Mizuki is in danger

"Hyuga Mizuki?" Tsunade asked, puzzled. Riyue's cousin—why would she be needed for this mission?

"The ruins are connected to the ancestors of the Hyuga clan. Records indicate that three ninjas possessing the Byakugan are required to unlock them, and they must maintain their Byakugan for an extended period. Mizuki's Byakugan can sustain activation for a long time, which is why this mission requires her," Hyuga U explained respectfully.

Tsunade nodded. "I see. Very well. I approve; Mizuki will join your mission."

"Excellent. We depart tomorrow! Thank you for your consideration, Lady Tsunade! On behalf of the Hyuga clan, I thank you for your assistance!" Hyuga U bowed, and as he lowered his head, a faint, imperceptible smile touched his lips.

Mizuki didn't say much when she received the news. Exploring ruins related to the Hyuga ancestors? It sounded like a rather interesting mission!

At the Hidden Sand Fortress, Chiyo was reviewing the files in her hands. Due to the failures in the war, her status within the Hidden Sand had plummeted. Fortunately, her son and several old friends among the Council of Elders were staunchly supporting her; otherwise, she suspected the Third Kazekage would have already made her a scapegoat.

A messenger ninja walked in. "Lady Chiyo, our people have obtained intelligence regarding Konoha."

Chiyo picked up the scroll, read it carefully, and asked, "How far are these ruins from here?"

"About 60 kilometers," the ninja replied respectfully.

"Then send men to investigate. Remember! Leave no one from Konoha alive!" A flash of ruthlessness crossed Chiyo's eyes.

"Yes!" The messenger vanished in a blur.

The next day, Riyue woke up and continued his training. The Shadow Clone he had left to monitor Hyuga Nisshin had not been dispelled, which meant there were no unusual movements on Nisshin's end.

After finishing his daily routine, Riyue decided to find Mizuki so they could visit Dan Kato together. However, Mizuki was nowhere to be found; he was told that Tsunade had sent her on a mission early that morning.

Riyue had no choice but to visit Dan Kato alone. Just as he reached the Medical Station, his Shadow Clone was dispelled.

Hmm... it seems there really wasn't any unusual activity, Riyue thought, reviewing the memories from the clone that had been monitoring Nisshin.

Wait? The Shadow Clone made a discovery. This is... Riyue froze.

The clone had discovered a suspicious detail—one that Riyue had consistently overlooked. Where was Nisshin's lackey? Why hadn't the clone seen that lackey even once throughout the entire night?! Riyue stopped in his tracks, a sudden, terrible premonition washing over him.

Riyue hurried into Dan Kato's ward, seeing that Dan was still asleep while Tsunade sat by his side keeping watch.

"Riyue, you're here." Seeing him, Tsunade intended to use this opportunity to have a proper talk with him.

"Lady Tsunade, did you send Mizuki on a mission this morning?" Riyue asked directly.

"Eh? Yes, I did. Why? Has something happened?" Tsunade asked, looking puzzled.

"Can you tell me what the mission is?" A growing sense of dread tightened in Riyue's chest.

"The mission concerns your Hyuga clan, and the Third Hokage has already approved it. The Hyuga clan requested her assistance to explore some ruins," Tsunade replied.

"Ruins? The Hyuga clan's? Was it the Hyuga clan who specifically requested Mizuki?" Riyue's expression darkened instantly.

"Yes, that's right," Tsunade said after a moment of thought.

"Lady Tsunade, where are these ruins located? Mizuki and the others might be in danger!" Riyue's gaze turned deadly serious as he asked urgently.

"What?!" Tsunade was startled by his words and stood up.

"The Hyuga clan has ill intentions! They might harm Mizuki. Please, send reinforcements to support her immediately, Lady Tsunade! Please, you must believe me!" Riyue said with intense sincerity.

"I understand!" Seeing the determination in Riyue's eyes, Tsunade nodded. She immediately told him the exact location of the ruins.

"Poof!" Riyue suddenly transformed into a puff of white smoke, leaving behind a final instruction: "Lady Tsunade, I'm heading out first! Please send reinforcements quickly."

"Wait, Riyue! Don't be impulsive!" Tsunade tried to stop him, but it was only a Shadow Clone; the real Riyue hadn't even entered the Medical Station.

Sensing that the situation was dire, Tsunade immediately notified several Jonin guards and set off to support Riyue herself.

