Chapter 104: Worried Hinata

Suddenly!

Several dozen meters away, Hinata, who was guarding Tazuna, issued a warning.

"Watch out!"

At the same time—

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two sounds of something slicing through the air rang out.

Hearing the warning and sensing the movement, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke quickly turned around.

Two senbon shot toward them at high speed.

’They’re not targeting us.’

The instant this thought crossed their minds, they quickly followed the trajectory of the senbon and turned their heads.

Thud! Thud!

Two sprays of blood bloomed.

The two senbon had pierced Zabuza’s neck as he lay on the ground!

The three of them then looked toward a large tree not far away.

A masked shinobi was standing on one of its branches. The symbol of the Mist Village was clearly engraved on the forehead of his mask.

Naruto’s heart stirred.

’Is that the girl from earlier? Wait, she’s actually a guy?’

Kakashi, however, secretly thought,

’A Mist ANBU?’

He then quickly went to Zabuza’s side and crouched down, placing two fingers against the artery in Zabuza’s neck.

After sensing for a moment, his pupils contracted slightly.

He murmured softly,

"He’s dead..."

Hearing this, Naruto also pretended to examine Zabuza’s corpse.

Secretly, he left a Flying Thunder God mark on it.

Kakashi, unaware of what Naruto had done, stood up and looked at the Mist ANBU on the tree.

The Mist ANBU gave Kakashi a slight bow.

"Thank you very much. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to kill Momochi Zabuza."

Noticing the Mist symbol on the other shinobi’s mask, Kakashi’s heart stirred.

"You’re an ANBU pursuing Zabuza?"

The bowing Mist shinobi straightened up and looked at Kakashi.

"As expected of the Copy Ninja Kakashi. I am a Mist ANBU tasked with hunting down missing-nin. Momochi Zabuza was my target.

"As a former ANBU of the Mist, he knows far too many of our village’s secrets. Could you hand his body over to me?"

After a moment of thought, Kakashi nodded.

"Sure."

This was an unspoken understanding between the major hidden villages.

When a shinobi killed someone who wasn’t their mission target and the village ANBU responsible for the corpse discovered them, they generally wouldn’t forcibly take the corpse of another village’s shinobi away.

This was especially true for a former ANBU whose identity was particularly sensitive.

Taking the body by force could easily be interpreted as an attempt to extract information from the corpse.

To prevent information from leaking through the corpse, if negotiations failed, the Mist shinobi would certainly send more ANBU to intercept them.

When shinobi were carrying out missions outside their village, the mission always came first.

Kakashi didn’t want to create unnecessary complications either.

The Mist ANBU bowed slightly again.

"Thank you."

After expressing his gratitude, the Mist ANBU formed a hand seal and used the Body Flicker Technique, instantly appearing beside Zabuza.

He draped Zabuza’s arm over his shoulder and lifted him up.

The Mist ANBU glanced at Naruto before turning to Kakashi.

"Could you also return the Executioner’s Blade to us?"

Hearing this, Kakashi frowned slightly and gave Naruto a difficult glance.

Naruto had seemed obedient during this period.

But Kakashi had read Naruto’s records from childhood onward.

When Naruto became stubborn, the only people who could actually persuade him were the Hokage and Uchiha Izumi.

As his teacher, Kakashi really had no way to convince Naruto.

He sighed inwardly and decided not to say anything.

He simply kept a wary eye on the Mist ANBU.

If Naruto refused to hand over the sword and the ANBU kept talking nonsense, Kakashi would simply leave him here as well.

Naruto directly held the Executioner’s Blade horizontally in front of his chest.

He gestured toward it before speaking.

"You can try coming over to take it."

The Mist ANBU frowned.

"You want to provoke a conflict between the two hidden villages..."

Before he could finish speaking, a powerful gust of wind swept past.

The blade of the Executioner’s Blade rapidly expanded in his field of vision before suddenly stopping directly in front of his mask.

Cold sweat appeared on the Mist ANBU’s forehead.

If the blade had moved just a few more centimeters forward, he would probably have been split in half.

Naruto sneered.

"If you don’t leave, you two are staying here as well."

The Mist ANBU’s heart tightened.

’What does he mean? Did he see through us? If so, why is he letting us leave?’

He had no idea whether Naruto had noticed something.

He didn’t dare say anything else.

After giving a slight nod, he used the Body Flicker Technique and quickly left with Zabuza.

Seeing this, Naruto put away the Executioner’s Blade.

