The Missing Hyuga Natsu

That night.

The Branch Family compound, dining hall.

"Where's A-Natsu?"

Hyuga Natsu hadn't appeared even by the time dinner was over, which struck Hyuga Sho as a little strange.

"I remember... A-Natsu went mushroom picking in the evening..."

"She should've been back by now, even if she went mushroom picking!"

The Branch Family members chattered about it.

"So... why did she go mushroom picking? Who was she picking them for?"

The one who asked this question was none other than the Pure Love Warrior, Hyuga Suetsuchi.

The moment he finished speaking, he thought for a second, then abruptly turned around and looked towards Hyuga Sho.

It wasn't just him. The other Branch Family Members also turned their gazes away in unison.

The elderly, the middle-aged, teenagers, children...

Men and women.

Uncles and aunties...

In short.

Every Branch Family Member in the dining hall stared at Hyuga Sho with an extremely... special look.

"You son of a—!!"

Hyuga Suetsuchi charged over and glared viciously at Hyuga Sho.

"A-Natsu must have gone mushroom picking to make you a 'Heart Bento'~~! She still hasn't come back. What if she's gone missing..."

Hyuga Suetsuchi shouted at the top of his voice.

No one knew how much strength it had taken, how much blood his heart had spilled, or how profound his resolve had been for him to say the words "Hyuga Natsu is making Hyuga Sho a Heart Bento."

He already looked like the aggrieved party~~!

"Should we go take a look?"

Someone asked.

"All of us Branch Family Members have the Caged Bird Seal on our foreheads, so there's no need to worry about anyone coveting the Byakugan..."

Another person said indifferently.

"Which direction did A-Natsu go?" Hyuga Sho ignored Suetsuchi's spectacular expression and asked this question instead.

"The back mountain, Konoha's Back Mountain."

The cook, still holding a spoon, pointed in the direction of Hokage Rock.

Hyuga Sho stood up, stepped out of the dining hall, and vanished into the night.

Hyuga Sho came to the street outside.

By then, the sky had darkened, and the stars filled the heavens.

Konoha's streets were still brightly lit at night, displaying the unique prosperity of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Hyuga Sho didn't go straight to the back mountain.

Instead, he hurried towards the Ninja Tool shop, which was about to close.

"Boss, I'd like to buy some ninja tools."

Hyuga Sho used the Transformation Technique to disguise his figure, then took out the money he had earned from beating up his peers over the past two months since entering the academy.

It was just enough to buy some Kunai and several Shuriken.

The shopkeeper kindly gave him a Ninja Tool Pouch as a gift.

Hyuga Sho hung it around his waist.

After leaving the Ninja Tool shop, he dispelled the Transformation Technique and ran towards the back mountain.

Using the method taught at the Ninja Academy, Hyuga Sho slowly expended his Chakra.

If a person ran normally, especially at full speed, they would run out of stamina in a very short time.

However.

If they added Chakra while running,

they could use Chakra to travel long distances, much like the internal energy in martial arts novels.

A few minutes later...

Hyuga Sho arrived behind Hokage Rock at a rapid run.

That was the so-called "Konoha's Back Mountain."

The natural environment here was lush.

There were vast forests, hills, mountains, and streams.

Although Hyuga Sho had never been here before,

he had learned Konoha's geographical layout in his Ninja Academy classes.

Following what he remembered, Hyuga Sho activated his Byakugan and began searching for Hyuga Natsu.

The darkness couldn't block the Byakugan's vision.

As long as it was human, its Chakra would shine like a torch.

Hyuga Sho looked around and ran back and forth through the area.

Morino Ibiki, the woman in red, Hyuga Natsu...

These names and terms seemed to be connected somehow.

A moment later, he discovered something.

"Hyuga Natsu..."

In the black-and-white field of vision,

Hyuga Natsu's Chakra was burning slowly but steadily.

However.

She wasn't alone. Someone had her tucked beneath one arm and was rapidly moving away.

Besides,

there was also a child beneath their feet.

It was Morino Ibiki!

She took out Morino Ibiki, then abducted Hyuga Natsu.

Hyuga Sho furrowed his brows slightly, forming a guess.

Hyuga Natsu was a Branch Family Member, just like him.

But Hyuga Sho wasn't naive enough to believe that, just because they had the Caged Bird Seal, enemies wouldn't covet the Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai.

The Caged Bird could indeed destroy the brain and seal the Byakugan.

But what if they obtained cells and used Cloning Technology?

Or used them for certain cruel experiments?

They could even raise a Loli in captivity and wait until she grew up...

Of course.

All of that was merely Hyuga Sho's own imagination.

Whether this world possessed Cloning Technology was still impossible for Hyuga Sho to determine with his current knowledge and command of information.

But since someone had abducted Hyuga Natsu, there was no doubt about it... they were enemies.

At present, the question he needed to consider was...

How strong was she? Could she possess combat power far beyond mine?

After thinking for a moment, Hyuga Sho reached the side of the fallen Morino Ibiki.

He extended a hand and lightly felt his neck.

Unfortunately, he was still alive.

It seemed that the reason he hadn't come to school during this period was because he had truly been pursuing the case single-mindedly to the end.

Unfortunately, his strength had been lacking, and the enemy had knocked him unconscious.

Hyuga Sho formed hand seals.

"Clone Technique!"

Following the ninjutsu taught at the Ninja Academy, Hyuga Sho used the E-rank Clone Technique.

Immediately, an identical Hyuga Sho appeared nearby.

This clone was an illusion without a physical body and had no attack power.

The enemy only needed to punch it lightly to blow it apart.

But the advantage was that it was night.

In the pitch-black darkness, it would be difficult for the enemy to distinguish the real clone from the fake.

With that thought, Hyuga Sho immediately accelerated and charged forward together with the clone.

"Hehe, another little rat."

Detecting someone rapidly approaching from behind,

the masked woman glanced back and smiled.

"!"

The instant she turned around,

Hyuga Sho saw her style of dress clearly.

Her ninja outfit was primarily red with brown accents. Clearly, she was a ninja from Iwagakure.

Iwagakure belonged to the Land of Earth.

Together with Konohagakure, which belonged to the Land of Fire, as well as Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure, it was counted among the Five Great Ninja Villages.

It could be said to be one of the strongest villages in the Shinobi World.

It made sense that such an enemy village would come to plunder their Kekkei Genkai.

"So it's just a little brat..."

The masked Female Ninja's teasing voice had only just sounded when...

the clone pounced at her.

The masked Female Ninja raised her arm.

Beneath the long sleeve, a cold gleam flashed out.

The weapon commonly used by Iwagakure ninjas... a Sleeve Sword!

The clone instantly exploded into a cloud of white smoke, declaring its destruction.

"Clone Technique?!"

The masked woman was startled.

Behind her,

a Killing Intent powerful enough to freeze her blood had already soared into the heavens.

The next moment,

the masked woman let out a scream and lunged forward.

Hyuga Sho caught Hyuga Natsu and landed safely.

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