Meanwhile, the real Riyue, having already run out of the Konoha camp and received the memories from his Shadow Clone, was racing toward the location of the ruins.

He crossed the desert and arrived at a Stone Forest, leaping into the rocky expanse.

"This way!" Riyue used his Byakugan to confirm the general direction and began leaping rapidly through the Stone Forest.

The Stone Forest was composed of a vast array of boulders. Because the dense rocks blocked the wind and sand, the ground was initially covered in yellow stones coated with sand and silt, but further in, the terrain shifted to blue-gray stone. Beyond the Stone Forest lay a fairly dense woodland.

Please, let nothing happen to her... Riyue knew that certain members of the Main Branch wanted to harm him. Since they didn't dare touch him directly, they had resorted to the despicable tactic of targeting his family!

Of course, Riyue also understood that they were likely using Mizuki to lure him into a trap to finish him off. For all he knew, they were already waiting for him to walk right into their snare. But for Mizuki's safety, Riyue could not back down. Along the way, he left behind special secret signals, hoping that the reinforcements would be able to follow them and arrive as quickly as possible.

"Faster!" Riyue leaped into the forest.

In the woods, five people were moving through the trees using Ninja Footwork. Mizuki and Hyuga U led the way, followed by three sensory-type Chunin.

"Senior U, doesn't exploring the ruins require three people from the Hyuga clan? Where is the other member?" Mizuki asked curiously.

"Ah, that. You know him; he's a lad from the clan. You'll see him soon enough. Heh heh..." Hyuga U answered with a mysterious smile.

A lad I know? Mizuki pondered. Is it Riyue? Yes, it must be him. He probably had something come up and is running a bit late...

At the same time, deep in the forest, a pair of eyes was secretly watching the Konoha ninjas moving through the trees. The man sneered, "Only five of them? Prepare to strike..." Twelve men behind him immediately moved, rushing out of the bushes to close in on their targets.

Hyuga U suddenly stopped, and the others followed suit, landing in a clearing in the forest.

"Someone is following us!" Hyuga U said suddenly, thinking to himself, Have the Hidden Sand ninjas finally arrived? They're quite slow.

"Haha! Ninjas of Konoha, what are you doing here?" Thirteen Hidden Sand ninjas landed on the nearby trees—three jonin and ten chunin.

"Enemies!" The Konoha group tensed up, drawing their weapons in defense.

"None of your business!" Hyuga U said, though he thought to himself, The Hidden Sand sent quite a lot of people. This couldn't be better!

"In that case, we'll just grab a few and ask them ourselves." The Hidden Sand jonin prepared to strike.

Just then, Hyuga U suddenly pointed in a direction and shouted, "Everyone, watch out!" The attention of the Konoha group was instantly drawn away.

He then unexpectedly struck Mizuki with a palm, sending her flying, and took the opportunity to dash away alone!

"Senior? Why?" Caught off guard, Mizuki took the blow to her back and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Tch! Sacrificing your subordinates to escape? A Konoha jonin is truly a coward! But, cowards get to live!" The Hidden Sand jonin sneered, and in the blink of an eye, Hyuga U had vanished from sight.

"Attack!" The Hidden Sand ninjas didn't care about the drama and hurled a volley of shuriken.

"Clang! Clang!" The other three Konoha ninjas hurriedly deflected the shuriken with their kunai. Mizuki lay on the ground, her internal organs injured and her breathing ragged. She struggled to stand, a gash on her body from a shuriken that had slipped through, blood immediately soaking her clothes. The four Konoha ninjas were in grave danger!

"Surrender! You can't escape! I only want to ask you for some information..." The Hidden Sand jonin said, crossing his arms.

"In your dreams!" Although the three Konoha ninjas knew escape was unlikely, they did not give up. They formed a defensive formation, shielding the injured Mizuki behind them. Covering for one another, they prepared to fight until the very end.

"Hmph! Then die! Leave that injured female ninja from the Hyuga Clan to me! Kill all the others!" The Hidden Sand jonin waved his hand dismissively, and the ten Hidden Sand chunin immediately charged.

"[Fire Style: Flame Bullet]!" The Hidden Sand ninjas spat a fireball at the Konoha group, forcing the three to leap away to dodge. The defensive formation was broken, and Mizuki fell backward onto the ground once more.

"Clang!" One Konoha ninja blocked a strike from a Hidden Sand chunin, sparks flying as their kunai clashed. However, he was ambushed from behind by another enemy. Just as he tried to dodge, a third Hidden Sand chunin appeared from the side and stabbed him down with a kunai.

"Poof!" The Konoha ninja transformed into a wooden log. In a moment of crisis, he had used the Substitution Technique to hide behind a tree. "Hmph! You think you can escape?" A Hidden Sand jonin, who had been tracking him all along, appeared behind him and finished him off with a sickle.

"Damn it!" A second Konoha ninja tried to rush to his comrade's aid.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so distracted!" A Hidden Sand chunin had already leaped behind him, slashing with a blade.

"Watch out!" The third Konoha ninja leaped backward and performed hand seals: "[Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu]!" A water dragon surged from a puddle in the forest, rushing directly at the enemy. The Hidden Sand chunin retreated to dodge, and the Konoha ninja took the chance to shield his comrade with the dragon.

But the other Hidden Sand jonin charged forward: "[Lightning Style: Lightning Bind]!" He threw three kunai attached with lightning tags into the water dragon, then slammed his electrified palm onto the dragon's head. The water dragon was instantly restrained and collapsed into a puddle.

"Die!" The third Hidden Sand jonin rushed before him and swung his kunai; the Konoha ninja dodged and retreated.

"Watch your back!" As the Hidden Sand jonin attacked with his kunai, he unexpectedly stuck an Explosive Tag onto the ninja's back. The Konoha comrade shouted a warning, but it was too late. The Hidden Sand ninja detonated the tag. "Boom!" The Konoha ninja using Water Style was blown away, his body charred and mangled, his life extinguished.

At the same time, the other Hidden Sand jonin used a Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the Konoha ninja protected by the water, intending to kill him.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!" The Konoha chunin pulled out several Explosive Tags and grabbed the Hidden Sand jonin, attempting to perish together. The other Hidden Sand ninjas immediately jumped away to dodge.

"Run!!" The Konoha chunin screamed at the top of his lungs toward Mizuki. Mizuki scrambled to run away. "Boom!" A massive explosion rocked the forest, and a fireball rose into the air. As the black smoke cleared, the Hidden Sand jonin crawled out from the ground.

He brushed the dust off himself and said with contempt, "Tch! Trying to take me with him? He didn't expect me to use [Earth Substitution], did he?"

Mizuki stumbled for a few dozen meters before her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. The thirteen Hidden Sand ninjas quickly leaped onto the surrounding branches, surrounding her.

"I never thought that after winning the war, I'd end up dying here." Mizuki pulled out her kunai with great effort.

"Sigh, I really wanted to eat the food Mom and Dad made with Riyue again..." Mizuki recalled the image of her family eating together.

"I haven't even had a proper romance yet..." A tall, broad back appeared in her mind, the Uchiha Clan's fan crest printed on the back of his clothes.

"It's a pity I'm from the Hyuga Clan and he's from the Uchiha Clan. If we were to date, the two families would probably strongly oppose it. But now that I'm dying, I really want to confess. He'd definitely be embarrassed to death by me..." Mizuki smiled bitterly.

"Go and capture this woman! Keep her alive!" The Hidden Sand jonin watched his 'prey' and waved his hand with a playful smirk. Three Hidden Sand chunin immediately leaped from the trees toward Mizuki on the ground.

Mizuki closed her eyes in despair, preparing to end her own life with the kunai.

"Goodbye, everyone..."

Suddenly, "Swish! Swish!" Thirty-six shuriken flew out from the thicket, tracing strange arcs as they attacked the Hidden Sand ninjas. The three jonin leading the squad were given 'special attention,' as the majority of the shuriken were aimed at them.

"Huh? More enemies!" The Hidden Sand ninjas were startled. Why hadn't they noticed them earlier? How many more were there?

Immediately after, the thirty-six shuriken suddenly changed direction in mid-air, all attacking the seven Hidden Sand chunin standing beside the jonin. Although the three Hidden Sand jonin weren't hit, their paths of movement were completely sealed off by the shuriken.

Meanwhile, the other three Hidden Sand chunin who were leaping through the air to capture Mizuki were not attacked at all.

That was because a small, slender figure had already appeared right between the three of them!

"[Gentle Fist Art: Thirty-Six Death Point Rotation Strike]!"