Looking at her student, Kurenai sighed.
She was aware of the capabilities of the young woman with white eyes, so she could tell that she held back in the fight against her sister.
Although Hanabi was known as a genius within the Hyuga clan, she could not have defeated her older sister so quickly.
Kurenai didn't have to question why she let herself be defeated, since she knew that Hinata didn't want her sister to be marked with the caged bird seal.
The young woman preferred to lose and be branded herself rather than let her younger sister be branded.
¡Woof!
The depressing atmosphere was interrupted by Akamaru's barking, and everyone turned to look at him staring into the distance.
"What's wrong, buddy?" Kiba asked his companion, but he just barked and started running.
"¡Hey!"
"Wait!"
Kiba shouted, but Akamaru ignored him, and the young man had no choice but to run after him.
The rest of Team 8 looked at each other before following behind the duo.
.
.
.
20 minutes later.
"This must be the store, right?"
Standing in front of a large store, Team 8 stopped in front of the large doors and curiously peered inside through the transparent glass of the doors and windows.
More than a store, this looked like a small shopping center because of how big the interior looked and the number of people coming in and out every second.
The place seemed very popular.
"Yes," Shino replied.
"Because?"
"Because it's the only store with a large sign that says SENBON TORII on its facade"
Shino stated the obvious by pointing to the huge sign above the store entrance, to which Kiba clicked his teeth in sarcasm.
Besides the 4 ninjas, Akamaru glanced sideways into the shop, but when he felt Kiba's gaze, he lowered his head, acting sad.
Hinata looked at him and felt he was adorable, but she didn't approach him to comfort him.
After all, Akamaru was wrong and needed to be disciplined.
A few moments ago, when he ran off with Kiba behind him and they followed him, they found Kiba apologizing to a woman, who had behind her a child hugging a small dog in his arms.
It was a mother and her son.
The child was behind the woman's legs, hiding while crying.
Curious, they asked what was happening.
After all, Akamaru had never behaved this way before and had initially thought there was an enemy.
But not.
The reason for Akamaru's outburst was a simple snack that the boy was feeding his pet.
Akamaru's sudden appearance and size frightened the civilians, and the child began to cry, so Kiba was apologizing when they caught up with him.
As the group's leader, Kurenai also stepped forward to apologize to the woman, to which she simply nodded.
At the same time as Kiba began to reprimand Akamaru for his behavior, the woman wanted to leave the place.
But Akamaru barked again, this time towards Kiba and pointing at the snack the boy was holding.
As a member of the Inuzuka family, Kiba understood what the dog meant, and now they were standing in front of this store after having asked the woman where she got the dog food.
"The truth is, I'm curious about the snacks that could make Akamaru crave them so much."
"Even within the clan, Akamaru had never behaved that way."
As a centuries-old clan that has specialized in battles alongside an animal partner, the Inuzuka clan is expert in the proper nutrition for their ninja dogs and wolves, so Akamaru was already used to consuming various special foods for ninja animals.
But this time, Akamaru showed a desire never before displayed, and Kiba was curious about the food that had him like this and who was selling it.
He was already prepared to place a large order to bring it back to the clan so his family could study it.
What I didn't expect was a civilian store.
Kiba wasn't the only one surprised; the rest of Team 8 was the same.
After all, the items used and consumed by ninjas are sold by other ninjas.
Even the Kunai and other similar weapons that could be manufactured by civilians without ninja training, were manufactured by families with ninja heritage.
Therefore, it was curious to them that a snack that could awaken the desire of a ninja beast was sold by a civilian store.
'Maybe there are ninjas supporting this store?' everyone wondered.
And Kurenai 'confirmed' what they already knew.
"I've heard lately that many medicines have appeared and are very popular among civilians..." - as a newly promoted Jonin, Kurenai had few contacts to inform her about what was happening outside the village, and she shared what little she knew with her students.
Certain that there was a ninja family behind this shop, Kurenai didn't want to cause any problems that would bring discredit to her village.
"Now we're going in"
"Akamaru, you promised to behave."
"Kiba, keep an eye on Akamaru and don't let him run off."
Kurenai reminded them and the Inuzuka duo nodded, and then Team 8 began to move.
Team 8 attracted the attention of the civilians around, but none dared to approach and they went about their business.
The four ninjas were used to the attention of civilians outside the Leaf Village and opened the doors without giving it much thought.
The group's attention was focused on the inside of the store, and they took the first step inside.
When suddenly…
"¡Hinata!"
Kurenai screamed when Hinata fell to the ground.
The woman quickly ran to her student's side and tried to check for any visible abnormalities.
But there were none, and Kurenai had no knowledge of medical Ninjutsu, so she couldn't say for sure the cause of her sudden fall.
All I could say was that Hinata was unconscious.
The woman quickly glanced around, where she could see all the civilians present with their attention focused on her because of her scream, but she didn't care and continued searching for anyone suspected of the possible attack.
Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino also surrounded the two women, looking all around, waiting for any sudden attack.
"There's a problem"
Suddenly, Shino's words caught the attention of the two ninjas, and they listened, believing that the insect user had found something.
"My Kikaichu aren't responding"
The group did not expect that answer; they soon opened their eyes in surprise upon discovering that they could not control the chakra of their bodies outside of their tenketsu.
"Let's get out of here," Kurenai said, grabbing and lifting her student.
Hinata's sudden unconsciousness was enough to make her decide to leave and run towards the Hidden Leaf Village for help. But discovering they couldn't use jutsu made her quickly realize the terrifying situation they were in.
They had fallen into a trap.
The woman didn't know if the woman and her son were truly civilians and not ninjas in disguise. But what she did know was that it had been a very subtle plan to lure them here.
The enemy had used bait for Akamaru and brought them to this place, where there should be a trap that would prevent him from using jutsus.
It should be some kind of seal.
The woman had never heard of such a seal, but it was unfortunate that she discovered it precisely when she became trapped inside it.
As she prepared to run away, the woman wondered what reasons there were for specifically targeting them.
She was a Jounin, and you could say she was being hunted. But she was new to the rank, and her value was small to any enemy village.
The byakugan?
Hinata had been sealed away, and trying to steal her eyes was pointless. They would be destroyed when they left their sockets.
Kidnapping her to cultivate her bloodline was also useless because the Hyuga clan would kill her from a distance to prevent their bloodline from being stolen.
The same thing happened with the other 2 members of team 8.
Even though their secret abilities are among the best within the Leaf Village, the most important secret abilities of both clans are in the hands of only a few people.
Ninja animal training and body modification for insect hosting are only known to a few elders of both clans, so kidnapping the 2 young men was also pointless.
Heirs
Suddenly, the red-eyed woman's mind clicked, and she deduced the motive for the attack.
As heirs to important clans of the Leaf Village, they could be kidnapped or killed to hurt and diminish the prestige of the village.
Although the three of them are young and do not have enough strength to say that their death is a loss for a great village like the Leaf Village, their talents are what's important.
As heirs to important clans, their futures as pillars of the village were almost certain, and their premature assassination was convenient for any enemy village.
Kurenai gritted her teeth as she understood her situation and sped off to leave the place.
But just as they were about to break down the glass doors…
Kurenai felt the loss of strength and the loss of consciousness.
The only thing their eyes saw before they closed was the appearance of a figure in front of them.