Bai Lu casually closed the door.
Then he sat on the bed and began refining his Chakra.
Relying on his powerful senses, he faintly detected several gazes watching him.
It must be the ANBU.
Whether it was the unique qualities Bai Lu displayed, or the traits he exhibited when facing the White-Eyed Brothers during the day, they had already attracted the Village's attention.
"Hmm, in this situation,
I still don't want Duy to be exposed. Given the Village's nature, if they really knew about Duy's unique abilities, they would definitely send him to the battlefield and use him up."
Bai Lu shook his head internally.
Setting aside everything else, in the original work, Duy opened the Eight Gates and directly annihilated the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Would the Village High Council feel pity for Duy? Perhaps they would, lamenting that they hadn't noticed such a powerful Ninja earlier.
But more than that, they would certainly feel that Duy's death was extremely worthwhile.
Using the life of an overlooked "Genin" to defeat the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who were on average Elite Jōnin level, was a massive profit! The cost-performance ratio was explosive, wasn't it?!
Especially when the scale of the war was constantly expanding and even Konoha felt immense pressure, an incident like this would make the Konoha High Council secretly cheer out loud.
But Bai Lu didn't want Duy to die like that. If he was going to burn his youth, it should be for him, not for the Third Hokage.
"Now, under the guise of having Awakened a Kekkei Genkai, I can appropriately start building the persona of a Genius... a Genius who scored perfectly in political theory..."
Bai Lu smiled.
Outside.
Several ANBU agents watched for a long time.
"What's the status?"
"Might Duy is fine; his Chakra reserves are at the level of an ordinary Genin. However, Shiranui Bai Lu's Chakra... how should I put it? His total volume exceeds most Chunin, and the speed and scale at which he refines Chakra are even more astonishing. Truly a powerful Bloodline."
"It seems he has been intermittently Awakening his Kekkei Genkai over the past few years... and for now, his body hasn't suffered severe damage like Hayate Gekko."
The leading ANBU agent nodded. Awakening a Kekkei Genkai does cause some minor effects on the body.
Since that incident happened during the day, the Third Hokage naturally gave a casual order for the ANBU to investigate thoroughly and see if anything had been missed.
At the same time.
In a certain dimly lit basement.
*Squelch!*
A certain long-haired man was seriously dissecting some animals, seizing the rare time he had back in the Village to conduct experiments.
"Hehehe, Anko, I heard you lost today, losing to a dead-last student," Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice.
"I apologize, Sensei. Next time, I definitely won't lose!"
Anko, who had just entered the laboratory, felt uneasy.
*Swish!*
Several snakes suddenly emerged from Orochimaru's sleeve, forced open Anko's mouth, bit her hard, and drew out some blood.
"This kind of First Generation Kekkei Genkai is the first I've ever heard of. I'm very curious... It's truly interesting that just a mouthful of blood caused you to lose most of your fighting strength."
Orochimaru licked his lips and smiled sinisterly.
Currently, he was obsessed with collecting various Kekkei Genkai to peek into the secret of eternal life.
Orochimaru was extremely interested in unique Kekkei Genkai, especially a First Generation Kekkei Genkai Awakener like Bai Lu.
If it could be stably inherited, Konoha would see the emergence of an entirely new Kekkei Genkai Family.
"It's late, Anko. Don't worry too much about losing the match. I have great faith in your talent and aptitude."
Orochimaru placed Anko's cells into a test tube and chuckled softly.
But Anko nervously fidgeted, then, blushing slightly, she carefully pulled out two skewers of Sanshoku Dango from behind her back and handed one to Orochimaru.
"Is there anything else?"
"Sensei, this is my favorite food. I wanted to share half with you..."
These two skewers were the last ones she managed to buy after waiting in line for a long time.
"..."
Orochimaru was silent for a moment.
"...I see. In that case, I won't stand on ceremony. Just smelling it makes me feel a bit impatient."