This was only what he could see.
Beyond that, there was still a stretch of darkness—
a blind zone where something might be lurking, completely unseen.
The blind spot didn't look large.
But when extended over distance, its impact was enormous.
This was the true restriction imposed by the Caged Bird Seal on branch-family members.
Hyūga Ming moved at extreme speed, like a phantom weaving through the forest.
The Byakugan continuously scanned his surroundings, ensuring he didn't stumble straight into an encirclement.
Tsunade's chakra—and that of the two Hyūga brothers—had already disappeared from his vision.
He directly stored the supply pack into his inventory.
Each pack only took up one slot.
His inventory had thirty-six slots in total, and nearly half were already filled with assorted items.
Once freed of the pack's weight, his speed increased noticeably.
By constantly changing directions, he confirmed the number of pursuers.
Five chūnin.
"If I kill all five," Hyūga Ming calculated calmly,
"I'll gain at least five thousand experience—almost two levels."
Chūnin gave a massive amount of experience.
Each one was worth over a thousand.
In a game, he wouldn't even consider counterkilling.
Game monsters had HP bars—you couldn't kill them without grinding them down.
Sneak attacks meant nothing.
An explosive tag in-game might deal five hundred damage at best.
But in the real world?
A single explosive tag could kill outright.
People didn't lose HP.
They died.
Hyūga Ming clenched his teeth.
"Let's do it."
His speed suddenly dropped.
The five chūnin behind him rapidly closed the distance.
Between interlocking trees, both sides finally caught sight of one another.
The enemy struck first.
"Wind Release · Condensed Wind Bullet!"
A shinobi spat a compressed blast of wind straight toward Hyūga Ming.
His figure flickered—
—and vanished.
The five chūnin halted instantly.
Four formed a defensive perimeter, shielding the ninja in the center.
"Watch out for traps!" the central ninja warned.
Too late.
Shing—!
Steel wires suddenly snapped tight from all directions.
Shuriken whirled through the air, each bound with wire, forming tightening rings of metal.
A dark-skinned man wearing a Sand Village forehead protector stepped forward.
Frankly, it was a sloppy disguise.
Lightning crackled along the blade in his hand.
"Lightning Release · Lightning-Speed Slash!"
His blade flashed, severing the steel wires in an instant.
The central ninja suddenly pointed sharply.
"He's there!"
The dark-skinned shinobi charged straight toward Hyūga Ming's position.
Locked on.
"So the one in the middle is the sensor-type," Hyūga Ming thought.
Target acquired.
Shuriken appeared in both hands.
"Engaging."
"Heavy Fire Mode."
Bear Grapple Hand.
A storm of shuriken erupted.
The moment the enemy's blade collided with one—
his pupils shrank.
The shuriken was knocked aside—
but so was his sword.
He didn't even have time to process why a thrown weapon carried such absurd force.
Hand seals flew.
Bang!
Smoke burst forth.
A log replaced the man.
Thud-thud-thud!
The log was instantly shredded to pieces.
"…That power," one of the remaining chūnin muttered in shock.
They had never seen a Substitution log destroyed like that.
Before they could recover, shuriken were already flying toward them.
Trees were pierced clean through.
The five chūnin scattered immediately.
Two large-built shinobi retreated, regrouping with the lightning user.
The remaining two—wearing Cloud Village forehead protectors—escorted the sensor ninja in another direction.
"Two groups," Hyūga Ming muttered.
"…Cloud ninja?"
That was interesting.
Cloud Village drops were extremely useful to him.
His figure vanished.
"He's over there!" the sensor ninja shouted, pointing at the ground.
Hyūga Ming landed and immediately hurled shuriken at her.
The three leapt to another tree.
The two disguised "Sand ninja" rapidly closed in.
Hyūga Ming had no intention of engaging in close combat.
Gentle Fist was strong—but not strong enough to fight chūnin head-on.
Substitution Technique.
His figure vanished again, leaving behind a single shuriken.
When the trio arrived—
He was gone.
"He's running!" the sensor shouted again.
The chase resumed.
As he leapt between branches, Hyūga Ming analyzed their tracking method.
It wasn't a bloodline.
It wasn't chakra sensing either.
He slapped an explosive tag onto a tree mid-run and continued forward.
Through the Byakugan, he saw all five leap onto that tree.
The sensor ninja didn't notice a thing.
"So it's not chakra."
Hyūga Ming narrowed his eyes.
"Wind… or sound?"
The whistling air rushed past his ears.
He spun midair, hands flashing through seals, and released another volley.
Bear Grapple Hand.
Fire Release · Shiranui.
Shuriken transformed into blazing fireballs.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosion scattered the group.
Hyūga Ming landed on a branch and charged straight at the nearest Cloud ninja.
Hand seals.
Unknown jutsu.
"Lightning Release · Lightning Sphere Technique!"
Yellow lightning orbs shot toward him.
His body flickered—
A shuriken intercepted the lightning.
His real body appeared beside the sensor ninja.
One step on the branch—
—and he lunged.
The two guards reacted instantly, kunai slashing toward him.
Hyūga Ming threw a kunai straight at the sensor ninja.
She shifted left to dodge—
And in that instant—
Hyūga Ming swapped places with the kunai.
He avoided the two attackers completely.
The kunai clattered to the ground.
The guards turned—
Too late.
Hyūga Ming had wrapped both arms around the sensor ninja's waist.
A kunai pierced through his shoulder.
He didn't even flinch.
The sensor ninja's pupils shrank.
Only now did she realize—
She was female.
And this wasn't an attack meant to cop a feel.
The next instant—
Hyūga Ming vanished.
An explosive tag was stuck to her leg.
The guards hadn't even taken a step back yet.
BOOM!!
Flames swallowed the sensor ninja whole.
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