After dealing with the haunted house, Hinata returned to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Hinata had put some effort into the materials for her puppet substitute, so fortunately, it had not been exposed.
Though even if it had been exposed, it would not have mattered much...
Although Hinata had left, the repercussions of the incident had yet to pass.
A perfectly good house had suddenly vanished...
Had they not just seen a ghost?
After learning of it, the local city lord immediately sent his recruited subordinates to investigate.
But they found nothing.
Whether by coincidence or not, while investigating, they noticed the strange movements of the nearby gangs from the past few days.
Then they found the source of it all: Yamamoto Ryuji.
After learning of Yamamoto Ryuji's unusual qualities, the city lord extended an olive branch and sought to recruit him.
Working for the city lord and becoming his subordinate was something he had never imagined.
Naturally, he happily agreed.
The city lord thought he had recruited a wild talent, never realizing disaster was already looming over him.
The city lord's date of death would have to be pushed back. For now, Yamamoto Ryuji was diligently serving him to repay his appreciation.
He looked so loyal that he was nearly on par with the city lord's deathsworn guards.
However, he had been concealing something in his heart.
He always felt that his heartbeat had become somewhat faster recently, and his body temperature also seemed much higher than before.
Breathing had also become far more difficult, as if something were blocking his lungs.
If someone with a Byakugan examined him, they would discover that his heart was much larger than a normal person's. Looking closely, they would see a massive mass of Chakra gathered within it.
His heart had already become