Yu Hyuga walked out of the ninja tool shop carrying a 2.5-meter-long bow case diagonally across his back, stepping onto the road home.
Inside the massive case, in addition to the giant yumi bow forged with sulfur, there were three hemp strings, fifty arrows, and the corresponding quiver, finger guard, and arm guard accessories.
Carrying such an exaggeratedly large box through the streets was quite conspicuous.
Along the way, Yu could faintly hear passing ninja pointing and whispering about him:
"Whoa, what kind of ninja tool is that kid carrying? Even a Fuma Shuriken isn't that big, is it?"
"Huh, isn't that the Hyuga family freak, Yu Hyuga?"
"Who is Yu Hyuga?"
"Heh... a walking disaster. Keep your voice down, don't let him pick you as a teammate."
"He was a weird kid back in the Academy. Instead of learning the Hyuga clan's secret techniques like he should, he spent all his time practicing Strong Fist with that eternal Genin, Might Duy, and his son. It's a pity his aptitude was so poor that even Might Duy didn't want him."
"After becoming a Genin, two of his teammates died, one after the other..."
"Every time, he's the weakest one, yet he's the one who survives. It's like he sucks all the luck out of his teammates..."
"Now, I guess he knows that practicing ninjutsu or taijutsu is useless for him, so he's switched to practicing weapon throwing which doesn't require chakra. Haha, no wonder they say he's the disgrace of the Hyuga clan."
Listening to the rustling whispers along the way—words of pity, ridicule, or jealousy drifting past his ears—Yu's gaze darkened slightly. He did not argue; he simply quickened his pace, swiftly leaving the vicinity of the Konoha training grounds.
The dark clouds of war already loomed over the Hidden Leaf.
After leaving the training grounds, the road became increasingly desolate. There were few pedestrians stopping on the streets; the scattered few villagers he brushed past all wore heavy expressions and walked in a hurry.
Shops had ceased operations, and entertainment venues were closed.
Only the areas around the Konoha Hospital and the training grounds were more congested than usual.
Soon, the sun began to set.
After traveling to several locations in a single day and doing everything possible to prepare for war, Yu returned to the vicinity of the Hyuga clan grounds.
He had two places of residence.
One was a side room for servants within the residence of the Main House elder, Hyuga Takahiro.
The other was a cramped apartment on the edge of the Hyuga district, left to him by his parents in this life.
Having rejected the elder's letter of appointment, Yu had effectively terminated his employment with him. Therefore, he could now only return to that narrow, cramped little apartment.
Fortunately, although the apartment was small, it gave Yu a unique sense of security.
However, just as he was about to step into the Hyuga clan grounds, walking along the road, Yu suddenly sensed a gaze hidden in the shadows of the street, peering directly at him!
Yu's heart instantly went cold.
In the early stages, when he was extremely weak and could only rely on the Kekkei Genkai—the Byakugan—as his core ability, Yu had become exceptionally sensitive to the gaze of others.
One could even say that this was the very reliance that had allowed him, a cannon fodder Genin, to survive until now after personally participating in the Third Great Ninja War for two years, while essentially all his teammates had died.
It was an extremely acute tactile sense regarding the abstract concept of a "gaze."
The human eye's field of view is generally 180 degrees horizontally and 135 degrees vertically.
When looking straight ahead, the range of clear vision is about 120 degrees, while peripheral vision can perceive about 60 degrees on either side. Looking up covers generally 60 degrees, and looking down covers about 75 degrees.
The Byakugan, however, has a field of view of 360 degrees. Even for a Branch House member like Yu, the field of view was 359 degrees. Moreover, this was a global vision that came with innate X-ray capabilities and a god-like perspective.
This meant that even standing behind an enemy, Yu could use his X-ray vision to see the rotation of the enemy's eyeballs, thereby judging which direction the enemy was looking.
Theoretically, as long as he properly utilized this line-of-sight difference, Yu could stay constantly behind an enemy in close-quarters combat, achieving a unique "invisibility" effect.
That's right—this was the "Invisibility Jutsu" created by the genius protagonist in prison in the movie 3-Iron.
After mastering this ability and combining it with the standard Three Body Technique used by ninja, Yu's survivability on the battlefield had instantly risen by more than just a single tier.
Just like right now—
The sensitive Yu instantly discerned that this gaze looking at him carried a killing intent.
It was sinister and decisive, just like the gaze he had encountered on the battlefield—one devoid of personal emotion, a gaze that sought to strip away an enemy's life solely to complete a mission.
A murderous gaze!
Yu didn't understand where this killing intent came from, nor did he know who had the audacity to plan to kill him right near the Hyuga clan grounds.
Upon detecting this gaze, he did not immediately activate his Byakugan.
Instead, relying on the instincts honed on the battlefield, he continued to walk forward. His toes turned slightly, and sticking to the right side of the street, he walked into the shadow cast by a building under the setting sun.
The gaze quickly followed Yu's figure, shifting its angle.
Using the shift in this "tactile sense," Yu quickly reverse-engineered the opponent's position—
Directly ahead and to the right, behind the eaves of a wooden two-story house.
Approaching the Hyuga clan territory, most of the buildings were this type of quaint, Japanese-style architecture.
Grey tiles, white walls, and wooden structures; overall quite majestic, but correspondingly, they created many blind spots.
Yu's expression remained calm and composed. When he was about fifty meters from the opponent's position, he suddenly turned his body sideways, wedging himself between the building's shadow and a utility pole.
From the perspective of the enemy hiding in the dark, it looked as if Yu had suddenly noticed something posted on the utility pole, felt a hint of interest, and circled halfway around to take a closer look.
The large wooden case on his back, the utility pole, and the shadows and blind spots of the building combined to obscure Yu's face.
And then—
"Byakugan, activate!"
The meridians around his eyes instantly bulged and filled with blood. His colorful vision instantly turned grey and white.
Then, expand, expand!
As his vision enveloped the surrounding one-kilometer radius, he clearly saw the face of the ninja secretly watching him.
The opponent wore a cat-face mask with only two whiskers and was draped in a light yellow hooded cloak that concealed his entire figure.
Beneath the mask was a slightly gloomy, broad face.
His attire made him look like a member of Konoha's Anbu or Root.
However, Yu frowned slightly, immediately recognizing that the opponent was the owner of a new pharmacy that had opened on the street facing the Hyuga clan grounds three months ago.
Yu had passed by that pharmacy before.
In his memory, this kind, broad face had a very approachable smile.
So, is this a person from Root?
Did Danzo Shimura send him to invite me?
But that doesn't seem right...
Yu couldn't help but furrow his brows deeply. He reasoned that at this time, Konoha's Anbu and Root had no reason to monitor the Hyuga clan.
Furthermore, monitoring the Hyuga clan was a pointless endeavor; any surveillance against the Hyuga, against the "Byakugan," had an exposure probability of almost one hundred percent.
Moreover, this fellow from Root or Anbu clearly had bad intentions.
Why does he want to kill me?
Yu hadn't provoked the Anbu, and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wouldn't be idle enough to send an Anbu to take out Yu, who had absolutely no connection to anything important.
And Yu had only this morning thrown the letter of appointment—labeled as an S-rank mission but actually an application to join Root—toward Root.
Even if Danzo despised him and didn't want him to join Root, as long as Yu hadn't touched Danzo's sore spots or involved himself in Root's secrets, there was no reason to kill him.
Yu had a very clear understanding of himself.
A piece of trash like him didn't have enough value for Danzo to kill.
So now, which faction does this guy who wants to kill him belong to?