Searching for Xiaojin

"Xiaojin, where have you run off to? You haven't actually been caught and stewed by someone, have you?"

Hyuga Gen frowned at the thought.

He and Xia had searched almost every corner of Konoha, not even sparing the Uchiha clan grounds; he had even sent Hyuga Natsu to check there.

The result was still nothing. As for why Hyuga Gen had sent Hyuga Natsu to the Uchiha grounds while he himself stayed away, it was entirely because he feared he would be met with a cold shoulder.

The Hyuga and Uchiha clans had never seen eye to eye, but he figured they wouldn't make things difficult for a little girl. Besides, who could refuse the adorable Xia?

"Brother Dongyi, do you think Xiaojin might have run out of Konoha?"

"It shouldn't have run out of Konoha."

He had taken Xiaojin for a tour previously and had explicitly told it never to leave the village.

He had even threatened to pluck all its feathers if he ever caught it wandering outside, giving it quite a scare.

"It shouldn't have. I'll go search over there; that's the only place left."

As he spoke, Hyuga Gen looked toward the west, the only area they had yet to visit.

The Trial Grounds, one of the forbidden areas of Konoha, preserved the most primitive of forests. It was filled with large beasts and traps; as the name suggested, it was a place for trials, and entry was strictly prohibited under normal circumstances.

It was usually opened during exams, primarily the Chunin Exams. Without the strength of a chunin, traversing the Trial Grounds was exceptionally difficult, and even average chunin dared not step foot inside lightly.

In Naruto Shippuden, Uchiha Itachi had traversed the Trial Grounds alone during the Chunin Exams, shocking countless people and pushing his reputation as a genius to new heights. One could see just how perilous the Trial Grounds were.

Hyuga Gen had already guessed that Xiaojin might have run into trouble; otherwise, it wouldn't have stayed away for so long. According to past patterns, it would usually show its face every three days after going out to play.

Although Hyuga Gen always called it a silly, stupid bird, he knew it wasn't stupid at all—in fact, it was quite clever, the smartest "pet" he had ever seen. However, that was likely common in this world, as most summoning animals could speak.

Even though they hadn't signed a summoning contract yet, Hyuga Gen had long considered Xiaojin his personal summoning animal. After all, it was a little thing he had hatched himself, and he treated it as if it were his own son.

Of course, this was assuming Xiaojin couldn't talk back. If it could, it would surely retort, "A father who treats his own son like this? I don't believe a word of it, you brat, you're truly wicked."

It seemed one couldn't call it a summoning animal before signing a contract. Without the summoning link, it was difficult to communicate with humans due to the language barrier; once the contract was signed, they could usually learn human language to converse.

"Should we go ask the adults for help? It's too dangerous in there."

Hyuga Natsu certainly knew what kind of place that was; almost no one in Konoha was unaware of it, especially children, who were frequently warned about it.

"Let's go check the perimeter first. If that doesn't work, we'll have to ask Grandfather and the others for help."

Hyuga Gen didn't like troubling others; he preferred to solve problems himself if he could. Unless necessary, he didn't want to bother anyone, so he wanted to take a look first.

Hyuga Kamen had left early that morning; he was quite busy. In this current period, border frictions were constant. Ever since the Third Hokage passed away last year, major factions had become even more restless, and most ninjas were out on missions.

Before long, Hyuga Gen arrived at the perimeter of the Trial Grounds. He and Xia searched the outside, but still found nothing.

"Xia, I'm going to climb up and take a look to see if I can find Xiaojin. You wait here for me. Don't worry, I won't go inside."

"Brother Dongyi, be careful, and please, don't climb over," Hyuga Natsu reminded him again.

With that, Hyuga Gen began to climb. He reached a high vantage point shortly after and peered around.

Since he was already here, he might as well take a look; he was quite curious about the place. What if he got lucky and spotted Xiaojin?

As soon as he reached the top, he was dumbfounded. Everywhere he looked was trees; everything else was obscured by foliage, and he couldn't see a thing.

A vacuum zone of about ten meters formed around the fence where there were no trees, as the trees near the fence had clearly been cleared away.

Beyond those ten meters, it was nothing but trees, lush and dense, with many as thick as millstones. Of course, this wasn't what Hyuga Gen wanted to see.

It seemed he would have to ask Grandfather and the others for help; perhaps posting a mission would be a good choice, Hyuga Gen thought to himself.

He just didn't know if there would be enough time. If Xiaojin had truly encountered something, the longer it dragged on, the more dangerous it would be. Although he had threatened it not to leave Konoha, who knew if it had just had a lapse in judgment?

"Huh? There seems to be some movement over there."

Just then, Hyuga Gen heard the cry of a beast. His heart stirred, and he wanted to see what was happening.

Forget it, let me take a look first. Since I'm already up here, I might as well get a good look; I might find a clue.

Thinking this, Hyuga Gen freed one hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together in front of his chest, and slowly closed his eyes.

"Byakugan, activate!"

When Hyuga Gen opened his eyes again, he had activated his Byakugan and looked toward the direction from which the sound had come.

Two hundred meters, four hundred meters, eight hundred meters—finally, Hyuga Gen saw it. He saw two beasts confronting each other; it appeared to be a wild boar and a large snake.

Hyuga Gen felt a bit relieved that it wasn't over a kilometer away, as the maximum distance his Byakugan could currently see was about one kilometer; he wouldn't have been able to help if it were any further.

"Wait, is that Xiaojin?"

Hyuga Gen focused his gaze. Hanging from a tree branch and caught in a net—who else could it be but Xiaojin? However, it looked injured and wasn't moving.

At this moment, the snake and the boar began to fight. Were they fighting over "Xiaojin"? Hyuga Gen wondered.

Forget it, there was no time to think about that. It looked like Xiaojin was in a bad spot. Hyuga Gen made up his mind; he planned to run over and secretly rescue Xiaojin.

"Xia, I found Xiaojin! It looks injured. I'm going to go save it. You stay here and absolutely do not come in. I'll bring Xiaojin out in a moment."

Without waiting for a response, Hyuga Gen jumped down.

Hyuga Natsu was instantly stunned. So much for not climbing over!

"Brother Dongyi, come back! It's dangerous in there!"

Watching Hyuga Gen's rapidly vanishing back through the gap, Hyuga Natsu shouted out in anxiety.

Hyuga Gen did not seem to hear Hyuga Natsu's cries, plunging headlong into the forest.

The location was not too far away; if he timed it right and rescued Xiaojin stealthily, even if he were discovered, the distance was less than a kilometer, so escaping shouldn't be a problem.

They were already locked in combat and their attention was not on this side, so the chances of sneaking Xiaojin away were high. If they both ended up severely wounded, that would be even better.

Of course, the main reason was that Hyuga Gen had noticed Xiaojin seemed to be on the verge of death, and he felt he could not delay any longer.

He knew Xiaojin too well; if it wasn't flying, moving, or jumping, could it even be called Xiaojin? Competitive and playful as it was, it could never stay still.

But just a moment ago, Hyuga Gen had noticed Xiaojin lying motionless, and he knew then that it had reached a critical juncture—it might even be dead already.

Hyuga Gen did not want to dwell on that thought; he only wanted to get over there as quickly as possible to see for himself.