Just then, Hinata suddenly moved, appearing beside Sakura in an instant.
Instead of attacking directly as expected, she merely stood beside Hinata as before.
Then, under Sakura's astonished gaze, she leaned close to Sakura's ear and said, "Sakura, do you remember? You owe me a favor, and I intend to collect it."
"Maybe you've forgotten, so let me remind you!"
"More than three years ago, when we first became ninja, we went to take the Chunin Exams."
"Does that jog your memory? No? Fine, I'll go on."
"At the time, Naruto and Sasuke were ambushed by Orochimaru."
"So Naruto and Sasuke were severely injured, and there in the Forest of Death..."
Without Sasuke and Naruto, you were so helpless and alone,
and then Otogakure attacked.
How resolute were you back then—or perhaps foolish?
"Oh, right, none of that is important."
"What really matters is that someone stepped in and saved you. Does that ring a bell now? If not, I can keep going."
Sakura had already been shocked by Hinata's speed, but now that she heard Hinata's words,
she no longer knew what expression she should make.
She said, "How could that be? Back then, it was a whole team of Sand Ninja. How could it have been you?"
Hinata said, "There's nothing impossible about it. I merely impersonated a Sand Ninja team beforehand."
"Then I left a Shadow Clone with Kiba Inuzuka, while I used the Transformation Jutsu to take on that appearance."
"As long as I was careful enough, what would be impossible?"
"As I recall, I only stepped in back then for the sake of my comrades."
"But in the end, you asked how you could repay me. I thought it was rather interesting, so I gave you that answer."
"But you agreed then that you owed