In his heart, Hyuga Kagami had already come to a realization.
Through the conversation just now between Mitsui Chuichi and Hongudo, he roughly judged that the so-called 'special mission' Mitsui Chuichi gave to Hongudo and Shiaotian should be to rendezvous with the spy the village planted among the Sand Shinobi.
But for such a secret mission, how could the village possibly send two Chunin who are still in a probationary period to do it?
From a rational standpoint, this doesn't make sense.
So Anko's intuition was correct. This so-called 'special mission' is a trap. The village might really have abandoned them, the former subordinates of Orochimaru, and wants to eliminate them one by one through legitimate means.
"Is it Danzo? Or the Third? Or perhaps the Fourth?"
The first person Hyuga Kagami suspected was Danzo. Orochimaru's early defection this time is full of hidden secrets. Hyuga Kagami found it difficult to determine what role Danzo played in it, but there's no doubt that Danzo was the biggest beneficiary of this defection incident. Judging by the argument that whoever benefits is the mastermind, Danzo is likely the culprit who instigated Orochimaru's early defection.
If that's the case, Danzo and Orochimaru have likely completely fallen out. Therefore, it would be reasonable for Danzo to eliminate Orochimaru's former subordinates who are unwilling to join Root.
The Third Hokage cannot be ruled out either, because the Third is the kind of person who, for the sake of so-called stability, can truly do many unbelievable and foolish things. This can be seen from his inaction that led to the White Fang's suicide, and in the future, to avoid conflict with the Hidden Cloud, pressuring the Hyuga clan who acted in self-defense, forcing Hyuga Hizashi to his death, and letting Naruto, the Fourth's orphan, grow up amidst the village's discrimination and curses, and so on.
As for the Fourth Hokage, Hyuga Kagami felt it shouldn't be him.
It's not that he has blind faith in the Fourth's character, but as a Fourth Hokage from a civilian background, he neither has support from his own clan nor has the Third fully relinquished power. Therefore, the Fourth currently shouldn't have enough influence to complete these arrangements.
At the same time, with the advantage of the Fourth's age, there's no need for him to rush to purge dissenters within the village.
In short, no matter who is orchestrating this purge behind the scenes, he himself has already become their target. Therefore, Hyuga Kagami knew that danger was looming over his head and could descend at any moment.
Days passed one by one. A week after the incident where Shiaotian was ambushed, Hyuga Kagami finally safely passed the adaptation period for the Tenseigan.
The dizziness and stinging completely disappeared, and with it came a comprehensive enhancement of his eyesight.
The Tenseigan possesses some abilities of the Byakugan, and in terms of subtle perception, it far surpasses the Byakugan.
With just ordinary observation, Hyuga Kagami could roughly judge the opponent's next move by observing the flow of chakra within their body and the changes in muscle contraction.
Aside from perception, the biggest change was his chakra volume.
Conservatively estimated, Hyuga Kagami speculated that his current chakra volume was between 40 and 50 times what it was before injecting the gene fluid, already exceeding the chakra volume of an average Jonin.
In addition, he faintly felt that his body had awakened some other abilities, but being inside the outpost, every move was being monitored by Captain Mitsui Chuichi, making it inconvenient to explore them one by one.
Suppressing his excited mood, Hyuga Kagami finally waited for an opportunity to go out on patrol alone a few days later.
--
"Hmph!"
With a soft exclamation, the distant yellow sand, like floodwaters from a breached dam, surged towards Hyuga Kagami's outstretched right hand!
With a thought, the surging yellow sand, as if hitting a hurricane head-on, was blown far away!
Looking at the swirling yellow sand that he could summon and dispel at will, Hyuga Kagami, in the remote desert, slightly curled up the corner of his mouth.
This move incorporates the principles of Pain's Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in, the principle being attraction and repulsion. In Hyuga Kagami's vague memories of his past life, Toneri Otsutsuki on the moon also used this move.
"Since this is a Tenseigan ability, let's call this move 'Wheel Rotation As Intended'!"
After trying 'Wheel Rotation As Intended' a few more times, as the initial excitement faded, Hyuga Kagami gradually discovered the shortcomings of his 'Wheel Rotation As Intended'. That is, the effective range is only about 15 meters, and the further the distance, the weaker the effect.
Hyuga Kagami frowned while panting.
Most attack ninjutsu of C-rank or higher have an attack range exceeding 20 meters, some even reaching 50 meters. The effective range of thrown weapons like kunai and shuriken thrown by skilled users can also easily exceed 20 meters.
This means that once the enemy creates distance, the 'Wheel Rotation As Intended' currently performed by Hyuga Kagami can only serve some defensive and disruptive purposes.
Putting the drawback of the small range aside for now, Hyuga Kagami, still panting, discovered another one of his shortcomings, which was the chakra volume that previously made him excited.
His chakra volume had increased by forty to fifty times, which had made Hyuga Kagami very excited. However, after repeatedly using 'Wheel Rotation As Intended' multiple times, he was surprised to find that his chakra was actually insufficient.
Only then did the realization dawn on Hyuga Kagami.
The forty to fifty-fold increase in chakra had interfered with his objective judgment, causing him to wrongly estimate his chakra volume.
In reality, because his previous chakra volume was at the standard Genin level, too mediocre, even with a forty to fifty-fold increase, the total amount wasn't exaggeratedly high; it merely exceeded the level of an average Jonin.
This was far from the imagined ability to freely unleash ninjutsu and was even more incomparable to Toneri Otsutsuki, who also possessed the Tenseigan but could play with the moon like a toy.
And Hyuga Kagami had always used Toneri Otsutsuki as his benchmark, but reality delivered a harsh blow.
"Why is this happening?"
"Where exactly did something go wrong?"
"Could it be that my method of evolving the Tenseigan was incorrect?"
Questions one by one flooded into Hyuga Kagami's mind.
After being troubled for a long time in doubt, anxiety, and even panic, he finally calmed down. And with a change in perspective, all his previous confusions were easily resolved.
In his memories of his past life, Toneri Otsutsuki was the only one who possessed the Tenseigan, so Hyuga Kagami subconsciously thought that as long as he had the Tenseigan, he would have the same strength as Toneri Otsutsuki.
But then he thought, isn't Bloodline Limit also different from person to person!
Even with the same Byakugan, many peers in the Hyuga clan were stronger than Hyuga Kagami. And even with the same Sharingan, most Uchiha were just like cannon fodder in front of Madara.
Toneri Otsutsuki himself was the last remaining descendant of that branch on the moon, a true genius, who solely inherited all the legacies left by Hamura Otsutsuki on the moon. Even without the Tenseigan, his strength was Kage-level!
Such a person was truly not someone at the Genin level like Hyuga Kagami could compare with.
After acquiring the Tenseigan, Toneri Otsutsuki effortlessly reached Super Kage-level strength. It was a natural and expected progression.
And for Hyuga Kagami, who was starting from a completely different baseline, wanting to catch up to Toneri Otsutsuki's Super Kage-level purely with a pair of Tenseigan was somewhat unrealistic.
After understanding this point clearly, Hyuga Kagami tried out some Tenseigan techniques that Toneri Otsutsuki had used in his memories. He discovered that he indeed couldn't enter the Tenseigan Chakra Mode. As for the technique Toneri Otsutsuki used to cut the moon, as well as the Truth-Seeking Orbs that are both offensive and defensive, those techniques were even more out of the question.
"Huh, does entering Tenseigan Chakra Mode require hand signs?"
--