From the beginning, he only had the illusion of choice. He had no idea how Saul had figured out his identity, but the man was right. Any hostile confrontation would only lead to his demise. He wasn't innocent. He had even collaborated with Orochimaru to infiltrate Konoha today.
Shinno frowned. "No matter what, I cannot teach you anything if you do not have the talent for it."
"That's none of my concern. If I fail to learn it I'll just assume you have just taught me the wrong thing."
...Was this even worth the trouble? Shinno didn't even know if the information Saul held was what he was looking for!
"I want to see the scrolls before I give you anything."
Saul showed him one of the scrolls. Shinno tried to grab it from his hands, but it didn't budge.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Look at the title. Obviously I'm not going to show you the whole scroll outright, would I?"
*Tch*
Shinno glanced through the titles of the scrolls Saul collected from the Hospital. Among them was the Siphoning technique. Shit!
"Alright then. I'll teach you the regeneration technique, but in return I want to take all of those scrolls."
Saul smiled. This old man wasn't telling him any more information than he already knew.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you then, Shinno."
The old man frowned. "I'll stay in the village for now. You can learn it from me openly. But if you go back on your word and double-cross me after I've taught you the technique, I'll expose you to Konoha."
"Do you really think Konoha will believe your words, those of a spy?"
Shinno gave a toothy grin, "How naive. If you actually believe that matters, then you do not understand how major villages operate. Even if they don't 'believe' me, the suspicion will forever remain. You will be under heavy scrutiny for the rest of your life. Could a man like you really endure such scrutiny?"
Saul frowned this time. "Well, it's lucky for both of us that I don't intend on going back on my word. These scrolls have no value to me. Don't worry, if you fully teach me the regeneration technique you possess then I will give you the scrolls."
Shinno did not feel good after being blackmailed into this uneasy cooperation, but it was better than being outright exposed. He would take great pleasure when he revived the Zero tails and razed this ignorant young man, along with his entire accursed village, to the ground.
He forced a smile. "To a happy cooperation, then." Shinno held out his hand.
Saul took his hand and shook it, "To a happy cooperation."
They both walked together, in all smiles, while plotting the other's demise.
Saul left the hospital shortly afterward, citing lack of chakra as an excuse. Hinata followed directly after him, a skip in her step.
"Saul-kun~"
"Yes, Hinata?"
"What were you talking about with that suspicious guy, Shinno? He... It looked like he threatened you."
As he had confirmed earlier when Yakumo was talking with Temari, Hinata could not read lips with her Byakugan. Obviously she could still see things like reactions, sweat, the like, but the Byakugan wasn't invincible. The perception granted by it covered an area so vast that the human mind just simply could not perceive all the information it granted at once.
The Byakugan had two areas of perception that were not completely peripheral. Centered directly around its user and wherever the user was focused on within the Byakugan's range. The user could 'magnify' this secondary area or 'zoom out' at will, but the human mind could still only process a certain amount of detail at once. Zooming out would result in observing less detail, magnifying it would increase what one saw at the cost of decreasing the area at which they perceived.
This is why Saul felt safe to do what he did with Temari. For one, even if Hinata had discovered it (she hadn't, he would have known by this point), she was far away within the forest and her area of focus was Shukaku + Gaara. She'd have to actively look for him, which would take away valuable focus from the fight. It would be foolish to do such a thing.
Even if he was discovered... Temari was an enemy ninja. He had already confirmed the ridiculous amount of detachment she seemed to have towards Ninja who weren't a part of the village in their first mission. This was a natural byproduct of her Shinobi training. Combined with the standards he had already established with Yakumo and then Sakura, Hinata was a frog being boiled in a pot of water. Even if the temperature increased a little bit, she wouldn't feel it much because she was already 'used' to it.
While Hinata was on standby within the Hospital however, her secondary area of focus was almost certainly on him. This was not a cause for concern however. No matter what he talked about Shinno, she wouldn't be able to accurately interpret what he was saying with her sight alone. This was not an issue with the Byakugan's perception, this was merely because Hinata had not trained to do such a thing.
