What the Hell Is the Point of Chasing Him Now?

Hinata moved a small stool and table to sit under the cherry blossom tree, brewed a pot of tea, and took a few plates of pastries, enjoying the leisurely afternoon.

The warm sunshine made Hinata feel all warm and cozy.

"Comfortable--"

If the Naruto world weren't so bloody and dark, it would actually be quite good.

The best thing about this world is that you can graduate at the age of twelve.

My job after graduation was quite casual. When I was short of money, I would do a few tasks, and when I had money, I would stay at home and relax.

It's practically the perfect life.

Although there is relatively little entertainment, when Hinata gets a little older, she can read Jiraiya's famous work, "Icha Icha Paradise".

For an entire day, the entire Konoha remained calm and undisturbed.

The Konoha Crush Plan has just ended, the village's higher-ups are busy negotiating with Sunagakure, and the lower-ranking ninjas are busy carrying out missions.

The efficiency with which a ninja village carries out missions is related to the village's reputation in the Shinobi World.

When sellers on Taobao sell their products, they even require a positive review. Konoha, on the other hand, is extremely concerned about how others perceive and evaluate the village.

In this situation, who would care about the whereabouts of a Genin?

Even if his surname Uchiha, it doesn't matter.

The key point is that no one expected Sasuke to defect. Danzo was Danzo in the village supporting Orochimaru, Sasuke disappeared from Konoha almost silently.

Within Konoha, the only people who probably knew that Sasuke had defected were Danzo and Hinata!

Unfortunately, Danzo and Hinata were too guilty to talk about it.

It wasn't until evening, when Hanabi went home from school and Neji returned from his mission, that Hinata heard anyone mention Sasuke.

Hinata was sullen.

Orochimaru must be overjoyed now, as even the Sound Four have escaped with their lives.

You should really thank me for my great kindness.

As evening fell, Naruto had been training all day, went to the Uchiha Residence again, but Sasuke was still nowhere to be found.

Even the single-minded Naruto sensed that something was wrong at this moment.

"Could something have happened to Sasuke?"

Thinking of this, Naruto's first reaction wasn't to notify others, but rather...

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Countless Shadow Clone nearly turned the entire Konoha upside down. When the moon was high in the sky, Naruto suddenly realized that he should go and inform Tsunade.

They ran all the way to the Hokage Building.

"Slap! Slap!"

Naruto knocked twice on the door, and without waiting for permission from the person inside, he pushed the door open and entered.

"Tsunade, something terrible has happened! Sasuke is missing!"

Tsunade, still half-asleep, climbed up from the table, wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, Teuchi waved, "Good evening, Naruto!"

"Tsunade, you were asleep just now, weren't you!"

Naruto shouted angrily, but quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly exclaimed, "No, no! Tsunade, Sasuke is missing! I've searched everywhere but can't find Sasuke!"

"Sasuke?"

Tsunade quickly realized that, as a member of the Senju Clan, she was extremely sensitive to the surname 'Uchiha'.

"Sasuke Uchiha... has he disappeared in the village?"

Tsunade immediately realized that Orochimaru had already begun to act.

Naruto cried out, "Tsunade, what should we do now? Should we send someone to find Sasuke?!"

Looking up at Naruto, Tsunade asked, "Naruto, when did you realize Sasuke was missing?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Probably this morning!"

"This morning???"

Tsunade on the table and roared, "We discovered he was missing this morning, why did you only report it tonight?"

Naruto said naively, "I thought Sasuke went to play with Teacher Kakashi!"

Tsunade was grim as she said in a low voice, "If Sasuke was taken away by Orochimaru, it has been a whole day by now. Even if we send out ninjas to track him down immediately, it will probably be very difficult to catch up."

Naruto shouted, "Orochimaru? Why did he kidnap Sasuke?"

Naruto was not unfamiliar with the name 'Orochimaru'. Although he had never met Orochimaru directly, he often heard Jiraiya and Tsunade discussing Orochimaru.

Tsunade said in a deep voice, "Orochimaru took Sasuke away, probably to obtain the power of the Uchiha clan."

Naruto was so anxious that he scratched his head, but he couldn't think of a feasible solution.

After a moment of contemplation, Tsunade suddenly stood up, slammed her hands on the table, and shouted, "We absolutely cannot let Sasuke fall into Orochimaru's hands!"

"Naruto, find Shikamaru and Hinata immediately and have them form a pursuit team to bring Sasuke back to me."

Naruto shouted, "Okay! I'll go right away!"

Watching Naruto run away, Tsunade's gaze was somewhat complicated.

Sasuke has been missing for almost 24 hours since last night.

Judging by the speed at which ninjas travel, Sasuke should have already left the Land of Land of Fire by now.

Once they leave the Land of Land of Fire, trying to catch up with Sasuke is simply a pipe dream.

However, Tsunade wasn't thinking about how to Sasuke back; she was thinking about the truth behind the matter.

Tsunade had only returned to the village yesterday, and today the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan had defected. Tsunade had to consider the terrible consequences of this.

More importantly, how did Sasuke escape from Konoha?

There is a sensory barrier around Konoha, and ninjas patrol near the village. Anyone who is unfamiliar with Konoha's defenses would have no chance of infiltrating Konoha, let alone leaving Konoha silently.

There must have been someone within Konoha secretly Sasuke defect.

As for sending someone to retrieve Sasuke instead of declaring Sasuke missing-nin on the spot, Tsunade was simply trying to make a statement.

Although her surname Senju, she does not reject the Uchiha.

In addition, Tsunade also wanted to use this incident to see the problems within Konoha more clearly.

Just how rotten has Konoha become?!

Is it just one person, or is it a large group of people doing this?

Although it was just a Genin defected, Tsunade saw the seriousness behind the incident.

The corruption of the Konoha organization has left the village riddled with problems.

After dinner, Hinata lay on the rocking chair in the courtyard, gazing at the twinkling stars in the sky, her face slightly dazed.

With a swaying motion, waves of drowsiness washed over me.

"Hinata!"

Naruto scaled the wall and roared, "No time to explain, come with me!"

After saying that, Naruto stepped forward and tried to grab Hinata's small hand.

'Bang--'

Hinata dusted off non-existent dust from her clothes, looked down at Naruto lying on the ground, and asked calmly, "Do you have time to explain now?"

Naruto instantly sprang to his feet and hurriedly said, "Hinata, Sasuke has been captured by Orochimaru! Tsunade told me to find you and Shikamaru and have you form a pursuit team to bring that Sasuke back!"

Hinata gazed at the sky in silence.

I've been waiting all day, and you guys are only finding out now!

Besides... Sasuke has already been gone from Konoha for 24 hours, what's the point of chasing him now!