Buzz!
Hyūga Kumokawa extended his palm, about to grasp the black orb.
But in the next instant, his movement suddenly halted. The corner of his eye twitched slightly as he looked toward the other side.
He had fled.
Yes, that bastard Hiruko had actually run away without any hesitation, using Swift Release to escape.
If he wanted to chase him, he really wouldn't be able to catch up.
This was the first time Hyūga Kumokawa had encountered such a shameless guy. As a so-called senior, after throwing out a few harsh words upon meeting, he got punched once and immediately activated his kekkei genkai to flee in panic. Even someone as life-preserving as Orochimaru wouldn't do something like this.
This guy was truly a sensitive rat, fleeing at the slightest whiff of danger.
"What a shame."
Hyūga Kumokawa sighed, rubbing his throbbing, pulsating eyes. I still wanted to test out my newly acquired abilities. At the very least, I could have had Hiruko send my regards to dear Lord Orochimaru.
Thinking this, he raised his head and looked at the panel in front of him.
[Bloodline: Ōtsutsuki Clan (6.8% → 9.8%)]
[Kekkei Genkai: Tenseigan · Second Stage (22.3% → 30.2%) [Abilities: Spiritual Puppet, Chakra Beads]
Looking at the Ōtsutsuki bloodline that had reached 9.8%, Hyūga Kumokawa's eyes flickered slightly as he pondered, "No wonder Ōtsutsuki Toneri was able to awaken the Tenseigan in such a short time after transplanting pure Byakugan."
After all, even Uchiha Madara had to wait until the end of his life, after transplanting Senju cells, before opening the Rinnegan. Although Toneri's bloodline was strong, it shouldn't have been possible for him to awaken the Tenseigan in just a few days.
Now it seemed it was likely due to that giant Tenseigan. It had gathered the ocular power of all the Ōtsutsuki clan members.
Although the connection to the giant Tenseigan on the moon had been severed, the feedback of ocular power had greatly accelerated his Tenseigan awakening process. It was probably the same for how Toneri had awakened his.
"However, Hiruko did remind me of something." Hyūga Kumokawa thought of the Chimera Technique and pondered, "Logically, since I possess the Ōtsutsuki bloodline, I should be able to awaken other kekkei genkai as well."
For example, Shikotsumyaku.
Or Wood Release.
So, what was he still missing?
"Just a key." A smile appeared at the corner of Hyūga Kumokawa's mouth. "The chakra and cells of a kekkei genkai ninja."
As long as he activated the recessive gene segments in his body, with the current purity of his bloodline in this physique, he should also be able to awaken other kekkei genkai.
Moreover, this seemed like it could further complete his Ōtsutsuki bloodline. After all, Toneri wasn't the endpoint of the Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
"Hyūga Kumokawa!"
From afar, the grave voice of an ANBU ninja reached his ears. They must have noticed he had fallen behind and come looking for him.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Hyūga Kumokawa followed the direction of the voice and hurried to catch up.
If the shinobi world continued to maintain this fragile and false peace, he wouldn't have the chance to leave the village to set up certain measures, nor would he be able to plunder kekkei genkai ninjas from other villages.
Therefore, war.
War! War was the necessary prerequisite!
At the same time, after Hyūga Kumokawa had caught up with the team and explained that he had been using his Byakugan to observe the aftermath of a distant battle.
At the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain, a woman unrolled a summoning scroll inside a cave.
Bang!
With a puff of smoke that exploded and then dissipated, the disheveled Hiruko appeared.
"Lord Hiruko! How did you…"
Seeing this, the woman's expression changed drastically. She hurriedly moved to help him up, but Hiruko waved her away with his hand.
"Damn it! Damn it! That little brat from the Hyūga clan…" Hiruko said through gritted teeth.
As he was fuming over his sorry state, a mocking voice suddenly rang out.
"Heh heh." The laughter sounded androgynous, with two voices mixed together. "Our Lord Hiruko looks quite pathetic indeed."
Hiruko abruptly lifted his head and looked deeper into the cave. Seeing the shadowy figure writhing as it approached, and catching that distinctive, pungent odor, an irrepressible look of disgust appeared on his face.
Having often experimented with rats and snakes, he naturally understood exactly what that smell was.
