Hinami walked serenely into the ground floor lobby of the Mizukage Building, leaning lightly on her wooden cane. The black fabric tied across her eyes offered no obstacle to the penetrating power of her Byakugan.
She had no choice. Her eyes were too conspicuous. Using the cash scavenged from Hoshino's home, she had purchased a new outfit and the blindfold at a local shop. Only after shedding her ill-fitting rags and masking the coveted Byakugan did she dare walk the streets of Kirigakure as herself.
Tap, tap!
The sound of her cane transitioned from the dull thud of earth to the crisp click of floor tiles. Chakra synthesized in her heart flooded into her ocular pathways, causing her pupils to contract sharply beneath the blindfold.
Ordinarily, her Byakugan could see for over a kilometer, but within the Mizukage Building, her vision was severely restricted. Barriers teeming with chakra flooded her sight, protecting the tower in dense layers. Chains of foreign chakra coiled around the structure like giant serpents strangling their prey.
She couldn't see through them. Especially at the very top—the Mizukage's office. Sealing jutsu and an unknown, iridescent barrier almost entirely isolated it from the rest of the building. Such heavy security made it look less like the office of a village leader and more like a high-security vault for a death-row inmate.
Has Uchiha Obito already been discovered?
Uncertain of the political reality, Hinami followed the staff's guidance to the front desk.
"Little girl, can I help you?"
The female ninja behind the desk sat with her legs crossed, filing her nails as she gave the blind girl a casual once-over.
"I want to post a mission."
Setting her nail file aside, the ninja pulled out a form and pen, ready to record. "Destination?"
"Escort me to Tanzaku Quarters in the Land of Fire."
The pen paused. "Reason?"
Hinami frowned slightly. Her true goal was Konoha, but she couldn't say that outright. She chose a familiar name from her memories of the manga instead.
Konoha was located in the Land of Fire, the most prosperous of the Five Nations, with abundant resources and a pleasant climate. Most importantly, it was the location she knew best, allowing her to maximize the advantage of her foreknowledge. To Hinami, hidden dangers were manageable; it was the unknown that was terrifying.
Furthermore, the Hyūga clan of Konoha was essentially her maternal house. Seeking asylum there would provide protection from the Mist Anbu. Unlike ordinary Hyūga members, she wouldn't be subject to the "Caged Bird" curse. Her mother was from the Main House, making Hinami a legitimate member by blood.
With two of the world's top bloodline limits and the backing of both Konoha and the Hyūga, she wouldn't have to worry about her safety until the start of the Shippuden era. This was the most optimal path she had calculated.
As for why she needed a Mist ninja to escort her: she simply didn't know the way. The Shinobi world wasn't Earth. There were no high-speed trains or Google Maps. This six-year-old version of herself had never left Kirigakure. She didn't even know where to buy a boat ticket to the mainland.
The desk ninja, seeing Hinami hesitate, assumed she was being private and explained patiently: "Missions are ranked S through D. If we don't know the danger level, it leads to failed missions and unnecessary deaths. We need a reason to assign the right rank."
"Reasonable," Hinami nodded, spinning a lie. "My father has been missing for two months. Before he left, he said he was going to Tanzaku Quarters and would be back soon. He never returned. I'm worried and want to find him."
The ninja remained unmoved by the story, recording it with clinical efficiency. "Because of the distance, this is a C-rank escort mission. Fee is 10,000 Ryo. Pay half now as a deposit. If the mission difficulty exceeds the rank or if you've hidden facts, the ninja has the right to refuse, and the deposit is non-refundable."
Hinami took off her satchel and counted out several high-value bills.
"Alright. Leave your address. We'll notify you as soon as a ninja accepts." The desk ninja didn't ask how a blind girl had counted out exactly 5,000 Ryo. In this line of work, she had seen too many strange people and heard too many tragic stories. Her curiosity and sympathy had long since dried up.
"Muming Inn, Room 304."
"A ninja will contact you within one business day. Stay at the inn."
As Hinami left the building, the morning mist had cleared, and the sun was blindingly bright. She blinked hard to clear the double vision caused by the glare; with 360-degree vision, she couldn't simply "look away" from the sun.
As she headed down Central Avenue, she noticed the pedestrians were still gossiping, but the topic had shifted away from the Kaguya clan. In the Mist, falling bloodline clans were common; everyone was numb to it.
Suddenly, Hinami felt a strange sensation. An unbearable itching and twitching began deep within her flesh. After just a few steps, her body began to tremble involuntarily.
What... what's happening?
Suppreessing the urge to writhe, she quickened her pace. Passersby heard the frantic tap-tap-tap of her cane and turned to see the "blind girl" who had been moving so carefully now sprinting with the agility of an athlete. They rubbed their eyes in disbelief as the city's gossip shifted from politics to urban legends about "miraculous blind runners."
She made it back to the inn and locked the door. Tearing off the blindfold, she sat cross-legged on the bed and turned her vision inward.
Byakugan!
The veins beside her eyes bulged. She saw the "Chakra Seed" in her heart vibrating, sending waves of blue energy through her pathways and into her eyes, converting into "Dojutsu power." Her ash-grey pupils contracted into a dense, deathly grey.
She forced even more chakra into her eyes until the pressure became a stinging pain.
Vrum!
It felt as if a barrier had shattered.
She saw herself sitting on the bed, but her body had become transparent. Beneath her porcelain skin, her crimson muscles and bone-white skeleton were fully exposed. The beautiful girl had become a "pink-fleshed skeleton." She could see the trembling muscle fibers, the crawling connective tissues, and even the metabolic flow of cellular energy.
This... this is...
To her horror, her internal organs were shifting—literally moving within her body. Muscle fibers twisted like steel cables, contracting and closing. Her flesh and fat slithered like fish. Her skeleton stretched and groaned with an audible creak.
Her entire body felt as if it had gained its own consciousness. The "workers" of her anatomy were no longer content with their roles; they were dancing freely.
"How is this possible?" The sight of her connective tissues stretching and snapping back made her heart hammer against her ribs. She was terrified her blood vessels would burst, causing a massive internal hemorrhage.
But her fear was misplaced. Her vascular system branched and wound through the moving meat, as flexible as wireworms.
She forced herself to calm down and observe. Using the precision of the Byakugan, she noticed a pattern. The "activation" of her flesh followed a sequence: first the face, then the neck, chest, and abdomen. It was moving toward her waist and legs.
The activation was moving from head to toe.
And the source... was the Byakugan.