Chapter 8: That's Fifty Million Ryo!
Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves of the towering trees, casting mottled shadows on the ground.
Between the great trees and their shadows, three figures dashed across the branches, leaving streaks of afterimages.
"Makoto, you seem a bit nervous," Hyuga Makoto noticed his unusual mood on the way forward, and Yamato couldn't help but smile and comfort him.
"Don't worry, with Captain Kakashi here, there won't be any problems."
"I've read your mission reports and witnessed your strength; you are outstanding," Kakashi also spoke up, his voice a bit cold but firm.
"Moreover, I absolutely will not let a comrade die."
"..."
Hyuga Makoto pursed his lips; he genuinely wished Kakashi would stop talking.
Because Kakashi's track record was truly absurd.
Whoever he said he would protect basically ended up doomed!
Setting aside Uchiha Obito and Rin Nohara for the moment, he had also said something similar to Uchiha Itachi.
As a result, Uchiha Itachi wiped out his entire Family; in a sense, his death was already sealed!
"Although Uchiha Madara was largely responsible for this, and Uchiha Itachi himself had issues with his thinking, but..."
Hyuga Makoto wasn't eager to gamble, but facing Kakashi, he still managed a strained smile.
"I understand, I will adjust my mindset."
Despite saying that, he was even more vigilant now.
He didn't want to 'attack in Gundam form,' so he cautiously asked,
"Captain, Senior, which squad are we reinforcing?"
"A very formidable squad, and their captain is quite famous too," Yamato smiled carelessly, as there was nothing to hide about such matters, and Kakashi nodded as well.
"It's the squad of 'The Flashing God Shisui.' They happen to be on a long-term mission near the Land of Whirlpools, so don't worry too much."
"Uchiha Shisui?" Hyuga Makoto froze for a moment, feeling a strange sensation in his heart.
"It seems I've seen this scene before?"
In his memory, there really seemed to be a scene of Uchiha Shisui dealing with Hidden Mist ninjas.
Except those Hidden Mist ninjas hadn't even managed to get close before Shisui took down two of them from afar using Genjutsu!
The leading captain ultimately chose to retreat, and that captain...
"It was Ao, the one with the Byakugan!"
Hyuga Makoto's gaze flickered. If this was truly the event, then things were getting very interesting.
"Let's speed up," Kakashi calmly spoke again while he was deep in thought.
"Although it's just reinforcement, we must still treat it seriously."
"Yes!" Hyuga Makoto snapped back to attention, responding loudly with Yamato.
At this moment, he was full of motivation; whether it was Ao or Uchiha Shisui, perhaps they could bring him some benefits!
The three moved quickly, and after a few days, they crossed the border of the Land of Fire and entered the territory of the Land of Whirlpools.
"It's truly convenient," under the hazy moonlight, inside a cave in the dense forests of the Land of Whirlpools.
Yamato watched Hyuga Makoto checking their surroundings and couldn't help but smile.
"I've only heard about the effects of the Byakugan before; now I finally know how useful it is."
"The power of the Byakugan has always been very reliable," Kakashi nodded from the side, but Yamato rubbed his chin.
"No wonder back then, the Cloud Hidden Village..."
"Hey, Yamato!" Before Yamato could finish speaking, Kakashi interrupted him somewhat helplessly.
Yamato was good in every way, except he sometimes seemed a bit disconnected.
He rubbed his brow and spoke helplessly, "Don't talk about those things; we have a more important mission."
"It's fine, Captain Kakashi," Hyuga Makoto didn't mind at all. He deactivated his Byakugan and smiled.
"I once heard Uncle Hizashi say that a long time ago, the Cloud Hidden Village even kidnapped the Fourth Hokage's wife. I wonder if that's true."
"..." Kakashi's mouth twitched, while Yamato laughed on the side.
"I heard about that too. It seems there was such an incident. Those Cloud Hidden ninjas are truly bandits."
"Exactly, just a bunch of bandits." Hyuga Makoto wholeheartedly agreed; he really didn't like those guys from the Cloud Hidden Village.
"Alright, you two..." Their back-and-forth banter made Kakashi a bit helpless.
"The Cloud Hidden Village is indeed full of bandits, but right now we are dealing with the Hidden Mist. We need to focus our energy on the mission!"
"Oh..." Hyuga Makoto felt those words sounded a bit familiar, but he didn't think much of it.
"Uchiha Shisui's squad has already started setting up an ambush. As for the Hidden Mist ninjas, we haven't detected them yet."
"Could it be that the Hidden Mist also received intelligence and changed their route?" Yamato couldn't help but ask after thinking for a moment. Hyuga Makoto also nodded in agreement.
"We can obtain intelligence; maybe they can too. Even if they don't, they might have other means to evade us."
"Other means?" Kakashi paused, then looked thoughtfully at Hyuga Makoto.
"You mean the Byakugan?"
"That guy Ao?" Yamato also reacted. They were all very familiar with this ruthless person who stole a Byakugan and was now on Konoha's most-wanted list.
And thinking closely, it wasn't impossible for Ao to be involved in this kind of mission.
After all, if they really needed to enter the Land of Fire, the Byakugan could save them a lot of trouble!
"It's not impossible. If it really is him, we need to be more serious," Kakashi said after thinking for a moment. Yamato also became serious.
"Indeed, this guy is on the wanted list. If it's him, it's best not to let him go."
"That's right." Hyuga Makoto's expression turned serious, and he murmured softly,
"Besides, he's quite valuable."
"Um... Huh?!" Kakashi and Yamato nodded subconsciously, but then the two of them froze.
What was that?
Valuable?
"What's wrong, Captain Kakashi, Senior Yamato?" Hyuga Makoto blinked, his voice sounding somewhat curious.
"Don't you two know this guy is worth fifty million ryo?"
"I know..." Yamato was somewhat bewildered, but Kakashi knew clearly. However, before he could finish speaking, Hyuga Makoto interrupted with a smile.
"Then that's good! We absolutely cannot miss out on this money!"
"If I recall correctly, the bulk of this money was put up by your Hyuga Family, wasn't it?" Kakashi's eye twitched, but Hyuga Makoto looked completely matter-of-fact.
"Yes, but I'm from the Branch Family."
"..."
"Also, if it really is that guy, after we deal with him, can you say it was you who did it?"
"..."
"I'm afraid the Main Family will take my share."
"..."
At this moment, Kakashi fell completely silent; he truly didn't know what to say.
Yamato looked at the two of them somewhat blankly; he still hadn't quite grasped what this meant.
"Alright, now is not the time to discuss these things." Finally, Kakashi couldn't help himself and decided to completely end the topic.
However, he now felt a faint throbbing ache in his head. He had read some of Hyuga Makoto's reports and knew that this Hyuga Branch Family youth was a decent person.
He felt that Hyuga Makoto should be similar to Uchiha Itachi, as both were Disciples from great families.
Moreover, the Third Hokage Hokage entrusting this youth to him was probably similar to Uchiha Itachi—a form of trust and protection.
After all, he also understood the immense impact a Hyuga Branch Family member entering the Anbu would have on the Main Family.
This was also one of the reasons he led people out of the village the very day Hyuga Makoto joined the Anbu.
But now it seemed Hyuga Makoto was vastly different from Uchiha Itachi...
Sighing internally, Kakashi spoke with slight helplessness, "We still can't confirm if it's him, so discussing this is meaningless. We need to focus our energy on the mission!"
"Oh, I understand, Captain Kakashi." Hyuga Makoto nodded honestly, then pointed into the distance.
"However, it seems our target has appeared."
"?"
"Also, I think I guessed correctly—it really is that Ao!"
"..."