Ino could not help growing nervous. Her eyes watched the figures warily, while Sakura also sensed the unusual tension and silently took a kunai in hand.
Hinata and her two companions had no intention of acting rashly. They wanted to wait and see whether the three would simply leave. After all, they had yet to come face-to-face, so there was still a chance the others might walk away.
But things never went quite as smoothly as they hoped. Three figures slowly came into view. Even Sakura, who was not skilled at sensing others, realized that these three would be anything but easy to handle.
As Orochimaru looked at Hinata, he felt an even greater headache coming on. Their being from Konoha was already troublesome enough, and now one of them turned out to be a child of the Hyuga Clan.
Having spent so many years in Amegakure, Orochimaru did not know that Hinata was already Uchiha Yin's student. Had he known, he might have considered leaving outright.
Looking at Hinata and the other two children, Orochimaru could not quite bring himself to strike. But the arrow was already on the string; there was no turning back. If Obito Uchiha's people attacked instead, they would be far less restrained.
Orochimaru glanced at Kabuto Yakushi beside him. "Go!" With that, he remained where he stood, showing no intention of joining the fight. Kabuto Yakushi seemed accustomed to this and walked toward Hinata.
Seeing this, Sakura whispered to Ino and Hinata, "Are they looking down on us?" Hinata swallowed nervously. "He won't be easy to handle. Both of you, be careful!"
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yin remained hidden in the shadows, his presence completely concealed. His eyes were fixed on Orochimaru, who had used the transformation index. He wore a broad smile, but there was