His thoughts spinning rapidly, Hyuga Yu quickly arrived at another possibility—
A spy.
This individual was a spy from another hidden village lurking within Konohagakure.
As for why he was being targeted, it likely had to do with his contact earlier that day with Hyuga Genko of the Main House. Based on this deduction, it was highly probable that the operative belonged to Kirigakure.
At this thought, Hyuga Yu furrowed his brows slightly. He still couldn't quite fathom why they would make a move on him.
However, the situation was already unfolding. What mattered most right now was resolving this sudden crisis.
Hyuga Yu masked his expression, deactivated his Byakugan, and continued down the street without betraying a hint of emotion.
The apartment he lived in was situated on the edge of the clan estate, close to Konoha's second ring. Although not large, it had to be said that the property's location was prime real estate within the village.
This area was near the central Konoha Tea Street—the very place where little Naruto would live in the future. In fact, Hyuga Yu's neighbor was none other than Kakashi Hatake, who had been promoted to Jōnin at the tender age of twelve and had recently sold his ancestral home to rent here for the sake of an easier commute.
Mentioning these facts wasn't intended to show off how wealthy or high-status Hyuga Yu was, nor how well the Hyūga Clan treated its ordinary members.
Rather, it was to point out one crucial fact:
The place he lived was a residential hub for Konoha's elite shinobi.
If the enemy hiding in the shadows wanted to make a move on Hyuga Yu, they couldn't wait until he actually returned to that neighborhood. The only location that would allow them to strike and conceal their tracks was a series of alleyways connecting the Hyūga Clan estate to the apartment district.
Knowing this, could Hyuga Yu run?
No, he couldn't.
No matter how one looked at it, Hyuga Yu was merely a Genin with pitifully low chakra reserves. What he feared most was a reckless frontal assault from an enemy.
With his current mastery of the Gentle Fist, even going all out, he could at best spar with a Chūnin-level opponent for a few minutes before collapsing from exhaustion, unable to mold any more chakra.
Therefore, he could not call for help; he would likely be killed before backup arrived.
He had to play along with the enemy, lull them into a false sense of security, and then...
In a single instant, kill them!
At this moment,
The sun was sinking in the west.
The crying of cicadas fell upon his ears like a shower of rain.
With a calm expression, Hyuga Yu crossed the long street, walking beneath the very eaves where the enemy lay concealed,
Until he reached the mouth of the alley—arriving at the burial ground the enemy had prepared for him.
Hyuga Yu's pure white pupils suddenly contracted and tightened, revealing a sharp, cold glint filled with killing intent.
He took a step, entering the darkness.
Swinging his arms in a natural rhythm, as his hand swung backward, he quietly slipped a kunai from the ninja tool pouch tied at the waist of his open-chested grey kimono. Tied to the end of the handle was a paper-wrapped pellet.
The instant he gripped the kunai, Hyuga Yu tensed his body. Grinding his toes into the ground, his figure flickered slightly within the elongated shadows of the alleyway, and he suddenly accelerated!
He plunged headlong into the alley, which was only three hundred meters long.
In that same instant, the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
A 'tactile sense' far beyond that of a normal person allowed Hyuga Yu to acutely perceive that the gaze focused on his back had lost its target. It faltered for less than half a second before prowling back into the shadows of the alleyway to lock onto him again—becoming more dangerous, more piercing, sharp enough to almost penetrate his flesh!
Whoosh!
The sound of rushing wind erupted behind him.
It was the sound of the enemy realizing something was amiss and using the Body Flicker Technique to close the distance at high speed!
Hyuga Yu's eyes snapped wide open, veins bulging around his temples!
"Byakugan!"
The instant his expanded, omnidirectional vision captured the enemy in urgent pursuit behind him,
Hyuga Yu lowered his body, stopped abruptly, and rolled to the side.
