Sunlight filtered through the high, reinforced window, catching the edge of the small, rectangular object held between Hinata's thumb and forefinger. To a casual observer, it appeared to be nothing more than a scrap of black metal, perhaps a shuriken blank or a discarded piece of plating. But as she rotated her wrist, angling the card against the morning light, the illusion of uniformity broke.
The surface was not solid black.
Thousands of microscopic etchings scarred the surface, silver lines beneath a translucent layer of hardened resin. It wasn't metal at all, but a composite of melted glass and polymers, a recipe that Venom had designed and she had built. Hinata narrowed her eyes, the cerulean irises flaring with the internal light of her Byakugan, magnifying her vision until the tiny silver pathways looked like wide roads.
She inhaled softly, focusing her chakra into her fingertips sending small amounts of lightning to the surface.
The card ignited with activity. The silver etchings, previously dull, suddenly flashed with liquid light as the electricity raced through the predetermined paths. The current split, converged, and looped, creating a complex, glowing pattern of logic gates and resistors.
Satisfied with the result, Hinata slotted the card into the receptacle of the hulking machine sitting on the workbench before her.
It was a monstrosity of iron, gears, and chakra-conductive wiring, resembling an industrial loom merged with a heavy-duty press. Hinata sat on her oversized chair and placed her left hand on a thick copper coil protruding from the machine's side. She pulsed her chakra again, feeding the coil a steady, high-amperage stream of lightning nature.
The machine shuddered awake. A low, magnetic hum filled the room, vibrating in the floorboards.
Inside the mechanism, the logic from the circuit board translated into motion. A rack of twenty diamond-tipped needles descended, hovering over a sheet of high-tensile weave. They began to move, blurring with speed, stitching a microscopic lattice of silver-threaded circuitry into the fabric. They moved in impossible patterns.
Suddenly, the black mass of her shoulder shifted. Two sleek, black symbiotic tendrils erupted from her shoulders, branching out into fine, multi-fingered manipulators. They bypassed the safety guards, diving into the machinery to guide the fabric with a precision that mechanical gears alone could not achieve.
The flow rate is stable, Venom's voice rumbled in the back of her skull. The impedance on the silver traces is within point-zero-one percent of the calculated optimal. This logic gate is holding.
The machine clattered rhythmically, while the alien tendrils danced between the striking needles, smoothing the weave and ensuring the integration was flawless. It was a perfect synthesis: Hinata providing the raw power and the chakra, the machine providing the mechanical force, and Venom assessing the process.
Hinata withdrew her hand as the machine finished its cycle with a heavy clack. She stood, her chair groaning slightly as her immense weight shifted, and pulled the finished swatch of undersuit material from the bed. It was perfect.
She looked around the room, taking a moment to breathe in the scent of heated metal.
This was not a standard room in the Hyuuga compound. The ceilings here were vaulted, reaching nearly four meters high, a necessary renovation commissioned two years ago when she realized she would soon be unable to stand upright in her childhood quarters. The space was vast, yet crowded. Massive shelving units made of reinforced steel lined the walls, groaning under the weight of raw materials, stacks of the rare, carbon-heavy alloy plates used for her outer armor, spools of conductive silver wire, and jars of resin.
In the corner, a pile of failed prototypes lay discarded, shattered plates, burnt-out circuit boards, and fused wiring. But the table in the center was clean, holding the fruits of their labor: the black-and-silver etched sheets that acted as the brains for her suit's deployment systems.
It had been a long, arduous road to this point.
Two years ago, when the concept of the armor was born, they had immediately run into a technological wall. Konoha's blacksmiths were masters of folding steel and tempering blades, but they knew nothing of automated systems or rapid-deployment seals.
Initially, Hinata and Venom had attempted to bypass this lack of technology through sheer will and manual dexterity. They tried to fabricate a single, small control node for the undersuit by hand. For days, Hinata sat hunched over a workbench, her hands cramping as Venom guided her muscles with microscopic adjustments, using a jeweler's pick to carve channels thinner than a human hair into a metal plate. It was grueling, agonizing work. They spent over a week on a piece no larger than a coin. When it was finished, it functioned, but the effort required to make just one was astronomical. The inefficiency was infuriating. Venom radiated a frustration that echoed in Hinata's bones, and he finally declared that they could not build a fortress with tweezers. They needed to build the tools first.
That decision sparked a massive shift in their approach. Hinata began to spend her savings. The substantial payouts from her A-rank and S-rank missions flowed out of her accounts and into the local economy. She scoured the village for raw materials, buying heavy industrial motors, boxes of gears, and rare conductive metals.
She sought out help. She commissioned the village's heavy-industry blacksmiths, men who usually cast anchors or temple bells, to forge the massive, unrefined iron frames and chassis for her machines based on Venom's bizarre blueprints. She tracked down the village's few electronics enthusiasts, the eccentrics who tinkered with radios and wireless transmitters, paying them handsomely to wind complex copper coils and solder immense power banks that no normal appliance would ever need.
It was only then, with the heavy machinery assembled, that the breakthrough came.
They had found an old, broken television set in the dusty storage unit of the main house. Venom had made her dismantle it, piece by piece, until they reached the brown, dusty board inside. He had explained that the little bumps and lines were a language, a way to make electricity think. Hinata remembered the confusion of those early days. The concepts of resin, photo-resist, and etching acid were alien to a world of hand signs and chakra molding. But Venom possessed the ancestral memory of the Klyntar hive, a library of civilizations that spanned the stars.
Only after combining the heavy iron frames built by the blacksmiths with the logic learned from the circuit boards did they start to see real results. The machines worked. They hummed and whirred, replicating the work that had taken them a week by hand in a matter of minutes.
