Shikamaru, You're Really Getting Carried Away Now

Hinata: Shikamaru, where do you intend to go?

Shikamaru: Annihilate the Sound Ninja, slay Orochi!

Hinata: What if we go and never come back?

Shikamaru: And then he went and never came back... cough cough! But isn't there still you?

They've gotten too big for their britches!

The group of six ran quickly through the woods. With Akamaru around, Hinata didn't need to keep her Byakugan all the time.

The Byakugan's ability is to conduct 360-degree reconnaissance in all directions, covering all blind spots without making any mistakes.

As for the traps along the way... the smell of iron is somewhat different from the smell of the forest.

Having Akamaru as a dog is enough.

The Land of Rice Fields is located north of Konoha. It was originally a small country without any ninja villages until Orochimaru established the Otogakure in the Land of Rice more than a decade ago.

Although it is just a small country and village, it has its own independent politics and military.

Even if Konoha knew that Otogakure was Orochimaru's village, it would not directly start a national war.

The consequences of arbitrarily annexing neighboring small countries are significant. One wrong move could alert the other major Shinobi Village and potentially trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Hinata looked utterly dejected, even questioning the meaning of life.

Is it really necessary?

I was just bragging, why did you all take it so seriously?

In her past life, Hinata often boasted and joked with her friends!

When they start bragging, they don't even need to write a draft; they just spout off.

I have a friend who does this and that...

The people in the Naruto world are too naive, aren't they?

Most importantly, even if Hinata wanted to back out now, it was too late.

Do you think my Otsutsuki Hinata has no pride?!

What's done is done!

Hinata sighed. Now she could only put on a brave face and take it one step at a time.

I just hope that Nine-Tails will give me face again; I must be there for me when it matters most.

Hinata suddenly turned to look at Naruto.

If Nine-Tails dares to disrespect me, I'll kill his Jinchuriki and let Nine-Tails die along with Naruto!

Hinata glanced at her teammates around her; they were all rather oddballs, either newly promoted Chunin or rookie Genin...

Etc?

Chunin and Genin?

Orochimaru, you are now facing Konoha 'Chunin and Konoha Genin. I hope you will not resist and surrender immediately.

Hinata instantly became incredibly imposing, suddenly accelerating past everyone and shouting, "Everyone! Stop dawdling! Go faster, I can't wait any longer!"

That's right!

The Genin of Konoha gave Hinata immense courage.

Orochimaru is doomed.

"Hoo! Stop!"

Hinata suddenly let out a low shout and jumped down from the tree. Naruto and the other four followed closely behind and landed beside Hinata.

Naruto yelled, "Hinata, why did you stop? Sasuke was captured by Orochimaru, and we don't even know what's going on with him!"

Shikamaru glanced at the sky and said calmly, "It's dawn. We need to rest for a while now."

"Otherwise, we will be powerless to fight back if we encounter an enemy."

"In fact, I've already used up more than half of my Chakra!"

Hinata looked at Kiba Inuzuka and chuckled, "Akamaru, the hunting mission is yours."

"Woof woof!"

Before Kiba could reply, Akamaru responded twice. Kiba, his face dark, walked silently into the depths of the forest.

"Naruto, Choji! Go and gather some branches to start a fire."

"Good!"

"Byakugan!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan and continued assigning tasks, "Rock Lee, there's a river over there, go fetch some water and bring it back..."

Shikamaru retorted, "Since there's a river over there, why don't we go have a picnic by the river? Besides, Akamaru... Kiba should be able to find us too!"

Hinata turned to look at Shikamaru with a blank expression. Shikamaru panicked and quickly said, "Hinata, you probably think the same thing... right?"

"That's right!"

Hinata nodded in agreement and said cheerfully, "It's decided, let's go for a picnic by the river!"

Riverside.

Hinata quickly washed up and pouted, complaining, "We definitely need to find a town to rest properly later. We've been running around all night, and I feel terrible all over."

Shikamaru mentally calculated the distance and said, "At our current speed, we should be able to enter the Land of Land of Rice around eight o'clock tonight. We'll find you a place to rest then!"

"And we also need to find a town to gather some information!"

Naruto asked in confusion, "What kind of information are you looking for?"

Hinata glanced at Naruto and snapped, "Go get some branches!"

Naruto: "Oh!"

Shikamaru explained, "Since Orochimaru established the Otogakure, he must rely on missions to maintain the village's operation. The wealthy merchants of the Land of Rice may know the exact location of the Otogakure."

Hinata shook her head slightly, denying it. "That's not necessarily true!"

"Orochimaru is not a righteous person. He can easily threaten the Daimyo of the Land of Rice and force him to provide a Daimyo amount of military funds to support the Otogakure. In this way, the Otogakure would not have to carry out any missions and could maintain the normal operation of the village."

Shikamaru thought for a moment and nodded in agreement with Hinata's statement.

"You're right, but it's still necessary to investigate."

The Otogakure was established not long ago and its location is very secretive.

If Orochimaru hadn't revealed it himself, Konoha wouldn't even have known that Orochimaru was the leader of Otogakure.

Shikamaru continued, "After the Konoha Crush Plan, I asked my dad some questions about Orochimaru and the Otogakure."

Hinata chimed in, "What did Uncle Shikaku say?"

Shikamaru slowly explained, "The Joint Chunin Exam held by Konoha in July, which were a joint exam for all countries, were not originally invited to the Otogakure. It was only through the approval of the Daimyo of the Land of Rice and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire that the ninjas from the Otogakure were allowed to participate in the exam."

"So your analysis makes a lot of sense. The relationship between Otogakure and the Land of Rice Fields may not be as harmonious as that between Konoha and the Land of Fire."

Hinata felt a slight headache coming on and asked blankly, "So, what direct connection does this information have with our mission?"

Shikamaru: "..."

No!

"There are some things I don't know much about, such as... why Orochimaru took Sasuke away. Was it because he coveted the power of the Sharingan?"

Hinata rolled her eyes at Shikamaru: Of course!

Shikamaru continued, "But how will Orochimaru obtain the power of the Sharingan? Will he transplant the eyes directly like Teacher Kakashi?"

Hinata understood what Shikamaru meant.

"Although I can't say much more, Sasuke should be safe for now!"

Shikamaru nodded slightly and continued, "In that case, our time for carrying out the mission won't be so tight."

"Hinata, I have a plan!"

"You say!"

"Konoha has already gained a good grasp of the power of the Otogakure during the last Konoha Crush Plan. They may have other trump cards, but their strongest member is none other than Orochimaru!"

Shikamaru appeared very confident, stating with certainty, "Orochimaru was severely injured in his battle with the Third. If we can borrow Naruto's power, we might be able to infiltrate the Otogakure... and bring Sasuke back!"

Hinata was completely bewildered.

Shikamaru, you're really getting cocky now!

Or is Orochimaru no longer able to wield a sword?