Sasuke walked over to Naruto and glanced at the massive sword.

"What do you want this sword for?"

Naruto casually tossed the Executioner’s Blade toward Sasuke.

Sasuke instinctively caught it and stared blankly at Naruto.

Naruto had already turned around and was walking toward Hinata.

He waved his hand without looking back.

"It’s yours."

Sasuke lowered his head and looked at the Executioner’s Blade in his hands.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

This Executioner’s Blade was far too bulky.

It wasn’t cool at all.

Sasuke didn’t want it in the slightest.

That afternoon.

Team 7 arrived at the Land of Waves bridge, which was only half-completed and had been abandoned for a long time.

Tazuna gathered the citizens of the Land of Waves and quickly resumed construction.

Under Kakashi’s arrangements, Team 7 was responsible for patrolling the surrounding area and maintaining security.

During this time, they also received occasional guidance from Kakashi.

One night.

Outside a house beneath the bridge, Naruto was chatting with Hinata.

After roughly calculating the time, Naruto stood up and turned to Hinata.

"It’s about time, Hinata. Go back and get some rest."

To guard against Kado sending more shinobi after them,

and to guard against the Mist sending ANBU to retrieve the Executioner’s Blade,

Kakashi had arranged for them to take turns standing night watch and patrolling the bridge under construction.

Tonight was Naruto’s turn.

Hinata, who had been sitting on the ground, stood up as well.

"Naruto-kun, I’ll stay with you. Having me here will make it less tiring."

Her Byakugan and its 360-degree field of vision would be convenient.

Naruto rubbed Hinata’s head.

"No need. I can handle it alone. Go get some rest."

With that, he gently nudged Hinata toward the house.

Something stirred in Hinata’s heart.

A trace of worry appeared deep within her eyes.

"Then... Naruto, be careful. Make sure you stay safe."

Naruto smiled.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. Go back."

"Okay."

Hinata softly acknowledged him.

After watching Hinata enter the house, Naruto immediately leaped into the air.

Using the bridge for leverage, he made several jumps and landed on the bridge deck.

After wandering around for a while, Naruto formed a hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Poof!

A cloud of smoke appeared, revealing a Shadow Clone.

Naruto and his clone looked at each other and nodded.

Then Naruto’s true body activated the Flying Thunder God and disappeared from the spot.

The Shadow Clone continued patrolling as though nothing had happened.

Meanwhile.

Inside the house, the veins around Hinata’s eyes bulged slightly.

She murmured softly,

"Naruto..."

This wasn’t the first time she had seen this.

How many times had it been?

Hinata had already lost count.

Had the first time been when she was seven?

Or eight?

She couldn’t remember anymore.

The Byakugan couldn’t see through a Shadow Clone, but her powerful perception allowed her to distinguish between the Body Flicker Technique and a Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Naruto’s true body hadn’t disappeared using the Body Flicker Technique.

It was a Space-Time Ninjutsu.

She remembered back at the Ninja Academy.

Whenever Naruto finished using the restroom or left the classroom for a while and returned, he would usually stop his affectionate behavior during class.

Naruto loved teasing her and Ino by playing with their hands during class, but after returning from somewhere, he would basically never do those intimate little gestures again.

The people closest to you were always the ones most familiar with you.

Especially someone like Hinata, who spent most of her attention on Naruto every day.

Even the slightest changes were exceptionally obvious in her eyes.

Once, back at the Ninja Academy, Hinata had activated her Byakugan and witnessed a scene just like the one tonight.

The Flying Thunder God.

Hinata could roughly guess that this was the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Back then, a shinobi had used the Flying Thunder God to assassinate a Kumogakure envoy.

As a result, eighty percent of the Hyuga clan’s shinobi had been sent to the battlefield.

That was why Hinata knew what the Flying Thunder God Technique was.

But Hinata didn’t dare ask.

Nor did she want to ask.

After that, whenever Naruto went somewhere, Hinata couldn’t help secretly observing him.

Every time she saw Naruto leave behind a Shadow Clone and disappear, she couldn’t help worrying.

Only when Naruto once again displayed those affectionate little gestures toward her would Hinata finally relax.

That was the only way she could determine whether the Naruto beside her was a Shadow Clone.

It was also the only way she could determine whether Naruto had safely returned.

And Naruto, who had never been on guard against Hinata, still had no idea that his secret had already been exposed.

Now, with worry filling her heart, Hinata was destined for another sleepless night.

to read 50plus advance Chapters join my patreon Ph4nt0mTL