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After obtaining Ice Release and one-handed seals, Ryūsei immediately rushed back to Konoha without delay.
After all, Kurenai had only given Team 8 three days of rest.
Just like when he left, Ryūsei returned to the village by using genjutsu to hypnotize the gatekeeping chūnin, bypassing the registration process.
The next day—the third and final day of their break—Ryūsei surprisingly skipped his usual morning training and gave himself a day off.
Over the past few days, he had grown somewhat exhausted.
Though both of his trips outside the village had yielded tremendous rewards, the long treks and the necessity of tailing targets while camping in the wild had been tedious and dull. At times, even something as simple as bathing had been a challenge.
Moreover, in this era, shinobi were still treated as versatile tools—expected to infiltrate enemy nations to steal intelligence, engage in combat, or even perform menial tasks like babysitting villagers' children or cleaning up the village's trash.
No matter which world it was, making money was never easy!
On this day, Ryūsei decided to relax properly. Instead of staying home to read or study chakra nature and shape transformations, he went out for a stroll.
Since Sakura hadn't returned yet and Hinata couldn't leave home easily, Ryūsei didn't seek them out. Instead, he wandered near the Yamanaka flower shop, secretly activating his Red Eye to see if Ino was helping out inside.
Seeing that she wasn't there, Ryūsei abandoned the idea of visiting her and continued wandering aimlessly.
"Ryūsei, long time no see! Are you on break today?"
"Ryūsei-kun, it's been a while! Are you alone? Want to go on a date with me?"
"Ryūsei-senpai, how's life as a genin? Have you left the village yet?"
While wandering, Ryūsei ran into quite a few former classmates and underclassmen.
They all greeted him enthusiastically.
Ryūsei didn't ignore them either. He stopped to chat patiently with each of them.
Some of the girls who had crushes on him even asked him out, but Ryūsei politely declined with a smile.
"Hm?"
As he passed by a certain shop, Ryūsei suddenly stopped, his attention caught by the advertisement board at the entrance.
After reading the text and seeing the photos on the board, Ryūsei was both pleasantly surprised and slightly stunned. "A film camera? And this small?"
He immediately entered the shop and struck up a conversation with the owner.
"Boss, do you still have that camera from the ad outside? Can I take a look?"
"Of course! You've got a good eye, young man. This is one of the most popular cameras in the shinobi world right now."
Seeing the forehead protector on Ryūsei's head, the shopkeeper was extremely enthusiastic.
After all, in this era before the great technological boom, shinobi were not only powerful but also among the highest earners.
The shopkeeper quickly retrieved a compact film camera—small enough to be held in one hand—and handed it to Ryūsei.
"It really is a miniature camera."
As he examined the device, Ryūsei mused to himself.
The cameras used for ID photos were bulky, stand-mounted machines. Even the one used for Team 8's group photo had been a large, tripod-mounted model. He had assumed that Konoha didn't yet sell anything this small.
Thinking of the cameras used by Sakura and the others by the end of Shippūden, Ryūsei couldn't help but ask, "Boss, are there any cameras in the shinobi world right now that are about the size of a palm, with a screen covering one side of the body?"
The shopkeeper blinked in confusion. "That… would that even still be a camera?"
'Right, guess the technology isn't there yet.'
Ryūsei didn't press further. "Then how much for this one?"
"98,888 ryō, my good sir." The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together.
"That's a bit steep. Can you go any lower?" Ryūsei frowned slightly.
The reward for a C-rank mission ranged between 30,000 to 100,000 ryō—and even then, the village, the supervising jōnin, and teammates all took their cuts.
If the mission was on the lower end of the C-rank spectrum, Ryūsei might not even earn 10,000 ryō.
'Maybe I was too soft. Should've robbed Gato before coming back.' A twinge of regret flickered in Ryūsei's heart.
"Sir, this is already the lowest price."
"How about 88,888 ryō? That's a luckier number."
"Deal!"
"…?" Looking at the shopkeeper's overly cheerful expression, Ryūsei suddenly felt like he'd been scammed.
But there was nothing to be done—he had never been good at haggling, neither in this life nor his last.
So, he reached into his pocket—actually accessing his spatial backpack—and pulled out the cash stored in one of its slots.
Ryūsei, well aware of the many disasters Konoha would face in the future, never kept valuables at home.
After purchasing the film camera, he also bought some rolls of film before stepping out of the shop under the shopkeeper's enthusiastic farewells.
Out on the street, Ryūsei couldn't resist fiddling with the camera.
With this thing, he could now take pictures of Hinata and the others, documenting their growth over time.
The thought excited him so much that he immediately left the central district and headed for the outskirts to practice his photography skills.
---
The Next Day – End of the Break.
As usual, Team 8 gathered at their usual spot.
From then on, they resumed their tedious D-rank missions.
After experiencing a C-rank mission, none of them felt any resentment toward the monotonous D-rank tasks anymore.
Helping villagers with chores was tiring, but only for a short while.
In contrast, the escort missions—with their endless walking, constant vigilance, and lack of proper bathing facilities—were the real exhausting ones.
At this moment, both Shino and Hinata understood the importance of D-rank missions.
Without these missions to temper their minds, jumping straight into C-rank missions as fresh genin could easily lead to disaster.
Seeing that Team 8 had grasped the significance of D-rank missions, Kurenai smiled in satisfaction.
"With such excellent students, there's no way we'll lose to Kakashi's team!"
If she remembered correctly, the next Chūnin Exams were coming up soon.
"When the time comes, I'll wipe the floor with them and see if they still dare to look down on me!"
---
After the Mission.
As usual, Ryūsei invited Hinata to train with him.
Having not seen him for days, Hinata naturally nodded in agreement.
If not for her shyness, she might have nodded as eagerly as a chick pecking at rice.
But this time, Ryūsei didn't take her straight home. Instead, they went to an abandoned training ground for an unrestricted spar.
First, Ryūsei overwhelmed Hinata with his true strength. Then, under the pretense of wanting to see her progress, he created a shadow clone to fight her.
Meanwhile, his real body pulled out the film camera from who-knows-where and started taking pictures from a distance.
It had to be said—Hinata in her normal state and Hinata in combat mode were practically two different people.
The former was timid and reserved, while the latter carried a sharp, almost intimidating aura, somewhat reminiscent of her alternate self in Infinite Tsukuyomi.
At first, since the shadow clone had limited chakra and couldn't use many techniques, Hinata was able to fight it to a standstill, with wins and losses on both sides.
But as the clone grew familiar with her fighting style and pinpointed her weaknesses, Hinata began losing more often than not.
Over the next few days, Ryūsei gradually reduced the chakra allocated to his shadow clone—from matching Hinata's level to two-thirds, then finally to just half.
"Swish—"
On this day, just as the shadow clone secured another victory, the red glow Ryūsei had been waiting for years finally erupted from Hinata's body.
As the red orb automatically flew toward him, Ryūsei didn't even need to look to know what it contained.
"Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan!"
The origin of all dōjutsu was finally his!