A female snake in heat would release a brown, viscous secretion from its cloaca, carrying a strong, unique scent to attract male snakes.
That was the smell of that brown, viscous secretion.
"Orochimaru." Hiruko said coldly, "If you're in heat, go outside to do it. Don't disgust me here!"
"Hehe." Orochimaru's tone was indifferent. "Isn't your soul the same? Just as ugly and repulsive as mine."
--------
At ten o'clock in the morning, approaching noon, inside the Hokage's office.
Sparse sunlight streamed through the half-open window onto the mahogany desk, but it was completely blocked by the mountain of stacked documents.
Rustle.
Seated in a chair, Sarutobi Hiruzen flipped through the documents on the desk with one hand while familiarly holding a smoking pipe in the other.
"Puff!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen brought the pipe to his mouth. The tobacco in the bowl glowed faintly as he inhaled, and a few wisps of white smoke rose with each breath, the fine particles carried out the window by the wind.
"Cough! Cough cough!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen choked on a deep drag, his brows furrowing as he let out a slightly hoarse cough.
But once the itchy sensation in his throat passed, he took another drag without pause.
"Cough! Hiruzen, haven't you been smoking a lot these past two days?"
Mitokado Homura sat on a chair against the wall on the other side, far from the window that kept sucking out the smoke, and reminded him, "I know you're under a lot of pressure right now, but you should still take care of your health, right?"
"…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen had no mind to respond. He silently lowered his head and continued flipping through the letters that had been delivered yesterday. In fact, he had already read these letters hundreds of times, but he still felt restless.
It had already been the third day since the team escorting Hyūga Hiashi's body had left Konoha. Normally, the trip from Konoha to the border shouldn't take more than two days, and a letter sent back via ninja beast by Akimichi Dōtō yesterday confirmed this.
In the first letter, Akimichi Dōtō said the escort team was not far from their destination, but in the second letter, he mentioned they had encountered a group of Iwagakure missing-nin along the way.
Not only did he report that the team was safe with no losses, but he also praised Hyūga Kumokawa's abilities and character.
While Sarutobi Hiruzen was pleased that Kumokawa might be able to shoulder great responsibilities, he also felt uneasy about the sudden appearance of the Iwagakure missing-nin. And now, a full day had passed since the last letter with no new message.
It shouldn't be taking this long.
Could it be that Iwagakure was also getting involved?
At this thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen showed a worried expression and took a deep, harsh drag from his pipe.
Knock! Knock knock!
Just as Mitokado Homura was about to remind Hiruzen again to smoke less, hurried and somewhat panicked footsteps suddenly came from outside the Hokage's office door.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank. He looked up and saw a masked ANBU ninja enter the office.
"Sandaime-sama! The escort team has returned, but…"
The ANBU ninja was tightly clutching a blood-stained scroll. Before he could finish speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen instantly vanished and reappeared in front of him, snatching the scroll.
He unrolled the scroll and scanned it quickly with his eyes. Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils contracted, his aged face turned slightly pale, and both shock and fury appeared on his face.
"What happened?"
Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand trembling as he held the scroll, Mitokado Homura, who was standing nearby, immediately sensed something was wrong. He stood up hastily and asked, "Hiruzen! What happened?! Speak!"
"War… war… how could this be…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face alternated between pale and flushed. He even raised a hand painfully to clutch his chest, his voice hoarse as he said, "The Fourth Shinobi World War… is coming!"
"What?" Mitokado Homura was stunned for a moment before his expression changed drastically.
***
Hi guys, Elenea here. I hope you're all doing well.
I wanted to let you know that I'm currently working on one of the best projects you might ever read. This project is set in the world of Fairy Tail with some combined elements from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series.
I'm confident you won't regret giving it a try, so don't hesitate to visit my second account's page (elenea) and start reading it.
[Fairy Tail: My Magic is a Yu Gi Oh Deck?]
Synopsis:
Getting isekai'd into the world of Fairy Tail sounds amazing with all the magic and beautiful girls in it...
But do you know what's even more fun than that?
Getting isekai'd with a Yu-Gi-Oh deck!
(No knowledge of Yu-Gi-Oh is needed, so don't worry.)
...
If you like it feel free to giving it a try.