Chapter 69: Lone Lion, Experiment, Evil Spirit

"Yuto-kun, I'm leaving. It's up to you here... haha." Minato Namikaze's golden hair shone brilliantly under the sun, making him look even more heroic in his battle gear.

"Please don't tease me, Minato-senpai."

Yuto was dressed the same as usual — his right arm wrapped in black bandages, a white wide-sleeved robe draped over a dark green vest, "I'm just a small free agent here. We still have Lord Orochimaru."

"Sometimes, too much humility isn't a good thing." Minato patted the branch family's young shinobi on the shoulder, "We tallied the battle achievements a few days ago. You've made so many contributions over the past few months that it scared even me. On the battlefield, when enemies hear the name 'Lone Lion,' they tremble."

Yuto shook his head, "I'm still far from matching the famous Yellow Flash."

"Haha, so work even harder, Yuto-kun. I hope to hear about the Lion even when I'm fighting the Iwagakure forces in the Land of Rain."

"Minato-senpai, I'll do my best."

After exchanging a few more words, Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God technique to vanish.

Yuto looked towards the Land of Rain, the sound of cicadas ringing in his ears, then turned around and walked out of the camp under the respectful gazes of many Konoha shinobi.

It was now summer, and Yuto had been on this chaotic battlefield among Konoha, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure for four months.

Four months and over a hundred battles of various sizes.

The name "Lone Lion" had spread throughout the major shinobi nations.

The black bandages, and the slightly handsome face, the roaring lion-like ninjutsu — at just thirteen, Yuto had become a rising star on the battlefield, a key figure in Konoha's propaganda, and was recognized as one of the outstanding young talents of the Land of Fire.

Although he couldn't compare to the Yellow Flash, the name Lone Lion was still quite prominent.

At least on the enemy shinobi villages' and bounty stations' target lists, the bounty for "Lone Lion" Yuto Hyuga had reached 45 million ryo, higher than the "Twelve Guardian Ninja" of the Land of Fire!

However, as Yuto's reputation soared, the world grew even more turbulent. Iwagakure and Sunagakure seemed unsatisfied with their solo battles and dragged Konoha into the fray. The three sides had already skirmished several times in the Land of Rain, and a full-scale war seemed imminent.

Due to the immense pressure from the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, Hiruzen had also dispatched Minato. Before leaving, Yuto, seen as one of Minato's trusted subordinates, naturally came to bid farewell.

After saying goodbye to Minato, Yuto once again left the camp. He had grown adept at moving alone, mastering skills like concealing his presence, luring enemies, and making quick escapes. These abilities were now ingrained in his body like instincts.

Of course, these skills were acquired at the cost of painful lessons from ambushes.

Yuto's long list of achievements was soaked in blood, both his and others'.

After winding through the area, he returned to his underground secret base.

In a large tank, the body of Shinosuke Hyuga still soaked. It was the only main family body Yuto had obtained, which might still be useful, so he hadn't "squeezed it dry."

As for the other Hyuga clan members he had captured over the months, they had all been turned into nutrients for cell cultivation to create the "God's Mask."

Even in wartime, Hyuga bodies were hard to come by. Yuto knew that after Shinosuke and his guardians disappeared, the main family and the village had become vigilant. Any lone Byakugan user could be a trap, waiting for him to take the bait.

So he remained cautious, occasionally going out for "hunting."

After necessary tests, Yuto now had only two God's Masks.

Creating one God's Mask required at least one Jonin or four Chunin.

And Yuto could only temporarily gain powerful ocular abilities for a short three minutes by merging with a mask.

Moreover, through external reproduction of other Hyuga cells, he confirmed his suspicion that as a transmigrator, his cells uniquely underwent complete level transcendence to form the God's Mask.

The mask was the key to supplementing his bloodline defect, but it was clearly not a complete key, as it couldn't be maintained for long. In the three-minute duration, his eyes transformed, and the chakra refined by his body became vastly different. He aptly named this state "Mask Mode" in true Naruto fashion!

But once the time elapsed and the key was exhausted, he reverted to being a caged bird.

Creating a stable key required other components, and finding those components necessitated the three-minute "Mask Mode."

Thus, he continued his journey of collecting corpses.

Despite everything, Yuto was content with his current situation. At least his goals were clear, and he had a trump card up his sleeve.

Three minutes of power was quite substantial, after all, the Sage Mode of Mount Myoboku only lasted a few minutes.

Walking along the path was reassuring, especially since today Yuto intended to take another significant step forward.

He spent two hours in the underground base, finishing his meditation training by dusk.

Yuto discarded his clothes, changed into a gray-black robe, and used the Transformation Jutsu to maintain the appearance of an adult male. Finally, he donned a fearsome mask and surfaced.

Skillfully maneuvering through the mountains, he arrived at a valley, making hand signs in front of a special marker.

The underground door opened again, revealing the bounty station's branch in the Land of Hot Water.

Led by an attendant, Yuto delved deeper underground to a hidden stone chamber.

"Please state your name and key, sir." A woman in a rat-faced mask appeared. Bounty station attendants all dressed like this.

"Aizen Sōsuke."

"Aizen Sōsuke-sama." After verifying his identity, the woman respectfully asked:

"How may I assist you today?"

"I'm here to exchange something."

"Very well, sir. May I see the item? Though I'm not a shinobi, I can provide a preliminary evaluation based on my training."

"Alright." Yuto nodded and took out a glass jar filled with preservative solution.

"Oh? A human organ? No problem, this kind of..."

The rat-faced woman's voice abruptly stopped, as if something had gripped her throat.

She looked up sharply, her eyes filled with unprecedented reverence and fear, staring at the man in the demonic mask opposite her.

In the small glass jar, a pure white eye floated in the preservative liquid.

(End of Chapter)