Chapter 172: Epilogue (Part 2): Team Kurenai's Discovery
Before this incident came to a close, there were two more small interludes.
First, Akamaru seemed to have sensed something and began to bark uneasily.
At first, they thought he was just uneasy about the unfamiliar scent of the Anbu members nearby.
Then, Kiba Inuzuka lifted him down from his "doggy throne" on his head. After they exchanged a few words in a dog language that no one outside the Inuzuka clan could understand, they discovered that Akamaru was saying there was a strange smell in the distance.
"I'll go check," Hinata said, taking the initiative before Kurenai or any of the other Jonin could give an order. "Shino, you use your bugs to search as well."
Although Team Kurenai was a reconnaissance-specialized squad, the three members of the team all had formidable combat power.
Shino's insects were bizarre and mysterious, impossible to defend against. Kiba's taijutsu was impressive, his speed and power both top-tier among the genin, and he also had Akamaru to coordinate with him to use the Inuzuka clan's inherited secret techniques, making his attack power extremely strong.
But the strongest member of Team Kurenai was still the woman—of course, this was not referring to their team leader, Yūhi Kurenai, who had recently been promoted to Jonin—it was the Byakugan-wielding Hyuga Hinata.
Hinata's combat power, even before the Chunin Exams, was only slightly inferior to Neji's.
Because her talent in the Gentle Fist was not high, Hinata's childhood had not been very happy. Hyuga Hiashi had disdained her, believing her talent was too weak to inherit the title of the main family. After sending her to the Ninja Academy, he had never paid much attention to her training—especially after Hanabi began to show her own talent in the Gentle Fist.
However, the difference from the original story was that the Hinata of this world had a transmigrator, Haruno Sakura, as her friend. With a mentally mature close friend by her side to guide, comfort, and then feed her chicken soup for the soul, and finally feed her poisonous chicken soup for the soul, this strong-hearted, white-eyed girl quickly broke free from the shadow of her inferiority complex and became confident and sunny.
Hinata's talent was actually not bad at all. Her chakra control ability was very strong, and her comprehension was also very high—the Hinata in the original story, who had not been strengthened by Sakura, had still created many of her own moves. In this world, which had been disturbed by a transmigrator, and under Sakura's influence, Hinata had massively modified the Gentle Fist, adding the flavor of the Strong Fist to it, making it a balance of hard and soft, with hardness within the softness. It had completely become Hinata's own fighting style.
Such a modification circumvented the shortcoming of Hinata's mediocre talent in the Gentle Fist. Coupled with Haruno Sakura's constant assistance, after graduating from the Ninja Academy, the talent of Hinata, who was like an uncut jade, was gradually revealed, and her strength, just like her chest, had begun to inflate like a balloon.
By the time of the Chunin Exams, she had already almost caught up to Neji.
If you excluded the three "cheaters" of Team 7, Hinata was the undisputed number one among this year's rookies.
Kiba, of course, had been very unconvinced by her. He didn't like having another, more assertive person in the group, especially a woman.
Kiba, who carried various strong family secret techniques, still admitted that he was inferior to ninja of Sakura and Sasuke's caliber, but against Hinata, who had been inconspicuous during their academy days, he was not so convinced.
When there are two strong-willed people in a team, there will be various clashes: the result of not being convinced was constant challenges.
From the beginning, when Kiba was only slightly at a disadvantage in their spars and was still confident that he could turn defeat into victory by using his family's secret techniques, to later, when Hinata grew rapidly, the gap between the two became larger and larger. Even his secret techniques couldn't make up for the disadvantage. After being defeated again and again, the proud Kiba had finally recognized the facts—
That was, he really couldn't beat a delicate little girl...
Just admit it. This generation's girls are just stronger than the boys.
Shino, who had always kept a low profile and liked to hide himself behind his sunglasses and high collar, had been observing in secret and had long since discovered this fact.
As soon as Team Kurenai was formed, he had bowed his head to Hinata, knowing that his strength was not comparable to hers...
For the tasks Hinata assigned him, he had always completed them meticulously and without cutting corners.
Hearing her order now, he didn't say much and directly released his insects.
Hinata also activated her Byakugan, searching in the direction Akamaru had indicated, and quickly found the target.
"Found them. They are two kilometers away and are moving away from us at extremely high speed!"
"My apologies, their speed is too fast, my insects can't keep up with them. However, I've found the position where they were hiding just now. It's in a hidden corner not far from here."
The sunglasses-wearing youth pointed to a dense thicket a few hundred meters away and said with a hint of apology.
"..." Kakashi glanced at the thicket, deep in thought.
That place is already quite close to the battlefield... The battle between Kimimaro and his student, Haruno Sakura, had affected a wide area. Hiding in such a place, what were they planning to do?
"Can you see any more information, Hinata-chan?" Kakashi's eyes turned, and he pressed on.
"I can," the white-eyed girl said, focusing more chakra into her eyes and magnifying the visible details again. "I can see their forehead protectors..."
She was stunned for a moment, then continued, "...It's the symbol of a Konoha ninja!"
"Konoha ninja, is it..." Kakashi lowered his eyelids and said faintly, "Thank you for your trouble, Hinata-chan, Shino."
The several Jonin present all exchanged a look. They had each already made their own guesses.
Konoha ninja, hiding so close, yet having no intention of coming out to support during the battle just now, just watching a fellow village girl fight the enemy to the death...
This is not something an ordinary Konoha ninja would do.
Almost without needing to guess, the Jonin present were all smart people and immediately thought of their identity.
Root...
Kakashi's gaze gradually turned cold.
Watching his cute student in battle but not helping was one thing... but to be hiding so close to the battlefield, acting suspiciously, they probably had ulterior motives.
Regarding the matter of Danzo, although Kakashi didn't care much about politics, his status and strength were there. He was the direct disciple of the Fourth Hokage, and an elite Jonin, even having the qualifications to contend for the position of Hokage, so he knew some intelligence.
That old fool, sending people to squat here, was probably up to no good.
Of course, Kakashi believed that Danzo would not let Orochimaru take Sasuke. However, as for how exactly to stop Orochimaru from getting Sasuke, Danzo's method probably wouldn't be to protect the last bloodline of the Uchiha as they would. On the contrary, directly killing Sasuke to make Orochimaru completely give up the idea would probably be the more worry-free and labor-saving approach.
The matter of Danzo and the Uchiha massacre, those of them whose status was already close to that of the Konoha high-ranking officials had also heard a little about it. There were rumors that Danzo believed the Uchiha clan were all unstable factors, and he had been completely opposed to leaving Sasuke alive back then, hoping to completely cut the weeds and eliminate the roots...
Now it seemed that this rumor was probably not groundless!
The masked youth's gaze was grave.
That fellow Danzo had been very active recently, jumping up and down... He wanted to take the opportunity while Tsunade had not yet secured her footing to stir up some trouble.
However, to set his sights on his prized disciple?
Kakashi let out a cold snort deep in his throat.
"The support troops have already arrived, and it seems there won't be any new enemies... Let's go."
Kakashi put Sasuke on his back, glanced at the girl sleeping sweetly on Hinata's back, and with a wave of his hand, he led everyone away from here.
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