It was an exponential curve of industrial evolution, happening entirely within the four walls of her room between grueling training sessions and dangerous missions. Venom often lamented that their methods were still crude, like banging rocks together compared to the technology of the worlds he remembered. He spoke of civilizations where armor grew like skin and weapons thought for themselves, produced in the millions for large armies. The scale of it terrified Hinata, the idea of war on such a level, but Venom had always been quick to reassure her. They were pioneers here.
The success of the project had drawn eyes. When she first walked out in the fully articulated, servo-assisted carapace, the Hyuuga Elders had become intrigued. They saw the speed, the protection, the integration with the Byakugan. Now, there were quiet requests, subtle pressures to produce more suits, to outfit the Main Branch.
Hinata set the fabric down and rolled her shoulders. The machinery was holding up. The fabrication process for the replacement parts was finally automated enough that she didn't have to micromanage every step.
She turned and walked toward the heavy oak door.
Stepping into the hallway was always a transition. The Hyuuga compound was built not for giants. The ceilings dropped dramatically, forcing Hinata to instinctively dip her head to avoid the wooden beams. The corridor was wide enough for two normal shinobi, but as she walked down the center, the floorboards creaking softly under her density, it felt like a tunnel.
A pair of younger Hyuuga, carrying laundry baskets, froze as she approached. They pressed themselves flat against the wall, eyes wide, making themselves as small as possible to let the towering "Lightning Princess pass. Hinata offered them a small, polite nod, but they were too awestruck to respond.
Two days had passed since the previous mission. Naruto had been consumed by briefings and debriefings with the Hokage, lost in the bureaucracy of his return.
An ANBU had appeared at her window ten minutes ago. A summons from the Hokage. She hoped it was a mission. She hoped it was substantial.
The massive double doors of the Hokage Tower swung open with a heavy groan as Hinata pushed them, stepping out of the bright morning sun and into the cool, bustling interior of the administrative lobby. Immediately, the air felt different. Usually, this place hummed with the quiet, stressed murmur of Chuunin clerks and the scratching of quills. Today, it was a sea of orange and blonde.
A Naruto rushed past her, a tower of manila folders balanced precariously in his arms, his face set in a concentration. Another Naruto was jogging in the opposite direction, following a harried-looking administrative assistant who was barking orders at him. Further down the hall, she saw two more Narutos arguing over a scroll while a Jounin waited impatiently for them to hand it over.
The lobby was filled with Shadow Clones.
Hinata blinked, her Byakugan activating reflexively for a split second. The chakra signatures were identical, a massive, synchronized network of labor spread across the entire ground floor.
The pack leader is abusing her authority, Venom's voice was a disgruntled rumble in her mind. She is exploiting the primary male partner's stamina for menial labor.
Hinata watched as a clone near the reception desk groaned, rubbed his wrist, and dipped a quill back into an inkwell with frantic speed.
It is a colossal waste of resources, Venom continued, his tone shifting from critical to possessively annoyed. That stamina… the ability to sustain multiple physical instances simultaneously… it should be dedicated to serving our needs. He should be expending that energy in our bed, pleasuring us, not filing papers for the village.
Hinata felt a flush rise to her cheeks, though her expression remained serene. She sidestepped a Naruto who was running blindly with a crate of ink bottles.
"Hinata-chan!"
She stopped. A clone standing near the stairwell, his arms laden with stamped mission reports, beamed at her. Before he could say anything else, another clone, this one empty-handed and looking like he had just finished a task, popped out from behind a pillar and slid next to him.
"Hey! Hinata-chan's here!" the second clone announced unnecessarily.
Hinata smiled, the warmth in her chest pushing away the irritation of the busy morning. "Good morning, Naruto-kun. Is Hokage-sama in her study?"
"Yeah, she's up there!" the first clone answered immediately, shifting his stack of papers to point upward with his chin. "She's waiting for you!"
"Hey!" The second clone shoved the first one's shoulder. "I was gonna tell her that! You always get to talk to her!"
"I was standing here first, you jerk!"
"So what? I'm the one who isn't holding a mountain of paper, I'm the welcoming committee!"
Hinata watched them bicker, their voices rising over the din of the lobby. Her smile widened. She quickly scanned the immediate area. The receptionists were buried in work, the guards were looking at a commotion near the entrance, and the passing shinobi were ignoring the noise.
For a brief second, they were unobserved.
She stepped forward, her height casting a shadow over both of them. She bent at the waist, leaning down swiftly.
Chuu.
She pressed her lips to the first clone's cheek, right over his whisker marks. He froze mid-sentence, his eyes going wide.
Without pausing, she turned her head slightly.
Chuu.
She kissed the second clone on the cheek as well.
Straightening up to her full height, she offered them a small, conspiratorial bow. "Thank you both."
She turned on her heel and walked toward the stairs, the heavy thud of her boots the only sound she made as she ascended. Behind her, the two clones stood statue-still in the middle of the hallway, the argument completely forgotten, both raising trembling hands to touch their cheeks.
Hinata reached the landing and looked down the long corridor toward the Hokage's office.
The heavy oak doors swung open, revealing a scene that was less like a government office and more like a chaotic, paper-fueled hive.
The Hokage's office was teeming with orange and blonde. At least a dozen Shadow Clones were scattered throughout the large room. One was perched on a stepladder near the filing cabinets, rapidly cross-referencing scrolls. Another was huddled over a side desk with Shizune, aggressively sorting a stack of invoices into two piles. Three more were sitting on the floor in a circle, surrounded by mountains of open ledgers, furiously scribbling notes.
Standing beside the main desk was the original Naruto. He held a thick folder in one hand, his brow furrowed in concentration as he scanned a document with a seriousness that seemed almost foreign on his face.
The only person not caught in the whirlwind of activity was the Godaime Hokage herself. Tsunade was leaned far back in her chair, boots propped up on the edge of her desk, arms crossed over her chest, eyes closed in deep, meditative repose, or perhaps just a nap.
