To prevent the captain from missing the key points of communicating with Shisui, Inaba Hyuga took the initiative to speak up.
“Yes, our mission is extremely important!
If successful, we’ll have a chance to completely rewrite the course of this war—it might even allow us to drive Kirigakure out of the Land of Fire entirely!
So moving forward, you must follow orders strictly.
Everything is for the village!” Emphasizing the importance of the mission while keeping the phrase “for the village” on his lips completely ignited Shisui’s fighting spirit!
At the same time, out of caution, Inaba Hyuga did not reveal the specific details of the mission to them yet.
He intended to lead them near the coastline first.
Once deep behind enemy lines and surrounded on all sides, even if the Uchiha wanted to back out, there would be no retreat left.
They would have to follow them down this road to the very end!
In a single brief statement, he had hidden no fewer than eight hundred calculations!
The poor Uchiha prodigy was being played completely in the palm of Inaba Hyuga’s hand.
“Understood, Senior!
Thank you for trusting us!” Shisui even thanked him.
Beside him, Kou Uchiha’s expression had completely surrendered to fate.
Fine, whatever.
What else could he do?
He could only choose to go along with it…
Once they agreed to move together, the efficiency of trained shinobi manifested immediately.
They quickly split up to sweep the battlefield, erasing most traces of the combat.
They were very close to Kirigakure’s core occupied territory now, so utmost caution was required in everything they did.
After cleaning up the site, they departed rapidly, choosing a different location to pitch camp and rest.
Both Inaba Hyuga’s squad and the Uchiha squad had endured an entire day of hard travel and intense combat, making it unwise to continue marching through the night.
After settling down, they built a campfire hidden behind a wind-sheltered slope to rest.
As a scout ninja, Inaba Hyuga once again took the first watch without complaint.
Sitting at the crest of the slope, he scanned the surrounding area for potential danger while simultaneously taking stock of his gains from the previous battle.
Compared to others, his harvest after a hard battle was always far greater.
In the lower-left corner of his vision, a stream of information visible only to him flashed continuously: [Gained EXP—] [Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (69)] [Chakra Nature: Water (208), Chakra Nature: Lightning (188)] [Weapon Mastery: Katana (131), Basic Taijutsu Mastery (126), Gentle Fist: Tenketsu (151)] Combat, much like dedicated training, yielded experience points for him.
Engaging a powerful foe and emerging victorious often rewarded him with a substantial chunk of experience all at once.
This was the real reason he always charged at the forefront during battles.
If not for the experience points, given his cautious…
well, cowardly nature, he would never voluntarily seek out powerful enemies to fight.
The experience gained from battle generally corresponded to the abilities used by both sides during the engagement.
Since his opponent in the previous fight had primarily relied on Water Style Ninjutsu, the largest experience boost Inaba received was in Chakra Nature: Water.
Following that were his own Lightning Style and katana techniques.
He had also gained over one hundred points in Gentle Fist this time, which was mainly thanks to his final blow, where he used a tenketsu strike to shatter the Kirigakure ninja’s heart chakra pathway.
Inaba did not practice Gentle Fist often, but that did not mean he was unskilled in it.
With a flawless Byakugan capable of seeing through the target’s chakra flow down to the finest detail, executing tenketsu strikes presented no difficulty whatsoever.
Besides, that Kirigakure ninja had been far too careless, leaving himself completely exposed.
Leaving such an open posture unpunished would have felt like a sin to Inaba.
“At this rate, the Byakugan only needs 34 more experience points to reach max level for its current tier.
I wonder what new changes will occur after this advancement,” he murmured softly to himself while looking at his interface panel.
In their current perilous situation, only the steady growth of his strength could bring him a sense of security.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
“What are you muttering to yourself over here all alone?” Inaba Hyuga was nearly startled out of his skin.
Turning around, he saw little Anko quietly crawling up the slope.
Did this girl do that on purpose?
If she had not deliberately concealed her movements, he would have noticed her long ago.
Seeing his startled reaction, Anko put her hands on her hips with a triumphant look.
“Looks like your scouting isn’t completely flawless after all.
Didn’t I still manage to scare you?” Inaba Hyuga twitched his lips helplessly and defended himself, “I just wasn’t guarding against the direction down the slope.” Who would expect a teammate to sneak up from the resting area just to jump scare him?
“Hmph~ Don’t make excuses!
Little Brother Hyuga, you still have a lot to learn.
Be humble in front of your senior~” “…So why did you come up here instead of sleeping in the middle of the night?
It’s not your turn for watch yet, is it?” Anko shifted her gaze awkwardly to the side.
“I…
I just came up to check on you!
Isn’t your shoulder injured?
I came to ask if you need medical treatment…
T-This is my responsibility as a senior in the squad!” Inaba Hyuga stared at Anko for a long moment before bursting into a quiet chuckle.
Where did this little girl learn to be so tsundere?
She was completely dishonest with her feelings.
If she had not brought it up, he would have almost forgotten he was wounded.
“It’s fine now.
Did you forget I know medical Ninjutsu as well?” “Really?” Anko leaned in and pulled aside the vest at his shoulder, only to find that the puncture wound inflicted by the Kirigakure ninja’s kunai was already mostly healed.
This left Anko feeling a bit deflated.
“How are you even good at medical Ninjutsu?” Inaba Hyuga found it amusing and patted the head of this little “senior” who felt her dignity slipping away.
“You became Orochimaru’s student shortly after graduation, so it’s probably hard for you to imagine how difficult it is for an ordinary ninja to learn a new Ninjutsu.
That’s why I train any Ninjutsu I get my hands on to its absolute limit, and medical Ninjutsu is no exception.” Hearing Inaba Hyuga’s explanation, little Anko raised her head in confusion.
“But aren’t you from the Hyuga Clan?” Inaba Hyuga smiled faintly.
“A Branch House member of a prestigious clan is sometimes no different from a civilian ninja.” *Especially when you refuse to bow down to the Head House,* he added silently in his heart.
Anko tilted her head in half-comprehension, looking surprisingly cute.
At this moment, she was likely incapable of understanding Inaba Hyuga’s feelings.
Perhaps only the Anko from the original timeline during the Chunin Exams—who had experienced her master’s betrayal and fallen face-first from the clouds to the dirt overnight—could truly understand how cruel this Ninja World was to those without elite bloodlines or powerful teachers!
Bloodlines and destiny were the two most terrifying masterminds operating behind the scenes in this Ninja World!
However, Inaba Hyuga did not yet possess the strength to challenge those masterminds head-on.
For now, he simply wanted to survive…
“Go back to rest first, Anko.
There will be even more dangerous battles waiting for us tomorrow.” After shooing the dishonest little girl back to rest, Inaba Hyuga continued his solitary watch in the silence of the night.
Eventually, late into the night, Captain Tomoe came up to relieve him.
Then dawn broke.
Today, their mission would continue!