however, trying to bridge that gap with nothing but a pair of Tenseigan was unrealistic.
Once he understood this, he attempted to replicate other Tenseigan techniques Toneri had used in his memories—only to confirm his limits. He couldn't enter Tenseigan Chakra Mode at all. As for techniques like cutting the moon or wielding Truth-Seeking Orbs for offense and defense, those were even more impossible.
"Hmm… does entering Tenseigan Chakra Mode require hand seals?"