As Hinata stepped toward the desk, the rhythmic scratching of quills faltered.
"Hinata-chan!" the clone on the floor chirped, looking up with a grin.
"Hey, Hinata!" the one on the ladder waved, nearly losing his balance.
"Good morning, Hinata-san," Shizune added, looking relieved for the distraction.
At the main desk, the original Naruto lowered the folder. His blue eyes found hers, and the intensity of his work melted instantly into a warm, bright smile. "You made it."
Hinata returned the smile, noting the dark circles faintly visible under his eyes. She turned her attention to the woman in the chair. "Hokage-sama. I am reporting for duty."
One of Tsunade's eyes cracked open, amber focusing sharply on Hinata. She let out a long exhale, dropped her feet to the floor, and sat up, cracking her neck.
"Good," Tsunade said, her voice raspy from disuse. "You're here. How is the… project coming along?"
"The fabrication procedures have been tested," Hinata replied calmly, her resonant voice cutting through the rustling of paper in the room. "The results are within optimal parameters. I am proceeding to the manufacturing stage. However… there are now significant interests from my clan regarding the output."
Tsunade hummed, tapping a finger on the desk. "I figured the Hyuuga elders wouldn't ignore a leap in defensive technology for long. Fine. I'll have a word with Hiashi about allocation. We can't have your personal resources drained by clan politics."
Hinata nodded her thanks, then tilted her head toward Naruto. "And… Naruto-kun's assignment? It seems extensive."
Tsunade grinned, a predatory expression returning to her face. "Extensive is the word. For the last two days, we've been running a full information consolidation protocol across every department in Konoha. We have Narutos in the Academy archives, the Intelligence Division basement, and even the T&I storage rooms."
"It's amazing, Hinata," Naruto said, tapping the folder in his hand. "My clones… when they poof, I get all the info, right? So we're cross-referencing everything at once. It's like putting a puzzle together, but I have a hundred pairs of hands doing it."
Hinata's eyes narrowed slightly as she processed this. It wasn't just a paperwork audit. They were weaponizing Naruto's learning curve and infinite stamina to brute-force a search for anomalies. If Danzo had personal agents and off-the-books resources, they had to be siphoning from the village somewhere.
"Have you found anything substantial?" Hinata asked.
"We found a lot of clerical errors, mostly," Tsunade muttered, rubbing her temples. "But amidst the incompetence, we found discrepancies. Serious ones. Some will be handled by ANBU, but there are two specific concerns that require a different touch."
Tsunade gestured to Naruto. "Go ahead."
Naruto straightened up, his face losing its usual goofiness and settling into the hard lines of a shinobi. He opened the folder. "First thing. While my clones were digging through the archive correspondence, they found a thank-you letter from the Fire Temple. You know, where the ninja monks live? The head monk sent a message thanking Granny Tsunade for a 'generous donation.'"
"We haven't sent the Fire Temple a single ryo this fiscal year," Tsunade interjected dryly.
"That is… concerning," Hinata said. "Does it imply embezzlement? Someone moving funds out of the village under the guise of fake donations?"
"That's what I thought, ya know?" Naruto nodded. "So I spent all of yesterday with the treasurers. We checked every ledger. There's no money missing from our vaults. No embezzlement."
He tapped the paper. "Someone made a massive donation on behalf of Konoha, but they used their own private money. The monks used it to restore some living quarters, but mostly to repair and redecorate the tombs of the guardian shinobi buried there."
"And this morning," Tsunade added, "we received an official request for aid from the Fire Temple. Grave robbers have been probing their perimeter. The monks suspect an infiltration attempt is imminent."
"Is there a connection?" Hinata asked. "Between the mysterious donation and the robbers?"
"The timing is too tight to be a coincidence," Naruto said. "You fix up a tomb, make it look nice… maybe you're just marking it? Or making sure what's inside is worth stealing?"
"Naruto is taking his team to the Fire Temple today," Tsunade stated. "He has special permission to audit the monks' records and secure the site."
The room went quiet for a moment as Hinata absorbed the information. Grave robbing was a gruesome but common enough crime, yet the "donation" added a layer of political manipulation that felt distinct.
"And the second issue?" Hinata asked.
Naruto flipped to the next page in his folder. "This one's closer to home. The Konoha Hospital just filed a frantic acquisition request for basic medical supplies. Bandages, chakra pills, antiseptics."
"Standard procedure?" Hinata ventured.
"It should be," Naruto said, shaking his head. "But I checked the Logistics Department's records. According to their books, the Hospital was fully stocked a month ago. A massive shipment was signed for and delivered."
"We dug into it," Tsunade growled. "Turns out, the numbers don't align. Logistics showed higher supply counts than the Hospital inventory. We found the bureaucrats responsible for these documents. They're under investigation now."
"But that's not the weird part," Naruto continued, his finger tracing a line on the document. "About a month ago, Granny personally ordered a set of heavy medical equipment. Specialized chakra-scanners, surgical tables… expensive stuff from the capital. The Hospital never got them."
"Did the Hospital Director not file a complaint?" Hinata asked.
Tsunade looked at Naruto, prompting him.
"They did request a status update," Naruto explained. "And here's the kicker. The Hospital has a document on file, stamped and official, from the Logistics Department. It says the supplier in the capital is out of stock and the order is delayed to the next quarter."
"However," Naruto pulled out a second sheet, "when Shikamaru and I raided the Logistics office today… that document doesn't exist in their outgoing mail logs. According to Logistics, they sent the request to the capital and are still waiting for a reply. They think the order is just pending."
Hinata frowned. "So… the Hospital thinks the delay is legitimate because of a document they received. But Logistics thinks the supplier is just slow. Someone inserted a forged document into the Hospital's filing system to stop them from asking questions, and wiped the record of it from Logistics."
