After acquiring Ice Release and the ability for one-handed seals, Yagyu wasted no time and hurried back to Konoha. After all, Kurenai had only given Team 8 three days of rest.
Just like when he left, Yagyu re-entered the village by using a genjutsu to hypnotize the gatekeepers, avoiding the registration process.
The next day marked the third day of their break.
For a rare occasion, Yagyu didn't wake up for his usual morning training. Instead, he gave himself a break.
The past few days had worn him out a bit. Although both of his trips outside the village had yielded significant gains, the long walks, following people around, and camping outdoors had been tedious. Sometimes, even finding a place to bathe was a challenge.
Plus, in this era, ninjas were jacks-of-all-trades. They did everything from infiltrating enemy nations to gather intelligence or fighting battles, to simpler tasks like babysitting or cleaning up the village.
No matter the world, making money was never easy!
That day, Yagyu decided to relax. He didn't stay at home reading or studying chakra nature transformation or shape manipulation. Instead, he went out for a stroll.
Since Sakura had not returned and Hinata couldn't leave the house easily, Yagyu didn't look for them. Instead, he made his way to Ino's flower shop and sneakily activated his Red Eye to peek inside, seeing if Ino was there helping out.
When he saw she wasn't, Yagyu gave up on the idea of hanging out with her and continued wandering around the village streets.
"Yagyu, long time no see. Are you on a break today?"
"Yagyu-kun, it's been a while! Are you alone? Want to go on a date with me?"
"Yagyu-senpai, how's life as a genin? Have you gone on any missions outside the village?"
…
As he wandered around, Yagyu bumped into several classmates and underclassmen. They greeted him with enthusiasm.
Yagyu didn't ignore them. He stopped, patiently chatting with them for a few moments.
Some female classmates and underclassmen who had a crush on Yagyu even invited him out on dates, but Yagyu politely declined with a smile.
"Hm?"
Passing by a certain shop, Yagyu suddenly stopped, his attention caught by a sign outside.
After reading the photo and text on the sign, Yagyu felt both surprised and delighted. "A film camera, and it's this small?"
Intrigued, Yagyu entered the shop and struck up a conversation with the shop owner.
"Excuse me, do you still have stock of the camera advertised outside? Can I take a look?"
"Of course! You've got great taste, young man. This camera has been flying off the shelves in the ninja world recently."
Seeing Yagyu's forehead protector, the shop owner became very enthusiastic. After all, in this era, where technology hadn't fully taken off, ninjas were not only powerful but also among the highest earners.
The owner quickly brought out a small, handheld film camera and handed it to Yagyu.
"A compact camera, huh?"
Examining the camera in his hand, Yagyu thought to himself.
When taking photos for official records, photographers used large, standing cameras. Even when Team 8 took their group photo, the photographer used a large camera, so Yagyu assumed Konoha didn't have compact ones yet.
Recalling the camera Sakura and others used at the end of Shippuden, Yagyu asked, "By the way, do cameras that fit in the palm of your hand, with screens covering one side, exist in the ninja world yet?"
The shopkeeper blinked, confused. "Would that still be considered a camera?"
Alright, so the technology hadn't advanced that far yet.
Yagyu didn't press further and instead asked, "How much for this camera?"
"Ninety-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight ryo," the shopkeeper said, rubbing his hands together.
"That's a bit expensive. Can you lower the price?" Yagyu frowned.
For a C-rank mission, the reward is only between thirty thousand to a hundred thousand ryo, and that has to be split between the village, the supervising jōnin, and teammates. On lower-end missions, Yagyu might not even make ten thousand ryo.
He should have taken the opportunity to rob Gato instead of coming back empty-handed!
Feeling a bit regretful, Yagyu negotiated, "How about eighty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight ryo? It's a lucky number."
"Deal!"
"…?"
Looking at the shopkeeper's delighted face, Yagyu couldn't shake the feeling he'd been tricked.
But there was no going back; haggling was never his strong suit, in either his past or present life.
Yagyu reached into his pocket but actually accessed his space inventory, pulling out the money he had stored there.
Knowing how many crises Konoha would face in the future, Yagyu never kept his valuable items at home.
After purchasing the camera and some film, Yagyu left the shop, the owner's cheerful voice trailing behind him.
As Yagyu strolled down the street, he couldn't help but admire the camera in his hands. With this, he could start capturing photos of Hinata and the others, documenting their growth over time.
With that thought in mind, Yagyu quickly left the busy main street and headed into the wilderness to practice his photography skills.
The next day, the break was over.
Team 8 gathered at their usual spot, ready to begin another round of mundane D-rank missions.
Having already completed a C-rank mission, none of them had any complaints about the tedious nature of D-rank tasks.
Handling minor errands for the villagers might be tiring, but compared to the exhausting walking, constant vigilance, and difficulty finding decent rest while on escort missions, these jobs were nothing.
Both Shino and Hinata had come to appreciate the value of these simple D-rank missions.
Without the mental fortitude built from these missions, starting with a C-rank mission as a new genin could easily lead to problems.
Seeing that her team had grasped the importance of D-rank tasks, Kurenai smiled with satisfaction.
Such exceptional students — there's no way they'd lose to Kakashi's team.
If she recalled correctly, the time for this year's Chūnin Exams was approaching.
When the time comes, she'd make sure to show everyone what her students were capable of!
After the day's mission, Yagyu, as usual, invited Hinata to train with him.
Having not seen Yagyu in several days, Hinata blushed and nodded. If she wasn't so shy, she might have nodded so vigorously that her head would bob like a little chick pecking at food.
However, this time, instead of taking Hinata home right away, Yagyu brought her to an abandoned training field for a sparring match.
Yagyu first overpowered Hinata using his main body, then created a shadow clone to continue sparring with her under the pretext of assessing her progress.
Meanwhile, Yagyu took out his film camera from somewhere and began taking photos from a distance.
It had to be said that there was a stark contrast between the shy Hinata and the confident, battle-ready version of her. In combat, she was much more composed and resolute — reminiscent of her alternate self from the Infinite Tsukuyomi dream world.
At first, the clone fought on par with Hinata, with both sides trading wins and losses. But as the clone adapted to her fighting style and began exploiting her weaknesses, Hinata started losing more often than winning.
Over the next few days, Yagyu gradually reduced the chakra of his clones, first matching Hinata's level, then to two-thirds, and eventually to only half.
Whoosh!
One day, after the clone defeated Hinata yet again, the long-awaited red glow Yagyu had been hoping for finally appeared around her.
As the red orb automatically flew toward him, Yagyu didn't even need to check to know that inside was the Byakugan — the origin of all dōjutsu!
Finally, he had it in his grasp!
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