After circling Hyuga Kagami and letting out a few snorts, the scruffy little wild boar that had swallowed the poison sac wobbled off into the underbrush and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Could it be that this little guy's body developed a resistance to toxins?"
With that thought, Hyuga Kagami suddenly came up with a new experimental plan.
For the past couple of days, one issue had been troubling him—the lack of a qualified live subject for poison testing.
Using lab mice for poison testing was clearly inadequate. Their constitution was far too weak—ordinary poisons could kill them, which made it difficult to properly assess the potency of his toxins.
But this little wild boar's sudden appearance seemed to solve that problem.
With a plan now in place, Hyuga Kagami didn't linger in the Forest of Death. He returned home immediately.
The composite poisons Hyuga Kagami had designed came in two types.
The first type was a paralytic toxin.
Its primary ingredients were the poisonous powder from the wings of the Spotted Moth and the venom from the tail of a Red-Tailed Scorpion. The secondary component was saliva from the Giant Mandible Ant.
The moth's powder was known for its intense paralyzing effects, while the scorpion's venom, in addition to being toxic, had the added effect of accelerating blood circulation. Combined, they would allow the toxin to spread rapidly through the bloodstream, rendering the target immobile in a matter of seconds.
The saliva of the Giant Mandible Ant, when solidified, formed a rare protective film. Mixing it into the compound toxin helped preserve its potency, extending its active period by four to five times.
The second type of composite poison was a lethal toxin.
Its main ingredients included the venom of a One-Eyed Viper, along with two species of venomous spiders and one species of poisonous centipede. Its auxiliary ingredient was again the Giant Mandible Ant's saliva.
The One-Eyed Viper, which had followed Hyuga Kagami for quite a while, already possessed strong toxicity. By combining its venom with others into a composite form—and assuming the potency wasn't diluted—Hyuga Kagami believed even the standard-issue antidotes from major shinobi villages wouldn't be able to neutralize it.
Of course, all of this was still theoretical.
To bring these concepts into reality, Hyuga Kagami needed to conduct extensive experimentation.
After working all afternoon, he successfully produced ten bottles of toxin: five paralytic and five lethal.
The reason for making so many was to test the optimal mixing ratios between the various poisonous ingredients. Even with the same components, different ratios could result in wildly varying levels of toxicity.
As night approached, Hyuga Kagami put away all his concoctions, planning to return to the Forest of Death tomorrow to test them on the scruffy wild boar.
As for the evening, he had other plans...
Uchiha Clan Grounds.
Returning home from school, Itachi noticed that several clan members were gathered in small groups, talking animatedly. Curious, he paused and listened in.
"Jinichi actually lost?"
"Yeah, and pretty badly too. I heard Shisui had to carry him back..."
"What a disgrace! Why did the clan even let someone so useless take on the challenge? It's just embarrassing!"
"But Jinichi isn't exactly weak. He's been a Special Jounin for two years now. How could he lose so badly? Is that Hyuga kid really that strong?"
"Hmph, he was just a Chuunin a few months ago. How strong could he be?"
"Shisui might've been going easy, but Jinichi lost fair and square. If this happens again..."
"We can't let that happen again. Next time, we send someone truly powerful."
Listening in, Itachi couldn't help but show a helpless expression. He thought to himself, "Just as I expected..."
There were two meanings behind Itachi's "as expected." One, that the clan members couldn't resist challenging Hyuga Kagami. And two, that they lost.
Deep in thought, Itachi walked back home slowly.
As he passed the veranda, he saw his father sitting in the courtyard, appearing to be lost in thought. Not wanting to disturb him, Itachi instinctively softened his footsteps.
Just then, Uchiha Fugaku spoke, "Is that you, Itachi?"
Itachi straightened up quickly. "Yes, Father. I'm home."
Still facing forward, Fugaku replied calmly, "You heard the rumors, didn't you?"
"Yes, I just heard them."
Fugaku asked, "What's your opinion on the matter?"
Everyone could see Itachi's talent, and from a young age, Fugaku had been grooming him as the next clan leader. As such, Fugaku would often ask for his thoughts on various clan affairs to help him grow.
Itachi thought for a moment and answered, "This might actually be a good thing for the Uchiha."
Fugaku gave no comment, simply waving his hand. "You may go."
Itachi bowed respectfully and quietly left the courtyard.
That night...
After confirming no one was spying on him, Hyuga Kagami shut all his doors and windows tightly.
He planned to use the evening to practice the various sealing techniques found in the artificial Tailed Beast data.
Creating an artificial Tailed Beast required not only a large number of sealing techniques but also molding techniques and specialized jutsu.
Moreover, during the process of constructing the beast's shell, there could be no mistakes in the application of these techniques. A single error would mean the entire project would fail without any chance of correction.
That's why Hyuga Kagami had to master all these techniques perfectly before launching the plan. Complete accuracy was the only acceptable outcome.
There were no shortcuts here—only hard work and repetition could bring the needed results. With the long vacation granted by the Third Hokage, Hyuga Kagami intended to use every evening to practice diligently.
As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect." If he trained enough, a 100% success rate wouldn't be out of reach.
At a certain border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water...
A Cloud Village Jounin crushed a Konoha shinobi's throat and turned to the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii. "Looks like Konoha hasn't noticed us yet."
Yugito, crouching near a spread-out map on the ground, responded, "Looks like our squad is moving a little slower than expected."
The Cloud Jounin leaned over and glanced at the map, frowning. "The intel from the reconnaissance unit was full of holes. At this pace, we're already moving as fast as we can."
"It might not be the intel team's fault," Yugito said thoughtfully. "It's possible Konoha recently altered its border defenses in this region."
She paused, then added, "Doesn't matter. Keep advancing. We must rendezvous with Killer Bee within two days!"
With her command, the twenty or so Cloud ninjas behind her surged forward into the heart of the Land of Fire...