A broad-faced ninja dressed in Anbu attire, wearing a cat-face mask with only two whiskers, was carried forward by the inertia of the Body Flicker Technique. Brandishing a kunai that glinted with a cold light, he brushed past Hyuga Yu, who was rolling on the ground.
In that split second,
He saw the boy crouching on the ground, looking up.
He saw... a pair of white eyes that were usually as dull as a camel's, but had instantly turned as ferocious as a lion's.
Yajima Junito was an intelligence ninja.
He belonged to the absolute lowest tier of the Kirigakure spy network infiltrating Konohagakure.
In layman's terms, it didn't matter if he was exposed. Or rather, he had been dispatched precisely to be exposed if necessary—a pawn to be sacrificed, paying with his life to help his single-line handler acquire intelligence or clear obstacles.
At 10:00 AM today,
He had received a mission—
Disguise himself as a Konoha Anbu and kill a Hyūga Branch House Genin named Hyuga Yu.
Yajima Junito didn't know why his superior wanted to eliminate this Hyūga Branch House Genin, but he could make a rough guess—
At 9:00 AM, he had seen Hyuga Yu walking out of the mansion of the Main House Elder, Hyuga Sosuke.
This implied a very high probability that the target had made contact with Hyuga Genko, a Main House member Yajima had been keeping under close surveillance.
Combined with the subsequent intelligence provided in the mission briefing that Hyuga Yu was a medical-nin.
His superior had made a judgment:
Hyuga Yu's existence might impact Kirigakure's upcoming operations. Therefore, this variable had to be strangled in the cradle.
As for what Kirigakure's upcoming operations were?
Why would such a weak Hyuga Yu affect them?
And wouldn't killing Hyuga Yu right now alert the enemy, creating even larger variables for the mission?
Yajima Junito had an inkling of the answers, but he could not know them.
A ninja selected to be a spy couldn't be a fool, especially when Konohagakure was home to the mind-reading Yamanaka Clan.
All he knew was that right here, right now, relying on his strength as a seasoned Chūnin, he had to eliminate a weak Hyūga Branch House Genin who hadn't even fully mastered his clan's secret techniques—and he had to do it without causing too much of a commotion.
However,
After reviewing the intelligence on the assassination target, Yajima Junito instinctively caught a whiff of something off about the target's meager service record.
The record read as follows:
[Hyuga Yu: Genin]
[Missions Completed: D-Rank: 46, C-Rank: 12.]
[Strength Assessment: Genin. Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan activated, but has not mastered Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms. Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and shurikenjutsu are all sub-par. Through self-study, has mastered several Medical Ninjutsu, including one high-difficulty B-Rank Medical Ninjutsu.]
[Konoha Year 46: Graduated early from the Academy.]
[Konoha Year 47: Joined Reconnaissance Team 8 and participated in the Third Great Ninja War. In the same year, during an Iwagakure raid in the Land of Grass, the team leader (Chūnin) was killed, and two teammates were killed.]
[Konoha Year 48: Joined the reorganized Reconnaissance Team 8. In the same year, the team leader (Chūnin) was killed. Later participated in the Chūnin Exams held by Konoha; two teammates died under mysterious circumstances.]
[Recuperating from injuries until present day, Konoha Year 49.]
Looking at this record, Yajima Junito made his judgment:
This was an ordinary Genin who hadn't even fully mastered the clan secret techniques meant to protect him. Aside from possessing a pair of Byakugan—which seemed more like a burden to him than an asset—his combat ability was arguably inferior to some fresh, elite Academy graduates.
Yet, it was precisely this ninja—weak in every sense of the word—who had managed to survive the Third Great Ninja War to this day, despite his team leaders and teammates being wiped out on two separate occasions.
There was likely something wrong with this guy...
Either he was so lucky that even the heavens couldn't bear to take his life, or—
Hyuga Yu possessed abilities that the intelligence reports failed to document.
And such individuals were typically referred to by spy ninja, who lived and died by information, as:
[Intelligence Black Holes].