Chapter 202: Red-haired Warrior
"Congratulations. From today onward, you are an official ninja."
It was a cold winter evening, with snowflakes fluttering down gently from the sky.
The wind howled through the air, biting cold against the skin yet the warmth of family banished the chill like sunlight melting ice.
Under the warm glow of the lanterns,
the Hyuga clan's dining room was filled with the rich aroma of freshly cooked delicacies.
Ryosuke and the others were already seated at their places, the air buzzing with cheer.
Tonight's feast was more extravagant than usual. Hinata had officially graduated from the Ninja Academy and become a full-fledged shinobi.
Yes, she had completed her "early graduation" two months before the academy's group assessment.
"Sis, you waited until now to submit your graduation application? Your classmates must hate you," Hanabi teased with a mischievous grin as she raised her glass.
There were only two criteria for early graduation:
being the top student in the grade, and passing the academy's special graduation exam.
In other words only one person could apply at a time.
Since Hinata hadn't applied earlier, the rest of her class had been stuck waiting. Without surpassing her, none of them could qualify for graduation.
Hinata didn't seem bothered. "They didn't have the ability to surpass me anyway," she replied coolly. "Even if they applied, the academy wouldn't approve them."
"From what I've observed, the ones who actually had the potential to graduate early have already done so.
The ones left behind simply don't have the strength to pass the assessment."
She paused. "Besides... I didn't have the time."
Hinata had originally planned to apply earlier in the year, following a reminder from her father, Hiashi.
But between training and missions, she had put it off until now.
Ryosuke chuckled, about to say something, but Hinata continued.
"No... Actually, there might be one person who could pass both the written and practical exams, Aburame Shino from the Aburame clan."
She seemed to recall him only now. "He's quiet, keeps to himself. No one really notices him in class, so he probably doesn't care about being first."
"If you and Naruto hadn't been hiding your real strength, I might not have noticed how skilled he really is. Even with my Byakugan, I almost missed it."
"The Aburame clan, huh..." Hiashi said thoughtfully.
"It's typical for them to keep a low profile. Their techniques involve insects, lethal ones at that.
It's only natural for others to keep their distance. Over time, their entire clan became withdrawn."
"Their true strength usually only surfaces in combat. Most people have no idea how dangerous they actually are."
Hinata's eyes lit up. "Their loyalty to Konoha isn't always obvious either. Some of them were in Anbu, others even joined Root.
Danzo once tried to recruit them…"
Hiashi shook his head. "Unlikely. The clan's isolation runs deep. I doubt we can rely on them."
"What a shame…" Hinata sighed. But then she brightened, "Still, I've been keeping an eye on a few candidates. Here"
"Hey!" Hanabi interrupted, clearly annoyed. "Can we not talk about work for once?"
"Yeah," Ryosuke agreed, setting his chopsticks down. "Every time we gather as a family, it ends up being about clan duties or missions."
Hinata and Hiashi exchanged glances, then chuckled.
"Fair enough," Hiashi relented. "Tonight is for celebration. No more work talk."
"I think I'll apply for early graduation too!" Hanabi announced proudly. "Ryosuke and Sis already did it. I'm not letting you two leave me behind!"
"But Hanabi," Hinata said slyly, "there's one little problem. You're not top of your class."
Hanabi pouted. "Only because theory class pulls me down! I don't get why a ninja needs to memorize scrolls and write essays…"
The winter wind slipped in through the small gaps between doors and windows, but it couldn't pierce the warmth filling the room.
They ate, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company a rare moment of peace in the life of a shinobi family.
Warm, comforting, and quietly beautiful.
---
Rustle, rustle
Under the cover of night,
deep in a dense forest not far from Daimyo Mansion, the capital of the Land of Fire, the snow-laden trees began to stir.
"Stop."
A cold, commanding voice broke the silence.
A figure emerged from between the trees, stepping into the pale moonlight.
He was cloaked in a thin black robe, his face hidden behind a mask, his identity completely concealed.
One by one, five more figures followed him, silent shadows that had been waiting in the darkness.
Despite the freezing snow, none of them shivered. They stood tall, dressed lightly, focused entirely on their mission.
"Old Cat."
The masked man turned toward the shortest among them. "Your chakra control has improved. Well done.
But we're about to enter a town, your human form will attract attention. Change back into your cat form. We can't afford delays."
"If we find nothing, we'll use this opportunity to continue honing our tracking techniques."
"Yes," replied the short man in black. His voice was hoarse but firm.
A moment later, his figure vanished into a puff of chakra, his robe collapsing into the snow.
From the heap of fabric, a gray kitten padded out, eyes sharp and alert.
While sealing away the discarded clothes, a young man stepped forward.
This was Hoshicai, captain of the Hyuga Clan's covert unit, the Starry Army.
He turned to his team and spoke firmly, "Everyone, change into civilian clothes. Use makeup to disguise your faces.
We're going into town."
This elite squad, huddled together in the middle of a snowy forest, was on a critical mission to track down and uncover the truth behind suspected alien invaders who had recently infiltrated the Land of Fire.
Unlike the Iroha Legion, Hoshicai didn't recruit many people for his own legion. Every member he selected was a trusted comrade, someone who had fought beside him and shared life-and-death moments.