"Exactly," Naruto said grimly. "And the seals on the document the Hospital has? Genuine. It's not a forgery. It's a valid Konoha administrative seal."
"Could the supplier be out of stock?" Hinata asked. "Or perhaps they sold the stock to a higher bidder?"
"Impossible," Tsunade snapped. "Konoha is the Land of Fire's primary military force. We are a higher priority client than the Feudal Lord himself. If we order it, we get it. No merchant in the capital would dare stiff us."
"It's a loop," Naruto said. "It's set up to look like a boring bureaucratic mistake so everyone just moves on. Meanwhile, the equipment is missing, and nobody is looking for it because everyone thinks it's someone else's problem."
Silence descended on the room again. The rustling of the clones seemed louder now.
This is remarkably tedious, Venom's voice droned in Hinata's head, sounding like he was on the verge of sleep. Paper trails and inventory lists. Where is the fight? Where is the hunt?
"If the paperwork is compromised here," Hinata said, ignoring the alien complaint, "then we cannot trust the local records. We need to verify the source."
Tsunade slammed her hand on the desk, a sharp grin cutting across her face. "Exactly what I wanted to hear."
She pointed a finger at Hinata. "We need to physically check that supplier in the capital. If they sent the equipment, I want to know where it went. If they didn't receive the order, I want to know who intercepted it."
"You're going to the capital," Tsunade ordered. "Team 8 and Team 10. You leave tomorrow morning at dawn. I want this cleared up."
She turned to Naruto. "You're dismissed for now. Go get your gear for the Fire Temple. But leave the clones here, they have another three years of tax records to get through."
"You got it, Granny!" Naruto beamed. He closed the folder and handed it to Tsunade, then turned to Hinata. His serious demeanor vanished, replaced by his usual warmth.
As Naruto bounded out of the room, a collective groan rose from the dozen clones left behind.
"Man, the original gets all the fun," one clone muttered, aggressively stamping a document.
"Shut up and calculate the numbers," another grumbled.
Hinata watched the door close, her mind already shifting gears from administration to strategy. The rot in the root system went deep, but they were finally starting to dig.
The heavy wooden doors of the Hokage's tower clattered shut behind them, muting the hum of administration and replacing it with the ambient sounds of the village mid-morning. The sun was high, casting sharp shadows against the paved streets. Naruto stretched his arms high above his head, groaning as his spine popped, while Hinata's eyes scanning the perimeter out of habit.
"Oi! Boss! Hinata-nee!"
The shout was energetic and undeniably familiar. Naruto's grin widened instantly as he dropped his arms. Approaching them from the direction of the Academy was Team Konohamaru. Konohamaru led the charge, his long blue scarf trailing behind him, flanked by Udon, who was adjusting his glasses, and Moegi, whose orange pigtails bounced with every step.
But trailing slightly behind them was a fourth figure, smaller and quieter.
"Hey, Konohamaru!" Naruto waved, then his gaze softened as it landed on the boy in the back. "And Yūkimaru! How's it going?"
Yūkimaru, wearing simple civilian clothes that looked a little too new, looked up at Naruto and nodded shyly. Then, his gaze drifted upward. And kept going up.
He locked eyes with Hinata.
Hinata offered him a gentle smile, leaning forward slightly to reduce the towering height difference. However, Yūkimaru didn't smile back. His eyes widened slightly, tracing the line of her shoulders, her lack of a helmet, and her exposed face. He looked confused, searching for the terrifying, armored black-and-silver juggernaut he had seen obliterating crystal prisons at the lake. This tall, gentle woman with the lavender eyes didn't match the monster in his memory.
He quickly looked back to Naruto, as if for confirmation that this was safe.
"It's okay," Yūkimaru said softly to Naruto. "I am… doing okay."
Konohamaru stepped in, thumbing his chest proudly. "Don't you worry, Boss! We're showing him everything. We figured since he's new to the village, he needed to know the most important locations first."
"Important locations?" Hinata asked, amused.
"The dessert shop on the corner!" Moegi chimed in. "They have the best dango!"
"We're on a mission to get him a sugar rush," Konohamaru declared. "Come on, Yūkimaru! If we don't hurry, they'll run out of the tri-color ones!"
The three genin ushered Yūkimaru away. The boy glanced back one last time at Hinata, still looking puzzled, before being swept up in the energy of his new peers.
Hinata watched them disappear around the corner. "He didn't recognize me."
"Well, can you blame him?" Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Last time he saw you, you were all armored up and flying around blasting lasers. You look a lot less… scary right now, ya know?"
"I suppose that is for the best," Hinata murmured. "Is he settling in well?"
"Yeah," Naruto said, his voice dropping an octave, becoming softer. "He's got a place at the Academy starting next week. But… I don't think he really wants to be a shinobi. He's got a gentle heart. Maybe too gentle for what we do."
Naruto stared at the empty street corner where the kids had vanished, his expression drifting into something distant and melancholic.
Hinata watched the shift in him, the way the boisterous mask fell away to reveal the contemplative young man beneath. She waited a moment, letting the silence hold, before gently breaking it.
"Naruto-kun? Where are we heading next?"
Naruto blinked, the distant look snapping away instantly. He grinned, the shadows in his eyes vanishing as if they'd never been there.
"Right! The restaurant!" Naruto pumped a fist. "Everyone from the mission is meeting up. It's tradition, right? We gotta celebrate not getting crushed by a giant turtle!"
"But…" Hinata frowned slightly. "Do you not have a mission to the Fire Temple today? If we go to a restaurant now, will you have enough time to prepare?"
"Pshh, don't worry about it!" Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "I've already got my gear packed and ready at home. The team doesn't move out until late evening, so I've got plenty of time to grab some grub with you guys."
He turned and started walking backward, gesturing for her to follow. "Come on! Knowing Choji, if we're late, there won't be any food left!"
