Chapter 52: The Uchiha’s Challenge

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: The Uchiha’s Challenge

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, Hyuga Kagami realized it himself. His face immediately darkened as he muttered, "That thing was already a pig to begin with!"

The venom sac inside the snake’s corpse contained a deadly poison to ordinary animals incapable of using chakra. The scruffy little wild boar that had run away showed no signs of chakra flowing through its body whatsoever, so as long as it ate the snake’s corpse, it was undoubtedly going to die!

But whether it was a snake poisoning a pig to death or a pig eating a snake, it was all part of the natural cycle.

Hyuga Kagami had no time to concern himself with such insignificant matters. After carefully storing away the venom sac he had just obtained, he immediately resumed his search for other poisonous creatures.

After an entire morning of work, Hyuga Kagami had collected the venom sacs and venom glands of more than a dozen different poisonous creatures.

Returning with a plentiful haul, he stopped by the market along the way and bought several white laboratory mice.

Creating a compound poison wasn’t as simple as mixing every poison together.

Different poisons possessed different properties. Mixing them together indiscriminately sometimes not only failed to increase their toxicity, but could even cause some of the poisons to neutralize one another, reducing the overall lethality of the resulting toxin.

Therefore, creating a compound poison often required a large amount of data from experiments on living subjects before it could be properly formulated.

Mixing...

Testing...

Recording...

Hyuga Kagami spent nearly the entire afternoon meticulously repeating these tasks.

Unfortunately, the results were far from satisfactory.

The poisonous creatures in the Forest of Death simply weren’t potent enough. Their venom couldn’t even kill the laboratory mice instantly, let alone ninjas who possessed chakra.

Still, Hyuga Kagami hadn’t come away completely empty-handed. At the very least, he discovered that the toxin of one species of moth possessed an extremely powerful paralyzing effect, while the venom of another species of poisonous scorpion could accelerate blood circulation.

When the two toxins were mixed together, they could almost instantly paralyze the laboratory mice used as test subjects from head to toe.

The problem was that Hyuga Kagami currently had no idea how to perfectly combine the two toxins without diminishing either one’s effects.

Moreover, just how potent could this compound poison ultimately become?

Could it work against powerful ninjas?

Questions like these could only be answered through further experimentation.

By evening, Rei arrived at Hyuga Kagami’s home carrying a steaming hot meal.

Seeing the laboratory mice scattered across the floor, half-dead after everything Hyuga Kagami had put them through, she asked in surprise, "Kagami, what are you doing?"

Without looking up from carefully recording the mice’s reactions to the poison, Hyuga Kagami casually replied, "I’m researching poisons!"

Hyuga Kagami hadn’t made the slightest attempt to conceal his poison research today. From heading into the Forest of Death that morning to collect toxins, to buying laboratory mice at the market around noon, he had carried out the entire process openly.

Rei crouched down beside Hyuga Kagami and asked quietly, "Are poisons like these really useful?"

Like most traditional members of the Hyuga Clan, Rei had an instinctive aversion toward things like poison. But she was, after all, a ninja who had lived through the war. She understood that on the battlefield, as long as it led to victory, any method was fair game!

Hyuga Kagami smiled. "Of course they’re useful. Who knows? Maybe one of these poisons will save my life on my next mission."

After finishing his records, Hyuga Kagami briefly cleaned everything up before sitting down to eat with Rei.

Besides bringing Hyuga Kagami dinner, Rei had also brought him a piece of news: Hyuga Hizashi wanted to meet with him.

Hyuga Hizashi held considerable influence within the Hyuga Clan and was also responsible for handling the clan’s day-to-day communication with the village. Naturally, Hyuga Kagami couldn’t refuse his request for a meeting.

That night, inside an izakaya.

Hizashi looked at Hyuga Kagami and asked with a gentle smile, "Why did you want to meet here?"

Hyuga Kagami casually made up an excuse. "I’m currently an ANBU directly under the Hokage, so I should try to maintain some distance from the clan. It’s better that way, both for the clan and for me."

The real reason, of course, was that he was afraid his Tenseigan might be exposed.

After all, people were constantly coming and going throughout the clan compound. There was no telling when some clan member might suddenly activate their Byakugan.

By arranging to meet at an izakaya instead, the two of them could simply chat in private. Hizashi naturally had no reason to suddenly activate his Byakugan in a place like this, greatly reducing the chances of Hyuga Kagami’s Tenseigan being discovered.

In truth, Hyuga Kagami was simply being overly cautious.

Because of the Byakugan’s ability to see through objects, members of the Hyuga Clan were generally very mindful about using it inside the village and rarely activated it without good reason. After all, activating the Byakugan around fellow village ninjas could be considered a form of spying, and no one enjoyed having someone peer through them and see everything.

Hyuga Kagami had merely made up an excuse on the spot, but Hizashi found his reasoning perfectly sensible. Nodding, he said, "Mm. You’re right to think that way. The village’s higher-ups are extremely wary of powerful clans like ours."

Without a doubt, some of the village’s recent measures against the Uchiha Clan had also made the Hyuga Clan uneasy.

Hyuga Kagami didn’t say much about such a sensitive subject. Instead, he went straight to the point. "Lord Hizashi, why did you ask to meet with me this time?"

Hizashi explained, "Next month, the village will hold a confidence vote for a promotion to jōnin."

Under normal circumstances, when a special jōnin was being promoted to full jōnin, they needed to pass a small-scale confidence vote. So, to put it plainly, Hizashi had arranged this meeting with Hyuga Kagami to secure his vote.

Hizashi continued, "One of the clan’s veteran special jōnin is up for promotion this time. You’re now an ANBU directly under the Hokage, so you have voting rights. I hope you can lend the clan your support in this matter."

After hearing Hizashi’s request, Hyuga Kagami smiled happily. "Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can."

At that moment, he truly felt just how much his status had changed.

Back when he had merely been a chūnin during the war, forget participating in matters like these—he hadn’t even been qualified to come into contact with them.

But now, even a prestigious clan like the Hyuga had times when they needed something from him.

Of course, Hyuga Kagami had his own selfish reasons for agreeing so readily.

Unlike the overbearing Uchiha, the Hyuga Clan was far more low-key and steady, so its reputation within the village was considerably better. Many Konoha ninjas were willing to team up with members of the Hyuga Clan for missions.

Therefore, as far as Hyuga Kagami was concerned, the clan wasn’t a burden at all. On the contrary, it was a powerful force that he could make use of.

After chatting for a little while longer, both sides—having gotten what they wanted—left the izakaya.

Early the next morning, just as Hyuga Kagami was heading out to collect more poisonous creatures from the Forest of Death, a figure blocked his path.

The other person asked coldly, "Hey, brat. You’re Hyuga Kagami, right?"

Hyuga Kagami nodded.

The man toyed with the kunai in his hand as he said, "My name is Uchiha Shinichi. I heard you defeated Shisui not long ago, so I came here today specifically to challenge you to a spar. I’m going to make you understand that the name of the Uchiha isn’t something you can trample on whenever you please!"

Hyuga Kagami’s expression darkened. "Sorry, I have something else to do."

Uchiha Shinichi gave a cold snort.

"That’s not up to you!"