"Come out. There's nowhere for you to hide beneath my eyes."
Hinata stopped in her tracks. The reason was simple: she probably could not keep moving forward, at least not until she dealt with the people blocking her path.
"Sure enough, those eyes are a real nuisance."
Along with a sinister voice, the figure of a Kusagakure ninja leisurely stepped out from behind a tree. It was obvious he had anticipated Hinata's arrival long ago, which meant this was an ambush.
More importantly, the singular "ninja" clearly did not match the actual number present.
"How long are you planning to keep using that ridiculous Transformation Jutsu? Show your true forms. Let me see who has the nerve to block my way."
Hinata's pupils narrowed slightly as a vague memory surfaced. Indeed, while Orochimaru had attacked Uchiha Sasuke's Team 7 alone in the original story, that did not mean he had truly come alone. At the very least, he had two subordinates who had disguised themselves alongside him as victimized Kusagakure ninja. But from the look of things now... there were more than two subordinates here.
"Hmph. Then we'll do as you wish."
Apparently realizing there was no point in maintaining the disguise, the Kusagakure ninja in front of Hinata sneered and brought his fingers together. With a bang, he released his Transformation Jutsu. When the smoke dispersed, two entirely different figures stood before Hinata.
Sure enough... two of Orochimaru's five early-game attack dogs.
Having confirmed her guess, Hinata lowered her stance slightly. She did not think she would lose, but winning did not look like it would be quite so easy.
"What an eyesore of a fucking bitch. That high-and-mighty look makes me want to puke!"
The words were unbelievably crude, yet the voice was distinctly that of a young girl. Darker red hair did nothing to hide her brazen arrogance, and together with her Orochimaru-like outfit and signature Flute, her identity was obvious: Tayuya of the North Gate, one of the Sound Five!
"Now, now~ Tayuya, don't say that~ She's a strong-willed girl just like you. Can't the two of you have a nice little chat?"
The boy beside Tayuya looked exceedingly strange. Three pairs of arms grew from his sides, giving him a grotesquely malformed appearance. It was Kidomaru of the East Gate, another member of the Sound Five.
Interesting. Hinata had known Orochimaru would not be stupid enough to challenge the Nine Rookies of Konoha all by himself, but she really had not considered that he would send his own claws out to split the team apart. In a way, that also proved that even Orochimaru believed taking on the current Hinata Group alone would not be easy.
"Redheaded bitch, pathetic little freak, this isn't a refugee shelter handing out free porridge. Did you two come to the wrong place?"
Hinata raised an eyebrow maliciously. Now that she knew who these people were, there was no need to be polite.
"What?! You bitch who just got lucky enough to be born in Konoha! I'll tear your mouth apart!!"
Tayuya flew into a rage. As the member of the Sound Five who cursed constantly, her verbal manners were obviously the worst of the group. That probably had a great deal to do with the life she had lived since childhood.
"Then come on, bitch. Every word out of your mouth reeks like a chamber pot. I'll tear the mouth between your legs even wider so it'll be easier for you to spray shit!"
"You!!"
Hinata sneered and fired back without batting an eye. Tayuya's teeth clicked together sharply, and her face turned a mottled mixture of red and blue. Clearly, she had never imagined Hinata would be even better at abuse than she was. For a moment, she actually seemed unable to come up with a reply.
"Tch~~ Scary. You look like some great clan's Princess, but who knew you could curse even harder than Tayuya~"
Kidomaru clearly did not care about Hinata's insults. As the most calculating and strategic member of the Sound Five, he was much more interested in the intent behind Hinata's behavior. "I have to praise you for making Tayuya furious with your very first sentence, but unfortunately, our orders are to make you stop here. So~ if you obediently stand still, we can pretend nothing ever happened."
?!
Hinata naturally did not overlook the information Kidomaru had deliberately revealed. There was no doubt about it. These two had not come to kill her. Their objective was delay.
Tayuya could cast sound-based Genjutsu, while Kidomaru could restrict enemy movement with spider webs. Their Ninjutsu were both particularly well suited to countering the Byakugan. That was exactly why Hinata had believed that, even if she would not lose, winning would not be easy.
And considering Orochimaru had given them an order like this, it was equally obvious he had no intention of killing Hinata. The only reasonable explanation was that certain powerful "friends" had warned Orochimaru in advance.
"Interesting. Looks like you two dogs were ordered by your master not to bite people, right?"
Hinata flexed her hands once, and her tone abruptly filled with undisguised aggression. "Too bad!! I just happen to be in the mood to play with dogs today!!"
With that icy declaration, flames burst from Hinata's right hand. She immediately launched a vicious, lightning-fast 108 Shiki: Yami Barai at Kidomaru and Tayuya. Since she had no intention of standing around here wasting time while these two delayed her, a fight was unavoidable.
