(There's a little bit of a mess with the chapter numbers, just ignore it)
The Uchiha Yuan squad carefully advanced. When they reached about 300 meters from the presence, Hyuga Asana said, "They're our allies."
Hearing this, Yamanaka Kagetsu let out a breath of relief and put away his kunai.
The three continued forward, passed through a small patch of forest, and arrived at the group's location.
On a flat clearing, a campfire was set up, and seven people sat around it.
Of the seven, six were kids about their age. The only adult, with short golden hair and a warm smile, was someone they had previously met—Namikaze Minato.
"Huh? Yuan? What are you doing here?" A bowl-cut youth in a green jumpsuit ran up excitedly.
"You dummy, we're heading back to take the Chunin Exams. Yuan graduated with us—they're probably also headed back for the exams," said a boy chewing on a senbon.
"That so? Then Yuan, we've gotta have a fiery match this time!"
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. The three of us don't need to take the Chunin Exams," Uchiha Yuan said with a smile.
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because we've completed a lot of high-ranking missions, we can skip the exam and promote directly," Kagetsu said smugly.
"Honestly, Kagetsu, I envy you. Two strong teammates, and you get promoted while lying down. Unlike us—we still have to take the exam," said Shiranui Genma, turning toward him.
Kagetsu quickly protested: "Who said I got promoted lying down? I contribute a lot to our squad! Yuan, Asana, right?"
Yuan and Asana shared a smile and nodded together.
"See that! My teammates acknowledge me!" Kagetsu puffed up. "You guys—"
"All right, Kagetsu. Let's greet Lord Minato first," Yuan interrupted, and the three walked toward Namikaze Minato.
"Hello, Lord Minato! Nice to see you again," Yuan greeted respectfully.
Minato smiled. "No need to be so formal. I'm good friends with Shibi-senpai. Since you're his subordinates, there's no need for honorifics.
Especially you, Asana—you're Orochimaru's disciple. My teacher and Orochimaru were both students of the Third Hokage. That makes us peers. Honorifics would be strange."
"Then how about calling you Minato-senpai?" Asana asked.
Minato nodded in agreement.
"Minato-senpai, are you leading your team back for the Chunin Exams?" Yuan asked.
"Yes. Rin and Obito have matured a lot over the year—it's time for them to be promoted. As for Kakashi, he's already a Chunin. With another year of refinement, he should be able to make Jonin."
Kagetsu was surprised. Kakashi and Obito were the same age—both a year younger than their group, meaning they were 11 this year. So Kakashi could become a Jonin at 12?
That's incredible. No one in the village had ever become a Jonin at 12 before, right?
Despite the shock, Kagetsu didn't show it. He had matured a lot over the year.
Besides, becoming a Jonin wasn't everything. His two teammates—one could face off against a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and the other could defeat a standard Jonin. Kakashi might not even win against one.
"Yuan, I heard your team was very active on the Bear Country front. Didn't you stall one of the Seven Swordsmen—Kuriarare Raiga?" Minato asked with a smile.
"You're overpraising me, Minato-senpai. I was just lucky that time," Yuan answered modestly.
"I don't think so. If it were any of the other swordsmen, you might argue it was luck, but stalling Kuriarare Raiga takes real skill.
His blade—Thunder Blade: Kiba—conducts lightning chakra. To use it effectively, you need excellent Lightning Release control. Lightning users are generally fast.
To stall such an opponent, you either need to be faster or significantly stronger."
After hearing this, Kakashi glanced at Yuan.
Yuan smiled. "Then I must have been faster."
"Ah, so you're good at Body Flicker Technique?" Minato asked.
Yuan nodded.
"I specialize in Body Flicker too. Let's compare techniques sometime."
"Sure! I've been eager to see your Flying Thunder God Technique in action."
Since they ran into Minato and Guy's teams, and everyone was heading back to the village, Yuan's team joined them. They rested that night and planned to depart together in the morning.
At the same time, back at the Bear Country camp, Orochimaru and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were inspecting the corpse of the deceased Hyuga main branch member.
The body had been found the previous night, but neither Orochimaru nor the trio knew how to handle the situation.
After all, it was a main family member of the Hyuga clan, and his Byakugan was missing.
"Orochimaru-sama, have the three shinobi assigned to protect him been located?" Akimichi Chōza asked.
"No. I've sent everyone I can, but there's been no trace."
Everyone fell silent at his answer.
After a while, Orochimaru said, "Inoichi, use your Yamanaka clan technique to read his memories."
Yamanaka Inoichi hesitated, and Nara Shikaku immediately objected:"Orochimaru-sama, this might not be appropriate. Hyuga main branch members hold many clan secrets. Probing his mind might offend the Hyuga clan."
"If they have a problem, I'll take responsibility. What matters now is figuring out how he died and what happened to his Byakugan.
If we don't investigate and the eye ends up being used by the enemy to turn the tide of war, that would be a disaster.
We've only just stabilized the Bear Country front. Lord Hiruzen and the village council definitely don't want that undone."
Nara Shikaku was silent for a while, then turned to Inoichi and said,"Inoichi, do it. Orochimaru-sama is right. Finding that Byakugan is the priority."
Since the Yamanaka clan always made the final decision among the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Inoichi began reading the Hyuga's memories without hesitation.
(To Be Continued...)