Don't Any of You Leave!

Seeing Hyuga Hiashi's bewildered expression, Kanami could not bear it and stepped forward.

"Uncle, we're family from now on. What's yours is mine, so why bother making such distinctions?"

Seeing that look on his face, Hyuga Hiashi felt both resentful and helpless.

He had already made it clear to his daughter that as long as Kanami possessed a certain degree of ability, he would not stand between them.

Now that he knew Kanami could comprehend the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, he had begun to acknowledge his potential.

He had been unable to watch the first two rounds of the Chunin Ninja Exams, but he could watch the third. He did not ask for Kanami to be exceptionally strong—so long as he had the strength to protect Hinata, he could truly feel at ease about her being with him.

Provided they did not give him grandchildren too early.

"Come on, Uncle. It'll be dark again soon."

Kanami called out to the motionless Hyuga Hiashi.

Hyuga Hiashi's eyes then cleared. He flicked his sleeve and followed the two of them.

The three of them raced onward.

Several hours later, night had fully fallen.

Hinata began to feel hungry as well, so the three stopped to rest.

Kanami pulled out a pile of food and drinks from his backpack.

Hyuga Hiashi saw that almost everything Kanami had taken out was snack food.

He frowned and asked:

"Will these things fill you up?"

"Don't worry, Uncle. There's plenty of it!"

As he spoke, Kanami pulled out another huge pile of chips, spicy strips, dried fish, and all kinds of unregulated junk food from his backpack.

Hyuga Hiashi stared blankly at the mountain of snacks, nearly half a person's height tall.

"You spent more than three thousand seven hundred ryo on this junk food?!"

Kanami and Hinata did not care whether it was junk food or not. If it tasted good, that was enough.

Kanami then took out the Military Ration Pills they had not finished earlier and handed them to Hyuga Hiashi.

"Then you can eat these, Uncle."

At the sight of the Military Ration Pills, Hyuga Hiashi recalled their rock-hard texture, how difficult they were to swallow, and their awful taste.

"I'd rather eat junk food..."

Hinata handed Hyuga Hiashi a bag of chips.

"These are original flavor. They should suit your taste."

Hyuga Hiashi frowned as he tore open the bag and tried one.

"It really is junk food. One bite and it's nothing but additives."

Kanami glanced at him.

"Then why are you still eating it?"

"I'm doing this for your own good. As long as I eat enough, quickly enough, all this junk food will end up in my stomach and won't harm either of you."

Hyuga Hiashi swallowed and picked up another bag of tomato-flavored chips.

After trying one, he frowned and said:

"Tomato flavor. There are even more additives in these. Neither of you is allowed to eat the tomato-flavored ones. Too many additives."

He then rapidly devoured bag after bag.

Other than his mouth, there was probably nothing hard left on his body.

Hinata leaned close to Kanami and whispered:

"Actually, Father likes ketchup the most... Let's leave the tomato-flavored ones for him."

Kanami nodded.

While eating spicy strips, Kanami suddenly sensed movement around them.

He stood up and said in a low voice, "Uncle, Hinata, it seems like something is approaching us."

Hearing that, Hyuga Hiashi and Hinata immediately put down their snacks and quickly rose to their feet.

"Byakugan."

The two activated their Byakugan at the same time.

Their fields of vision rapidly expanded outward.

In an instant, they both locked onto numerous figures weaving through the forest.

"Seven... eight... nine... ten!"

The two of them saw a full ten ninja quietly closing in on them from all directions.

Hyuga Hiashi frowned deeply. Though he was curious how Kanami had sensed them in advance, this was clearly not the time to ask.

"Kanami, Hinata, protect yourselves."

He did not dare lower his guard. From their movement speed, he could tell that they were at least Chunin-level.

Among the three of them, two were Genin, while only he was a Jonin. If the enemy had one or two Jonin among them, the situation would become extremely troublesome.

Hinata nodded and assumed the same Gentle Fist opening stance as Hyuga Hiashi.

After hearing Hyuga Hiashi's words, Kanami swiftly stuffed the snacks back into his bag.

Hyuga Hiashi noticed what he was doing and frowned.

"Stop pretending."

Huh?

Kanami froze, stopping his movements.

He told me to stop pretending. Did he see through the fact that I'd been hiding my strength?

Kanami touched his nose.

"When did you figure it out, Uncle?"

Hyuga Hiashi thought he was asking why he could see Kanami packing up the snacks without turning around.

He said disdainfully, "The Byakugan's abilities."

Kanami blanked for a moment.

The Byakugan can do that too?

Suddenly, a figure leaped onto a distant tree branch about twenty meters away from them.

That ninja thought his movements were light and perfectly concealed, but every one of his actions remained within the Byakugan's locked range.

Hyuga Hiashi had been waiting for precisely this moment. The effective killing range of his Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm was twenty meters, so he had waited for the other party to enter his range first.

Hyuga Hiashi immediately locked onto him with the Byakugan.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm."

He struck his palm toward the distant tree branch.

A high-density mass of chakra, like an air bullet the size of a palm, shot out in an instant.

Pfft—

Before the ninja could react, the unseen Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm pierced through his chest. He sprayed blood from his mouth and died on the spot, falling straight to the ground.

He had struck first and killed with a single move, intimidating the remaining ninja.

Worthy of the bearing of a clan head.

Kanami praised inwardly.

"Nine remain."

Hyuga Hiashi continuously observed the positions of the other nine with his three-hundred-sixty-degree, blind-spot-free Byakugan.

In his eyes, after seeing the first ninja to approach die, the remaining nine slowed down and gradually gathered together, seemingly preparing to launch a joint attack.

If they attacked together, even with the Byakugan, he would find it difficult to fend them off.

With a grave expression, Hyuga Hiashi shouted sternly into the surrounding forest:

"I am a ninja of Konoha in the Fire Country. I advise you not to throw away your lives for the sake of murder and robbery."

Since he was in another country and had been targeted, he could only conclude that this was the reason.

The remaining nine gathered together, seemingly discussing something.

A moment later, a voice came from the forest.

"The two of you can leave. The redhead stays."

Hearing that, Hyuga Hiashi's brows furrowed tightly.

Even declaring that they were Konoha ninja had not made them retreat, and they had specifically demanded that Kanami remain.

Kanami was stunned as well. So they had come for him.

Hyuga Hiashi asked in a low voice, "Kanami, do you have any enemies?"

Kanami frowned.

I'm friendly, handsome, and polite. Who could hate me that much?

"Tai Yong and Takeshi?"

Their names surfaced in his mind.

"That old man and that kid are really annoying."

Kanami muttered softly.

Hyuga Hiashi frowned slightly. "You said we're annoying?"

"..."

Kanami was speechless.

"Who was talking about you..."

The voice of the ninja who had spoken earlier sounded out again.

"Have you decided?"

Just as Hyuga Hiashi was about to speak, Kanami spoke first:

"I'll stay."

He then turned to the two of them. "You go first. I'll catch up soon."

He planned to stay behind and pry information out of them, to see whether that old man and that kid had really sent them.

Hinata shook her head repeatedly, staring at Kanami with firm determination.

"No. We leave together."

Seeing Kanami make such a choice without hesitation at such a life-or-death moment, Hyuga Hiashi angrily made up his mind.

"No, you two leave together!"

Kanami scratched his head. "Have you misunderstood something...?"

An angry roar came from the forest.

"Damn it, are you leaving or not? If you don't leave, none of you will leave!"