Well, what should I say to them? My frantic thoughts were interrupted by a well-trained, commanding voice.
"Listen to my command! Strip the corpses, seal the cloaks and heads into scrolls. I see three survivors who can be interrogated—conduct interrogations. Remember, interrogate enemies separately. Anko and Kade will handle the interrogations, Tohori will verify the truthfulness of their answers. Mitarashi Anko is responsible for carrying out this order. You have fifteen minutes. Time starts now!"
Great, the commander whipped everyone into shape. Now he'll deal with me.
"Yes, Hizashi-sensei!" the students responded in unison.
Interesting turn of events. Hizashi? If memory serves, that's the name of the Hyūga clan head's brother. But according to the anime, he should already be dead! What time period have I landed in, if Hizashi is alive and Anko hasn't yet become a jōnin?
"Ah, right," Hyūga declared, hoisting me onto his left arm. All I could do was grab onto the shoulder of his jacket for dear life. "Once you've completed the orders, take the remains into the forest and hide them. Doton: Minor Burial Technique—surely you haven't forgotten? Good. Get to it."
After issuing instructions to his subordinates, Hizashi leaped onto a nearby tree.
Damn! Both of my hands clung to his neck in a death grip. My vestibular system went haywire, and I suspected only the activation of his Byakugan and the composure it provided kept me from throwing up all over his jacket.
Branches whipped past us at breakneck speed, making me want to shut my eyes and bury my face in his jacket to protect my newly acquired Byakugan. However, a calmer part of my mind noted that Hizashi was careful to choose a path where branches wouldn't hit me.
Thankfully, the wild ride across the rugged terrain didn't last long. The jostling stopped, and strong hands peeled me off his jacket and seated me securely in the fork of several thick oak branches.
Not bad. Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to fall from here. Exhaling, I tried to steady myself and focus.
"Akira-chan, you might want to deactivate your Byakugan," Hizashi calmly advised. "If it's your first time and you're not used to it, you could end up with a headache bad enough to make demons howl."
"I'll try," I managed to say, still catching my breath.
Surprisingly, the task turned out to be fairly straightforward. I just had to mentally pinch off the red and blue threads to extinguish them. The green one, though, was stubborn—life chakra didn't want to detach from my eyes. Ugh, curse it! This Byakugan is nothing but trouble.
As soon as I managed to stop the chakra flow to my eyes, it felt like someone had dumped sand under my eyelids. It burned like hell.
"Just as I thought," Hizashi nodded at me. "Your primary chakra is life energy. Hang in there; you've overstrained your channels. It'llget better in a few minutes."
"So, is life chakra a good thing or a bad thing?" I figured I might as well try to coax a small lecture out of the shinobi.
"It's neither good nor bad. It simply is. But let's save the lecture on sources for another time. For now, I'd like to hear your story, Akira-chan. Who are you, where are you from, and what exactly happened on that road?"
"Well," I hesitated for a moment, "my father and I were traveling from the Land of Waves. We're simple farmers, sir. Life was very hard for us, so we tried to find a better future in another country. Years of poor harvests, epidemics, famine..." Hizashi nodded knowingly—he seemed aware of the hardships in neighboring lands. "So, we tried to escape from our lord. He didn't take it well and decided to punish the runaways. Everything that happened after, you already saw. By the way, why were you glowing red, like that stern-looking man, while the blonde and the girl were glowing blue?"
"So, you're saying you and your father were simple farmers, is that right, Akira-chan?" Hizashi completely ignored my question.
"Yes, Hizashi-san." Even if it was rhetorical, better to answer.
"Interesting story. Something you'd read in one of Jiraiya-sama's books." His face was devoid of emotion, a stone mask. "Now, Akira-chan, if that is your name, I'd like to hear the truth."
"But I told you the truth!" And I had, technically. I hadn't lied—not a word. Everything was true... about Akira. I just omitted what happened to me.
"The truth? And what is the truth, Akira-chan? Alright, let's break it down. First of all, I'm very curious about what kind of country produces six-year-olds who know about a rare dōjutsu. I'm talking about the Byakugan, Akira-chan. You clearly recognized what it was when I told you to deactivate it, and without hesitation, you started severing your chakra channels. Clumsily, yes, but you did it. What fascinating farmers they must have in the Land of Waves."
"Furthermore, perhaps you're unaware, Akira-chan, but independently awakening the Byakugan is no simple feat. It's far too easy to burn out the delicate chakra channels in the eyes. Yet you somehow managed to conduct the complex initiation ritual on your own, with no external help. Still nothing you'd like to share with me, Akira-chan? Very well, I'll continue."
"The most curious thing, little one, is that most of your tenketsu are closed. Only those that were involved in the Byakugan's activation are open. So, what do we see? A child who, without any prior experience with chakra, somehow performed one of the most complex initiation rituals. Not to mention possessing a kekkei genkai you shouldn't have in the first place. And let's not forget: among the dead on that road, there wasn't a single shinobi. I can guarantee that. So, Akira-chan, bowing to shinobi like a daimyo would graciously greet a toilet cleaner—anything you'd like to tell me?"
"And one last thing. You're an interesting boy, Akira-chan. Not even thirty minutes ago, you watched your father die right before your eyes. Yet here you are, calmly talking to a stranger, asking questions about life chakra. It didn't even occur to you to ask what chakra is in the first place."
"Nothing to say? Alright, let me explain what your future might hold. Frankly, there aren't many options. My orders explicitly state: any shinobi found unaffiliated with a Hidden Village is to be delivered to the ANBU for interrogation. Judging by your eyes, you understand what I mean. So, how about a little chat with Shimura Danzō? Hey, don't flinch! Sit still, or you might break something. Clearly, you know that name, don't you?"
"Here's the thing, boy. The first thing Danzō would do upon seeing an unmarked Byakugan owner is... that's right. He'd rip out your eyes."
Hizashi fell silent. And I tried to gather my scattered thoughts together and find a clear answer.