The private room in the fancy restaurant was filled with sounds of clinking plates, boisterous laughter. A massive, low table dominated the center of the room, laden with enough food to feed a lot of people.
Hinata sat comfortably, her large frame settling into the cushion. Naruto was pressed close to her right, his knee brushing against hers under the table. To his other side sat Karin, adjusting her glasses, while Ino claimed the spot to Hinata's left.
Across from them, Choji Akimichi, his hair now long and flowing, clad in his red plated armor, raised a massive goblet of juice.
"To a successful mission!" Choji boomed, his face flushed with happiness. "And hey, Naruto! I haven't seen you since you got back!"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. "Thanks, Choji! Yeah, I've been crazy busy. Like, haven't-slept-in-three-days busy. Granny Tsunade has been working me to the bone!"
Next to Choji, Shikamaru Nara had his head buried in his folded arms on the table, trying desperately to merge with the wood grain. At Naruto's mention of work, he let out a long, agonizing groan that vibrated through the table.
"Oh, quit moaning, Shikamaru," Ino snapped, nudging his elbow. "We're celebrating."
"It's a drag…" Shikamaru mumbled into his sleeves. "Too much noise…"
"I tried to tell him!" Naruto laughed, reaching for a piece of food. "We've been doing paperwork non-stop for twenty-four hours!"
"THAT IS PRECISELY WHY WE ARE HERE!" Rock Lee shouted, leaping to his feet and striking a pose that made the silverware rattle. Neji and Tenten, sitting on either side of him, synchronized a pained wince. "We have ordered a plethora of youthful sustenance! This food will surely restore Shikamaru's burning spirit and cure his lethargy!"
"Please," Shikamaru groaned, his voice muffled. "Just let me fade away…"
Kiba, who was tossing pieces of beef to Akamaru in his own chair, leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. "Forget the paperwork. I'm still thinking about the fight. That army of freaks? We smashed them. Usually, that takes a battalion, but we just rolled right over them."
"They were just a disorganized mob," Sakura said from down the table, taking a sip of tea. "The scary part was the Crystal User. When she used that kid to wake up the Three-Tails… the chakra pressure was insane. I thought the lake was going to boil."
Hinata quietly observed the table. Lee was currently engaged in a silent, high-speed eating contest with Choji. Neji sat stoically, sipping his tea, while Tenten watched the boys with fond exasperation. But Hinata's enhanced hearing picked up the steady rhythm of Shikamaru's heartbeat. Despite his posture, he was listening to every word.
"Hey, Naruto," Kiba asked around a mouthful of food. "That crystal lady. We saw her encasing people in those pink crystals. Once you're in, you shatter if you move, right? Did she try that on you guys?"
"Oh, she definitely tried!" Naruto exclaimed. He dropped his chopsticks to gesture wildly with his hands. "She caught me in this huge block! But Hinata-chan told me earlier that her jutsu doesn't crystallize chakra itself. So, I just, BOOM!" He expanded his arms explosively. "I flared my chakra like crazy and blew the crystal apart from the inside before it could harden!"
As Naruto acted out the explosion, Hinata noticed a shift in the energy beside her.
Karin was staring at Naruto. Her chin was rested in her palm, her red eyes fixed on his animated face with an expression of deep, intense admiration mixed with a flush of enamored heat.
It was the exact same look Karin gave Hinata when she thought Hinata wasn't looking.
Hinata shifted her gaze slightly to the left. Ino was doing the same thing, watching Naruto with a sharp, calculating, and undeniably interested glint in her blue eyes.
Hinata didn't feel a spark of jealousy. Instead, a wave of cool curiosity washed over her. Interesting, she thought.
Deep inside her, she felt Venom shift, a silent ripple of agreement.
Naruto, amidst his pantomime, seemed to catch Karin's intense stare. He faltered for a second, his cheeks coloring slightly as he realized just how closely she was watching his lips moving. He darted a quick, panicked glance at Hinata, then cleared his throat loudly.
"Anyway!" Naruto said, his voice cracking slightly. "That fight was definitely book-worthy! Believe it!"
"Speaking of books," Ino cut in, her voice sharp and cutting through the chatter like a knife.
Ino turned her body, ignoring her food to look directly at Naruto. The table quieted down, sensing a shift in the conversation.
"You published that book, didn't you?" Ino asked. "The Resident Evil one."
Naruto blinked, surprised by the pivot. "Uh, yeah? Me and Pervy Sage wrote it."
"I read it," Ino stated flatly. "Sakura lent me her copy."
Across the table, Sakura froze with her teacup halfway to her mouth. She slowly lowered it, looking everywhere but at Naruto.
Ino leaned in, her eyes narrowing inquisitively. "I noticed that the characters based on Hinata, Sakura, and Anko-sensei were wearing… very revealing outfits. Practically straps and tape."
Naruto began to sweat. He tugged at his collar. "Well, uh… you see, Ino… that was… essential!"
"Essential?"
"For the plot!" Naruto insisted, though his face was turning red. "It was… tactical! Mobility! Distraction! It's all part of the visual narrative!"
"Right," Ino said, her face dead serious. "Well, I finished it. It has an open ending. The heroes are heading to a large city, right? That means there's going to be a sequel."
"Yeah…" Naruto said cautiously. "I'm still drafting it. There's a lot to figure out. New setting, new threats… I need to introduce new characters…"
"Exactly," Ino interrupted. She placed her hand flat on the table.
"Put me in it."
The table went silent. Hinata blinked, surprised by the directness. Even Shikamaru lifted his head slightly from his arms, one eye peering out lazily.
"What?" Sakura asked, frowning. "Why do you even want to be in that thing?"
Ino waved a hand dismissively at Sakura without looking at her. "You're already in it, Forehead, so hush." She turned her intense gaze back to Naruto. "I want in."
"Why?" Naruto asked, bewildered. "It's just a story about zombies and stuff."
