Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
“Dialogue”
‘Thoughts’
-Author notes-
Chapter 25: The Test
Sho, Hinata, and Kiba were sitting beneath some trees at Training Ground 3.
The sun had already begun its climb over the treeline, but it was still empty.
“The sun is coming up…” Hinata pointed out.
Sho glanced around, his eyes scanning the treeline, the open field, the scattered training dummies.
Nothing.
No sign of Kurenai.
“She’s not here yet,” Kiba observed, flopping down onto the grass with a groan.
“Great.
We wake up before dawn, run all the way out here, and she’s late.”
“Maybe we came too early,” Hinata suggested softly, settling onto a fallen log.
“She did say sunrise, so…”
“We’re here at sunrise!” Kiba protested.
“The sun is literally coming up right now!”
Sho leaned against a tree, his shoulder still aching slightly from the wound.
It was supposed to be healed, but it still bothered him from time to time.
“Perhaps she’s testing us,” he said quietly.
“Testing our punctuality, our ability to follow orders, or…who knows…”
Kiba snorted.
“Or she’s just late.”
Hinata’s eyes wandered across the clearing.
“It’s strange.
I don’t sense any chakra nearby.
If she were here, I should be able to-”
She stopped.
Her eyes narrowed, focusing on something in the center of the clearing.
“There’s a box over there,” she said slowly.
“But I don’t think it was there when we arrived.”
Kiba sat up, his eyes following her gaze.
“A box?
Where?”
“Right there.” Hinata pointed.
“In the center of the clearing.”
“That was definitely not there when we arrived,” Sho said.
“There is no way we could have missed it.”
“So the sensei came here, left that box for us, and went to hide?…
Is that the test?” Kiba approached the box.
“Hold on.
Dont touch it, Kiba.” Sho hurried to say.
“Let’s check what’s inside first.”
“Leave it to me…Byakugan!” Hinata focused, the veins bulging around her eyes.
“There are two items inside.
One looks like a photograph.
The other is…
some kind of fabric.”
Kiba was already on his feet, walking toward the center of the clearing.
“A photo and some fabric?
What kind of test is this?”
“Be careful,” Sho warned, following behind.
“It could be a trap.”
“It’s in the middle of an empty training ground,” Kiba pointed out.
“How dangerous could it be?”
“I dont detect any traps,” Hinata added.
“It should be safe to open.
But be careful.”
Kiba nodded before reaching for the box.
It was a small wooden container, plain and unassuming.
He opened it up.
“It’s not even locked.”
Inside were two items, just as Hinata said before.
There was a photograph.
And a white handkerchief.
Kiba pulled them out, examining them with a frown.
“Okay.
This is weird.”
Sho took the photograph, studying it closely.
The image showed a middle-aged man, perhaps forty years old, with a bald head and a short, neat beard.
He wore a grey suit and stood in front of what appeared to be a closed shop.
The handkerchief was plain white, unadorned, with no identifying marks.
“This must be the test,” Sho said, his mind working.
“We need to use these to find this person.”
Hinata nodded slowly.
“A tracking exercise.
It makes sense for a reconnaissance team.”
“Right.” Kiba grinned.
“So we just need to find this guy.
That seems easy.”
“Mmm…hold on, there is something more.” Sho turned the photograph over.
“Look…there’s something written on the back.”
He read it aloud.
“8:00 A.M.
and beneath it, there is a +1.”
Hinata’s eyes widened.
” 8:00 is clearly the time limit.
We have until eight in the morning…that’s less than two hours.”
“And the plus one?” Kiba asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sho shook his head.
“I don’t know.
But dont have a lot of time to figure it out.” He glanced at the sky, judging the sun’s position.
Hinata nodded.
“The photograph is definitely taken inside Konoha.
That shop behind the man seems familiar…”
“The shopping district of Konoha, perhaps?.
It is quite big though.” Sho suggested.
Kiba cursed under his breath.
“So we have less than two hours?
We need to move!”
“Since the test must have been designed for us specifically.” Sho held up the handkerchief.
“The handkerchief must be here so it can be used as a scent marker.” He glanced at the small dog resting on Kiba’s head.
“Can you follow it?”
“Of course!” Kiba’s eyes lit up.
“Akamaru!
Come here, boy!”
Akamaru bounded over, his nose twitching.
Kiba held out the handkerchief.
“Smell this, boy.
We need to find where this came from.”
Akamaru sniffed the handkerchief, his nose working furiously.
Then he barked and took off, running toward the village.
“Follow him!” Kiba shouted, already sprinting after his partner.
Sho and Hinata exchanged a glance, then ran after them.
<><>
The chase led them through the streets of Konoha, following Akamaru’s nose as he weaved through the early morning crowds.
The village was just waking up.
Shopkeepers were opening their stores, vendors were setting up their stalls, and early risers were going for their morning shopping.
Akamaru led them directly to the commercial district.
But then he stopped.
Kiba skidded to a halt, his eyes scanning the area.
“He’s lost the scent.”
Sho looked around.
The commercial district was bustling with activity…food stalls, clothing shops, flower vendors.
The smells of fresh bread, grilled fish, and blooming flowers filled the air.
“Of course,” Sho muttered.
“The food stalls.
