Knock, knock, knock.
"Who is it?" Kurenai Yuhi asked, setting down her watering can and walking to the door after hearing the knocking.
She opened it without a second thought.
"Ah, hello, Teacher Kurenai." Hiashi stood outside and handed her a bag of sweets.
"Oh, Lord Hiashi, what's this for?" Kurenai asked politely as she accepted it.
The two went inside and chatted for a while. Then Hiashi turned serious and asked,
"Um, Teacher Kurenai, how has Hinata been doing in training? Will she be all right in this exam?"
Kurenai was a little surprised. So that's what he came to ask about. Huh? Hadn't the three of them gone home to practice their own secret techniques? Wait, could it be... After a moment's thought, she guessed what had happened.
Sorry, Zeyu. I can't help you with this.
Then she replied to Hiashi,
"Hinata's doing well. She'll definitely be fine in the exam."
Hiashi let out a breath of relief and was just about to thank her when Kurenai added,
"Only... Hinata said she was going home to train. She hasn't been training here with me."
"Ah?" Hiashi froze mid-sentence, his face full of disbelief.
He fell silent, his expression darkening as he pondered something.
"Oh, I see. Thank you, Teacher Kurenai. I have something to take care of, so I won't keep you any longer." After a while, Hiashi made an excuse and left.
Kurenai looked at the cake on the table and sighed helplessly.
"Zeyu, you're done for."
As Hiashi walked along the road, the angrier he grew. He couldn't help activating his Byakugan, his face twisting with fury.
"Zeyu, you little brat! How many other bad things have you done that I don't know about? You've even led my Hinata astray!"
Zeyu was resting against a tree in the Forest of Death when he suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose and said,
"Who's thinking about me? Could it be Hinata? Heh."
Then he closed his eyes and activated Mind's Eye of the Kagura to survey the area.
"Oh, Hinata's run into enemies. They must've been setting traps just now. According to the story, she'll run into Gaara soon. I should catch up."
As he thought this, Megumi and Shota finished dealing with their opponents and came over. Shota had a minor injury on his arm, which had already been bandaged.
Megumi tossed the Earth Scroll to Zeyu.
Zeyu caught it and noticed Shota's wound.
"Shota, are you okay?" Zeyu asked.
"I'm fine. This idiot insisted on charging in while I was using a ninjutsu," Megumi said, crossing her arms and pouting.
Shota scratched his head and grinned.
Zeyu shook his head helplessly, then stood up and said,
"We should go. Now that we've got both scrolls, there's no reason to stay in the forest."
Shota looked a little unhappy at that. Zeyu noticed and said,
"There'll be plenty of chances to fight later. If you want, I can take you on." Zeyu flashed a wicked grin and cracked his knuckles.
Shota shook his head at once, breaking into a cold sweat.
Megumi smiled helplessly.
Then Zeyu leaped away, and the other two followed.
As they hurried along, Megumi suddenly asked Zeyu,
"Zeyu, are you especially good at sensing things? How do you know which way to go?"
"Yeah. Why?" Zeyu answered casually.
"Zeyu's so amazing. I never knew he was a sensor-type ninja," Shota said.
Zeyu gave a soft laugh.
"Heh, there's a lot you don't know about me. I'm afraid you'd drop dead if I told you."
Shota's interest was piqued, and he quickly pressed him.
"What? Tell me, tell me!"
Megumi pricked up her ears, eager to hear something juicy.
Zeyu looked at Shota with a smile and asked,
"You really want to know?"
Shota nodded tentatively. Seeing Zeyu's grin made him uneasy, and he swallowed nervously.
Zeyu suddenly jumped onto Shota's back and said,
"Carry me. I need to use my sensing ability to scout the area. I'll tell you later."
Shota steadied himself, relieved. He immediately agreed cheerfully.
"No problem. That's nothing. Leave it to me!"
Megumi gave him a deadpan look and teased,
"Big brother, don't listen to his nonsense. He's obviously lying so he won't have to walk."