"Because it's cool!" Ino insisted, flipping her ponytail. "And it's going to make me even more popular. Do you have any idea how many people are drooling over the illustrations of Hinata, Anko-sensei and Sakura?"
Sakura, who had just taken a sip of tea to calm her nerves, choked violently. She coughed, sputtering tea onto the table. "What the hell, Ino?!"
Ino ignored her, laser-focused on the author. "Now, write this down, Naruto. My character needs to be a specialist. High-impact espionage." She gestured to her own body. "Costume needs to be sleek. A purple bodysuit. Skin-tight. Like, second-skin tight. And high heels. Combat heels. And I need at least three dramatic poses where I'm holding a sword while looking over my shoulder."
"Hey! If she's getting in, I want in too!" Karin slammed her hand on the table, leaning across Naruto to glare at him. "You better add me! My character should be a rugged survivor type! Very short jeans. Daisy dukes! And a tight tank top. Maybe ripped a little!"
"Oh! Oh! Me too!" Tenten's eyes lit up. "I want to be the weapons expert! My character should have knives strapped to her legs, her back, her arms, just a walking armory!"
"Don't forget the guys!" Kiba yelled, pointing a chopstick at Naruto. "Put me in there! And Akamaru! We need to be like… mutant hunters!"
"AND I!" Lee shouted, standing up again. "I WISH TO BE A MASTER OF UNARMED COMBAT WHO FIGHTS THE UNDEAD WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH!"
Naruto looked like he was drowning in a sea of requests. He held his hands up defensively. "Okay! Okay! I'll think about it! Just… one at a time!"
Hinata watched the chaos unfold, a small, amused smile playing on her lips. She saw Naruto frantically trying to memorize outfit requests while Ino commented his mental notes. It was a strange, peaceful kind of chaos.
Hours later, the collaborative lunch finally wound down. The group spilled out onto the street, rubbing full stomachs and shielding their eyes from the afternoon sun.
Ino, Karin, Sakura, and Tenten walked off together, already discussing potential plotlines for their fictional counterparts, looking thoroughly satisfied. Kiba and Lee ran off to train, shouting about youth and speed.
Finally, only Hinata, a visibly exhausted Naruto, and a sleepy-looking Shikamaru remained near the restaurant entrance.
Shikamaru yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Well… that was loud. Thanks for the food." He looked at Naruto, his expression turning serious for a brief moment. "I got the briefing for tomorrow. We're moving out early."
Naruto nodded, his demeanor shifting slightly. "Yeah, and I'm going to the Fire Temple."
"Let's hope it's actually exciting," Shikamaru sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "And not just another paper-reading nonsense mission. See you guys."
He turned and walked away, his slouch prominent.
Hinata looked at Naruto. "You should rest, Naruto-kun."
Naruto smiled, though it was tired. "Yeah. See ya, Hinata."
He waved and headed down the street. Hinata watched him go, the sun dipping lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the village. The peace felt fragile, a quiet breath before the next plunge.
The morning sun cut through the lingering mist at Konoha's main gate, gleaming off the polished dark surfaces of Hinata's armor. She stood perfectly still, her helmet sealed away, leaving her face exposed to the cool air. Her long, dark hair, usually framing her face, was pulled back into a practical bun, secured tight against the back of her head to accommodate the helmet she might need later.
Around her, the combined force of Team 8 and Team 10 waited. Kiba leaned against the gatepost, scratching Akamaru behind the ears, while Shino stood silently adjusting his sunglasses. Ino was checking her pouch, Choji was finishing a last-minute snack, and Shikamaru looked like he would rather be back in bed. At the head of the formation stood Asuma Sarutobi, calmly lighting a cigarette, the smoke curling up into the clear sky.
Asuma took a long drag, exhaled, and looked over his shoulder. "Everyone ready?"
He received a series of nods and affirmations. With a curt motion of his hand, he signaled the advance. "Let's move out."
The two teams launched themselves from the gate, taking to the high branches of the forest. They moved in a wide arc formation designed for maximum sensory coverage. Asuma took the point. To his left flank was Hinata. To his right was Shikamaru.
As the trees blurred past, Hinata let her mind drift momentarily from the immediate surroundings. Naruto had departed late evening in the previous day with Kakashi, Sakura, and Yamato, heading for the Fire Temple. She sent a silent hope that his mission would remain routine, though with Naruto, 'routine' was rarely the outcome.
The silence of the travel was broken after an hour by Kiba's voice carrying over the wind.
"So, we're heading to the capital," Kiba shouted, hopping over a thick root. "I know the Feudal Lord lives there. The place has its own garrison, right? And the Lord has his own personal guard."
He glanced toward Asuma. "If things get messy with this supplier investigation, are those guys going to get in our way? I mean, what's the protocol if they try to stop us?"
Shikamaru answered from the right flank, his voice bored but projecting clearly. "We're Konoha shinobi, Kiba. We operate under the military authority of the Hidden Leaf. We have privileges that allow us to conduct investigations and operations within the capital, provided we don't directly threaten the Feudal Lord or his immediate family. It's a standard jurisdiction agreement."
"Yeah, I know the book stuff," Kiba replied. "But say we find these guys, and they have hired muscle, and we start brawling in the streets. Do we need to notify the local cops first? Or the Lord's guard?"
Shikamaru sighed, clearly finding the hypothetical troublesome. "It depends on the situation. If it's a standard engagement, we handle it. But there are the Twelve Guardians. They operate directly on the Feudal Lord's behalf. If the noise gets too loud, they might intervene. Depending on the politics of the moment, we'd either consult with them or ask them to back off."
There was a pause, filled only by the rhythmic thud of sandals hitting wood.
"Hey, Asuma-sensei," Kiba called out again. "I heard you used to be one of them, right? One of the Twelve Guardians."
