One week later, at Konoha's main gate.
A girl was carefully adjusting the equipment on Hyuga Kagami's body.
Judging from her pure white eyes, it was obvious that she—like Kagami—was a member of the Hyuga Clan and close to him in age. Yet the delicate brows on her fair face were drawn together slightly, betraying her worry.
Hyuga Kagami, gazing toward the distant Hokage Rock, smiled faintly.
"Don't worry. It's just a routine rotation of duties."
The girl nodded softly. Then she pulled a brand-new pair of goggles from her waist pouch and handed them to him.
Hyuga Kagami glanced at her, said nothing, and tucked the goggles into his own pouch.
In truth, Kagami had long worn goggles similar to those once worn by Obito Uchiha, except his lenses were darker—more like sunglasses.
This wasn't just to protect his eyes. On the battlefield, it helped conceal his identity as a Hyuga, reducing the risk of being targeted. More importantly, it was preparation for the future—to hide the Tenseigan, should he ever awaken it. After all, the Tenseigan's appearance differed subtly from the Byakugan.
The girl was clearly worried that the old goggles on Kagami's head might break. Since replacements would be hard to find at the border, she had prepared a spare for him.
At that moment, a middle-aged shinobi not far away raised his hand and shouted, "Time's up! We're moving out!"
Hearing this, Hyuga Kagami patted the girl gently on the shoulder.
"Ling, I'm heading out. Don't worry about me—maybe I'll be back soon."
The girl named Ling nodded, though the concern in her eyes never faded.
Before leaving, Hyuga Kagami cast one last glance at the Hokage Rock in the distance.
In the wake of Orochimaru's defection, the village had suffered the greatest loss. With Orochimaru gone and Jiraiya in pursuit, all of Konoha's famed Sannin had now left the village.
Orochimaru had lost Konoha's support—but in exchange, he had shed its restraints. In a sense, he got exactly what he wanted.
The biggest winner, however, was Danzo Shimura. By absorbing most of Orochimaru's former forces, Danzo had undoubtedly gained access to some of Orochimaru's experimental成果. Kagami even suspected that this laid the groundwork for Danzo's future theft of the Sharingan and the First Hokage's cells.
But none of that mattered to Hyuga Kagami anymore.
The village leadership had reached a clear consensus: all former subordinates of Orochimaru who were not absorbed into Root—including Kagami—would be reassigned to various borders.
To put it bluntly, they were being exiled.
Walking over to the middle-aged shinobi, Kagami quietly assessed his companions.
There were twelve shinobi in total, divided into three squads. Aside from the three squad leaders, the remaining nine were all former subordinates of Orochimaru.
Their destination was a border outpost between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
The moment they left the village, Hyuga Kagami activated his Byakugan and went on full alert, as if stepping directly into a battlefield.
This wasn't paranoia.
Just a few months earlier, he had been ambushed less than ten kilometers from the village. The entire team escorting the wounded had suffered heavy casualties. If Jonin reinforcements hadn't arrived in time, his name would already be engraved on the memorial stone.
The war had taught him harsh lessons. Even though it was over, some habits were impossible to shed overnight.
Kagami wasn't the only one on edge. The other shinobi also grew cautious once they left the village—except for one.
Glancing at the slender figure lagging behind the group, Kagami let out a soft sigh.
If there was anyone in the village who least wanted to believe in Orochimaru's defection, it was undoubtedly Anko Mitarashi.
Almost overnight, Anko had fallen from being the disciple of a Sannin and a rising star of the village to a detainee. After weeks of confinement, she was now being sent to the border alongside Kagami—cut off completely from Konoha's center of power.
From her hollow eyes and dazed expression, it was clear she still couldn't accept the fact that her teacher, one of the Sannin, had betrayed the village.
The collapse of something that had once been her faith might haunt her for the rest of her life.
Withdrawing his gaze, Kagami continued observing the group.
Among the twelve, only the middle-aged leader was a Jonin. The remaining eleven—including Kagami and Anko—were all Chunin. Overall, the team had decent combat strength. As long as they didn't run into an ambush made up entirely of Jonin, there was little danger.
Besides, the war had ended. The likelihood of enemy Jonin appearing deep within the Land of Fire was now extremely low.
Just as Kagami expected, the journey passed without incident, and they arrived safely at the border outpost.
Once stationed there, the twelve-man team was officially split into three squads. Hyuga Kagami, Anko, and a Chunin named Oda were assigned to the squad led by the Jonin.
The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind didn't share a direct border. Between them lay smaller nations like the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain—but in reality, these countries offered little buffering effect.
The outpost Kagami was assigned to guarded a stretch of border roughly forty li long. One end lay at the edge of a forest; the other opened into an endless sea of sand.
And so, Hyuga Kagami began a monotonous life—patrolling back and forth through the desert.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
All news from the village was cut off. At the border, Kagami felt completely isolated from the world, repeating the same cycle of patrols, guard duty, and rest day after day.
During this time, he could clearly sense that the Jonin squad leader was constantly monitoring the nine former subordinates of Orochimaru, including himself. Kagami behaved impeccably, leaving no room for suspicion.
Privately, however, he believed this surveillance wouldn't last long.
Even a village as powerful as Konoha couldn't spare the manpower to monitor hundreds of shinobi indefinitely. There had to be a limit.
Sure enough, not long afterward, the village sent three new Chunin to replace the original three squad leaders—including the middle-aged Jonin.
At first, Kagami thought the surveillance had finally been lifted.
But after some quiet observation, he realized something was wrong.
The three new Chunin leaders were all taciturn, exuding a cold, oppressive aura.
"These aren't ordinary Chunin…"
Realization struck him instantly.
These three were either ANBU—or Root.
Did a mere border outpost really require three ANBU or Root members as squad leaders?
The answer was obvious.
Hyuga Kagami's thoughts began racing. He didn't know what had happened in the village over the past two months—but one thing was certain.
Danger had arrived.
Time waits for no one.
He had to begin the Tenseigan plan immediately.