Holding the Rear

Of course, a corpse cannot answer questions. (Reading at midnight)

Hinata, however, stared intently at a certain spot in the woods, as if certain she would receive an answer.

The sharp Byakugan can penetrate any obstacle, and those hiding in the shadows can be easily discovered. When Hinata locked her gaze in his direction, the man finally gave up his wishful thinking, realizing that he had nowhere to hide under the Byakugan.

A white-haired young man wearing glasses leisurely emerged from the bushes, adjusted his glasses, and a glint of light seemed to flash from the transparent lenses.

"Oh dear," he said with a smile, "I seem to be witnessing a tragic scene of Konoha Ninja killing each other! Oh no, am I going to be silenced, Hinata?"

His tone was flippant, sounding not so much fearful as mockery.

The black-haired girl frowned slightly.

"Kabuto..." She glanced at the Sound Ninja Forehead Protector on Kabuto's head, which was wearing a fake smile, "Give up your ideas. In front of my Byakugan, these are nothing but clumsy and laughable tricks!"

Hinata assumed the Gentle Fist stance and stared intently at Kabuto.

Although Hinata dismissed Kabuto's technique as a clumsy trick, she dared not be careless for a moment. She had heard Sakura mention Kabuto before, and that he possessed strength no less than Kakashi-sensei's!

Knowing that the Byakugan could indeed see through his post-operative state, Dou simply stopped pretending.

"The Byakugan is really useful," he said with a meaningful glance at Hinata's white eyes, a hint of regret in his voice, "This corpse that can still generate a faint amount of Chakra after death was my carefully prepared trump card, but I didn't expect it still couldn't hide from the Byakugan..."

Corpses? Hinata thought to herself, that's right, Sakura's Ninjutsu is manipulating corpses!

The person dressed as Sakura hadn't actually realized that she, who possessed Chakra source, was a corpse. However, with the help of her Byakugan, she immediately saw that the person's Chakra meridians and acupoints were completely different from Sakura's. After all, she and Sakura had done many random experiments on meridians and acupoints together back then, so she knew Sakura better than anyone.

If she had been disguised as someone else, Hinata wouldn't have been so certain and acted so decisively.

Unfortunately, Kabuto chose Sakura, and he really ran into a brick wall... ∫≦∫≦∫≦∫≦,■→ No matter how good his skills are, he can't possibly fool Hinata!

Of course, Hinata wouldn't tell him the secret. She didn't continue Kabuto's topic, but instead asked him again:

Where's Sakura?

She covered her lips tightly, her voice a mixture of urgent anticipation and worry.

Shortly after the four-person team set off, they were entangled by a Sound Ninja intruder. As the team leader, Sakura volunteered to cover their retreat so that the other three could find Sasuke as quickly as possible.

Trusting Sakura, they agreed to the plan. Although there were many enemies, they believed Sakura would be able to deal with them quickly.

At that moment, the one catching up from behind was none other than Kabuto Yakushi!

Could it be that Sakura made a mistake? Hinata's heart skipped a beat as this terrible thought popped into her head.

No, that's impossible.

Hinata couldn't imagine that the pampered Sakura would be defeated so easily. With so many powerful Ninjutsu, she was practically invincible. Kabuto must have taken a roundabout route!

Thinking this way, Hinata's confused eyes quickly regained their clarity and determination.

Kabuto didn't pay attention to Hinata's emotional fluctuations.

He did manage to bypass Sakura's interception. Although he didn't think he would lose to Sakura, Kabuto had to admit that completely defeating the girl who had mastered the strange Water Release was not an easy task.

Kabuto has his own mission; he needs to seize the child while he has the chance, and he can't afford to waste time on a battle that is destined to be protracted.

However, if the opponent were a different girl, that would be a different story.

Gazing at the girl standing tall before him, a resolute determination flashed in her eyes that he found repulsive. Someone with such eyes wouldn't easily betray their teammates, would they?

Then, war is the only option...

"Sakura Haruno... who knows?" The fake smile on his face made it impossible to tell whether he was telling the truth or not.

Behind the glasses, his gaze suddenly turned sharp.

"But you, before worrying about your teammates, don't you think it's necessary to worry about your own situation first?"

Kabuto reached his right hand into the ninja tool belt tied around his waist.

Let's go back a little earlier, to the moment Sakura separated from her other teammates.

Perhaps it was the four-person team's aggressive, straight-line pursuit that attracted the attention of the Sound Ninja intruders.

Shortly after leaving Konoha City, the four people who were walking briskly through the forest suddenly stopped.

"Did you find anything, Hinata?" Sakura, the team leader, asked Hinata had stopped.

"Something's wrong, someone's following us!" Hinata's eyes were bulging with veins that extended down to her temples, clearly she was using her Byakugan to its fullest extent.

"Is it an enemy?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"I can't see very clearly from this distance, but it's very likely the Sound Ninja! There are quite a few of them, one, two... eight, eight. Konoha shouldn't have that many people to come and support us right now!"

"If they're the enemy... then let's ambush them!" Shikamaru frowned. "With our current personnel, if we coordinate well, we can completely annihilate them!"

"An ambush... I agree." Sakura's gaze swept over the three of them, and she said calmly, "But I don't need you. I can manage on my own."

"What?" Naruto and Hinata exclaimed at the same time.

"Why take this risk?" Shikamaru looked at Sakura with a puzzled expression. "We could easily ambush them together; that would be the most successful option. There's no need for you to take this risk!"

"Listen to me, Shikamaru, and all of you!" Sakura's voice lacked the fanaticism typical of a victim; it remained cool and calm, like silver moonlight flowing down from the sky.

"Ambush tactics are indeed advantageous for us, but if the whole team stays behind to ambush, it would be a huge waste of time. Sasuke is tracking three Sand shinobi Genin, and that Gaara's strength is unfathomable... I'm very worried!"

Although Gaara was completely overwhelmed by Sasuke during the match, Sakura, knowing that Gaara was Jinchūriki, was far from being careless. She had already disrupted the plot beyond recognition, and she couldn't guarantee that Sasuke would be unharmed as in the original story.

Therefore, she made the decision to stay behind alone to cover the retreat.

"So, I'll stay behind, you guys continue on to support Sasuke! This is because I believe Sasuke faces a far greater threat than the pursuers behind us! As the captain, I want you to go ahead and rejoin Sasuke as soon as possible, and I'll catch up with you as soon as I've dealt with the pursuers!"

"Look at our team: Naruto —superb in combat, Hinata —extraordinary in strength and possessing the Byakugan, Shikamaru —a master tactician," her calm emerald eyes swept over the three present, "The three of you are more than capable of fulfilling your mission to support Sasuke. The reason I'm needed is to eliminate any unforeseen circumstances... Believe me, those Sound Ninja who are catching up are no match for me!"

"..." The three stared at Sakura, who was beaming with confidence, their hearts heavy.

"Go, carry out the orders!" she urged, watching the three turn to leave. "Hinata, Shikamaru, take good care of Naruto and Sasuke for me!"

The two nodded silently, pushed off with their feet, and leaped forward like arrows released from a bow, disappearing into the depths of the forest in no time.

Sakura stared silently in the direction they had left. After a long while, she resolutely turned around, her smile vanishing, and coldly looked in the direction the pursuers had come from.

She could clearly sense the enemy's Chakra at this distance.

A major battle is about to break out.