"?"
Both of them knew Shion would not act this way for no reason, so they quickly focused their senses on any possible abnormalities in the surroundings. But neither Furina nor Uchiha Hikari detected anything wrong in the end.
"I sensed Mōryō's aura. It must be nearby right now, I..."
"Boom!"
Noticing the puzzled looks from the two, Shion began to explain the reason, but her words were interrupted halfway by another loud explosion.
At this point, there was no need for Shion to say more. Furina and Uchiha Hikari almost simultaneously turned their heads toward the direction of the sound and saw the massive explosion that came with it.
Undoubtedly, a fierce battle had broken out over there, and one side of the fight was, without surprise, Mōryō.
"I was actually regretting that it got away last time. I didn't expect we'd run into it again so soon and so coincidentally. Then let's just finish what we couldn't complete last time."
After receiving confirmation from Shion, Furina immediately made her decision: eliminate the threat of Mōryō right here.
Helping Shion gain the ability to confront Mōryō had only been a precaution. If they really encountered it, Furina's first choice was naturally to handle it herself.
After all, unlike Sasuke, Shion did not have an obsession about personally dealing with Mōryō. Just like last time—if someone could help her fight Mōryō together, she would definitely be very willing.
"But this time Senior Kakashi and Senior Guy aren't here, and right now I can't really help much either. Maybe we should avoid it first."
After hearing that Furina planned to take action against Mōryō, Shion's eyes lit up at first, but the next moment they became hesitant again. She was worried whether they could actually handle Mōryō. She did not want her only two friends to get hurt because of her.
It might sound a bit ridiculous, but that was exactly what Shion was thinking right now. Although during this time Shion had also learned that Uchiha Hikari was likewise a powerful ninja, her understanding was only that she was "very strong."
Because she herself had only just begun training not long ago, had not seen many ninja before, and Uchiha Hikari was not the type to boast about herself, Shion actually lacked a proper sense of Uchiha Hikari's true strength.
The situation with Furina was similar. Shion's impression of her strength was still stuck at the time they fought Mōryō before. Back then, although Mōryō was no match for them, it was with the help of Seniors Kakashi and Guy.
Now those two seniors had been replaced by Uchiha Hikari. Although the two had not hidden Uchiha Hikari's past, they had not gone into much detail either. Plus, with her deceivingly youthful appearance,
In Shion's eyes, the help provided by this "peer" (old lady/strikethrough) was probably not as good as what Kakashi and Guy, two adult ninja, could offer.
"Relax, how could Mōryō possibly be... cough cough, anyway, just trust your master, me. If I really had no confidence, I would have taken you both and run away long ago. Right, Hikari?"
"Mm." Uchiha Hikari did not say anything, just nodded to express her agreement. She frequently sparred and compared notes with Furina and clearly knew the other's current strength.
It could be said that as long as Mōryō's power had not seen some explosive increase during this time, the only outcome for it in front of them was to be completely crushed.
The dangerous scenario Shion imagined could not possibly happen at all.