Rather than relying on sheer numbers or strict formations, Hoshicai's approach leaned toward emotional trust. He valued comrades who could be relied upon in crises, friends who could entrust each other with their final wishes.
So, unless a candidate truly fit that mold, he had no plans to expand the legion hastily.
Soon, the five members excluding Old Cat changed into the outfits matching their cover identities and disguised themselves. They greeted one another with familiar ease and broke off into pairs as they stepped onto the main road.
Other than Old Cat, everyone in the group had experience on the battlefield. Although ninja rankings existed, raw combat ability and real-world experience weren't always tied to one's level. For a Chūnin, it wasn't just about strength, it was also about reputation and accumulated merit.
With light steps and short legs, the old cat leapt out of the thick snow and landed on Hoshicai's shoulder. Licking his paw, he asked in a hushed voice, "But… why don't we just use the Transformation Technique? Aren't we ninjas?"
They joined the official road only after the other travelers had passed ahead of them.
As the team leader, Hoshicai naturally had the responsibility of guiding Old Cat, a total rookie with zero mission experience.
"Not every ninja technique is suitable for every situation," Hoshicai replied calmly.
Disguised as an ordinary middle-aged woman, Hoshicai's fair skin and delicate features were completely concealed beneath makeup. Even his physique had been padded, giving no hint of his true form.
He explained patiently, "Transformation Techniques constantly drain chakra. To ensure we're in top condition when danger arises, we don't waste chakra on unnecessary techniques like that."
After a pause, he continued, "Besides, Transformation Techniques emit chakra signatures. An experienced ninja can see right through it. On the other hand, makeup changes your appearance and figure externally. It leaves no chakra trace making it far more practical in certain cases."
"Really…" the old cat muttered, nodding quietly.
As they progressed deeper along the road, the number of passersby increased. Even in the harsh cold of winter, people were still forced to travel to make a living.
There were all types on the road: wealthy merchants in ornate carriages, exhausted farmers hauling goods, even a few ninjas dashing past. Old Cat stayed quiet, unsure of what to say in such a bustling setting.
To avoid drawing attention, Hoshicai didn't rush. Instead, he kept a slow, deliberate pace beside the old cat, occasionally stopping at roadside tea stalls to rest and observe the crowd.
Among these faces… someone might be from another world.
This was already the third town they'd approached since leaving Konoha.
The first rumors about a person from another world came from a rundown village on the outskirts of the Land of Fire. Hoshicai and his team had visited it covertly and extracted information from the villagers using subtle genjutsu and hypnosis.
The story was simple: a group of wandering ninjas from the Land of Wind tried to loot the village but they were wiped out by a mysterious outsider.
Oddly, this person didn't use any ninjutsu. Not a single trace of chakra manipulation had been detected. Even the defeated ninjas reportedly died with disbelief etched across their faces, unable to comprehend how they'd lost to an "ordinary person."
A red-haired samurai with a missing arm.
That was the only concrete detail the villagers could provide.
There had been multiple wandering ninjas fleeing the Land of Wind, and a sudden massacre naturally caused a stir. Many witnessed the red-haired warrior in action.
Interestingly, the samurai never reported the incident to authorities, so the matter eventually fell into the hands of local village and town leaders.
After some investigation, the entire incident was quietly covered up.
The village chief and town officials ordered the townsfolk to never speak of the red-haired warrior, not to outsiders, and especially not to ninja.
That fact alone confirmed something important: the Land of Fire was aware of this red-haired samurai.
And yet, they deliberately chose not to share that information with Konoha.
The silence was deeply suspicious.
Hoshicai's group continued toward the City. As always, every new piece of intelligence was sent back to Konoha through secret channels and relayed to the clan.
But with no new orders from above, the mission remained unchanged: track the red-haired samurai.
Their pursuit now spanned across two towns.
One thing was certain the samurai's path began in the outer reaches of the Land of Fire and steadily moved inward, toward the nation's center. Hoshicai could only guess, but he suspected the final destination might be…
…the Daimyo's residence.
If that were the case, then two possibilities emerged:
Had this man from another world kidnapped key nobles and infiltrated the very seat of power in an attempt to bring down their world?
Or had the Daimyo himself recruited this outsider?
If it was the former, then the samurai was a serious threat.
But if it was the latter, the motives of the Daimyo and his court were far more troubling.
Lost in thought, Hoshicai soon found himself standing before the gates of a medium-sized city.
Ordinary guards patrolled the entrance, inspecting travelers one by one but no entry fees were collected.
Above the gate were three bold characters:
Saki Castle.
The character "Saki" was named after a revered official from Land of Fire history, a man loved by the people.
The Land of Fire's history ran far deeper than that of Konoha. It dated back to the era before the Warring States, when samurai and commoners alike still held influence on the battlefield.
Unlike the scattered small villages, the cities of the Land of Fire were constructed and named with deliberate symbolism.
The closer one got to the heart of the country, the grander the cities became and the higher their walls stood.
A city named after an official who once served as the Shogun could only mean one thing.
Beyond Saki Castle lay the final stop:
Daimyo Mansion.
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