The arrogant Uchiha lay on the ground like a limp worm. Beyond widening his eyes, he couldn't move a muscle.
Intense humiliation flooded through him. The cold-faced Uchiha's black pupils began shifting toward red.
Zenji noticed the change immediately. A special Yin Release chakra was forming—his eyes lit up with excitement.
Without hesitation, he crouched and pressed his hand against the Uchiha's head.
Every subtle change in flesh, soul, and chakra fell within his perception.
His expression gradually shifted to elation. He couldn't help but chuckle. "I really hit the jackpot this time."
The Sharingan's awakening process unfolded clearly before him: the subtle shifts in the soul, the brain structure's reaction, the specialized secretion of chakra.
Finally, it acted upon the eyes, completing the awakening of a single-tomoe Sharingan.
Awakening from mere humiliation alone? His talent appeared higher than Sasuke's, Itachi's, or Shisui's.
But in reality, this ninja was already fourteen or fifteen. He couldn't be compared to Uchiha prodigies who awakened at seven or eight.
"So this is the Sharingan." Zenji's tone was unreadable.
His gaze shifted to the other two Genin, noting the anger, humiliation, and frustration swirling in their eyes.
"That's it. Keep it up." The corners of his mouth curled slightly. "Let me give you a push."
He walked over and placed his hands on both their heads.
Simulating the process he'd just observed, he began subtly stimulating and altering their soul states and brain structures.
The specialized chakra secreted instantly. Both Uchiha felt a jolt run through them as their eyes rapidly turned crimson. Single tomoe manifested in each.
The Uchiha captain watched with shock and mounting disbelief.
Just because they'd been captured, all three of his subordinates had awakened the Sharingan simultaneously?
It defied all reason.
He knew their situations intimately. Their aptitudes were average—neither exceptional nor poor—but their pride ran high. They consistently fell short of the clan's best while remaining above its worst. Most critically, none had awakened the Sharingan. That was precisely why they'd been assigned this trivial task.
"It actually works." Zenji examined his hands with undisguised joy.
"Idle Transfiguration? No... this is closer to Angel Hands."
Idle Transfiguration altered the form and structure of the soul, but it didn't touch more abstract aspects like memory, will, or mentality.
Angel Hands, which possessed similar abilities, was more comprehensive. Beyond altering the soul's form and structure, it could also modify willpower and mental state.
"If I can plunge an Uchiha into a state of extreme remorse... could I mass-produce three-tomoe Sharingan? Or even Mangekyo?"
The boost from a fully matured Sharingan was enough to transform a Genin into Jonin-level threat in short order.
That was precisely why the saying existed:
Curse your miserable fate for lacking the Sharingan.
Zenji stood and walked toward the Uchiha captain, pressing his hand against the man's skull.
Memories flooded into his perception.
"The Land of Bears? This really is outside Fire Country's borders—that peninsula shaped like a small tail."
Landing here posed the least difficulty for forces from the Land of Water. Every other approach was either too distant or directly bordered Fire Country.
"Found it." His eyes gleamed as he located information about the Hyuga Main House.
The target was on the battlefield's western sector, heading toward Fire Country's border.
"Hyuga Soka. Son of a Main House elder." Zenji's eyes narrowed.
The Hyuga Main House was remarkably small. Only the clan head and the heirs of a few select elders were considered true Main House members.
All other children—second sons, third sons, anyone deemed expendable—received the Caged Bird seal and became Branch House.
This time, Konoha was fighting on three fronts. Because the Hidden Mist relied heavily on the Hiding in Mist Technique, they needed the Byakugan's penetrating vision.
After all, if the Byakugan could see through the dense chakra concentrations within human bodies, mere chakra-infused mist posed no obstacle.
The Sharingan couldn't see through objects, but it could detect chakra flow and color variations—still useful as a counter. Unless an enemy remained perfectly motionless within the mist, they'd be detected.
"The target hasn't been killed yet. Ao hasn't made his move." Zenji discarded the irrelevant information and looked down at his four captives.
"I can't kill them. That would practically announce something's wrong in this area. If they expand their search radius and find my hideout, things get complicated."
He shook his head slightly.
Crouching again, he pressed his palm against the Uchiha captain's head.
He deleted the man's memories of this encounter entirely, then planted subtle perceptions deep in his psyche—causing minute alterations to his soul and brain structure.
Afterward, he performed identical modifications on the other three.
Only then did he dust off his hands with satisfaction.
"With my current strength, materials are easy to find. But four sleeper agents? Those are hard to come by."
The Severing Boundary Barrier flickered. Zenji's form vanished completely, as if he'd never existed.
A moment later.
The Uchiha captain's eyes opened. He stood up with a blank expression, and the other three returned to their original positions as well.
Their gazes sharpened instantly, expressions recovering.
"Captain, say something!" the cold-faced Uchiha demanded.
As if nothing had happened, they continued their previous conversation.
Western sector of the Land of Bears battlefield. Inside a logistics transit camp.
Hyuga Soka—who appeared to be in his mid-twenties—stood with a taut expression. His voice rang out across the tent.
"I am of the Main House! I possess the noble Byakugan bloodline! A Jonin at sixteen years old! Yet upon arriving at the battlefield, I'm ordered to guard rations in the rear?"
"I refuse to accept this!"
"I want to fight for Konoha! Fight for the prestige of the Byakugan! I want to carve my way through the Hidden Mist's forces!"
Several Branch House guards shifted uncomfortably, their composed expressions threatening to crack.
Akimichi Kuryo, the camp's adjutant, couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.
He'd heard rumors about this Main House young master's bizarre personality—completely unlike the rest of the Byakugan clan—but this was beyond lacking self-awareness.
Hurried footsteps interrupted his thoughts. The tent flap flew open, and a Byakugan ninja rushed in.
"Young Master! Lord Kuryo! Lord Naota detected unfamiliar chakra signatures in the forest five kilometers north. Approximately fifteen to twenty individuals—likely a Hidden Mist strike team."
"Lord Naota has already departed with the response unit. He ordered me to report immediately."
Before he'd even finished speaking, Hyuga Soka shot to his feet.
"Excellent! I'll personally capture these infiltrators!"
The Branch House guards' expressions shifted instantly. They scrambled to intervene.
"You mustn't, Young Master!"
"The battlefield is dangerous. Lord Naota can handle this."
Their protests only fueled Soka's anger. He waved them off dismissively.
"Silence! My decision is final."
"Kuryo—I leave this camp to you."
Without waiting for a response, he strode out of the tent.
"Why did I get stuck as this guy's adjutant?" Akimichi Kuryo rubbed his face wearily. "If I'd known it would be like this, I'd have taken my chances on another front."
A few hundred meters east of the camp, Zenji stood on a tree branch, wrapped in his barrier's concealment. His glowing blue eyes gazed into the distance.
"Someone's coming out? What excellent luck."
He followed immediately.
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