Nighttime Inquiry

The wind was bitter, the rain relentless, the sky dark, and the earth dim.

Hyuga Natsu wandered down the street like a walking corpse, her eyes hollow and lifeless as she stared ahead, letting the rain beat mercilessly against her.

"You mean... Big Brother Toichi is dead?" The smile on Hyuga Natsu's face slowly froze, then turned deathly pale. Thinking there must be something wrong with her ears, she timidly asked again. She didn't even realize her voice was trembling.

Once she got a clear answer, nothing Uchiha Izumi said afterward mattered anymore. Whether it was for her sake or someone else's, none of it mattered. What mattered was that Hyuga Natsu knew her Big Brother Toichi might never come back. She would never see him again.

"Stop following me. Go away!" Hyuga Natsu activated her Byakugan and glared viciously at Uchiha Izumi as she slapped away the umbrella shielding her from the rain. Did she hate Uchiha Izumi? Maybe a little, but none of that mattered now.

Hyuga Natsu seemed to have startled Uchiha Izumi, who froze in place. Looking at the distraught girl before her, Uchiha Izumi felt a tightness in her chest and a stabbing pain in her heart. She didn't want this either. Without picking up the umbrella from the ground, Uchiha Izumi followed after Hyuga Natsu, quietly trailing her every step of the way until she saw her go inside.

"Natsu, what happened to you?" Seeing Hyuga Natsu like this, Hyuga Mikoto was horrified. She hurriedly grabbed a towel and began drying her off.

She wanted to ask what had happened, but when she saw Hyuga Natsu's empty stare, her heart clenched painfully. She didn't dare ask anything, and a sense of foreboding settled over her.

After quietly helping her daughter get cleaned up, she put her to bed. Once Hyuga Natsu had fallen asleep, she went out to ask around.

When Hyuga Kamen heard that his only grandson had died, he staggered. In the end, he held back his grief and saw Might Guy out. But the moment he turned and stepped inside, his body seemed to stoop, and his hair appeared to turn whiter.

The sun set in the west, and night fell.

Of course, Hyuga Toichi had no idea what was happening in Konoha. After all, he was in the Land of Grass.

At that moment, he was crouched not far behind the tent, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. It wouldn't be long now.

"What's wrong?" the guard asked hurriedly when he heard a noise.

"Nothing. Damn it, I got piss on my shoe," the man replied. He pulled up his pants, fastening them as he walked back to his post.

The other guard glanced at the shoes beneath him and saw the urine stains, so he said nothing. He had no idea that, from that moment on, his partner was someone else.

Late at night, the guard beside him was nodding off. Hyuga Toichi knew his chance had come. He activated his Byakugan and used the Ten-Pulse Divine Sword, shooting at one of the guard's pressure points.

Of course, Hyuga Toichi wasn't going to kill him. He controlled the force carefully, aiming mainly to block his pressure point and make him fall asleep more easily.

After seeing that the guard had fallen asleep, Hyuga Toichi entered the tent. The woman before him was on the verge of death, utterly exhausted from the intense fighting.

Through his Byakugan, Hyuga Toichi could see the chakra inside her. The Uzumaki Clan's constitution really was incredible. He could clearly see her chakra recovering at a rapid rate.

Hyuga Toichi placed a hand on her and transferred his chakra to her.

"Ma'am, can you hear me? You're Karin's mother, right?" Hyuga Toichi repeated, continuing to transfer chakra into her.

"Who... who are you?" After Hyuga Toichi called out to her again and again, she finally woke and asked weakly.

"It doesn't matter who I am. Can you tell me where Karin is? I want to take her away from Kusagakure," Hyuga Toichi asked hastily.

"You're not a Kusagakure ninja, are you? Oh, I remember now. You came by this morning. I wondered why you didn't bite me." She seemed to recall something and spoke up.

"Can you tell me where Karin is?" Hyuga Toichi asked again. If Karin wasn't in the medical department, finding her would take time. She might be in some remote corner of the Land of Grass.

"Leave. If you don't, I'll scream. You don't want to expose yourself, do you?" Hearing Hyuga Toichi ask about Karin again, she said irritably.

Who could possibly be up to any good, sneaking around in the middle of the night? Besides, the Uzumaki Clan had become pariahs, and everyone wanted them dead. She had seen far too much of that. She was lucky to have survived in Kusagakure, and besides, they had kept their word so far and hadn't touched her daughter.

She wasn't foolish enough to think someone would come looking for her daughter for no reason. He must want something. Most likely, he wanted the same healing ability she had. If that was the case, what difference did it make where Karin was?

"Please don't get upset, ma'am. Hear me out first. I did come looking for your daughter because I want something. I'm interested in the healing ability you and your daughter share, and I want her to stay by my side. Don't worry. I'll treat her well. Even if someone has to bite her, I'll be the only one allowed to do it. If anyone else tries, they'll have to step over my dead body first," Hyuga Toichi said firmly.

"I'll leave for now, but I'll come back tomorrow. I hope you'll tell me where she is, and I hope you'll agree. Even if you don't tell me, I'll still go find her. It'll just take me a lot longer." With that, Hyuga Toichi walked out.

Hearing him say that, she couldn't help furrowing her brow. She sensed that he was telling the truth and wasn't deceiving her. She could tell whether people were lying. Others might not know about this ability of hers, but she did. She had tested it many times, and it had never been wrong.

She just couldn't understand why a complete stranger would be so eager to help her daughter.

It looks like Karin inherited her mother's sensory abilities. She sensed me as soon as I went in and knew I'd been there this morning. That's impressive, Hyuga Toichi thought.

Sensory-type ninja like her were the bane of the Transformation Technique.

After glancing at the guard, who was still fast asleep, Hyuga Toichi walked over.

"Hey, wake up. Come on, wake up. Keep a proper watch from now on. I'm going to take a little nap." Hyuga Toichi woke the guard and spoke to him.

"Did I fall asleep?" The guard came around, still feeling a little dazed.

"Yeah, you got a good sleep. It's my turn now. I'll rest here for a bit. Wake me when it's dawn." Hyuga Toichi hurriedly replied, then leaned back and pretended to doze.

You were snoring away while I kept watch all alone? Not a chance. I'm not going to get the short end of the stick. Hyuga Toichi grumbled inwardly. He had to admit, he was pretty bold, showing not the slightest awareness that he was an impostor.

The night slowly faded, a sliver of dawn appeared, and daybreak quietly arrived.

Meanwhile, in a hospital room at Konoha Hospital, Hyuga Mikoto watched her daughter lying in bed with a worried look.

After her daughter had fallen asleep the night before, she'd gone out to ask around and learned what had happened. Her heart felt heavy too. How could she not understand what her daughter was thinking?

What she hadn't expected was that, by the time she got back, her daughter had come down with a high fever. She'd hurriedly brought her to the hospital.

She knew the fever wasn't from getting caught in a little rain. She knew how strong her daughter's constitution was. That only made her more worried. At the thought that her daughter might... she didn't dare finish the thought.

"Ugh, that wretched boy."