The Mission Is Nearing Completion

The wild boar behind them also came to a halt. The field fell silent for a moment before the beast charged toward the two of them.

Hinata quickly fired off chakra needles as Sasuke charged toward the boar.

The chakra needles struck the boar's head, but instead of piercing through, they simply fell away.

Hinata frowned and struck again, this time aiming for the boar's body.

Naruto, watching from behind, frowned; it was clear that his companion lacked experience.

The boar was covered in a thick layer of hardened mud, making it impossible for the chakra needles to penetrate.

With the plastic-like mud dried and hardened, the boar was essentially wearing heavy armor that a few small chakra needles could never hope to pierce.

After a few failed attempts, Hinata realized the issue, gritted her teeth, and charged in herself.

Naruto maintained his distance, keeping himself in a position where he could intervene in time without disrupting Hinata's fight.

On Sasuke's side, he lunged toward the boar's head with Chidori.

The sharpness of Chidori exceeded expectations, and Sasuke successfully drove his right hand into the boar's skull.

However, his lack of experience cost him dearly; the full force of the momentum from his sprint slammed into him, sending Sasuke flying backward as the boar crashed to the ground with a thud.

The other boar noticed the situation and immediately flew into a rage, charging toward Sasuke. Hinata gritted her teeth and stepped in front of him, unleashing Eight Trigrams Palm strikes across the boar's body.

But the boar merely shook its head, and its tusks sent Hinata flying.

Naruto clenched his fists in anxiety.

His nails dug into his palms without him realizing it, and fresh red blood began to trickle down.

He watched Hinata's direction with bated breath; in truth, protected by the sealed chakra, Hinata's life was never in any real danger.

But Naruto's concern clouded his judgment, and he had long forgotten such things, his eyes filled only with the sight of Hinata being injured.

A single drop of blood fell silently to the ground, causing the earth to corrode as the droplet vanished into the soil.

High in a distant tree, a small bird stared intently at the spot where the blood had disappeared.

Its pitch-black eyes betrayed no sign of anything unusual.

Far away, under a tree, two masked figures stood waiting, one of them closing his eyes while forming hand seals.

Suddenly, the man opened his eyes.

"What is it?" the man in the dog mask asked.

"We're in luck. The mission is complete. I never expected the jinchuriki to injure himself. If nothing goes wrong, we just need to wait here," the man in the fox mask explained, his eyes showing a hint of relief. He hadn't expected the mission to be completed so easily.

He then carefully explained the situation to his companion.

"I didn't think the mission would be this simple. It seems Danzo-sama was overthinking things," the dog-masked man remarked, feeling speechless.

The sheer absurdity of how easily the mission was completed was hard for them to believe.

"Don't get careless. If not for this accident, given our strength, we might not have been able to obtain his blood without harming the Nine-Tails jinchuriki."

The two were naturally Danzo's right-hand men, Yamanaka Daishan and Aburame Dungen. Both were elite jonin, and with their secret techniques, ordinary ninja could easily fall victim to them if they were unaware of their capabilities. Half a year ago, when Danzo made a move against Naruto, the Third Hokage discovered it and issued a warning.

To prevent the Third Hokage from discovering his true intentions, Danzo had canceled all operations targeting Naruto.

Ultimately, the Third Hokage's influence in Konoha was still greater than Danzo's.

This mission outside the village had also been arranged by Danzo, with the goal of obtaining Naruto's blood, and he had dispatched his two most trusted subordinates to handle it.

Danzo had obtained Naruto's profile, which led to the surveillance by Yamanaka Daishan. He could use the Mind Body Switch Technique to invade the brains of animals for long-range monitoring, a feat that even Naruto had failed to detect.

Back to Naruto's side.

Sasuke lay injured on the ground while Hinata continued to battle the boar.

"Use the Gentle Fist," Naruto couldn't help but call out. The two ultimate techniques of the Hyuga clan were the Gentle Fist and the Tenketsu Strike. The Tenketsu Strike could seal an enemy's chakra flow, preventing them from using ninjutsu, while the Gentle Fist could drive force directly into the enemy's internal organs, specifically targeting them.

No matter how strong an ordinary ninja was, they had no way to train their internal organs.

In the ninja world, there was no method to strengthen one's internal organs, so the Gentle Fist was almost impossible to defend against—provided, of course, that one could actually land the hit.

Hinata realized this as well and immediately extended her palms. She stopped using the Tenketsu Strike; lacking combat experience, she had habitually relied on it because she had been practicing it recently.

But the Tenketsu Strike was completely useless against a thick-skinned boar.

Hinata charged in again, darting to the side of the boar, and unleashed a palm strike of the Gentle Fist, hitting the beast right over its heart.

The boar shuddered, then turned its head to attack Hinata once more.

Seeing this, Naruto, who had just begun to relax, tensed up again. He could honestly say that watching this fight was more nerve-wracking than being in it himself.

The power of the Gentle Fist is too weak, and the boar's fat is too thick; she didn't reach the internal organs. Naruto's sensory perception was sharp, and he understood the situation instantly. He frowned slightly; Hinata's current strength was truly too weak.

He desperately wanted to say, "I'll protect you," but Naruto knew that since she had chosen to be a ninja, she would have to fight. Besides, Hinata was a girl with a strong heart; she wouldn't want to hide behind him.

"Attack its head!" Naruto continued to prompt her. Although attacking the head would be highly effective, it was equally dangerous, as the boar's tusks could easily pierce through a large tree.

Hinata felt a flicker of fear, but the thought of Naruto by her side steeled her resolve, and she charged forward once more.

As the wild boar lunged, she pressed her left hand against its snout, vaulted into the air, and struck its forehead with a palm strike from her right hand.

Her chakra surged smoothly into the boar's skull, instantly pulverizing its brain matter.

The wild boar swayed before collapsing to the ground.

"Hinata, you were absolutely amazing!" Naruto appeared instantly by her side, steadying her body as he couldn't help but praise her.

He looked even happier than Hinata herself.

A smile graced Hinata's pale little face.

"Let me help you over to that tree to rest." Naruto felt a pang of heartache as he looked at the wounds on her body; although they were only superficial, he could barely contain the pain in his heart, and he knew he had to find a way to increase her strength...

He turned his head toward the group of piglets and glared, releasing a burst of chakra that instantly knocked them all unconscious.

That single glance, laced with Naruto's fury, carried immense power.

He turned back with a smile, supporting Hinata as they approached the tree, acting as if nothing had happened at all.

In a spot Naruto hadn't noticed, right where he had been standing moments before, a small bird flew down and caught sight of the blood on the ground.

The bird froze for a moment, a flash of excitement crossing its eyes! The mission was nearing completion.

Unlike the blood of an ordinary person, the blood Naruto had left behind lay silently on the ground, shimmering like liquid mercury.