Kiba, Are You Trying to Die?

Thump, thump, thump.

"Who is it?" Kurenai Yuhi, who had been watering her flowers, heard the knocking and set down her watering can before walking to the door to ask.

She opened the door casually.

"Ah, Kurenai-sensei, hello," Hiashi stood behind the door, handing over a bag of desserts he was holding.

"Oh, Lord Hiashi, what is this for?" Kurenai asked politely as she took them.

The two entered the house and chatted for a while before Hiashi's expression turned serious. "Kurenai-sensei, how is my Hinata doing with her training? There won't be any trouble during this exam, will there?"

Kurenai was a bit surprised, thinking to herself, So that's what he came to ask about. Wait? Didn't the three of them go home to practice their own secret techniques? Uh, no way... After a moment of reflection, she guessed the gist of it.

Sorry, Zeyu, I can't help you with this one.

She then said to Hiashi, "Hinata is doing quite well; there certainly won't be any problems with the exam."

Hiashi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and was just about to thank her when Kurenai added, "It's just... Hinata said she was going home to train; she hasn't been training with me."

"Ah?" Hiashi's mouth, just about to open, froze, his expression one of disbelief.

He remained silent with a cold face, deep in thought.

"Ah, I see. Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't disturb you any further." After a while, Hiashi excused himself and left.

Kurenai looked at the cake on the table and sighed helplessly.

"Zeyu, you're done for."

Walking down the street, the more Hiashi thought about it, the angrier he became. He couldn't help but activate his Byakugan, his face full of rage.

"Zeyu, you brat, just how many other bad things have you done that I don't know about? You've even corrupted my Hinata!"

Resting against a tree in the Forest of Death, Zeyu suddenly let out a massive sneeze. He rubbed his nose and said, "Who's thinking of me? Could it be Hinata? Hehe."

He immediately closed his eyes and activated his Mind's Eye of the Kagura to scan the area. "Oh, Hinata has encountered an enemy. She must have just been setting up traps. According to the plot, she's about to run into Gaara. It's almost time to catch up."

Just as he was thinking this, Megumi and Shota finished up and walked over. Shota had a slight injury on his arm, which had already been bandaged.

Megumi took the Earth Scroll and tossed it to Zeyu.

Zeyu caught it and noticed Shota's wound. "Is Shota alright?" Zeyu asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. This idiot insisted on rushing in while I was casting my ninjutsu," Megumi said, arms crossed and pouting.

Shota scratched his head and laughed.

Zeyu shook his head helplessly, stood up, and said, "Time to go. Now that we have both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, there's no need to stay in the forest."

Shota looked a bit displeased, which Zeyu noticed. Zeyu said to him, "If you want to fight, there will be plenty of opportunities later. If not, should I spar with you?" As he spoke, Zeyu flashed a wicked grin and cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing loudly.

Shota shook his head in immediate refusal, cold sweat already breaking out on his back.

Megumi smiled helplessly.

Then, Zeyu leaped away, and the two followed after him.

While they were on the move, Megumi suddenly asked Zeyu, "Zeyu, is your sensory ability particularly strong? How did you know which way to go?"

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Zeyu replied nonchalantly.

"Zeyu is so amazing; I never would have guessed you were a sensory-type ninja," Shota said.

Zeyu chuckled and said, "Heh, there's a lot more you haven't guessed. I'm afraid if I told you, it would scare you to death."

Shota was instantly intrigued and hurriedly pressed him, "What is it? Tell me, tell me!"

Megumi also pricked up her ears, looking forward to hearing some big news.

Zeyu looked at Shota with a smile and asked, "You really want to know?"

Shota nodded tentatively, feeling uneasy as he looked at Zeyu's smiling face, and swallowed hard.

Zeyu hopped onto Shota's back and said, "Carry me. I need to use my sensory powers to check the situation, and I'll tell you about it later."

Shota steadied himself, the weight lifting from his heart, and immediately agreed with gusto, "No problem, that's a small matter. Leave it to yours truly!"

Megumi gave him a deadpan look and teased, "Big brother, just listen to him brag. He's definitely lying to you; he just doesn't want to walk."

