Unlike Hikari, Ino knew a little of the inside story behind the feud between the Hyuga Clan and Kumogakure.
The Fourth Raikage really was an excellent gift for Hyuga Hiashi.
"Ino, what brings you here?"
"Shikamaru requested that Shino go to the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Bears. I'm here to deliver the mission orders."
Naruto frowned at that.
Why did Shikamaru suddenly need Shino's help?
With his eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke should have been more than capable of sweeping through small countries like the Land of Bears and the Land of Demons.
Although Shino ranked above average among their friends in terms of strength, he certainly couldn't beat Sasuke.
That meant they were looking for someone or something.
Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru's scent tracking already ranked among the better sensory abilities in the shinobi world, while Neji Hyuga's Byakugan had regained its full, blind-spot-free, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision and long-range reconnaissance capabilities.
If even Kiba's nose and Neji's Byakugan couldn't find it...
Then Shino's Insect Secret Technique became the better option.
"Let's go together. I'd like to see Shino, too."
The three arrived outside Shino's classroom, where he presented a striking contrast to his usual silent demeanor.
He still wore that high-collared jacket, with sunglasses covering his eyes and his collar pulled up just below the bridge of his nose, hiding most of his face.
His outfit was exactly as they remembered it from their school days.
Yet standing at the front of the classroom, he was utterly different from that familiar, silent figure.
Shino's voice carried clearly through the gap in the door, steady and clear, with an expressive rhythm rarely heard from him.
He was no longer the boy who always kept his head slightly lowered, as though trying to shrink into the shadows.