Dissatisfaction

Quite a few ninjas arrived at the Hyuga Clan Compound. It was said they had been sent by the Hokage to investigate Jinyu Hyuga's murder.

The most conspicuous among them was a blond man wearing clothes emblazoned with the Yamanaka Clan crest.

This was not something that truly needed his concern. The Hyuga Clan seemed to have concealed the theft of the Byakugan, so it would never be traced back to him.

And it really had nothing to do with him.

Ayari hurried over to Shin's house again, her face full of worry.

"Shin, I heard your surgery was postponed..."

She seemed worried that Shin would start overthinking things.

"Yeah. The clan said something came up, so they have to wait for Lord Hiashi to return before making a decision."

Shin was remarkably calm about it. He was reading again; this was his only daily pastime. He had finished most of the books at home, while that set of diagrams of the body's acupuncture points had been read over and over several times.

Ayari felt that Shin's reaction was somewhat off. Hesitating, she asked, "Are... are you all right?"

"What could be wrong with me? I'll recover soon."

Ayari felt that even if Shin did not react dramatically, he should at least have been disappointed. Yet here he was, lounging on the sofa with such a carefree expression.

She went over and sat across from Shin, looking at the book in his hands. "You seem to have been reading this book a lot lately."

"I'm just reviewing it since I have nothing else to do." As Shin spoke, he suddenly sat upright on the sofa and stared straight at Ayari.

"What are you doing?" His gaze made Ayari tense all over.

"Ayari, give me your hand." Shin had read the book so many times, but he had never had the chance to put it into practice.

After a brief hesitation, Ayari slowly held out her arm.

Shin showed no restraint, taking it directly into his hand and rolling up her sleeve to reveal her fair, delicate skin.

Ayari felt a little uncomfortable. "What are you trying to do?"

One of Shin's hands lightly stroked Ayari's arm, as if searching for something. He made Ayari feel as though he was about to stick a needle into her.

"This is the Taiyuan point, right?" Shin asked, pointing to a spot on Ayari's wrist.

Ayari suddenly fell silent. Only after a while did she reply, "Yes."

"If this spot is struck, you won't be able to form hand seals and use ninjutsu anymore," Shin continued.

Ayari sighed, then used her other hand to grasp Shin's fingers and shift them slightly along her wrist.

"The body's Chakra pathways are very fine. You have to be extremely precise. Without the Byakugan, you can't see them clearly."

She felt that she somewhat understood what Shin was thinking. This child had become obsessed—was he trying to continue using the Gentle Fist without relying on the Byakugan?

"Shin." Ayari suddenly turned her hand over and clasped his, her eyes filled with pity.

"You don't need to do this. The war will end soon. Everything will be fine once Lord Hiashi returns. Just stay home and put your mind at ease for now. Pretend you're not a ninja."

Shin froze for a moment. Only when he saw the emotion in Ayari's eyes did he realize that she had misunderstood.

"I told you, I'm fine. I just want to study some things," he explained.

"Really?" Ayari was plainly unconvinced. By now, she was certain that Shin had been unable to bear the blow and had developed psychological problems.

Shin was a little helpless and simply stopped explaining. He lay back on the sofa and stared up at his ceiling.

"Ayari, why don't you find me some books?" he suddenly said.

"Books?" Ayari was slightly taken aback.

"If I read, I won't overthink things."

"What kind of books do you want?" Ayari asked doubtfully.

"Anything about the human body or Chakra will do."

After thinking it over, Ayari said, "I can help you look for some."

"Thank you, Ayari."

Seeing Shin return to his book, Ayari was still worried. After pondering for a long time, she said, "I'll introduce you to a girl."

Shin was bewildered. "What did you say?"

Ayari looked utterly serious. "She's from our clan too. You've met her before. Though I think you're a little beneath her, you can still get to know each other."

Ayari felt that at Shin's age, he ought to be full of curiosity and fantasies about the opposite sex. Perhaps this would distract him.

"It's settled, then. I'll bring her over another day."

Sarutobi had just finished another war council with several of the village's higher-ups. When he returned to his office, he found Orochimaru sitting in his seat, casually flipping through the documents on the desk.

That was the Hokage's seat. During the Third Hokage's tenure, no one had ever dared sit in it.

Sarutobi said nothing at the sight. He slowly walked over and asked, "What brings you here?"

Orochimaru casually picked up a letter. "They're all letters demanding supplies. Have the supplies from the Daimyo's Palace been delayed again?"

Rather than answer, Sarutobi gave a faint laugh. "I didn't expect you to be interested in this sort of thing."

"It's my own village's business. Of course I should care about it," Orochimaru said.

Those words made Sarutobi's gaze flicker. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Would you be willing to go to the battlefield in the Land of Water?"

Orochimaru instead asked, "If we drive back the Mist Ninjas, will we win this war?"

Sarutobi frowned in silence. Of course not. Konoha's greatest threat was still the Land of Earth to the north—their most formidable enemy at present.

Kirigakure did not seem to intend to wage an all-out war against Konoha. It merely kept up small-scale harassment, likely hoping to take advantage of Konoha's weakness and profit from the chaos.

Orochimaru sat casually in the Hokage's chair, one hand propping up his cheek against the armrest as he watched Sarutobi with a faint smile.

But Sarutobi seemed somewhat evasive under his gaze.

In the village, only Orochimaru would dare treat the Third Hokage with such an attitude. If Jiraiya had been this disrespectful, Sarutobi would have kicked him out and berated him long ago.

And Jiraiya would never do such a thing.

"Minato is getting more and more impressive. Hearing about his exploits in the village, even I feel that under his leadership, we'll win the war very soon."

Sarutobi was silent for a while before saying, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Orochimaru picked up a letter from the desk. "Naturally, I want to ease the village's burdens. How about leaving the matter of supplies from the Daimyo's Palace to me?"

"The Daimyo's Palace has never withheld supplies. They know what is at stake. Delaying them for a few days is merely their way of expressing dissatisfaction with us," Sarutobi said.

Orochimaru did not argue with him about that. Instead, he asked, "You don't want me to go?"

Sarutobi choked on his words and fell silent again.

After a long while, Sarutobi finally frowned. "Don't do anything reckless."

Orochimaru gave a derisive laugh. "I'm only going to request supplies. What are you afraid I'll do? At most, I'll once again show the daimyo Konoha's loyalty."

With that, he rose from the seat and left it.

"I'll depart tomorrow. Teacher Sarutobi, arrange an escort squad for me."

Orochimaru passed by Sarutobi without slowing, walking straight out of the office.

Hearing the door close behind him, Sarutobi let out a long sigh.

He looked at the seat Orochimaru had just occupied, his expression complicated.

Orochimaru, are you expressing your dissatisfaction with me? Why are you still unwilling to give up...?