In the bathroom, steam filled the air. Yagyu stood under the shower, washing away the fatigue of the past few days.
As he stood there with his head tilted back and eyes closed, his mind was replaying the main storyline.
Tazuna was an important character in the Land of Waves arc and the client for Team 7's first C-rank mission. However, this mission was far from simple. The one who wanted Tazuna dead was Gatō, one of the wealthiest men in the shinobi world.
Gatō's forces included not only many rogue samurai and missing-nin, but he even hired Demon of the Mist Zabuza Momochi, who was on the same level as Raiga Kurosuki.
But Yagyu wasn't concerned with Gatō or Zabuza. What really caught his interest was the boy who followed Zabuza—Haku.
Even though he couldn't remember the name of the boy with the Red Eye who had accompanied Raiga, Haku's name and presence were unforgettable to Yagyu.
It was hard not to remember Haku, as his popularity had soared so high that many fans believed he was a woman before his gender was officially revealed. In certain forums and videos, people even considered him one of the most beautiful women in the Naruto world.
In the early part of the series, many geniuses outshone even Naruto, the reincarnation of Asura, and Sasuke Uchiha. Haku was one of them.
Yagyu was particularly envious of two things: Haku's Ice Release kekkei genkai and his ability to form hand seals with just one hand.
Ice Release was the combination of water and wind chakra nature transformations. If Yagyu could obtain this kekkei genkai, he would not only gain wind chakra, but his mastery of wind nature transformation would rise significantly.
Combining that with the chakra control he obtained from Sakura, Yagyu was confident that he could develop the fully realized Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, even without Sage Mode.
Not only that, but Yagyu was certain he could also develop the real Hard Whirlpool Water Blade.
As for forming hand seals with one hand, it was the perfect stealth technique until ninja could simply clap their hands and summon jutsu instantly.
With these thoughts in mind, Yagyu made a decision—he needed to involve himself in the Land of Waves arc and ensure he obtained these two abilities from Haku.
After drying his hair, Yagyu summoned the virtual interface and fused the red light orb from his inventory.
As the red light emerged from the inventory and merged into his body, the words Red Eye appeared next to Sharingan in the kekkei genkai section of the virtual interface.
Whoosh—
Unlike when he had fused with Asura's chakra or the Sharingan, Yagyu's eyes, now free of the cosmetic lenses, immediately began to glow with a vivid red light after fusing with the Red Eye kekkei genkai.
This red light made his already beautiful red eyes shimmer like glowing rubies, adding a hint of eerie charm. The world before Yagyu's eyes also transformed from a colorful view to one dominated by shades of red.
His perspective shifted from first-person to a god-like third-person view, allowing him to see everything from all directions. His vision could even penetrate through objects, and his field of view expanded to cover at least a kilometer in all directions.
After deactivating the X-ray and long-distance vision abilities, Yagyu increased the output of his Yin chakra.
In the air, red particles appeared out of thin air, and suddenly, an illusionary image of Hinata appeared in front of him.
Though it was only a mirage, neither the Byakugan nor the Sharingan—nor even advanced sensory abilities—would be able to tell that this Hinata wasn't real.
This illusion had chakra pathways and flowing chakra just like a living person, a detail unique to real individuals.
"I can't believe I haven't managed to get the Byakugan yet, but instead, I got this imitation, the Red Eye," Yagyu thought to himself, turning off the Red Eye.
Yagyu didn't know the origin of the Red Eye, but its abilities were indeed similar to the Byakugan. The only difference was that the Byakugan saw the world in black and white, while the Red Eye saw everything in red.
If it were in full color, it would be like the Tenseigan version of the Red Eye.
Additionally, the Red Eye had an illusionary ability that the Byakugan lacked—not only could it create human illusions, but it could also create illusions of objects, making even advanced sensory abilities like the Byakugan unable to detect it. Its invisibility was more effective than even the Transparent Escape Technique.
After all, the Transparent Escape Technique could only hide the user, while the Red Eye could hide multiple people at once.
This illusionary power was why the Red Eye was considered the natural enemy of the Byakugan.
At first glance, the Red Eye seemed superior to the Byakugan.
But unfortunately, the Byakugan was the starting point for all ocular abilities. Whether it was the Sharingan, Rinnegan, Tenseigan, or even the Jogan, all of these dojutsu originated from the evolution or mutation of the Byakugan.
Yagyu even suspected that the Red Eye and the Blood Dragon Eye might also be mutations of the Byakugan, but he had no proof.
Being able to use the Red Eye immediately after fusing with it was good news for Yagyu.
This would allow him to keep track of when Tazuna would leave the village.
Lying in bed, Yagyu activated the Red Eye again, located Tazuna within the village, and then closed his eyes to rest.
He slept soundly until 7 a.m. the next morning.
After waking up, Yagyu immediately activated the Red Eye to find Tazuna's location. Seeing that Tazuna was still sleeping, Yagyu went about his morning routine, washing up and doing his early training in his yard.
After finishing his training, he had his shadow clone make breakfast while he took a bath.
By the time Yagyu finished breakfast, it was already 8:30 a.m.
Tazuna had already woken up and was heading toward the Hokage's office, still holding the bottle of liquor he hadn't finished the night before.
Coincidentally, just after Tazuna entered the Hokage's office, Yagyu saw Team 7 arriving at the office, with Sakura holding a small cat in her arms.
Seeing this, Yagyu immediately understood—the first arc of the main story was about to begin.
He quickly went to the bathroom, put on his contact lenses, checked his inventory, grabbed a graffiti marker, and left his house. He scribbled "Out for training" on the sign at his front door before heading into a secluded alley.
Forming a hand seal, Yagyu activated the Transformation Jutsu.
When Yagyu emerged from the alley, he had transformed into a plain-looking middle-aged man wearing simple clothes and a straw hat.
Arriving at the village gate, Yagyu exchanged a glance with the two Chunin guards.
In an instant, their expressions turned dazed, and they allowed Yagyu to pass.
The Leaf Village, a military base in the Land of Fire, had the best sensory barrier in the shinobi world. The only way in or out was through the village gate.
Entering the village wasn't difficult—sometimes it required registration, and other times, it didn't. But leaving, whether for outsiders or villagers, required permission from the Hokage's office. Even for villagers, leaving required a valid reason and approval.
That was why Yagyu had never left the village before.
Going through the process to get permission wasn't an option for Yagyu, and it would leave a record. So, instead, he used the same method Itachi Uchiha had used to return to the village—hypnotizing the gate guards with genjutsu to let him pass.
After leaving the village, Yagyu hid himself in a tree a few hundred meters from the gate, using the Red Eye to create an illusion to conceal his presence as he waited for Team 7 and Tazuna.
Not long after, Team 7 and Tazuna emerged from the gate, heading toward the Land of Waves.
Along the way, the three genin of Team 7 were eagerly observing the outside world, while Kakashi Hatake was reading his Icha Icha novel without even looking at the road.
Tazuna, on the other hand, kept taking small sips from his nearly empty bottle, trying to calm his nerves.
He knew all too well the dangers that awaited him on the journey home. He was also painfully aware that he had lied about the rank of the mission.
As a result, Tazuna was not only afraid of the enemies he would encounter, but he also feared that the ninja he hired would abandon him once they discovered the truth.
If he were to die, the Land of Waves would be doomed.
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