White Zetsu

"I believe your senior brother will handle Tsunade, but the Land of Wind is more important right now."

"Did something happen in the Land of Wind?"

The Third Hokage nodded. "A few days ago, an Oni was discovered in Sunagakure in the Land of Wind. However, due to the constant sandstorms and poor transportation in the Land of Wind, by the time they found the Oni, it had already grown powerful."

"They sent several groups of ninjas, but none returned. They had no choice but to ask us for help. I sent an Oni Person and several ninjas skilled in Sealing Jutsu, but they haven't returned either."

An Oni Person was a term for someone who had sealed a Bizarre Creature within them. But what concerned Hinata even more was just how powerful this Bizarre Creature was.

"In the intelligence provided by Sunagakure, is there any information about when this Bizarre Creature was born?"

This was because, even if a Bizarre Creature existed there, the surrounding strange energy would automatically gather into its body, becoming nutrients for its growth. Therefore, generally speaking, the longer a Bizarre Creature had existed, the more powerful it would be.

Third Hokage: "No."

Hinata: "..."

Third Hokage: "This is all the information we have on this Oni. It's all here."

Hinata took the documents and began to read, but the more she read, the more something felt wrong.

"That's it?"

It was supposed to be all the information, but it was only one page, and the details about the Bizarre Creature were extremely scarce.

"At the very least, we know the range of its Alternate Dimension's coverage."

What the Third Hokage said might have been the only reliable piece of information on the paper, but as time passed, even this would become uncertain.

"Teacher, do you mean you want me to bring this Oni back to the village?"

"No," the Third Hokage denied. "There are two missions for this trip to Sunagakure. The first is to seal the Oni, and the second is that Sunagakure wants to purchase some Sealing Jutsu from Konoha."

"You don't need to do anything upon arriving in Sunagakure. I just want to send you there to gain some experience."

Hinata: "..."

The Third Hokage's words left Hinata speechless. She had thought the Third Hokage genuinely wanted her to go and seal the Bizarre Creature, but she hadn't expected...

"Come in."

Upon hearing the Hokage's summons, four ninjas entered the room.

Two of them wore masks, obscuring their faces. The third person actually had some connection to Hinata, as he was a member of the Hyuga clan. The fourth person, with an ordinary appearance, was unfamiliar to Hinata.

"These individuals were sent to seal the Bizarre Creature, and this person is going to Sunagakure for negotiations. Hinata, once you arrive in Sunagakure, avoid dangerous areas. Wait for their mission to be completed, and then return with them."

"Alright... When do we leave?"

"This afternoon."

Hinata didn't ask the foolish question of why they had to leave so urgently. Since the Third Hokage had already arranged everything, she just needed to execute his orders.

However, if anything unexpected happened during their trip to Sunagakure, Hinata would still act.

At noon, amidst Hanabi's reluctant farewell and her parents' worried gazes, Hinata embarked on her first mission since becoming a ninja, although it seemed she was just going to slack off if nothing unexpected occurred...

Upon reaching the village entrance, Hinata saw her teammates for this mission.

"I'm sorry, this is my first mission, and saying goodbye to my family took up everyone's time."

Seeing everyone waiting for her, Hinata felt a bit embarrassed.

"It's alright, we understand."

The one who spoke was Nara Takumi, the person in charge of the sealing jutsu transaction with Sunagakure. Several people stood behind him.

These individuals would also be traveling to Sunagakure, but they were administrative staff, not combat personnel. They were going to negotiate with Nara Takumi in Sunagakure. Of course, they possessed some combat capability.

And among the three people responsible for sealing the Bizarre Creature, she actually recognized one of them!

Kakashi Hatake!

If he hadn't introduced himself, Hinata wouldn't have recognized him at all.

However, even after knowing he was Kakashi, Hinata had no intention of approaching him.

What would she say? Small talk?

The Hyuga clan member was Hyuga Soki, from a branch family. The moment he saw Hinata, his eyes were filled with fervor, as if he had seen an idol.

This made Hinata feel very uncomfortable.

And the Oni Person was named Nagai Ukaku, who came from the Anbu.

Perhaps because of this, he spoke very little throughout the journey.

Perhaps to accommodate Hinata, they didn't travel very fast at first. But after a while, noticing Hinata's demeanor, they realized she looked completely relaxed, as if the pace was nothing to her.

Afterward, they gradually increased their speed, and Hinata kept up with ease.

Then, it was the administrative staff who needed to be accommodated.

In reality, Hinata could have teleported them directly to the Land of Wind, so there was no need to walk so slowly.

However, this was Hinata's first time leaving Konoha, excluding her trip to Mount Myōboku. She wanted to see the scenery outside the village up close.

Moreover, just a few minutes after leaving the village, she felt like something was spying on her.

Hinata easily found the culprit.

"Is that... a White Zetsu clone?"

It blended in with the trees, but no matter how you looked at it, it felt awkward. Hinata spotted the peeping guy at a glance.

Even though she found him, Hinata didn't kill him directly.

Hinata was contemplating whether her Great Void Sword Intent could follow this clone and directly kill Black Zetsu's main body.

Black Zetsu was a product of Otsutsuki Kaguya's will, an existence that was, in a way, immortal.

But this immortality, in Hinata's opinion, was only relative.

So-called immortality was merely the absence of something capable of killing it.

The reason she didn't act was simply because she wanted to try and find where Black Zetsu's main body was.

But the result disappointed her. Although a viewing distance of over a thousand kilometers was vast, the Shinobi World was even larger!

Since she couldn't find it, she stopped looking.

Hinata turned to the tree where the White Zetsu was hiding, gave a sweet smile, and an invisible wave descended upon the White Zetsu clone.

"Ah~"

Before the White Zetsu clone's scream could reach them, Kakashi clutched his eyes and screamed.

Nagai Ukaku supported Kakashi. "Kakashi, what's wrong?"

Kakashi's mask had fallen off, and blood streamed from his left eye. Everyone could see the tomoe in his eye spinning madly.

Kakashi was in immense pain at this moment. When he saw Hinata again and was by her side, the throbbing of the Sharingan in his left eye lessened slightly.

This much was still bearable, much like how one's heart beats a little faster after physical exertion, but now, the Sharingan in his left eye pulsed with an unprecedented intensity, as if it were about to leap out of his eye.

"What... is going on?"

Kakashi had never encountered such a situation.

Could it be because of her?

His Sharingan had only started acting this way after he saw Hinata.

Now that his Sharingan was abnormal, Hinata was undeniably connected to it.

Hinata was also very surprised. She had only used the power of her Tenseigan mixed with a trace of Great Void Sword Intent to attack the White Zetsu clone. Was such a strong reaction warranted?