These two items—
Hyuga Arin preferred to call them Dungeon Quest Scrolls and Boss Summon Cards.
"So… did these drop because I got lucky, or because of Shōzō's status as a leader?" Hyuga Arin fell into hesitation.
If it came down to luck—
His luck really wasn't that great.
But if it was tied to a leader-tier drop, then things became much more controllable.
Dungeon scrolls were extremely rare even in internal testing. Very few people had ever obtained one, and most said they were purely random drops.
Yet Shōzō's identity made Hyuga Arin think otherwise.
In the game, enemies with clear identities often had clearly defined drops—items tied to their status and abilities.
And there was no guarantee that the "leader" identity didn't have fixed drops.
"Looks like I'll have to find a chance to farm Hanzo."
He wasn't about to forget how he'd been toyed with this time.
If he didn't get revenge, he'd write his name backward.
If leader-tier enemies really dropped dungeon scrolls, then the room Hyuga Arin had to operate in would become enormous.
Amegakure corresponded to the Hunter world.
Kirigakure corresponded to the One Piece world.
Iwagakure corresponded to the Fairy Tail world.
The Land of Demons corresponded to Bleach.
Kumogakure corresponded to the "muscle world"… which honestly seemed kind of useless.
What he didn't know yet was which world Sunagakure corresponded to.
And whether Konoha itself—the Naruto world—might drop dungeon scrolls leading to another Naruto server.
"So… should I use them now?"
Hyuga Arin looked at the scroll in one hand and the card in the other.
Thinking about what could be farmed in Yorknew City—
The Ten Dons' mafia members, the Shadow Beasts, and the Phantom Troupe.
The mafia members probably wouldn't give much experience, but there were plenty of them.
The Shadow Beasts likely had strength around the chūnin level. With their numbers, they could still provide decent experience.
The most dangerous were the Phantom Troupe.
They had quite a few members with jōnin-level combat power. Farming them with Hyuga Arin's current strength wasn't very realistic.
However—
Hyuga Arin had intelligence on them.
And for ninjas, as long as you know your enemy's information, their effective strength drops sharply.
If he coordinated specifically with Kurapika, wiping out the Phantom Troupe wasn't impossible.
Hyuga Arin sank into deep thought.
As for the boss summon card—he had no intention of using it right now.
Although it was labeled as "random," many players in the internal test had already used similar cards.
Most of what got summoned were top-tier existences that came with hostility.
In the Hunter server, the most likely summons weren't humans at all—but dangerous creatures.
He could very well summon a being on par with a Kage, only for it to kill him on the spot.
He decided to seal the summon card away and let it gather dust in his inventory.
As for the Hunter server—
He still planned to go.
If he could strengthen himself there, he'd be far more composed when returning to Konoha.
After all, Konoha still had the Hyuga main family waiting for him.
Now that his Caged Bird Seal had been neutralized, given his relationship with the Hyuga main family, they would absolutely attempt to punish him with the Caged Bird once he returned.
And when they realized it no longer worked—
That would be catastrophic.
The Hyuga main family would very likely imprison him, force him to reveal how he neutralized the seal, and then find an excuse or opportunity to kill him outright—regardless of Konoha's rules.
The Caged Bird was their bottom line.
In the worst-case scenario, the Hyuga main family would bleed themselves dry—offering compensation to Konoha.
Though it would damage their foundation, it would still be better than the Caged Bird losing its effectiveness.
Because that would mean losing the very core of the Hyuga clan.
The hatred between the main and branch families would erupt, and the main family would be torn apart by the branch family.
Ordinarily, the main family treated the branch family fairly well—good benefits, steady work, holiday benefits.
As long as the branch family lowered their heads, they could live comfortably.
But that was only for ordinary members of the branch family.
For branch members with mediocre talent, their lives were far better than those of civilian ninjas.
But for geniuses within the Hyuga clan—
The main family was a cage.
People often said the Uchiha clan produced geniuses, but the Hyuga clan—capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Uchiha—was no worse.
The difference was this:
When an Uchiha genius became a ninja, the entire clan supported them wholeheartedly. As long as they endured the suppression from Konoha's higher-ups, there were no further obstacles.
But when a Hyuga genius appeared—
The main family only wanted to break their wings.
They wanted them to obediently become birds trapped in the Hyuga clan's cage, never allowed to fly.
A genius with broken wings—could they still be called a genius?
Just like in the future, when Hyuga Hizashi would release killing intent toward Hinata.
His own talented son was destined to have his wings broken and serve the main family forever.
How could a father accept that?
Of course, the current Hizashi hadn't yet reached that realization.
The reason Hyuga Arin had been assigned as a disposable operative for Hyuga Hiashi was precisely because the main family wanted to break his wings.
But they had underestimated how radical Hyuga Arin was.
Now, with the loss of control over the Caged Bird Seal added on top—
The conflict between Hyuga Arin and the Hyuga main family would only grow sharper, possibly erupting outright.
To guard against the Hyuga main family, Hyuga Arin needed power as backing.
Even better—he needed a patron who could protect him from the main family's wrath.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was out of the question.
Compared to protecting Hyuga Arin, he would much rather see the Hyuga clan bleed heavily.
Tsunade was also impossible.
Her attitude toward Hyuga Arin stemmed entirely from her affection for Nawaki—protecting him out of sentiment.
In the end—
Hyuga Arin really had only one choice.
"The Hunter server can wait."
Hyuga Arin stretched and walked out of the tent.
Smoke suddenly rose in front of him, and a ninja appeared, blocking his path.
"Please return to your tent. During this period, do not move around freely," the ninja said in a businesslike tone.
With a smile on his face, Hyuga Arin replied, "I want to see Lord Danzo. I have important intelligence to report to him."
The ninja hesitated.
He wanted to ask why Hyuga Arin hadn't said this earlier—and why he had to bring it up now, creating trouble for him.
But he couldn't be sure Hyuga Arin was lying either.
After all, this man had just returned from Amegakure. Who knew what critical intelligence he might be carrying?
"I will notify Lord Danzo. Please wait here."
"Alright." Hyuga Arin nodded.
He didn't make things difficult for the ninja. After all, why make life hard for another working man?
He obediently returned to his tent.
After waiting for a while—
A man wearing ANBU combat gear and a mask lifted the curtain and walked in.
"Lord Danzo wishes to see you. Come with me," he said.
Hyuga Arin sprang up from the bed in one smooth motion and followed behind the masked man toward a slightly larger tent on the left.
The two entered together.
The masked ninja knelt on one knee and reported to the figure inside.
"Lord Danzo, the man has been brought."
Danzo, who had been standing with his back to them, turned around and looked at Hyuga Arin kneeling on the ground.
He raised a hand, signaling the masked ninja to leave.
Staring at Hyuga Arin, Danzo asked in a deep voice:
"I hear you have important intelligence to report to me."
"There is indeed important intelligence," Hyuga Arin said calmly.
"And at the same time, I have an important request to make."
"Speak."
"I want to join Root."
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