Hyuga Ao Wants to Leave Quickly

Hyuga Ao and Hiashi walked side by side down Konoha's Commercial Street. The village wasn't yet as bustling as it would be when the main story began, but it was already showing signs of its future prosperity.

Hyuga Ao had long known this day would come. After all, with an engagement in place, the whole point was to build feelings. The Main Family had just been hesitating before.

But she never imagined it would come this fast.

She was only ten years old!

Hyuga Ao glanced at Hiashi. Could this square-jawed bastard actually be like Fugaku Uchiha and prefer them young?

"Ao'er, is something wrong?" Hiashi had been worrying about the awkward silence between them, but when he caught Ao sneaking a look at him, he felt a flicker of pride. So I do have some appeal after all.

Hearing him call her "Ao'er," Hyuga Ao's skin crawled. Now that she was actually a woman facing a man she had a concrete relationship with, all she wanted was to keep her distance.

Even the look in his eyes made her sick.

Hyuga Ao was furious, but unfortunately, she couldn't just hit him.

Still, you have your Zhang Liang's stratagem, and I have my bridge ladder. Hyuga Ao calculated the time, thinking about where Kushina would be right now.

Hmph, let's all go down together!

"Nothing. Let's go get something to eat."

Hyuga Ao led Hiashi to the shop Kushina frequented, and sure enough, both Kushina and Kana were there. She walked over, pretending it was a coincidence.

"What a coincidence, Kushina, Kana. You're here too."

Hyuga Ao pulled Hiashi over and sat down next to them.

Kana still didn't really want to talk to Hyuga Ao. It wasn't dislike—just a little girlish embarrassment. But when she looked up and saw a man following behind Ao, she couldn't help but raise her head in confusion.

"Ao'er, who is this?" Kushina asked.

"Let me introduce you. This is Hyuga Hiashi, my fiancé and the heir of the Hyuga clan. You can call him Big Brother Hiashi." Hyuga Ao introduced him openly.

"This is Kana, and this is Kushina."

"Hello, hello!" Hiashi greeted.

At this point, Hiashi felt pretty good. Hyuga Ao had brought him straight to meet her close friends, which showed she was fairly accepting of him.

But he wouldn't be thinking that for long.

They say three women are as loud as five hundred ducks.

But that calculation clearly didn't account for two of them being Uzumaki.

Two Uzumaki plus one chatterbox equaled at least a thousand ducks.

Hyuga Ao's introduction lit a fire under Kushina and Kana. They got excited instantly, peppering Hiashi with questions about everything. Even Kana, who was usually shy around others, had plenty to ask.

After the meal, Hyuga Ao subtly steered the conversation toward shopping, and Hiashi volunteered to be the wallet.

Then Hiashi learned what women were, and what the cruelty of the world really meant.

Hiashi redefined the word "shopping."

That evening.

Hyuga Ao and Hiashi trudged step by step along the road back to the Clan Territory.

Neither of them spoke. Or rather, neither wanted to.

In Hiashi's mind, Kushina and Kana's chatter still echoed. With a free wallet in tow, the two girls had unleashed unprecedented enthusiasm for shopping and spending.

It was Hiashi's first time accompanying girls on a shopping trip, and he'd been hit with a super multiplier right from the start. His mind was a fog, and all he wanted was to collapse into bed and sleep.

Hyuga Ao shot Hiashi a sidelong glance and sneered. Young man, too naive!

Even though her own legs were trembling slightly, on the battlefield she could plow through Iwagakure, but on the street, her combat effectiveness might be lower than a five-year-old girl's.

Hiashi had taken a beating today, but Hyuga Ao wasn't much better off. She'd been treated like a Barbie doll, dragged back and forth by Kushina and Kana to change outfits. And since she still felt guilty toward Kana, she didn't dare resist.

Still, Hyuga Ao had been through this before, so her tolerance was just a little higher than Hiashi's.

They reached the corner where their paths split. As they parted, they both caught a glimmer of mutual sympathy in each other's eyes.

Hiashi pulled himself together and reported the day's events to Hyuga Hayato. He felt like he'd been played somehow, but he couldn't figure out how.

This date had been an important test by the Main Family to gauge Hyuga Ao's attitude, and it would influence their future decisions.

"Hahahaha." Hyuga Hayato laughed heartily. "You're saying she introduced you to two Uzumaki clan members?"

"Yes." Hiashi nodded. "One named Kushina, one named Kana."

"Good, good, good. It seems Hyuga Ao still has the Hyuga clan in her heart. She brought them straight to meet you—excellent!" Hyuga Hayato stroked his beard and smiled.

"You should have more gatherings like this. Get to know the people around Hyuga Ao, build good relationships with them. It'll serve you well in the future!"

Hyuga Hayato patted Hiashi on the shoulder and walked off laughing.

Leaving Hiashi with a dark expression. That nearly killed me once, and he wants me to do it again?

Easy for him to say. Hiashi trudged back to his room in frustration.

On the other side, Hyuga Ao was frantically writing a letter to Orochimaru, begging him to transfer her out immediately and send her to the battlefield.

She took out a scroll, formed hand seals, and said, "Release!"

A small vial burst out from the scroll, containing the blood Hyuga Ao had drawn at the hospital. She poured a little onto her hand.

"Summoning!"

Hurry up! Hurry up!

A communication snake emerged and swallowed the letter Hyuga Ao had written on the scroll.

"I hope Orochimaru sees this soon." The girl clasped her hands in prayer. "Let me get out of here quickly!"

Whether it was Hyuga Ao's prayers that worked, or the battlefield truly needed a Kage-level to hold the line, she received orders three days later to head to the Land of Rain on her own.

"So even a rookie Kage-level counts as a Kage." Hyuga Ao set off cheerfully.

Compared to Hyuga Ao's mood at the moment, things in the Land of Rain had already reached a fever pitch.

That day, when the Iwagakure ninjas turned back to clean up the battlefield, they found Roshi was still breathing.

On Hyuga Ao's final strike, the Four-Tails had seized control of the body, twisting Roshi just enough to avoid a fatal blow, then kept him alive with tailed beast Chakra.

Roshi had a hole in his chest, sustained by tailed beast Chakra in a state resembling suspended animation, but it could turn into real death at any moment.

When the Iwagakure medical corps saw Roshi's condition, they all recommended replacing the Jinchuriki.

No hope. Can't treat. Goodbye.

A string of three rejections landed on Ōnoki's desk.

After all, if he died mid-treatment, or the tailed beast broke free during the process, Iwagakure couldn't afford that loss.

But Ōnoki, who had always been at odds with Roshi, made the final call: treat him!

Only then did Roshi slowly pull back from the brink of death, though he still needed a long recovery.

Just as Iwagakure was suspicious and baffled, wondering why Kumogakure had come to mess with them—

Konoha attacked.

Iwagakure was furious. "Are you here to laugh at us?!"

So the enraged Iwagakure ninjas charged head-on, desperate to reclaim their lost pride.

In their fury, their combat power far exceeded usual, and even though Konoha was fighting three enemies at once—with the Sand Ninja slacking off—the battle was still grueling.

But Konoha had already received a firm commitment from Kumogakure, so they gritted their teeth and pressed on, maintaining their offensive.

And so the situation in the Land of Rain settled into a stalemate.