### As Kazeki considered their next route, there was movement on the other side. Sure enough, two figures appeared in the forest ahead. One was wrapped head to toe in a dark green coat, even wearing an extremely inconspicuous pair of sunglasses. He looked utterly forgettable, just like... right, just like You Ri Layman.
The other figure was far more conspicuous. Anyone riding a huge white dog down the road would stand out, after all. But they were not here to debut as a duo. They had only one goal: rescue Hinata.
"Shino, is that the forest up ahead? Wherever that stink is coming from, I'm not going to sniff it out. If you're sure they're there, let's go. Those bastards dared to snatch someone right in front of me. They really didn't take me seriously at all."
Kiba bared his teeth. He had been very dissatisfied with the previous fight, convinced that Moriyue and the others had only won through underhanded tricks while he was distracted. Who could have expected that Moriyue, that guy who never did anything normally, would snatch Hinata away in the middle of a fight? How messed up did someone have to be to do something like that?
"The Parasitic Insects won't lie. They're ahead." Shino nodded. He said nothing else. He only wanted to rescue Hinata. If he could take the enemy's scroll as well, that would be even better.
The two entered the woods one after the other. It would have been fine if they had stayed out, but the moment Shino took his first step inside, the ground beneath his foot felt wrong. He realized he might have stepped on a trap and tried to warn Kiba, but it was already too late.
Firelight and smoke erupted from all around them. The dirt underfoot seemed to soften, and sand and gravel mixed with running water churned the already eroded ground into muddy slurry. Black smoke blanketed the area, making it impossible to see even a hand in front of one's face. Shino, wearing sunglasses, became even more of a black blob—but he was not worried. He still had his insects to sense with...
"Insecticide? Someone... used insecticide..." Shino's face darkened. He had never imagined someone would bring insecticide along on a mission. What use was insecticide in this godforsaken place? Was it specifically meant to kill him?
"AAAAAH! It stinks! Is someone boiling shit behind the scenes?! Damn it, I... I can't take it..."
But compared to Shino, Kiba suffered the greater blow. His and Akamaru's noses were already exceptionally sensitive, and he relied on his extraordinary sense of smell to track enemies. Yet he had no idea what the stuff that had just exploded was made of. The smell was overwhelmingly rancid.
It was as idiotic as a prehistoric mammoth doing Thomas flares just to eat a bowl of porridge. Who would deliberately create something with no characteristics whatsoever besides being unbearably foul?
In his daze, not only his sense of smell but also his vision, taste, and finally even his hearing were completely stripped away. Kiba and Akamaru, one man and one dog, collapsed onto the ground. Looking at the flawless sky above, veiled in black smoke, and feeling themselves slowly sink into the mire beneath them, he seemed to see... heaven.
Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru had lost their fighting capacity and could not rise again. Cause: unbearable stench.
"Kiba, Kiba! Wake up! If you fall asleep now, you won't wake up again..."
Shino dragged Kiba out of the mire, but Kiba had already passed out and lost his ability to fight. A remarkably simple, honest smile rested on his face, making anyone who saw him want to buy him a bag of sunflower seeds.
There was no relying on Kiba now. Shino could only depend on himself. In the end, he would still have to save the world. It couldn't be helped.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Shino slapped both hands onto the ground. Tadpole-like runes spread outward from beneath his palms. As the pure white smoke dispersed, an enormous beetle spread its wings and blew away the surrounding fog, along with the insecticide and stench. Shino stood atop the beetle like a god of war.
"Hmph, such petty insect tri—"
Before Shino could finish, Kazeki blasted him out of the air with a Water Gun Jutsu. Before he could even strike a pose and say a few cool lines, Kazeki, hidden in the shadows, and Ando, who had leaped high into the air, surrounded him.
"Let's have a duel between men! Take my blade!"
"I'm an Insect Master. How could I possibly—"
Shino tried to explain again, but Ando and Kazeki gave him no chance. Explain? They would beat him up first.
Not only did they gang up on the few with the many, they even used the strong to bully the weak. More people beating fewer people was perfectly reasonable. Only idiots refused to exploit an advantage. They were targeting him precisely because he was alone.
Shino was strong. At first, he could still maneuver against the two of them, flinging out all kinds of insects. If those insects had possessed any more absurd abilities, Moriyue would have mistaken him for Great Love Immortal Venerable.
But Kazeki and Ando coordinated well too. At first, they were indeed somewhat flustered. Their teamwork could not exactly be called full of holes; rather, most of their attention was spent avoiding each other's attacks. After the initial chaos, their coordination gradually fell into place, and Shino could no longer withstand their relentless bombardment.
Kazeki sprayed water from one side while Ando discharged electricity from the other. Who could possibly withstand that combination?
Moriyue pulled up his pants. They were a little loose, so he had to tighten them to keep them from being blown off in the next battle.
"Yo, you caught them. Very good. I knew you could do it."
The moment he returned, he saw Kiba and Shino tied up in the same Caterpillar Restraint as Hinata, and he smiled knowingly.
"The most important thing for a family is to be nice and tidy. Did you find the scroll?"
"Found it. It was on that insect guy. Heh, Captain, this kid wasn't honest at all. He was covered in bugs. He bit me several times when I wasn't paying attention. It really hurt."
Though it was somewhat inappropriate, Moriyue felt that the way Ando held the scroll out to him with both hands looked exactly like the interpreter for a Japan player who had been having a pretty good time... That sycophantic look was just too similar.
"It's good that we got the scroll. Hinata, thank you. You really are our little cash machine."
Moriyue accepted the scroll, his eyes full of appreciation. The more he looked at Hinata, the more pleasing she became. He remembered that Hinata was supposed to be the Hyuga Clan's princess. As the heir of the main family, her price had to be considerable. If he used this little cash machine properly, he could probably gain quite a few benefits.
"Captain, we have the scroll. What should we do with these guys? Should we..."
Kazeki was clearly more composed than Ando. After experiencing what it felt like to be a battle priest once, she realized that she was better suited to support than combat—though occasionally going up to beat people up was not bad either.
"Kill them? No, no, no. Some people are more valuable dead than alive, while others are more valuable alive than dead..."
Moriyue smiled kindly, so kindly that he looked like the friendly older brother next door who definitely did not know any forbidden jutsu.
Hinata's body trembled when she saw that smile. She knew this guy was plotting something bad again.
Before you continue