Asuma didn't look back, but a plume of smoke trailed over his shoulder. "That's right. A long time ago."
"Is it a good gig?" Kiba asked, grinning. "Do they pay better than Konoha?"
"Kiba!" Ino scolded from behind. "Stop asking such trivial questions on a mission!"
Asuma chuckled, a low, gravelly sound. "The pay was decent. But the work… it was mostly routine. Standing guard, ceremonial duties. It's not exactly the shinobi life you're used to. And the Guardians aren't just from Konoha. Anyone with enough skill and a decent reputation from anywhere in the Land of Fire can be invited to join."
He paused for a moment, his tone becoming slightly reflective. "One of my old friends from that time… he's a monk at the Fire Temple now. Chiriku."
Hinata's eyes narrowed slightly as she caught the name. The Fire Temple. That was exactly where Naruto and his team were heading. The threads of these separate missions seemed to be weaving closer together than she had anticipated.
Her mind flashed to a conversation she'd had with Kurenai some time ago over tea. Kurenai had spoken in hushed tones about Asuma's past, about the schism that had torn the Guardians apart. Half of them had attempted a coup against the Feudal Lord, believing the military power should be centered solely on the leader, not the village. The other half, Asuma included, had been forced to kill their former comrades to stop it. It was a bloody, tragic history that Asuma carried with him.
Hinata kept her face neutral, saying nothing.
"Well," Kiba said, breaking the somber mood. "I just hope the current Guardians are on our side if things go south."
"Don't worry," Asuma said, tapping the ash from his cigarette as he leaped to the next branch. "The current roster is loyal, they are from Konoha. We won't have trouble from them."
With that reassurance settling over the group, they surged forward, leaving the dense forest of the borderlands behind and speeding toward the Fire Capital.
The afternoon sun was beginning its descent as the combined squads of Konoha shinobi arrived at the Fire Capital. The city was a sprawling image of buildings, where traditional wooden pagodas stood shoulder-to-shoulder with modern, reinforced stone administrative blocks. The streets were filled with activity. Merchants shouting their wares, ornate carriages rattling over cobblestones, and groups of civilians pushing through the narrow arteries of the metropolis.
The Konoha team, however, moved with a singular purpose that allowed for no sightseeing. They flashed their identification to the gate garrison and immediately navigated toward the industrial district.
As they approached the target coordinates, Hinata recognized the facility's emblem painted on a side wall. It was a foundry known for precision casting. While their public face was the assembly of hospital beds and surgical frames for the Land of Fire's medical infrastructure, they had a secondary revenue stream in making small machinery. Long time ago, during the frustrating early stages of her armor project, Hinata had ordered several crates of high-tensile gears and reinforced frames from this very supplier through a broker in Konoha. It was strange to see the physical source of the components that now sat within the machinery in her room.
The destination was a four-story offices building, a blocky structure of gray stone and glass that looked mundane. Hinata's eyes performed a quick, practiced sweep of the perimeter before they slowed down. She noted the actual manufacturing plant, the foundry itself, was a separate warehouse like building adjacent to the offices, connected by a covered walkway.
Civilians entering and exiting the main office paused, their eyes widening as they took in the two squads. It wasn't often that fully armed shinobi, let alone a towering, armored woman, walked the business district. A quiet radius of empty space naturally formed around them.
Without a word, the team mounted the steps and pushed through the glass double doors.
The entrance hall was cool and tiled, filled with the low murmur. That murmur died instantly the moment the heavy boots of the ninja echoed on the floor.
They moved in a loose wedge formation toward the central reception desk. They did not brandish weapons or release killer intent, but they didn't have to. They carried the heavy, unmistakable aura of power that clung to veteran shinobi. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. Security guards in ill-fitting uniforms suddenly found fascinating things to look at on the ceiling or the floor, slowly drifting away from the team's path.
The receptionist, a young woman with bright ribbons in her hair, looked up as a shadow fell across her desk. Her eyes traveled up Asuma's broad chest, past his sash, and then drifted to Hinata's armored bulk looming behind him. The color drained from her face.
"D-do…" She swallowed hard, her voice trembling. "Do you have an appointment?"
Asuma removed the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling a thin stream of smoke away from her. He reached into his flak jacket and produced a folded document stamped with the Hokage's seal. He placed it gently on the polished wood.
"We are conducting an official investigation on behalf of the Hidden Leaf Village," Asuma said, his tone calm but carrying an absolute weight. "We have direct orders to question the executive director of this facility. Now."
The young woman stared at the red seal, her hands shaking as she reached for the telephone receiver. She nodded frantically, fumbling with the dial. "Y-yes. Of course. Just a moment."
She spoke into the receiver in a hushed, urgent whisper, her eyes darting back to the group repeatedly. "Yes, sir. Konoha shinobi. Yes, right now. It… it looks urgent."
She hung up and looked back at Asuma, looking as though she might faint. "Director Takanori is awaiting you. Fourth floor. The last door on the right."
"Thank you," Asuma said.
The team moved to the stairs, their formation tightening slightly. Their eyes scanned the landings and the corners, checking for traps or ambushes out of habit, though the building appeared to be exactly what it claimed to be: a boring office.
They reached the fourth floor. The carpet here was plush, dampening their footsteps. They stopped before the heavy oak double doors at the end of the hall.
A large mahogany desk guarded the entrance, manned by a secretary. She was young, perhaps in her mid-twenties, with a sharp bob of brown hair and dark, intelligent eyes. Her makeup was applied with precision, and her blouse was crisp and unwrinkled.
She looked up as the eight shinobi crowded the hallway. Unlike the girl downstairs, she didn't flinch. She didn't pale. Her dark eyes swept over them, lingering for a fraction of a second on Hinata's unhelmeted face, assessing, before returning to Asuma.
"Director Takanori is expecting you," she said, her voice smooth and professional. "Please, go right in."
