Hinata, You Wouldn't Want Anything to Happen to Naruto, Would You?

The facts were obvious. Moriyue had asked those guys about their ninjutsu, and they had agreed—only to be blasted into ashes before they could answer in person.

"Hiss, those guys had some skill after all." Moriyue struggled to his feet. His body bore not only the injuries from the Electromagnetic Cannon's backlash, but also a series of savage, horrifying wounds left by the ninjas' desperate final attacks.

"I still don't know enough techniques. With how I performed this time, getting a few pounds of scrolls from the Ninjutsu Cavern shouldn't be a problem, right? Assuming I can make it back alive."

Kazeki bandaged Moriyue's wounds. Those Genin had been nothing more than a rabble. They looked vicious, but the combat strength they displayed had been average at best.

But that didn't mean Moriyue wasn't strong. On the contrary, he had just wiped out several squads in a single strike. Forget Genin—how many Chunin could pull off something like that?

How long had it been since he last used that move? Yet Moriyue had already gathered enough Chakra to use it again. Either his Chakra reserves were astonishing, or he was extracting Chakra from his life force.

Given Moriyue's utterly exhausted state, it was clearly the latter.

"Captain, can every forbidden technique user really master such powerful abilities? If forbidden techniques are really this strong, I'm not practicing any more ninjutsu. I'll just learn forbidden techniques from you."

Ando said it like a joke.

"Quit messing around. Go collect those guys' scrolls. We've hit the jackpot this time."

Moriyue felt weak all over. The pain in his body was nothing; he could endure that. But the sensation of his Chakra being exhausted, of constantly drawing from his own life to sustain himself, was far from pleasant.

It felt as though something were continuously tearing chunks of flesh from his body. Even Moriyue, who had grown accustomed to the pain of Lightning Torment, could not help but twitch.

Ando obediently picked up the scattered scrolls. He found three in total. The rest had probably been burned or blown away; he couldn't find them.

"Two Heaven Scrolls and one Earth Scroll. Great! We can pass now."

His hand trembled with excitement as he clutched the scrolls. With their own Earth Scroll included, they had gathered a second complete set.

All they needed to do next was head to the desert tower to advance.

Kazeki was not as concerned about that. After hesitating several times, she decided to send Chakra into Moriyue. She was a medical ninja; she could not stand by and watch someone die because of her own reasons.

Warm Chakra entered Moriyue's body, but his body was like a bottomless pit. He absorbed as much of Kazeki's Chakra as she gave him. Only when her legs had started to go weak did the restless Chakra within Moriyue finally calm down.

Perhaps Moriyue was simply too exhausted this time. His Chakra was not as violent as before, and it did not flow backward to assimilate Kazeki's Chakra.

"Back to full health."

Moriyue stretched lazily. His left hand would not recover anytime soon. Broken bones and torn tendons took a hundred days to heal. Although there were portable ninjutsu that could speed up recovery, Kazeki alone could not manage it.

After witnessing what had just happened, Hinata, who had been thrown to the ground, became much more obedient. Even her gaze seemed more innocent. Escaping openly was probably impossible now. The commotion earlier must have been caused by this guy.

She practiced the Gentle Fist as well and had some knowledge of Nintaijutsu. Logically speaking, the human body should not have been able to withstand the Chakra Moriyue had released just now. The body's protective mechanisms would not allow it. This guy definitely had some secret.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata quietly activated her Byakugan. She had already sensed that there was something strange about Moriyue's body. She wanted to see what secrets he was hiding.

Thud~

Yet she did not see Moriyue at all. The Moriyue who had just been in front of her had somehow moved behind her. His bleeding arm had yet to be bandaged, and drops of blood fell onto the churned-up ground.

"What are you trying to do? Sneaking around isn't good." His relatively uninjured right hand gently stroked Hinata's soft cheek. The smooth touch almost made Moriyue think he was touching a boiled egg.

But he had to deal with the potential threat that was Hinata. Though it sounded strange to put it that way, she had already begun consciously trying to investigate his body. That was no good. What if she saw something she shouldn't see—the talismans, for instance? What then?

Moriyue would not underestimate the original protagonists. Leaving aside whether they had plot armor, their strength and intelligence were both first-rate among ninjas. He might really end up capsizing in a gutter.

His fingers moved upward. Hinata's crystal-clear Byakugan, like translucent stalactites, narrowed slightly. Moriyue's movements were extremely gentle, but Hinata did not dare move at all.

That was because she could feel a tangible killing intent behind her. That incomparably cold intent seemed to drag her back to that noon more than ten years ago. Ninjas from Kumogakure had kidnapped her. Her father had nearly lost his life because of it, and her uncle had died as well. It had also directly led to Neji's hostility toward her during childhood.

Her body trembled slightly at the thought. Moriyue did not know what she was thinking about, but he took the opportunity to continue.

He knew who Hinata cared about most, and therefore knew how to break through her defenses.

Moriyue's right hand moved around to the side of Hinata's jade-smooth neck. He leaned close to her ear, his breath making it itch.

"Hinata, you know Naruto is training right now, don't you? Tell me, what if—just what if—you do something bad during the exam, and then we take the same measures against Konoha? Do you think Konoha would hand Naruto over?"

"No! They won't! They won't do anything to Naruto..."

The moment Hinata heard the keyword "Naruto," she desperately shook her head. She could not believe such a thing would happen to him.

"Oh? That's not necessarily true. Konoha values Naruto because he is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. If the Nine-Tails inside him were gone, do you think Konoha would still protect him?"

"I heard Konoha has some old bastard named Danzo. That guy would probably be more than happy to do something like that."

"Even taking ten thousand steps back, even if Konoha doesn't hand Naruto over, what do you think will happen if you die in the Chunin Exams?"

"Naruto has always been infatuated with Sakura. Sasuke has defected, and given Sakura's personality, what do you think she'll do?"

"That's right. Even if she doesn't like Naruto, she'll definitely pretend to get close to him and make him bring Sasuke back for her. Poor Naruto..."

Moriyue's barrage of words made Hinata's mind go blank. Seeing that, he drove the knife in even deeper.

"Hinata, you wouldn't want anything to happen to Naruto, would you? Just be obedient, all right?"