Chapter 55: Poison Testing and the Caretaker

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Poison Testing and the Caretaker

Early in the morning, Hyuga Kagami arrived at the Forest of Death carrying a bulging pack.

He had thought it would take him some time to find the little wild boar, but unexpectedly, the moment he reached the small pond where it frequently appeared, the little boar came bursting out of the bushes.

Rather than saying Kagami had found the little boar, it would be more accurate to say that the little boar had found him.

Today, the little boar was noticeably bigger than it had been yesterday. Unfortunately, most of the fur on its hindquarters had been bitten clean off, as though some other beast in the forest had given it a thorough beating.

Looking at the little boar limping toward him, Kagami chuckled.

"Who did you go and provoke? They really did a number on you."

After laughing, Kagami set down the pack on his back and took out a large slab of meat. Using a short blade, he sliced the meat into strips and arranged them neatly on the ground.

The little boar sat off to the side, staring hungrily at the strips of meat.

Once everything was laid out, Kagami numbered the strips one by one. Then he took out five bottles of paralytic toxin and injected them separately into the meat strips numbered one through five.

All five bottles of paralytic toxin had been made using the same poisonous creatures.

The only difference between them was the proportion of each toxin used in the mixture.

What Kagami wanted to test today was which of these five paralytic toxins was the most potent. Based on the results, he would then make further adjustments to the formula.

Once everything was ready, Kagami tossed meat strip No. 1 to the little wild boar.

The little boar had already been drooling with hunger. The moment it saw the meat, it scampered over with a series of eager grunts and devoured strip No. 1 in just a few bites. Then it sat back down and stared fixedly at the remaining strips.

Kagami immediately activated his Tenseigan and began observing it carefully.

Yet after eating meat strip No. 1, which contained the paralytic toxin, the little boar acted as though absolutely nothing had happened.

Neither the faint wisp of chakra inside its body nor the muscles throughout its body showed any noticeable change.

The only thing that had changed was the amount of drool dripping from the corner of its mouth.

There seemed to be even more of it than before.

"You’ve got to be kidding me!"

What Kagami had injected into meat strip No. 1 wasn’t some ordinary poison. It was a compound paralytic toxin that he had painstakingly concocted himself. By his estimates, even a chunin’s constitution might not be able to withstand it.

Yet this utterly ordinary, scruffy little wild boar in front of him had eaten the poisoned meat without so much as a reaction.

Kagami found that rather difficult to accept.

Refusing to believe it, he tossed out meat strip No. 2.

Then No. 3.

No. 4.

No. 5...

The little boar accepted every last one without the slightest hesitation.

And after finishing them all, aside from having a greasy mouth and leaving a puddle of drool on the ground, there was still no other change whatsoever.

Watching the little boar affectionately rub itself against his leg—even smearing drool all over his pants—made a vein throb on Kagami’s forehead.

This little boar had absolutely no awareness that it was supposed to be a living poison-testing subject.

It had actually started treating him like its caretaker.

"You really think I can’t handle you?"

With his pride taking a hit, Kagami became irritated and pulled out his compound lethal toxin. He injected it into meat strip No. 6 and tossed it to the little boar...

An hour later, Kagami returned home and began concocting a new batch of toxins.

As for everything he had made before, he threw it all away.

If his compound toxins couldn’t even deal with a little wild boar that happened to possess some resistance to poison, then they had no value whatsoever.

Over the next several days, Kagami found himself trapped in a repeating cycle of concocting toxins, testing them, and then concocting them all over again.

It wasn’t as though he had gained absolutely nothing from the process.

At the very least, the little wild boar serving as his poison-testing subject had been fed until it was plump and sturdy.

Then, one morning, Kagami had barely stepped out of his house when he discovered someone already waiting outside his door.

The man stepped forward as soon as Kagami emerged, blocking his path.

"My name is Uchiha Hiiragi. I’m sure you already know why I’m here. Whether we do this here or somewhere else is up to you!"

Kagami looked at the thin Uchiha clansman standing before him, whose gaze was cold and stern.

Immediately, the contents of the small note Shisui had handed him the previous night flashed through his mind.

’Uchiha Hiiragi. Jonin. Cold and ruthless personality. Proficient in Fire Release, Wind Release, taijutsu, swordsmanship, and ninja tool throwing. Weaknesses: poor stamina, has a habit of taking dangerous risks when using a sword, and possesses an overly strong killing instinct.’

Judging from Shisui’s description on the note, Uchiha Hiiragi was an extremely well-rounded ninja.

Poor stamina might be a serious weakness in a life-or-death battle, but in a spar between ninjas from the same village, it could hardly be considered much of a weakness at all.

Clearly, the Uchiha Clan had put quite a bit of thought into restoring their reputation this time.

That meant there were only two weaknesses Kagami could exploit: Hiiragi’s tendency to take unnecessary risks when wielding a sword, and the fact that his state of mind was easily influenced by his killing instinct once a battle began.

After pondering for a moment, Kagami said, "Follow me."

Uchiha Hiiragi said nothing and merely nodded coldly.

Kagami led him to a secluded grove before asking, "What do you want to compete in?"

Uchiha Hiiragi froze for a moment.

He hadn’t expected Kagami to ask him that.

After thinking it over, he replied, "Ninjutsu or taijutsu, either is fine. Whatever you want."

Kagami smiled.

"Then let’s make it taijutsu."

After his previous battle against Iwamata, Kagami had realized that the Hyuga Clan’s conventional methods were rather lacking when dealing with ninjutsu specialists whose techniques were strange and unpredictable.

That was why he had deliberately provoked Uchiha Hiiragi a little, though he hadn’t actually expected much to come of it.

Who would have thought that Uchiha Hiiragi would actually let him choose the type of contest?

In that case, Kagami naturally chose taijutsu.

With the terms of the spar decided, Uchiha Hiiragi slowly drew his short sword.

Morning sunlight filtered through the treetops and struck the blade, reflecting a brilliant gleam that added a splash of brightness to the dew-dampened grove.

Kagami, meanwhile, lowered his stance slightly.

Blue chakra enveloped both of his palms as he held one hand forward and the other back, guarding his front.

Whoosh...

A gentle breeze swept through the grove, knocking several leaves from the branches.

The leaves spiraled lazily through the air until one of them drifted onto the edge of Uchiha Hiiragi’s short sword.

Without a sound, it split cleanly in two.

Kagami’s expression sharpened.

"What a fine blade!"

When an expert swordsman was paired with an exceptional weapon, their combat strength could rise dramatically.

The short sword in Uchiha Hiiragi’s hand was undoubtedly a rare and exceptional blade.

The sheer cutting aura emanating from it alone was enough to make Kagami wary.

Whoosh!

Uchiha Hiiragi suddenly moved.

His entire body blurred into an afterimage as he lunged fiercely toward Kagami, accompanied by the sharp sound of tearing wind.

Uchiha Hiiragi was fast, but under Kagami’s Tenseigan, every movement he made and every subtle change in his expression was visible in perfect detail.

So Kagami remained completely calm.

He immediately set the Eight Trigrams Palms into motion and met Uchiha Hiiragi head-on.

In an instant—

Blade and palm began fighting for supremacy within mere inches of each other!