[Genin Kunai: +20–25 Attack]
[Regeneration Ring: Restores 1 HP per second]
[Chakra Ring: +50 Max Chakra]
These three pieces of equipment came from killing the genin and chūnin.
Fortunately, the kunai could be equipped as an off-hand weapon.
Otherwise, he would've had to unequip his saber.
A character could only carry one main weapon and one off-hand weapon.
As for the ring and the chakra ring—they were accessories.
As long as you had fingers to wear them on, accessories had very few restrictions.
The regeneration effect applied to physical injuries.
The moment he put the ring on, Hyūga Ming could already feel the pain in his abdomen easing—though the recovery speed wasn't particularly fast.
The chakra ring, on the other hand, directly increased his chakra cap.
[Chakra: 80 / (130 + 50)]
His maximum chakra instantly rose to 180.
During the previous battle, he'd been left with only 30 chakra.
Now, with the bonus applied, he recovered an extra 50 points immediately.
That meant he could still fight one more battle if necessary.
Finally, there was experience.
[Experience Pool: 4365]
It was already enough to level up.
But instead of leveling immediately, Hyūga Ming adjusted his experience to 2499 / 2500, leaving 1991 experience points in reserve.
He was saving the level-up.
A single level didn't give him a dramatic power boost—roughly a ten-percent increase at most.
But leveling up instantly fully restored HP and chakra, which could completely change the outcome of a fight.
He intended to trigger it only at a critical moment.
Still, he wasn't going to leave all that experience unused.
His gaze landed on Bear Grapple Hand.
[Bear Grapple Hand (Lv1) – EXP: 100 / 0]
He began pouring experience into it.
[Bear Grapple Hand (Lv2) – EXP: 0 / 200]
[Bear Grapple Hand (Lv3) – EXP: 0 / 400]
[Bear Grapple Hand (Lv4) – EXP: 0 / 800]
Hyūga Ming activated the skill once more.
This time, the chakra consumption was noticeably higher.
"It can't be sustained for long in real combat."
If he relied on Bear Grapple Hand too heavily, he'd drain his chakra dry.
No matter how strong a skill was, it was meaningless if it left him unable to fight afterward.
Next, he upgraded Medical Ninjutsu.
[Medical Ninjutsu (Lv2) – EXP: 0 / 1000]
A healing skill could save lives—especially his own—at critical moments.
That left him with around 700 experience points.
There were still skills he could upgrade, but none of them were particularly essential right now.
The most tempting was Eight Trigrams Air Palm, but honestly—
His enhanced shuriken were simply more effective.
In the end, he stopped.
Experience was limited. He couldn't afford to waste it.
[Name: I'm Hyūga Ming]
[Class: None]
[Level: Lv13 (2499 / 2500)]
[Chakra: 180 / (130 + 50)]
[Skills]
• Gentle Fist (Lv5)
• Clone Technique (Lv2)
• Substitution Technique (Lv10)
• Transformation Technique (Lv2)
• Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Lv3)
• Byakugan (Lv3)
• Fire Release · Shiranui (Lv4)
• Medical Ninjutsu (Lv2)
• Bear Grapple Hand (Lv4)
[Experience Pool: 791]
[Equipment]
• Bandit Left Greave
• Bandit Right Greave
• Bandit Right Bracer
• Bandit Saber
• Bandit Armor
• Regeneration Ring
• Chakra Ring
• Genin Kunai
[Inventory]
• Kunai ×10
• Explosive Tags ×9
• Shuriken ×99
• Steel Wire ×10
• …
Satisfied with the changes, Hyūga Ming closed his eyes and rested.
There was still a stretch of dangerous road ahead.
He needed to recover his chakra as quickly as possible.
That night passed without incident.
The next morning, the team resumed their journey.
They moved swiftly through the forest, maintaining the same formation as before.
However, every time Hyūga Hiashi's gaze passed over Hyūga Ming, it felt different.
Colder.
More distant.
Hyūga Ming understood immediately.
He's given up on controlling me.
That was both good news—and bad.
Good, because Hiashi had abandoned the idea of "subduing" him.
Bad, because it meant the Hyūga clan would stop pretending.
Once they returned to the village, the punishment would only get worse.
Possibly to the point of activating the Caged Bird Seal.
Hyūga Ming subconsciously touched his forehead protector.
If he could endure the Caged Bird Seal, the clan wouldn't have many options left.
But that was a dangerous gamble.
"Once we're back, I can't stay entangled with the Hyūga clan anymore," he thought.
"I'm under Tsunade now. They won't dare act openly."
"And once I change classes, I'll accelerate solving the Caged Bird problem."
"Then, during the Second Shinobi War, I'll farm experience and completely break free."
That had always been his plan.
If not for Hiashi, no one in the clan would've cared about him at all.
Once he left the Hyūga, it would already be too late for them to react.
Instead, Hiashi had forced him to suffer far more than necessary.
Even though Hiashi technically hadn't done anything—
How could Hyūga Ming not resent him?
"Sooner or later, I'll kill you," Hyūga Ming thought coldly, shooting Hiashi a sharp glance.
The squad continued forward.
All three Hyūga maintained their Byakugan scans.
Before long, multiple chakra signatures appeared ahead.
"Tsunade-sama!" Hiashi warned.
The team halted instantly.
Hyūga Ming leapt to Tsunade's side, his expression grim.
"This is bad. There are a lot of them."
"At least five jōnin."
The sheer density of chakra made his heart tighten with envy.
There were also many chūnin-level signatures—
But not a single genin.
No matter how confident he was, Hyūga Ming knew one thing clearly:
If they ran into that group head-on, he would die.
Even Tsunade stood no chance against five jōnin at once.
Everything depended on her decision.
Tsunade thought for a moment, then spoke decisively.
"We go around them."
Avoidance.
That was the only option.
The squad silently retreated, attempting to disengage.
But the moment they moved—
The enemy moved as well.
"They have sensory-type ninja!" Hizashi said grimly.
Tsunade immediately issued rapid orders.
"Scatter. Prioritize survival."
"If necessary, discard the supply packs."
"Rendezvous at the designated location in seven days."
She quickly relayed the coordinates.
"Move!"
At her command, the four of them split apart, fleeing in different directions.
Hyūga Ming didn't hesitate for even a second.
He sprinted away at full speed.
Out of all four of them, Tsunade was actually in the most danger.
A sensory unit would inevitably focus on the jōnin first.
After all, genin didn't know much.
"As long as Tsunade can keep the jōnin busy…"
He didn't need to look back.
Byakugan's near-360-degree vision had already shown him the truth.
Several figures were chasing him.
The Byakugan wasn't truly perfect—
There were still blind zones at extreme distances.
But it was more than enough.
"Damn Caged Bird Seal," Hyūga Ming cursed under his breath as he accelerated.
At least three chūnin were pursuing him.
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