Body language was still a factor though. The fact that they had a 'hostile' interaction, combined with Saul taking the scrolls and storing them in his back pocket, could not be hidden. However these set of facts could be twisted to mean anything. The real problem was that Hinata would know when he was lying to her.
"Actually Hinata, I was going to ask you about this. Can you please watch over Shinno while he stays here, in Konoha?"
"Why?"
"The situation is a little complex. I'm certain he's a spy."
Hinata's eyes hardened. "Then let's kill him."
"Not yet, Hinata."
"Why not?"
"Because he knows something of value. I'm trying to learn a regeneration technique from him that will allow me to save my life when it's in danger."
"I see. So it's important he stays alive, then..."
Saul smiled. Her loyalty to the village had almost certainly eroded if she weighed his importance above Konoha's so easily. Saul decided to test the waters a little more.
"You're the best Hinata. I knew you would understand. You see, the only thing he wants is these worthless old scrolls from the hospital."
"B-but those aren't yours, Saul-kun."
"I know."
"T-that's..."
"That's what?"
Hinata pouted. Saul sighed.
"I know Hinata. But scrolls are just information. I can just write copies for him and no one will know. It's not like anyone is being harmed by something like this, right?"
"N-no."
"And say now I don't get this kind of life saving technique. What if I die because I never decided to take this opportunity?"
"..."
Hinata didn't respond, but she was still obedient. She formed a clone like he had asked, and sent it to watch over Shinno. Then, they continued their walk along the road to their home in silence. Hinata felt that Saul-kun was doing something wrong, but she didn't know how to properly point out what. Maybe he was right? Maybe she was just being stupid?
After a while, Saul stopped abruptly. Hinata could instantly tell he was upset. It was her fault. He turned and started walking the other way.
"S-Saul-kun! Wait! I'm sorry!"
"It's ok Hinata. I understand." He continued walking.
Hinata quickly caught up to him. "W-where are you going?"
"I'm going to return the scrolls right now and expose Shinno as a spy. Just like you want."
"W-wait, no! Saul-kun, you don't have to!"
"No Hinata, I get it. To you these silly scrolls are worth more than my life."
"They're not! They're not... Please..."
Hinata looked at him like she was about to cry.
"I was wrong, Saul-kun. I'm just so stupid... I don't understand anything..."
At that moment Saul finally started showing her affection again, patting her head and bringing her into his arms. She felt much better like this.
"I get it, Hinata. But please, remember that I have our best interests at heart, always. If I've made a decision, it's because I truly believe it's the best option. You're the only person in Konoha that I'd trust with my life. Can you trust me, too?"
"I-I trust you with my life, too! I promise..."
Saul was silent for a while. Then he just smiled sadly.
"Don't worry, I believe you, Hinata."
He was lying. Oh no... He was lying!!! How could she have betrayed him like this???
Hinata grabbed onto his arm and kept him close. After the Chunin exams, all she could think about was finally having a child with this man. She was free to choose the life she wanted, after all. But after screwing up like this... Was she even worthy?
Author's Note: We're back to 1 chap a day btw (unless more people subscribe), since earlier I promised for the rest of the Chunin exams I'd be doing 2 a day. I still remember I promised an extra ch day though, so I'll do that one of these days when I'm not feeling burnt out. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter though! Saul's still in the process of converting Hinata to the dark side, but every day he makes progress XD
Also Saul asked Hinata to keep watch on Shinno for another reason. He doesn't actually know if he has one of the scrolls that Shinno needs. The old man was very vague, and he would make this deal regardless of whether or not Saul had the correct scroll in order to buy time. If he didn't agree, Saul would have exposed him right there after all.
Hinata's surveillance will be key towards Saul's interactions with Shinno. The plan is simple. If he tries to escape during the night - Saul will have no choice but to try and force Shinno to give up the techniques with Genjutsu. If Shino remains within Konoha but searches various places, Saul will know that he doesn't actually have the leverage he thinks he has, and may pressure Shinno more when learning the regeneration technique.
Of course you all know he actually does have the leverage - but Saul isn't sure. So this is why he's being so cautious.