The crowds.
The smells are overwhelming Akamaru’s nose.”
Kiba nodded, frustrated.
“Yeah.
He can’t track through all this.
There are too many scents.
Unless we get very close to the target, he won’t be able to pick out the handkerchief’s scent.”
“Our target could also be inside one of the buildings,” Hinata observed.
“We’ll need to use the Byakugan for that.”
She glanced at Sho, her expression hesitant.
Sho understood what she was thinking.
That she was the only one who could use the Byakugan, so she would have to search everything herself.
‘But not anymore.’
He closed his eyes, focusing on the familiar sensation of the Byakugan activating.
He’d been practicing for several days now, ever since he’d allocated his stats.
[Byakugan: Novice (Level 1) – Activated]
Range: 15 feet
Duration: 2 minutes
Note: Byakugan Inefficiency (Mild) reduces range by 50%.
His eyes snapped open, the veins around them bulging as the Byakugan activated.
The world shifted, his vision expanding in all directions.
He could see through walls, through objects, through the bodies of the people around him.
Hinata gasped.
“Sho-kun!
You activated the Byakugan!”
Sho smiled, though it was strained.
“I’ve been practicing a lot while I was recovering.”
“But you’ve never been able to activate it before!
Your chakra veins were too constricted-”
“I know.” He turned, his enhanced vision sweeping across the buildings around them.
“Things change.
I’m no longer the same.”
Kiba stared at him, his expression a mixture of surprise and confusion.
“Wait.
You couldn’t use the Byakugan before?
I thought all Hyugas could use it!”
“He was too sick for that,” Hinata explained quickly.
“His chakra pathways were blocked, so he was never able to use it, and every time he tried, he would end up bedridden with a high fever.
But now…”
“Now I can use it,” Sho finished.
“Not very well.
My range is limited.
But it’s enough for now.”
He turned back to the task at hand, his eyes scanning the buildings around them.
With both Hinata and himself searching, they could cover more ground.
“We need to split up,” Sho said.
“The core of the commercial district is roughly a thousand square feet.
If we cover different sections, we should be able to search everything in an hour.”
Kiba nodded.
“Akamaru and I will take the eastern side.
Hinata, you take the north.
Sho, you take the south.”
They agreed on a meeting point and dispersed.
Sho leaped onto the rooftops, his Byakugan sweeping across the buildings below him.
The southern section of the commercial district was filled with shops and apartment buildings, their interiors visible through his enhanced vision.
‘Fifteen feet.
Not much.
But enough to see through walls.’
He moved quickly, scanning each building as he passed.
His vision revealed the lives of the people inside…families eating breakfast, shopkeepers preparing their wares, children getting ready for school.
No sign of the man from the photograph.
‘Where are you?’
<><>
“Huff…this is exhausting.” Sho huffed.
A lot of time had passed, and the sun was now shining brightly in the sky.
‘How long do we have left?’ He could estimate that not much by now.
He was also getting tired of reactivating the Byakugan over and over.
His chakra reserves were not that high to begin with.
‘No, but…I need to keep trying.
I’m not giving up.’ The thought of disappointing Hinata was unbearable.
He was not going to let her fail.
Sho was about to move to the next building when something caught his attention.
On the balcony of the next building, there was a man sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper.
He was bald.
He had a short, neat beard.
He was wearing a grey suit.
Sho’s heart leaped.
‘That’s him!.
That’s the target.’
He glanced at the sky again, estimating the time.
It had to be close to eight in the morning.
There was no time to go find Hinata and Kiba.
He had to act now, or they would fail the test.
He quickly leaped onto the balcony, landing silently in front of the man.
“Found you!”
The man lowered his newspaper and smiled.
It was a calm, knowing smile.
“Yes, but you also failed.”
[System Warning: Optical Illusion Detected]
Sho’s eyes widened.
The man shimmered, his form dissolving into nothing.
‘A genjutsu?!’
“Oh, shi-”
Something cold pressed against his neck.
A kunai.
He could feel the blade’s edge against his skin.
“You’re dead.”
Kurenai’s voice was calm but threatening at the same time.
[Status Update – End of Chapter 25]
Name: Hyuga Shokuhi
Level: 6
Title: The Unbreakable / Protector of Konoha
Stats:
Strength: 6
Agility: 6
Vitality: 6
Perception: 10 (↑ from 6)
Chakra Capacity: 8 (↑ from 7)
Chakra Control: 8
Available Stat Points: 0
Status Effects:
Chakra Vein Constriction (Mild) – Permanent
Brittle Bones (Mild) – Permanent
Byakugan Inefficiency (Mild) – Permanent (Reduces Byakugan range by 50%)
Passive Skills:
Endurance: Intermediate (Level 1)
Shuriken Throw: Novice (Level 7)
Quick Learner – All skill experience gained is increased by 15%.
Active Skills:
Clone Technique: Novice (Level 7)
Transformation Technique: Novice (Level 8)
Substitution Technique: Novice (Level 8)
Gentle Fist: Novice (Level 9)
Desperate Strike
Byakugan: Novice (Level 1) – NEWLY UNLOCKED
System Functions:
Inventory – 10 Slots, 50 kg
Quests Active:
None
A.N: