The little boars behind it stopped as well. For a moment, the clearing fell silent. Then the boars charged at the two of them.
Hinata quickly fired a Chakra Needle, while Sasuke charged toward the boar.
The Chakra Needle struck the boar's head but failed to pierce it, instead bouncing off.
Hinata furrowed her brow and attacked again, aiming at the boar's body.
Naruto, watching from behind, frowned slightly. Clearly, she lacked experience.
The boar's entire body was coated in hard mud. The Chakra Needles simply couldn't pierce it.
With plastic and dried mud covering its body like heavy armor, the boar was impervious to tiny Chakra Needles.
After trying several times, Hinata realized what was happening. She gritted her teeth and charged forward too.
Naruto kept his distance, making sure not to interfere with Hinata's fight while staying ready to help at a moment's notice.
Meanwhile, Sasuke charged at the boar's head with Chidori.
The sharpness of Chidori exceeded all expectations. Sasuke easily plunged his right hand into the boar's head.
But his lack of experience cost him dearly. The force from his rapid charge slammed into him, sending him flying backward. The boar crashed to the ground with a rumble.
The other boar noticed what was happening and grew enraged. It charged at Sasuke, but Hinata gritted her teeth and stepped in front of it, striking all over its body with Eight Trigrams Palm.
The boar merely swung its head, and its tusks sent Hinata flying.
Naruto clenched his fists, tense.
His fingernails dug into his palms without him realizing it. Bright red blood trickled down, but Naruto didn't notice.
He stared anxiously in Hinata's direction. In truth, the chakra protecting her through the seal meant her life was not in danger.
But Naruto was too worried to remember any of that. All he could see was Hinata getting hurt.
A drop of blood silently fell to the ground. The earth corroded, and the blood vanished into it.
In a distant tree, a little bird stared fixedly at the spot where the drop of blood had disappeared.
Its pitch-black eyes gave no hint that anything was amiss.
Far away, beneath a tree, two masked men were waiting. One of them closed his eyes and formed Hand Seals.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
"What is it?"
The man in the dog mask asked.
"We're in luck. The mission's complete. I didn't expect the Jinchūriki to injure himself. Unless something unexpected happens, we just need to wait here."
The man in the fox mask explained, looking relieved. He hadn't expected the mission to be completed so easily.
He then carefully explained what had just happened.
"I didn't expect the mission to be this easy. Looks like Lord Danzo was overthinking it," the man in the dog mask said, sounding bemused.
The mission had gone so implausibly well that even they could hardly believe it.
"Don't let your guard down. If not for this accident, given our abilities, we might not have been able to get his blood without seriously harming the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
The two men were Danzo's right-hand men: Yamanaka Daishan and Aburame Dungen. Both were elite Jonin. With their secret techniques, they could even take ordinary ninja by surprise if they didn't know what they were capable of. Half a year ago, the Third Hokage had caught Danzo trying to make a move against Naruto and warned him.
To keep the Third Hokage from discovering his true intentions, Danzo had called off all operations targeting Naruto.
After all, the Third Hokage had more influence in Konoha than Danzo did.
Danzo had arranged this mission outside the village as well. The target was Naruto's blood, and he had sent his two right-hand men to get it.
Danzo had also obtained Naruto's records, which was how Yamanaka Daishan came to monitor him. He could use the Mind Body Switch Technique to enter an animal's mind and monitor Naruto from a distance. Even Naruto hadn't noticed.
Back with Naruto—
Sasuke lay injured on the ground while Hinata continued fighting the boar.
"Use Gentle Fist," Naruto couldn't help reminding her. The Hyuga Clan had two great techniques: Gentle Fist and Tenketsu Strike. Tenketsu Strike could block an enemy's chakra flow and prevent them from using ninjutsu, while Gentle Fist drove force into an enemy's internal organs, specifically targeting them.
No matter how strong an ordinary ninja was, there was no way to train their internal organs.
There was no way to train the internal organs in the Ninja World, so Gentle Fist was almost impossible to defend against—provided it landed.
Hinata realized it too. She immediately extended her palm and stopped using Tenketsu Strike. With no combat experience, and having practiced Tenketsu Strike so much recently, she had instinctively relied on it against her opponent.
But Tenketsu Strike was completely useless against a thick-skinned boar.
Hinata charged again, darted to the boar's side, and struck it in the heart with a palm thrust.
The boar shuddered, then turned and attacked Hinata again.
Naruto had just begun to relax, but seeing this made him tense up all over again. He was even more nervous watching this fight than he would have been fighting himself.
"Gentle Fist isn't powerful enough. The boar's fat is too thick; you didn't hit its internal organs." Naruto's keen perception let him understand the situation at once. He frowned. Hinata was far too weak right now.
He wanted to tell her, I'll protect you. But Naruto knew that if she became a ninja, she would have to fight. Hinata was strong-willed too; she wouldn't want to hide behind him.
"Attack its head!" Naruto called out again. An attack to the head would be highly effective, but also more dangerous. A boar's tusks could easily pierce a tree.
Hinata was a little afraid, but knowing Naruto was right beside her, she steeled her resolve and charged again.
The moment the boar rushed at her, she pressed her left hand against its snout, sprang into the air, and struck its forehead with her right palm.
Her chakra flowed cleanly into the boar's head, instantly crushing its brain.
The boar swayed and fell to the ground.
"Hinata, you were amazing!" Naruto appeared beside her in an instant, supporting her as he praised her without holding back.
He looked even happier than Hinata herself.
A smile appeared on Hinata's pale little face.
"I'll help you over to that tree so you can rest." Naruto felt his heart ache as he looked at Hinata's injuries. They were only external wounds, but he could barely keep his anguish inside. He had to find a way to make her stronger...
He turned toward the group of little boars and glared. A burst of chakra surged out, and every one of them immediately passed out.
Naruto's anger was infused into that glare, giving it considerable force.
Then he turned back with a smile and helped Hinata toward the tree, as if nothing had happened.
Unnoticed by Naruto, a little bird flew to the place where he had been standing and spotted the blood on the ground.
The bird froze for a moment, excitement flashing in its eyes. The mission was nearly complete.
Unlike ordinary blood, Naruto's blood lay quietly in the earth, as heavy and silver as mercury.