The Office Where Everything Had Changed

'Bang bang bang!'

"Please come in!"

Outside the Hokage's Office, Hinata and Shikamaru exchanged a glance, then pushed open the door and went inside.

Hinata looked around. Although it had been several months since she last visited, the Hokage's Office was as spacious and bright as ever. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, making it hard to believe that such a bright office was associated with the dark profession of ninja.

Hinata looked at Tsunade. Tsunade's appearance had not changed at all, but there was a subtle distance between them, and their relationship was gradually turning from intimacy to estrangement.

Things have changed, but people are no longer the same.

"They're here!"

Tsunade glanced at Hinata and Shikamaru, and laughed heartily, "I never thought that the two laziest brats back then would become the two most promising ones!"

Hinata first looked at Shikamaru on her left, then at the empty space on her right...

There were three people who came in together. Tsunade's "two lazy brats" definitely wasn't referring to herself!

"You should already know about this mission!"

After a few casual words, Tsunade's expression turned serious.

"Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the Kumogakure has always been the most aggressive."

"Intelligence indicates that the purpose of Kumogakure's participation in the Joint Chunin Exam hosted by Sunagakure is to seize the 'Impure World Reincarnation' technique from Sunagakure."

Despite the repeated actions of the Kumogakure, their conspiracy could not be kept secret from the other major Shinobi Village.

Whether the Hidden Cloud Village has obtained the Impure World Reincarnation held by the Iwagakure and the Kirigakure Kumogakure still unknown to Konoha. However, as long as the Sunagakure retains its copy, the Kumogakure will not be able to collect the complete set.

Hinata scratched her head, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Lady Tsunade, um... Sunagakure should also know about Kumogakure's conspiracy, right? So why did they agree to Kumogakure's request to participate in the exam?"

Shikamaru turned to look at Hinata and explained lazily, "Because Sunagakure had no choice but to agree!"

"The Sunagakure is currently weak. The last Kage Summit was able to maintain the situation in the Genin world to some extent. For diplomatic reasons, even though the Sunagakure knew that the Kumogakure had ulterior motives, the Kumogakure publicly applied to participate in the exam, Sunagakure simply could not refuse!"

Hinata nodded and gave a nonchalant "Oh".

Tsunade looked at the two young men and women standing in front of her with complicated emotions. If nothing had changed, Hinata would have been the best Sixth Hokage in her heart, and Shikamaru would have been Hinata's best assistant.

Tsunade knew about their relationship. Hinata and Shikamaru had been best friends since their time at the Ninja Academy. Although they were assigned to different groups after graduation, their six years of friendship would not easily change.

Hinata has strength, Shikamaru has wisdom. If these two team up, they will surely lead Konoha to new glory.

But now all of that is no longer possible.

Tsunade had no idea what Hinata was thinking, nor did she know what scheme Hyuga Hiashi was plotting.

If the Hyuga Clan aspires to the Hokage Position, then Hinata shouldn't have resigned from her position as Hokage's secretary. But if the Hyuga Clan lacks ambition, then why is Hyuga Clan currently frantically increasing their strength?

However, if we broaden our perspective further, shifting our focus from the village to the entire Shinobi World, and then from the present Shinobi World to the history of the Shinobi World over the past thousand years, the Hyuga Clan's ambitions become blatantly obvious.

Without a doubt, after witnessing the Genjutsu left behind by Indra, Hinata became fascinated by that power.

It seems that although the Hyuga Clan is showing signs of getting out of control, it does not have the same ambition for a coup as the Uchiha clan.

To increase one's strength, but not to gain power...

This is unusual and doesn't fit the attitude of a ninja clan.

Therefore, no matter what, Tsunade must find out exactly what Hyuga Hiashi wants to do.

Thinking of this, Tsunade's gaze narrowed slightly, and she said in a serious tone, "Kumogakure has always been quite wary of Hinata. With Hinata stationed in Sunagakure, Kumogakure probably won't dare to act recklessly."

"But..."

"After all, Sunagakure is not our territory. Kumogakure may be deliberately trying to lure Hinata into making a move in order to sow discord between Konoha and Sunagakure."

Shikamaru nodded slightly upon hearing this. Although he was only Chunin, Tsunade had entrusted him with an important task: to be in charge of this joint operation with Sunagakure.

During this time, Shikamaru had been thinking about how to deal with the conspiracy of Kumogakure.

Intentionally luring Hinata into attacking the Kumogakure ninjas within the Sunagakure would undoubtedly be most advantageous for the Kumogakure, and could even achieve a triple benefit.

Shikamaru chimed in, "Lady Tsunade, I've already considered that."

"Kumogakure takes any action, it will be extremely disadvantageous for us whether we take direct action or pass the information to Sunagakure."

Taking direct action would be tantamount to openly slapping Sunagakure in the face. While passing the information to Sunagakure might seem like a milder approach, it only further confirms Sunagakure's incompetence.

The Kumogakure made its move within the Sunagakure, but it was the Konoha Village that intercepted the intelligence first. How can the Sunagakure save face?

Even with Hinata's Byakugan, it couldn't mask the incompetence of Sunagakure.

Shikamaru frowned and said, "But if we do nothing and let Kumogakure seize the Impure World Reincarnation, then..."

Hinata, upon hearing this, retorted helplessly, "Hey! I'm telling you, you guys are really underestimating Sunagakure!"

Tsunade said in a deep voice, "It's not that we underestimate Sunagakure, but that we cannot underestimate Kumogakure!"

"Hinata, don't forget what happened to your Hyuga Clan!"

Hinata certainly wouldn't forget that the delegation from Kumogakure tried to kidnap her; it was the biggest crisis Hinata had faced since her transmigration.

Hinata, so she had practically no power.

To protect herself, Hinata used her legendary skill of acting cute and clingy. During the visit of the Kumogakure delegation to Konoha, Hinata followed Hyuga Hiashi around the clock, and even had to have Hyuga Hiashi by her side when she slept.

The Kumogakure delegation had no choice but to abduct a child from the branch family who had not yet been marked with the Caged Bird Seal. In the end, the child was chased down and brought back by the Hyuga Clan ninjas and Anbu.

Although the evidence was conclusive, the Kumogakure was powerful, and Konoha had just experienced the Nine-Tails' Rampage, so the matter was eventually dropped.

"Well..."

Okay! You're right!

Even though a ninja village is heavily guarded, it is still difficult for the Anbu to monitor a Jonin- level ninja who is secretly operating within the village.

In the Original Story, Joint Chunin Exam held in Konoha, the village's defense system was practically a sieve. Even when Orochimaru personally showed up in front of Kakashi, Konoha still couldn't capture Orochimaru.

Perhaps they're just too afraid to take action!

But there's still Kabuto Yakushi!

Kabuto Yakushi caught red-handed by Kakashi when he attempted to assassinate Sasuke, yet Konoha was unable to find him.

"So what should I do?"

Hinata asked curiously, "If I can't take action and I can't notify Sunagakure to take action, then I can't do anything at all!"