Zeyu turned to look at Megumi, and before Shota could answer, he shouted, "Shota, keep it up! When the time comes, I'll only tell you and not Megumi."

He then looked at Megumi with a smug expression, leaving her grinding her teeth in frustration.

"Got it," Shota agreed loudly, though he shot a wink at Megumi.

Megumi let out a disdainful "tch."

Zeyu chuckled and closed his eyes to focus his senses, thinking to himself, Naruto's side should be the same as always. Neji's team and Shikamaru's team will both go to help, so they should be fine.

Hinata's side is more important. I don't want to gamble Hinata's life on whether that freak Gaara will be talked down by Temari and Kankuro.

If he actually dares to hurt Hinata, not even the King of Heaven himself could save him—I'll have to kill him.

As he thought, his sensory range reached the location of Hinata and her teammates.

It looks like they've just started moving, so they must be close. They absolutely must avoid Gaara.

He pointed ahead and said to Shota, "Over there, hurry up!"

Shota agreed and accelerated, continuing their journey. Megumi followed behind, looking displeased and muttering under her breath, "Tch, Big Brother has never treated me like that."

Still, she kept close behind them.

On the other side, Akamaru caught the scent of people and let out a soft huff.

Kiba immediately signaled for Hinata and Shino to stop.

"Hinata, can you use your Byakugan to check the situation ahead?" Kiba asked.

"Mm, I understand," she replied, immediately activating her Byakugan to scan the area.

"Ah, that is..." Hinata gasped in surprise after seeing what was ahead.

"What is it, Hinata?" Kiba looked at her in confusion, as did Shino.

"Zeyu-kun was right. The person carrying the gourd is just ahead. It looks like he's run into another team," Hinata said.

"Is that so? Let's go take a look then," Kiba said, his lips curling up to reveal his canine teeth.

"That won't do, Kiba. We've already collected the Heaven and Earth Scrolls; let's not go looking for trouble," Shino said, frowning.

"That's right, Kiba. Besides, Zeyu-kun specifically warned us to steer clear of that person," Hinata added with a hint of worry.

Kiba looked annoyed and said, "Hinata, you listen to Zeyu too much. I think he's just worrying for nothing. Besides, we're just going to take a look. If things look bad, we can just run away."

He turned to Shino and added, "Besides, the rules didn't say we could only take one set of Heaven and Earth Scrolls. If we can grab a few more, that's a few less opponents, right? Isn't that so, Shino?"

"Well, that makes some sense," Shino said, looking ahead.

"But..." Hinata said, still looking worried.

"It's decided," Kiba said, leaping forward and heading off.

"What an annoying guy," Shino said, following after him.

"Zeyu-kun... I'm sorry," Hinata thought, and she followed as well.

"! How could this be? Why did they still follow him? Damn it!" Zeyu had been monitoring Hinata's situation the entire time. Upon learning what they were doing, he couldn't help but shout out loud.

"What's wrong, Zeyu?" Shota asked, full of confusion, and Megumi looked over as well.

"Sorry, Shota, I have to get there first. You and Megumi catch up in a bit." As he spoke, he pushed off Shota's shoulders, leaped into the air, landed on the ground to the side, and began to run.

The trees here are so dense they block out the sky; the Flying Thunder God isn't very effective for traveling through this. There's no other way, Zeyu thought as he ran.

"Zeyu, you..." Megumi started to ask what he was doing.

Suddenly, arcs of lightning began to crackle and dance across Zeyu's body.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Armor!" Zeyu shouted, his entire body enveloped in lightning-natured chakra. Sparks flew in every direction as his speed, strength, and defense were all boosted tremendously.

He lowered his stance, accelerated, and transformed into a bolt of lightning as he surged forward, quickly vanishing from the pair's sight.

"Whoa—so cool! I want to learn this!" Shota's eyes lit up, his face beaming with joy.

Megumi, standing to the side, was struck with terror. Cold sweat broke out on her face as she couldn't help but exclaim, "Th-this... is this a sensory-type ninja??"

"Hehe, Zeyu is just amazing. Little sister, I'm going to learn this one first; I can't let you have this one," Shota said with a grin.

"Heh, learn it if you can. No one is fighting you for it," Megumi said dismissively.