Naturally, that probing strike could not possibly work. Kidomaru and Tayuya both leaped aside, and the sparking Yami Barai slammed into a tree trunk with a boom. A cloud of sparks and smoke exploded outward, obscuring the surrounding air.
"Tch! That bitch!"
Forced to dodge, Tayuya cursed under her breath in fury. But Orochimaru's orders clearly forbade her and Kidomaru from taking Hinata's life. No matter how unwilling she was, the female Sound ninja still nimbly sprang onto a nearby branch, intending to put some distance between them before using her sound-based Genjutsu. Hinata's Byakugan could see through most visual Genjutsu, but it was obviously helpless against sound-based illusions. Even later, a reanimated Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke with his Mangekyo Sharingan and Susanoo active could be affected by this Genjutsu, which spoke volumes about its power.
Unfortunately for her, just as Tayuya tried to escape, fire suddenly flashed in front of her. A fist wreathed in flames was already smashing straight toward her face!
"Wha...!"
Caught off guard, Tayuya only managed to throw her left forearm up in a hasty block. The instant Hinata's fist struck it, intense pain and a searing burn drenched Tayuya's forehead in cold sweat.
A cold, vicious grin hung on Hinata's lips. Of course she knew how powerful her punches were now. Even someone as strong as Kakashi would be injured if he took one head-on, much less Tayuya, who was far weaker than Kakashi and had blocked in a rush. To Hinata, the impact felt like punching a stalk of sugarcane: a brief instant of hardness, followed by a soft, pulpy sensation as it shattered.
"Ugh!"
Tayuya bit back a muffled cry of pain. There was no question that Hinata's punch had cleanly broken the bones of her left forearm. Tayuya was not a defense-focused type like Jirobo or Kimimaro, so the durability of her body was easy to imagine. Add in how thoroughly she had underestimated Hinata beforehand, and having her arm broken by a deliberately prepared punch was perfectly reasonable.
"Got you!"
Hinata bared a savage grin. After breaking Tayuya's left arm with 114 Shiki: Aragami, she stepped in and drove a sinking elbow viciously toward Tayuya's collarbone. If it landed cleanly, half of Tayuya's upper body would probably be ruined.
"Damn it~~!"
Fortunately, Tayuya's extensive combat experience saved her life in time. Realizing she could not dodge normally, the redheaded Sound ninja decisively dropped flat to the ground. While evading Hinata's elbow, she snapped her right leg out at Hinata's ribs. In their brief exchange, she had already judged Hinata's agility to be superior to her own. She could not escape even if she tried, so her only choice was to grit her teeth and fight Hinata head-on until Kidomaru could support her.
"Ninja Art: Spider Web Unrolling!!"
The smoke from the explosion had blocked Kidomaru's vision and slowed his reaction somewhat, but after hearing Tayuya scream, even an idiot would know Hinata had tricked him. The Byakugan could ignore obstructions such as smoke, so Hinata's real attack had begun almost the instant Yami Barai exploded, and she had gone directly after Tayuya, the one who was poor at close combat.
Kidomaru did not lose his temper. Instead, a hint of caution rose in him as he promptly used his unique Ninjutsu. An extremely sticky spider web sprayed from his mouth and spread directly toward Hinata and Tayuya, who were still locked in close combat.
The Sound Five were not regarded as elites of Otogakure for nothing. Tayuya's Taijutsu was nowhere near Hinata's, yet she stubbornly delayed being knocked down through almost shameless evasive movements. Kidomaru's AOE-style spider web then forced Hinata to abandon the Tiger Roar she had been about to smash into Tayuya. She spread her arms and spun in place instead, and the flames surrounding both hands formed a ring of fire that burned straight through the incoming web. In that opening, Tayuya endured the pain, rolled hard to the side, and escaped Hinata's close-combat range.
"My, my~~ I really underestimated you, Lady Hinata~ If it were anyone but us, they probably would have gone down immediately."
Kidomaru grabbed a nearby branch, his tone carrying a touch of battle lust. Tayuya, having escaped, snapped through a mixture of pain and rage, "Damn bitch! Just you wait!!"
!!
With Tayuya's furious shout, her chakra suddenly surged. Strange black markings spread across her skin like tattoos. Without question, this was the power Orochimaru had given them, the forbidden Cursed Seal that simulated Sage Mode!
"That's right, Lady Hinata. Orochimaru-sama's orders really do forbid us from taking your life, but from the look of things~ to complete our mission, we may have to break your legs~~"
The Cursed Seal activated across Kidomaru's body as well. Judging from the skill Hinata had just displayed, he did not believe his normal form was enough to fight her.
But through that short clash, Hinata had already gained a clear understanding of the Sound Four's strength. They were absolutely not enemies capable of truly threatening her. In fact, one-on-one, Hinata was completely confident she could kill either of them here.
"Hmph. Two pieces of trash desperately squeezing out more power. Show me everything you've got."
Hinata answered with a wild laugh.
"Let me see whether the two of you can defeat my current first form~"