Hyuga Arin yawned as he walked along the road.
The order to return to the village had finally come through—how the approval process worked, he had no idea.
All he knew was that it was much faster than he'd expected.
For him, that was good news.
At the Rain Country frontline base, Danzo hadn't intended to send him onto the battlefield anyway.
"Hey, Hyuga," a shinobi from the Inuzuka clan teased as he walked beside him. "Why do you look like you haven't woken up properly these past few days?"
"I'm just relaxing," Hyuga Arin replied, rolling his eyes.
The recent period of insane grinding in the Hunter world had completely worn him out.
Physical fatigue faded quickly—but mental exhaustion was another matter entirely.
That was why he looked perpetually sleepy.
And honestly, the Rain Country battlefield wasn't exactly restful either. Every few days, something would explode.
Sometimes Rain Village shinobi charged in strapped with explosive tags.
Other times, Sunagakure or Iwagakure launched sneak attacks.
What puzzled Hyuga Arin the most was where the Cloud Village ninjas even came from.
If he hadn't been forbidden from acting on his own, he'd have gone farming experience already.
"True enough—we've already left the battlefield," the Inuzuka ninja said, glancing back at the group behind them.
Some had lost limbs.
Some were missing eyes.
These were all shinobi who had lost their ability to fight.
Their group of uninjured shinobi had one main task: escort these wounded back to Konoha.
Even though the number of wounded far exceeded the number of guards.
At the same time, they also had to keep an eye on Hyuga Arin.
That was standard procedure for shinobi returning from espionage missions.
No one really believed he'd defect to a minor village—but rules were rules.
After all, what could a small village offer him?
Only a great village would even have the capacity to tempt betrayal.
"Still," the Inuzuka ninja continued, "why do you seem so distant from the other Hyuga?"
He looked toward the Hyuga shinobi who were scouting their surroundings.
Their main task was vigilance—watching for enemy presence.
During breaks, they naturally gathered together.
Except for Hyuga Arin.
"Is it because you're not close?"
"What do you think?" Hyuga Arin shot back.
The Hyuga clan only had twenty or thirty active shinobi. Normally, everyone saw each other all the time.
Of course they were familiar.
But given his current relationship with the Hyuga main house, no one dared get too close to him.
And thankfully, Hyuga Hiashi wasn't here—otherwise things would be even more troublesome.
"I was just curious," the Inuzuka ninja said awkwardly.
That Hyuga Arin didn't get along with the rest of the Hyuga was common knowledge on the Rain Country frontlines.
But as for why—no one really knew.
The Hyuga were famous for their unity, yet somehow Hyuga Arin stood apart as an exception.
"Keep your curiosity in check," Hyuga Arin said flatly, stepping past him and walking ahead.
"Hey—Hyuga Arin, don't go too far!" the Inuzuka ninja hurried to follow.
Watching Hyuga Arin was part of his assignment.
The task itself wasn't especially important, but duty was duty.
Hyuga Arin ignored him and immersed his mind in the system instead.
Within this large escort group, he felt quite safe.
This was a transport team for wounded shinobi.
Other villages gained nothing from attacking such a group—it wouldn't affect the battlefield at all.
And attacking a medical escort would almost certainly provoke Konoha's fury.
Being targeted by Konoha wasn't something any village wanted.
Konoha was, without question, the strongest right now.
Across five battlefronts, they had successfully held off every invading village.
Even without guards, no one should attack…
…probably.
Unless some lunatic decided otherwise.
Hyuga Arin looked at his status panel.
[Name: Hyuga Arin]
[Class: Hunter]
[Level: Lv34 (0/21,500)]
[Chakra / Nen: 3680 / 2010 +50 +20 +1000 +500]
[Experience Pool: 100,474]
He hadn't leveled up yet.
He'd progressed too quickly, and his control over his body had noticeably declined.
The most obvious symptom was his chakra.
What had once been smoothly controlled now carried a hint of violence, no longer responding as effortlessly as before.
So he planned to wait until he fully adapted to his body before leveling further.
That meant this hundred thousand experience points would all go into skills.
[Skills:]
Gentle Fist (Lv7)
Byakugan (Lv5)
Fire Release: Ignition Flame (Lv4)
Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Lv4)
Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon (Lv3)
Medical Ninjutsu (Lv3)
Niko Style: Fire Heaven Form (Lv1)
Rotation (Lv1)
Nen (Lv1)
Fire Release: Great Flame Technique (Lv1)
Shadow Clone Technique (Lv1)
Secret Chamber: Swimming Fish (Lv3)
Exorcism (No Level)
Whip Strike (Lv1)
Demon Back (Lv1)
Bandit's Secret (Lv1)
"Gentle Fist can be maxed out directly."
If he relied on Brain Amp alone, who knew how long it would take to reach the cap.
[Gentle Fist (Lv8)] – EXP: 0 / 12,800
[Gentle Fist (Lv9)] – EXP: 0 / 25,600
[Gentle Fist (Lv10)] – MAX LEVEL
[Trait Selection Available]
[Eight Trigrams: All within your calculations]
[Formula: Within the Eight Trigrams formation, you may wield the power of heaven and earth]
[Grandmaster: The ultimate master of Gentle Fist, unrivaled by any]
The descriptions had become oddly literary—but they weren't hard to understand.
"The first two combined—are you trying to give me Feng Hou Qimen?" Hyuga Arin muttered, speechless.
No—that technique was far stronger.
This was closer to a chakra-point formation.
So how were these even connected? Just because they both used the Eight Trigrams?
He immediately passed on the third option.
These days, who still fought purely in melee when ninjutsu existed?
He focused on the first two.
The first meant he'd no longer need to fear enemy traps—everything within the Eight Trigrams would be under his control.
Of course, once outside the formation, the effect vanished entirely.
The second option left him uncertain.
What exactly was this so-called "power of heaven and earth"?
Natural energy?
Or chakra?
If it allowed him to cast techniques across distance, that would be incredible.
But looking at his pitifully small selection of ninjutsu, he hesitated.
He only had two Fire Release techniques—and both were chakra hogs.
The second option felt like a gamble.
The first was safer.
And besides—his ranged damage options were already maxed out.
After a moment's thought, he chose the first.
Instantly, vast memories of Gentle Fist and the Eight Trigrams flooded his mind.
As Gentle Fist advanced another step, he gained the ability to calculate every movement within the Eight Trigrams.
His eyes were closed.
Yet even without activating the Byakugan, he could clearly perceive everything around him.
The Inuzuka ninja sneezed.
A wounded shinobi clutched his injury in pain.
Someone else was drowning in despair over their future.
And more.
The Inuzuka ninja turned his head slightly.
Hyuga Arin opened his eyes.
Sure enough—the Inuzuka ninja was looking back.
"So Gentle Fist consumes chakra now… good thing the cost isn't outrageous," Hyuga Arin murmured, relieved.
Max-level skills always worried him—especially if they massively increased chakra consumption.
"It's kind of like a simplified Brain Amp," he evaluated.
Just without the extreme side effects.
The only limitation was range.
Centered on him, the effective radius was about ten meters—twenty at most.
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