"What's wrong, Snow Eagle?"
Seeing Hyuga Yukyō remain silent for so long, his face pale and growing increasingly grim, Maki could not help asking again.
At that moment, he was in front, with Kiko and Nozawa Sota slightly behind him, while Hyuga Yukyō brought up the rear. Together, they lay concealed in the grass, which was enough to completely hide their figures.
What was wrong with Snow Eagle? Kiko and Nozawa Sota's hearts tightened as well.
Although they rarely went on missions together now, Snow Eagle was, after all, a member of the Hyuga Main Family and under the village's protection. Even this escort mission for the logistics unit had only been arranged after Snow Eagle asked Lord Shinsuke to personally approach the Third Hokage. Yet, based on their understanding of their friend, he was definitely not someone who would casually show such an expression. In fact, this was the first time they had ever seen this look on his face.
Though their friend could sometimes be rather impulsive—especially when he encountered Chiba, when he became even more irritable—and had a bit of a young master's temper, whenever something truly happened, he was always the calmest among the three of them.
In a situation like this, they could not imagine what he had seen to make Snow Eagle reveal such an expression.
They could not even imagine what kind of circumstances could leave Snow Eagle looking almost frightened senseless.
"We can't go forward. We can't go forward."
At that moment, as if reacting to Maki's words, Hyuga Yukyō muttered in a voice the three of them could hear.
"We can't go forward?"
Maki froze slightly, and his heart suddenly clenched.
A pale, horrified expression was one thing, but now he was even talking about retreating. Unlike Kiko and Nozawa Sota,