Zeyu turned to look at Megumi. Before Shota could answer, he shouted,
"Shota, keep it up! When the time comes, I'll tell only you, not Megumi!"
Then he looked at Megumi smugly. She was so furious her teeth began to ache.
"Sure!" Shota shouted in agreement, but he winked at Megumi.
Megumi gave a disdainful snort.
Zeyu chuckled, closed his eyes, and began sensing the area. Naruto's group should still be doing fine. Neji's and Shikamaru's teams will both go help them, so they should be okay.
Hinata's group matters more. I don't want to gamble Hinata's life on whether that psycho Gaara can be talked down by Temari and Kankuro.
If he dares hurt Hinata, not even the King of Heaven himself will save him. I'll kill him.
As he thought, his sensing ability found the three of them.
Looks like they've only just started moving. It'll happen soon. They have to stay away from Gaara!
Then he pointed ahead and said to Shota,
"They're that way. Hurry!"
Shota answered and picked up the pace. Behind them, Megumi looked unhappy and muttered,
"Honestly, Big Brother's never treated me like that."
Even so, she stayed close behind.
Meanwhile,
Akamaru caught the scent of people and gave a soft whine.
Kiba immediately called Hinata and Shino to a stop.
"Hinata, can you use your Byakugan to check what's ahead?" Kiba asked her.
"Okay, I'll take a look." She activated her Byakugan and surveyed the area.
"Ah, that's..." Hinata exclaimed when she saw them.
"What is it, Hinata?" Kiba asked, looking at her in confusion. Shino did the same.
"It's the person Zeyu-kun told us about—the one carrying a gourd. He seems to have run into another team up ahead," Hinata said.
"I see. Then let's go take a look." Kiba grinned, showing his pointed canine.
"That's not a good idea, Kiba. We've already got both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. We shouldn't go looking for trouble," Shino said with a frown.
"Yeah, Kiba. Besides, Zeyu-kun specifically warned us to avoid him." Hinata sounded worried.
Kiba looked displeased.
"Hinata, you listen to Zeyu way too much. I think he's just worrying over nothing. We're only going to take a look. If things get dangerous, we can just run."
Then he turned to Shino and said,
"Besides, the rules don't say we can only take one set of Heaven and Earth Scrolls. If we can get more, that means fewer opponents for us, right, Shino?"
"Well, you have a point," Shino said, looking ahead.
"But..." Hinata still seemed worried.
"That's final." Kiba said, then leaped forward and left.
"What an obnoxious guy," Shino said as he followed.
Zeyu-kun... I'm sorry. Hinata thought, then followed them.
"! How could this happen? Why are they still going after him? Damn it!" Zeyu had been sensing what was happening with Hinata's group the whole time. He immediately realized what they were doing, and couldn't help shouting when he learned the situation.
"What's wrong, Zeyu?" Shota asked, puzzled. Megumi looked over too.
"Sorry, Shota. I have to go ahead. You and Megumi can catch up later." Zeyu planted both hands on Shota's shoulders, vaulted over him, landed beside him, and began running.
The trees here block out the sky, so Flying Thunder God won't work well. I have no choice.
"Zeyu, what are you..." Megumi began to ask what he was doing.
Then several arcs of lightning crackled around Zeyu.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Armor!" he shouted. Lightning Release chakra enveloped his body, sparks flying as his speed, strength, and defense surged.
He lowered his body and accelerated, turning into a streak of lightning that shot away and quickly vanished from their sight.
"Whoa! That was so cool! I want to learn that!" Shota's eyes lit up, his face beaming with excitement.
Megumi was stunned, breaking into a cold sweat. She couldn't help exclaiming,
"Th-that's a sensor-type ninja?"
"Heh, Zeyu's amazing. Sis, I'm learning that first. I'm not letting you have it this time," Shota said with a grin.
"Heh. Go ahead and learn it if you can. No one's stopping you," Megumi said dismissively.