"Good choice..." said the Fourth Raikage as he saw the young Hyuga girl taking a step forward.
The man stared at the young Hyuga's companions, who seemed about to stop her, but a glance from him stopped them.
Of course, things weren't that simple.
Although his body did not move, the chakra within his body exploded and together with his murderous intent generated a momentum that made Team 8 pale.
Similar to a Genjutsu, Team 8 seemed to have been trapped in a sea of blood.
But it really wasn't a Genjutsu. Kurenai could assure you of that.
But the murderous intentions were so powerful that their minds made them think they were about to die.
Kurenai, Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru gritted their teeth when they felt they were facing a predator ready to devour them.
Their bodies felt heavy, as if the sea of blood around them was real and threatened to squeeze their bodies until they were crushed.
They were certain that the enemy would kill them if they moved or did anything to stop Hinata.
'Were they really going to let them take Hinata away just like that?'
Team 8 felt terrible.
Their partner was about to be kidnapped and was heading towards a tragic future, and they could do nothing to stop it.
Even if they died, they preferred not to abandon Hinata, but no matter how much they wanted to move, their bodies would not obey them.
They could only see Hinata's back as she began to move forward again.
Previously, Hinata had also picked up on some of the enemy's murderous intentions, and her body trembled slightly as she stopped.
But despite being afraid, the young woman also strengthened her decision to sacrifice herself to save her friends.
The young woman quickly began to move again, and when she reached the end of the roof of the building where she was standing, she sighed and jumped.
With a single jump, the young woman reached the building where the enemy was standing.
Hinata glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
Besides her dark skin and blond hair, the feature that caught the enemy's attention were the 2 large golden wristbands on her arms.
While Hinata looked at him, A also looked at the young woman and smiled upon confirming that there did not appear to be any disguise on the young woman's forehead.
The seal of the caged bird had disappeared.
"You've made a good choice"
"I give you my word that I will fulfill what I promised you, your friends will be fine."
"I promise you and your friends will have a pleasant life in my village."
A's words sounded like thunder in Hinata's ears.
"You... you... promised you would let my comrades go..." Hinata protested in a low voice while stuttering, but only received a smile from the enemy.
"I promised that your companions would keep their lives."
"And they will do it in my village"
"As long as you cooperate, your colleagues will have a decent life."
A's voice, though no longer amplified by chakra, reached everyone's ears in the place, earning the mockery of the other ninjas from the cloud village at the same time as the hopeless gaze of team 8.
If they were taken prisoner, how would they escape and save Hinata?
They would still have hope if they could return to the village to get reinforcements to save their companion, but if they were taken captive, their chances would be nil because the enemy would make sure to seal their chakra reserves.
Even if the enemy kept their word and let them live, they could break their limbs to prevent them from escaping or causing trouble.
What kind of life would they live?
Hinata was also pale.
The young woman gave the enemy a betrayal look, who scoffed and shook his head.
"I give you my word that you and your companions will be fine," the man said as his hands went to his waist, thinking that the weight of the wristbands had become too light and that he should increase his weight when he returned to his cloud village.
"As long as you don't cause any trouble, you and your colleagues will have a decent life."
"Now tell me..."
"How did you get rid of the caged bird stamp?"
'So that's their goal...'
While Hinata suddenly found herself in a dilemma, Kurenai, her teacher, overheard everything from a distance and knew what had drawn the Cloud Village here.
Although the Cloud Village desired the Byakugan, they had wondered why the Fourth Raikage himself appeared in person.
The enemies had not yet been identified, but the man's presence already made his identity clear and risked an international problem, not to mention the danger of appearing so deep inside enemy territory.
But if it was all because of the secret of the solution to the caged bird seal, it all made sense.
Why settle for just one Hyuga when they could kidnap more members of the same clan?
With the secret of the solution to the caged bird seal, the Cloud Village will be able to kidnap more members of the Hyuga clan's branch family without worrying about them being killed by the seals on their foreheads.
Just as Kurenai came to that conclusion, Hinata did too and found herself in a dilemma.
Although he wanted to save his companions, could he do so at the expense of others?
He would not only be endangering his clanmates, but also the young owner of that shop.
Although that young man seemed strong, will he be able to defend himself against these enemies?
Although the young woman still didn't know who they were, with her Byakugan she could see the enormous amount of chakra that the man in front of her possessed, so she knew they were not an easy group.
The enemy must belong to another large village, and that young man will not be able to escape them.
"...I...I can't tell you..." the young woman said in a low voice.
She knew the danger many people would face if she spoke out, so she didn't want to tell the truth.
But what Hinata wanted didn't matter here
"I don't think you understand your position," A said while shaking his head.
The young woman was meters away from him and now she couldn't escape.
"I promised that your companions will keep their lives..." A said and remained silent for a second before his face turned serious.
"But losing an arm or a leg won't stop them from continuing with their normal lives..."
The clear threat hung in the air, and Hinata grew anxious as she could not find a way out of this dilemma.
On one side were his teammates, and on the other side were his clanmates and that young man who gave him back his freedom.
A freedom she knew she wouldn't be able to enjoy for long, but it was more than she could ever have hoped for.
The young woman didn't know how to repay that favor, and now she had to repay it with betrayal?
The young Hyuga thought for a moment that it would be better to die, but her teammates still depended on her and she didn't dare just leave them like that.
I really didn't know what to do.
"Hurry up, I don't have that much time," said A, tired of waiting.
"If you don't tell me how you freed yourself from the seal of the caged bird..." - but A's words stopped as he turned his gaze and stared into the distance.
And the Fourth Raikage wasn't the only one to look in that direction; Hinata herself looked in that direction with a stunned expression.
The young woman had her Byakugan activated and was able to see the figure that appeared in her field of vision.
The young woman was surprised not only because the figure appeared out of nowhere within her range of perception, but also because she recognized the figure.
The sudden movement of the Fourth Raikage and Hinata caught the attention of the others.
Team 8 followed their gaze and turned to look behind them, along with the ninjas in the surrounding area.
They all looked to the back of the battlefield and there they saw a person.
This person was standing atop the tallest building in the area, their figure illuminated by the moonlight.
The cloud ninjas were confused by the identity of this person who appeared out of nowhere.
But Team 8 recognized him immediately.
"It's you!" Kiba shouted as he pointed at Kozue.
"¡Guau!" - Ladro Turkeymaru
Shino hid his surprise behind his usually serious face, but Kurenai quickly reacted.
"Run and tell the Leaf Village that the Cloud Village attacked us!"
Although Kurenai didn't know why the young man appeared at this moment, the woman had no time to think about anything other than asking him to run and spread the information.
Furthermore, his screams were also intended to reveal the enemy's identity so that everyone nearby could hear it.