"What is going on? Where is my Fugaku?"
At the same time, two figures arrived in an instant, appearing before everyone.
"The Clan Heads of the Uchiha and Hyuga!"
Dan Katō recognized the two men and walked over to bow.
"Gentlemen, there are many members of both the Uchiha and Hyuga clans inside the forest. I fear they are being held hostage by Sand ninja. We are currently discussing how to rescue them."
"What?"
"Damn Sand ninja! If anything happens to my Fugaku, I will definitely not spare them."
Tsunade glanced at the two men, then, acting on impulse, she broke past the Hidden Leaf guards and rushed into the forest.
"Lady Tsunade, you can't..."
Dan Katō wanted to stop her, but he was too late.
Seeing Tsunade go in, Ryūichi Uchiha hardened his heart and rushed in after her.
"Lord Ryūichi..." Dan Katō didn't know what to do.
If the enemy only held one hostage, rushing in might not be an issue because the enemy wouldn't dare kill them casually.
But there were so many hostages inside serving as bargaining chips. If the enemy was provoked and killed a few of them, what then?
"Since they've already gone in, there's no point in hesitating. Let's play it by ear!" Masaki Hyuga said to Dan Katō before rushing in as well.
Dan Katō sighed helplessly and could only lead the Hidden Leaf ninja to follow them in.
When Tsunade, Dan Katō, Ryūichi Uchiha, and Masaki Hyuga rushed in, they were undoubtedly stunned by the scene before them.
The dozen or so young boys seemed to be largely unharmed. Hiashi Hyuga and Uchiha Fugaku were joining forces to fight a Sand ninja.
The Sand ninja was already fearful. Seeing a large group of Hidden Leaf ninja arrive, he lost all hope and retreated in defeat.
Bang!
Hiashi Hyuga struck the Sand ninja with a fist, sending him flying. The Hidden Leaf ninja quickly moved in to subdue him.
"Hiashi, well done!"
Masaki Hyuga was full of praise. Hiashi Hyuga defeating a Sand ninja would inevitably bring great fame to the Hyuga family.
"Don't get too proud. If my Fugaku hadn't assisted from the side, Hiashi Hyuga wouldn't have been able to touch the Sand ninja no matter what," Ryūichi Uchiha said unhappily.
"That may be so, but the one who defeated the Sand ninja was ultimately Hiashi," Masaki Hyuga said triumphantly.
"Hmph. As far as I know, there were two Sand Chunin. This is only one. The other one must have been defeated by my Fugaku."
Masaki Hyuga hesitated slightly, walked over to Hiashi Hyuga, and asked, "Hiashi, where is the other Sand ninja?"
Hiashi Hyuga didn't speak; instead, he looked at Kenji, who was standing to the side.
"Kenji, are you okay? You scared me to death!" Tsunade bent down halfway, a look of urgency on her face, and carefully checked Kenji for injuries.
Kenji shook his head helplessly. "Tsunade, it's not that serious. I'm a graduate now, after all. If I can't even handle this kind of situation, how can I go to the battlefield in the future?"
Tsunade reached out and flicked Kenji's forehead. "If you go to the battlefield, naturally I have to accompany you. Otherwise, I won't be at ease."
"That won't work. You can't follow me around my whole life!" Kenji said. "The graduation ceremony is in two days. I will have my own team, and I'll definitely be going with my Jonin Instructor."
Tsunade paused, then smiled mysteriously. "That's true. Then you must follow your teacher well."
Kenji looked at Tsunade and suddenly had a bad premonition.
Based on his understanding of Tsunade, that kind of smile definitely meant there was a conspiracy!
In a valley not far from the Hidden Leaf Village, a team of masked men was waiting in the shadows.
Suddenly, a signal was transmitted. The leader received the signal, took a look, and his expression changed.
"Mission failed. Retreat!"
The theft of the Sealing Scroll caused quite a stir in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Fortunately, it was a near miss. The Sealing Scroll was eventually recovered intact, and the thieves were caught.
What people talked about with great relish was that it was a group of newly graduated students who defeated the two Sand Chunin and recaptured the Sealing Scroll.
Among them, Uchiha Fugaku and Hiashi Hyuga were in the limelight, increasing the prestige of the Uchiha and Hyuga families significantly. Ryūichi Uchiha and Masaki Hyuga were both very happy.
The Sand ninja that Kenji killed seemed to have been credited to Uchiha Fugaku.
Kenji didn't mind. Fame meant trouble. If people investigated Sode no Shirayuki, he wouldn't know how to explain it.
As for the conflict between the Hidden Leaf and the Sand, just as Kenji had predicted, the Sand completely denied that those two ninja were acting on their orders.
After negotiations between the two sides, the matter was left unsettled.
In the blink of an eye, two days passed, and the graduation ceremony arrived.
Nawaki was still grieving over his grandmother's death, but it had diminished significantly. He attended the graduation ceremony together with Kenji.
In the classroom, more than forty graduates were gathered together.
"Today is the day everyone here officially graduates. I offer my congratulations to you all!"
"After graduation, Hidden Leaf Genin will form three-person squads, led by a Jonin Instructor to carry out missions."
On the podium, Muyi looked serious as he took out a list.
"Now, I will begin the assignments... Team 1: Taichi Katō, Jin Akimichi, and Meiko."
"Team 2: Mikoto Uchiha, Kutsu Nara, Enta Aburame."
Hearing Muyi read out Mikoto Uchiha's name, Kenji paused immediately, then looked toward the girl in the front row with long, jet-black hair and a beautiful, pleasant appearance.
"Hey, Kenji-ge, you haven't taken a fancy to her, have you?" Nawaki, sitting next to him, had a mischievous grin on his face. "Mikoto is in my class. I know her. Do you want me to help you..."
"If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!" Before he could finish, Kenji gave him a sharp rap on the head.
"Team 5: Nawaki Senju, Takame Yamanaka, Tsubasa Hatake."
Hearing his name, Nawaki sighed. "Kenji-ge, we aren't together!"
Kenji shrugged. "Your instructor is Orochimaru. I definitely won't follow him."
"Why?" Nawaki asked, puzzled.