Tracking

How could a mouse have a fluffy tail?

And why had she thought it was cute?

Only then did Ikuko Hyuga realize that it might not have been an ordinary mouse.

It was a Summoning Beast.

She stopped in her tracks, turned around, and headed back toward the alley.

Damn it, I let my guard down.

"Squeak, squeak-"

"Why is this door locked...?" Little White Mouse said anxiously.

"I forgot to get the key from Master." It was at a loss, too. Master had sent it to fetch the blood but had forgotten to give it the key.

"Now even my last hope is gone."

The thought left it wanting to cry, but no tears would come.

It looked around.

I'd better run before that person comes back!

"That woman just now was so scary."

Now its only option was to find the person Master had told it to look for.

Yamada Hideko. Master had mentioned her when telling it stories.

She seemed to be Master's teacher, and according to Master, she was a very nice person, too.

But it had no idea where she was.

Perhaps it would have to ask someone.

Whoosh-

Not long after Little White Mouse left, Ikuko Hyuga reappeared in the alley.

"Byakugan, activate."

She activated her Byakugan, and everything in the alley instantly came into clear view.

"Not here, not here, not here..."

As she surveyed the alley, Ikuko Hyuga's expression gradually darkened.

"Damn it, am I too late?" Ikuko Hyuga cursed under her breath. "But so what? You still won't escape my grasp."

She formed hand seals, her small red lips moving slightly.

"Byakugan, Visual Tracking."

At once, trails of bean-sized footprints appeared in her Byakugan's field of vision.

"Found you."

[Byakugan, Visual Tracking] was a Dojutsu that Ikuko Hyuga had awakened by chance when activating her Byakugan.

No one but her knew about it.

Among all the people she knew who could activate the Byakugan, none had awakened a Dojutsu like hers.

She was puzzled by this, but she had still kept it a secret.

This Dojutsu recorded things she had seen and allowed her to trace their movements for up to a week.

Precisely because it was so absurdly powerful, Ikuko Hyuga dared not reveal it.

However, the technique had one critical drawback: it consumed an enormous amount of mental energy.

She had already used it once today to track down Yui's Shadow Clone.

Using it a second time would probably be more than her body could bear.

But she did not hesitate and activated the tracking at once.

Following the little mouse's trail, Ikuko Hyuga smiled.

The Hyuga Branch Family.

"Ugh-" Yui clutched her head with both hands, groaning in pain.

"It hurts..."

Yui had been sitting at her desk, researching new Ninjutsu.

A sudden flood of memories had made her head feel as though it would burst.

As she absorbed the memories, Yui learned that her Shadow Clone had been dispelled.

It took a while for Yui to come back to her senses.

"Whew-"

After taking a deep breath, Yui's thoughts finally returned to normal. Reviewing the memories in her head, she began to think.

Something must have happened to Nai Hyuga.

What Ikuko Hyuga had said directly contradicted what the Hokage had told her.

One had said she was training.

The other had said she was on a mission.

Whose words were more trustworthy?

Or had both of them lied to me?

Would even a Hokage lie?

She slammed her hands down on the desk.

"Ah..." Yui sighed.

Sitting here thinking would get her nowhere. As long as she could get out, these problems would naturally resolve themselves.

Konoha's main street.

"Do you know where Yamada Hideko is?"

"Whoa! What are you?"

A nearby passerby jumped in fright at the talking mouse.

The others on the street also backed away in fear when they saw it.

People shoved one another aside, somehow clearing a large patch of space on the crowded Konoha street.

Little White Mouse felt disappointed as the crowd moved farther and farther away.

"Doesn't anyone know who Yamada Hideko is?"

Maybe I've come to the wrong place?

Suddenly, a booming voice rang out from a distance.

"Hey, hey! What are you all doing over there?"

When the crowd saw the approaching figures' clothing, their movements grew even more frantic.

A squad of six or seven people approached from down the street.

They all wore standard-issue vests, with red-and-white fan emblems on their upper sleeves.

"The Uchiha pinkeye freaks are here! Run!"

Someone shouted, making the already packed crowd even more restless.

"What did you say? Who are you calling pinkeye freaks?!"

A man stepped out of the squad and shouted angrily.

Then he turned to the captain beside him. "Captain, let me teach them a lesson."

The captain shook his head.

"The Konoha Military Police Force maintains order. We can't just hit people..."

"But Captain, they insulted us..."

"Then can you find who said it?" The captain shot him a glare.

"If you can, we'll charge them with provoking a disturbance."

The man lowered his head. With so many people, how was he supposed to find the culprit?

"Go see why there's an empty patch in the street," the captain ordered.

The man nodded reluctantly and pushed toward the crowd.

"What are you doing over there?!"

"Move faster! Those at the front, get out first!"

He tried to squeeze through, but there were too many people. He couldn't get in at all.

Watching the crowd grow increasingly packed, the man began to lose his temper.

But he couldn't hit or curse at these people, leaving him with no options.

If the crowd didn't disperse soon, something was bound to happen.

And the Konoha Military Police Force would get blamed again.

He bent his knees, slowly gathered chakra beneath his feet, and kicked off hard, launching himself into the air.

Thump...

He landed squarely in the middle of the clearing.

He looked around but found nothing.

His temper flared at once.

"Listen, there's clearly nothing here. Are you trying to stir up trouble?"

He instantly activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and glared at the surrounding crowd.

Everyone flinched as his gaze swept over them.

Only then did someone speak up in panic.

"Th-there's a talking monster under your foot."

A monster?

Just then, he felt a tickle against his heel.

Puzzled, the man lowered his gaze.

"Let go of my tail..."

A childish voice came from beneath his foot.

The man jumped when he saw the creature there.

He hurriedly moved his foot away.

"Boo-hoo-hoo..." Little White Mouse hugged its tail and wailed.

"My tail's dirty..."

A talking mouse?

No, a Summoning Beast.

He looked up at the crowd around him and immediately understood the problem.

"Little mouse, come with me."

Seeing the street grow more and more congested, the man did not hesitate to pick up Little White Mouse, which was still sobbing.

"Don't touch me, you bad man... boo-hoo."