White Zetsu

"I trusted your Senior Disciple Brother to handle Tsunade's side. What mattered more now was the situation in the Land of Wind."

"Did something happen in the Land of Wind?"

The Third Hokage nodded. "A few days ago, Sunagakure in the Land of Wind discovered an Oni Person. But the Land of Wind is shrouded in sandstorms year-round, making travel difficult. By the time they found it, it had already grown formidable."

"They sent several groups of shinobi, but none returned. Left with no choice, they asked us for help. I sent an Oni Person and several shinobi proficient in Sealing Jutsu, but they never came back either."

An Oni Person was someone with a Bizarre Creature sealed inside their body. But what concerned Hinata more was just how powerful that Bizarre Creature had become.

"Did Sunagakure's intelligence mention when that Bizarre Creature was born?"

Even if Bizarre Creatures merely existed in one place, the bizarre energy around them would automatically gather within them and nourish their growth. Generally speaking, the longer a Bizarre Creature had existed, the stronger it would be.

The Third Hokage said, "No."

Hinata said, "..."

The Third Hokage said, "This is all the information we have on that Oni Person. It's all here."

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

"That's it?"

It was supposedly all the information they had, yet there was only one sheet of paper. The details on the Bizarre Creature itself were pitifully sparse.

"At the very least, we know the range covered by its Alternate Dimension."

That might have been the only reliable piece of intelligence on the page. Yet as time passed, even that would become uncertain.

"Sensei, do you mean for me to bring this Oni Person back to the village?"

"No." The Third Hokage denied it. "This trip to Sunagakure has two missions. First, seal that Oni Person. Second, Sunagakure wishes to purchase some Sealing Jutsu from the Hidden Leaf Village."

"You don't need to do anything once you reach Sunagakure. I'm only sending you there to pad your résumé."

Hinata said, "..."

The Third Hokage's words left Hinata speechless. She had thought he truly wanted her to find and seal the Bizarre Creature. Who would have expected...

"Come in."

At the Hokage's summons, four shinobi pushed open the door and entered.

Two of them wore masks, hiding their faces. The third was actually related to Hinata, since he was a Hyuga clansman. Hinata did not recognize the plain-looking fourth person.

"These people are going to seal that Bizarre Creature, while this one will negotiate in Sunagakure. Hinata, after entering Sunagakure, don't go anywhere too dangerous. Once their mission is complete, return with them."

"Okay... When do we leave?"

"This afternoon."

Hinata did not ask the foolish question of why they were in such a hurry. Since the Third Hokage had already arranged everything, she only needed to carry out his orders.

Of course, if anything unexpected happened during this trip to Sunagakure, it would not be too late for Hinata to act.

At noon, amid Hanabi's reluctant gaze and her parents' worried looks, Hinata set out on her first mission since becoming a shinobi. Though barring any surprises, she was just going to coast along...

When she reached the village gate, Hinata saw her teammates for this mission.

"Sorry, it's my first mission, and saying goodbye to my family delayed everyone."

Seeing a group of people waiting for her alone, Hinata felt somewhat embarrassed.

"It's fine. We understand."

The speaker was Nara Takumi, the person in charge of this Sealing Jutsu transaction with Sunagakure. Quite a few people stood behind him.

All of them would be traveling to Sunagakure with the group. They were civilian staff rather than combatants, accompanying Nara Takumi to negotiate with Sunagakure. Of course, they still possessed some combat ability.

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

Kakashi Hatake!

If he had not stated his name, Hinata truly would not have recognized him.

But even after learning he was Kakashi, Hinata had no intention of going up to speak with him.

What was she supposed to say? Make awkward small talk?

The Hyuga clansman was named Hyuga Soki, a member of the Branch Family. The moment he saw Hinata, his eyes filled with fervor, as though he had spotted an idol.

Hinata found that very uncomfortable.

The Oni Person was named Nagai Ukaku, and he came from the Anbu.

Perhaps because of that, he spoke very little along the way.

Perhaps to accommodate Hinata, they did not move very quickly at first. But after a while, those secretly watching her expression discovered that Hinata looked completely relaxed, as though this speed was nothing special.

After that, they gradually picked up the pace, and Hinata kept up with ease.

Then it was the civilian staff who needed looking after.

Hinata could have directly teleported them to the Land of Wind. There was no need to travel there at such a sluggish pace.

But this was Hinata's first time leaving the Hidden Leaf Village. Her trip to Mount Myōboku did not count. She wanted to see the scenery beyond the village up close.

Besides, only a few minutes after leaving the village, she sensed something spying on her.

Hinata easily found the culprit.

"That is... a White Zetsu clone?"

Merged with a tree, yet looking awkward no matter how she viewed it, Hinata spotted the peeping fellow at a glance.

Although she had found him, Hinata did not immediately kill him.

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

Black Zetsu was a product of Otsutsuki Kaguya's will. In a sense, he was an immortal existence.

But to Hinata, that immortality was only relative.

So-called immortality merely meant that nothing capable of killing him had appeared yet.

The reason she had not acted was simply because she wanted to try and see whether she could find Black Zetsu's true body.

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

Since she could not find him, she would stop looking.

Hinata turned toward the tree where White Zetsu was hiding and smiled sweetly. An invisible ripple descended upon the White Zetsu clone.

"Ah!"

Before the White Zetsu clone's scream could reach them, Kakashi clutched his eye and cried out first.

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

Kakashi's mask had fallen off, and a streak of blood ran from his left eye. Everyone could see the tomoe in that eye spinning frantically.

At that moment, Kakashi was in unbearable pain. Ever since meeting Hinata and being near her, the Sharingan in his left eye had pulsed somewhat faster.

He could endure that alone. It was like a heartbeat speeding up after physical exertion. But now, the Sharingan in his left eye pulsed with unprecedented intensity, as if it were about to leap straight out of his eye.

"What... is going on?"

Kakashi had never encountered anything like this.

Could it be because of her?

His Sharingan had started acting this way after he met Hinata.

Its current abnormality had to be connected to Hinata.

Hinata was equally surprised. She had merely used the Tenseigan's Dojutsu Power mixed with a trace of Great Void Sword Intent to attack the White Zetsu clone. Did that really warrant such a huge reaction?