Hyuga Shinichi cast one last deep look toward the Land of Rivers, then slowly let out a breath, as if setting down a heavy burden.
At that moment, his expression relaxed considerably, as though a huge weight in his heart had finally been lifted.
He closed his eyes, turned around, and headed toward the defensive line at the Land of Fire's border.
However, when he opened his eyes again, he found two people and a dog standing quietly not far ahead, watching him.
They were Inuzuka Gai, Aburame Tomohiro, and the ninja hound Black Charcoal.
Earlier, they had noticed that Hyuga Shinichi, who had fallen behind at the rear of the group, had suddenly stopped and looked back toward the Land of Rivers with a thoughtful expression.
Though they had no idea what Hyuga Shinichi was thinking, out of concern for their companion, they had chosen to wait patiently where they were until he caught up again.
Now that they saw Hyuga Shinichi had returned to normal and looked much more at ease, Inuzuka Gai could not help growing curious and asked, "Shinichi, what's wrong? Did you think of something?"
Faced with his friend's question, Hyuga Shinichi's lips curved slightly, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face as he answered in a deliberately profound tone.
"Hahaha, you guess?"
With that, he quickly ran over and threw an arm around Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro's shoulders, bringing them along as they continued toward the Land of Fire border defense line.
Seeing that Hyuga Shinichi was indeed fine, Inuzuka Gai did not press further and replied jokingly, "Guess whether I'll guess?"
"Really? I was actually planning to tell you, but if you don't want to guess, then I won't say."
"Then guess whether I want to hear it?"
Aburame Tomohiro, whose