Hinata narrowed her eyes slightly. The calmness was unnatural. A civilian facing a squad of foreign military operatives hunting for answers should show anxiety, fear, or at least surprise. This woman showed none of it. She was too composed, her heart rate, which Hinata could hear thumping steadily, was rhythmic and slow.
She glanced sideways and saw Shikamaru's eyes darting to the secretary as well, his brow furrowing slightly. He had noticed it too.
Before anyone could act on the suspicion, the office door jerked open from the inside.
A man stumbled into the doorframe, wiping a sheen of sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. He was nearing middle age, with thinning brown hair and a belly that strained against the buttons of his vest. He looked like a man on the verge of a cardiac event.
"Ah! Konoha! My goodness, you're here already!" The Director's voice was high and thinned by stress. He gestured frantically into the room. "Please, please come in! We have nothing to hide! Nothing at all!"
He turned to the calm woman at the desk, his hands fluttering. "Yumi! Tea! Prepare tea for our guests immediately! The good kind!"
"Right away, sir," the secretary replied, her tone flat.
"Come in, come in," the Director urged, backing into his office and practically bowing. "My study is yours."
Asuma shared a brief look with Hinata, a silent command to stay alert, and stepped across the threshold.
The Director's office was spacious, designed to impress clients with the illusion of stability and wealth. The floor was covered in a thick, plush carpet that swallowed the sound of their boots, and the walls were lined with bookcases filled with untouched volumes. The air smelled of lemon polish and nervous sweat.
In the center of the room, two large, black leather sofas faced each other across a low, glass-topped coffee table. Asuma sat in the middle of one sofa, looking every bit the weary veteran commander. To his right sat Shikamaru, slouching slightly, and to his left sat Ino, her posture rigid and alert.
Behind them, the heavy hitters formed a wall. Hinata stood tall in her armor, flanked by the broad form of Choji, the twitching Kiba, and the silent, imposing Shino.
On the opposite sofa, Director Takanori sat alone. He looked small against the dark leather, wringing his hands together.
"I… I must admit, this is all very irregular," Takanori stammered, his eyes darting between the Jounin commander and the towering figures behind him. "What is it that Konoha requires from my humble facility? We have always met our quotas."
Asuma didn't speak immediately. He glanced sideways at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru reached into his flak jacket pouch and produced a folded document. He slid it across the glass table. "We aren't here about quotas, Director. We are here about a specific acquisition request for heavy medical equipment. A request that, according to our records, is still pending."
Takanori picked up the paper, his hands trembling slightly. He scanned the lines, his brow furrowing. He lowered the paper, a confused frown replacing his fear. "This… this must be a mistake. An error on Konoha's side."
The air in the room shifted instantly. Behind the sofa, Kiba's posture stiffened, and Akamaru let out a barely audible growl.
"A mistake?" Shikamaru repeated flatly.
"Yes," Takanori insisted, his voice gaining a frantic edge. "We fulfilled…"
Click.
The heavy oak door to the office opened, cutting him off.
The calm secretary, Yumi, stepped inside carrying a silver tray. The tension in the room didn't seem to register with her at all. She moved with a fluid, practiced grace, setting the tray down on the coffee table. The porcelain cups rattled softly against their saucers.
"Tea, sir," she said softly.
Hinata watched the interaction closely, her senses dialing up. As Yumi leaned over to pour the tea, a faint scent drifted toward the Konoha ninja. It was a subtle, expensive perfume, masked slightly by the smell of jasmine tea. But beneath that, Hinata detected something else, a distinct, musky aftershave.
It was the same expensive aftershave Director Takanori was wearing.
Takanori let out a long breath, his shoulders dropping inches as he looked at Yumi. "Thank you, Yumi. You're a lifesaver. Truly indispensable."
He smiled at her, a warm, intimate look that was entirely out of place for a boss addressing a subordinate in front of shinobi. Yumi returned a small, almost imperceptible smile before straightening up.
She is his mistress, Hinata realized. She glanced to her side. Kiba wrinkled his nose and gave a small nod. He smelled it too. Shino's head tilted a fraction of an inch.
Hinata focused her chakra, activating her Byakugan without the veins bulging, keeping the visual tell subtle. She scanned Yumi's body.
Her circulatory system was calm. Too calm. There was no spike in heart rate, no adrenal flush consistent with walking into a room full of armed killers. Hinata focused on her mouth. There was no cursed seal on the tongue, no ink, no chakra suppression tags. Her body was clean of the chemicals usually associated with brainwashing or heavy sedation.
Either she was innocent and remarkably oblivious, or she was trained to a level that rivaled elite kunoichi.
"Is there anything else, sir?" Yumi asked.
"No, no, that will be all, Yumi," Takanori said, his voice softer now. "Close the door on your way out."
She bowed politely and left. The click of the door latch seemed incredibly loud.
Shikamaru didn't touch his tea. "You were saying, Director. About the mistake."
Takanori blinked, the comfort of his mistress's presence fading as he looked back at the shinobi. "Ah, yes. As I was saying… this order isn't pending. My facility has already fulfilled it."
Asuma leaned forward, the leather creaking. "Fulfilled it? Explain."
"We transferred the assets," Takanori said, looking bewildered that they didn't know. "About a month ago. Your people came and collected it."
"Our people," Shikamaru echoed.
"Yes. Konoha shinobi."
A heavy silence fell over the room. Hinata's mind raced. Naruto had been thorough, there was no record of receipt at the hospital or logistics. If the equipment was gone, and Konoha didn't have it, then someone had intercepted the supply chain at the source.
"If a transfer of that magnitude took place," Shikamaru said slowly, "there would be a paper trail. Signatures. Cargo manifests."
"Of course!" Takanori stood up abruptly, eager to prove his innocence. "I have everything documented. I'm not a fool, I keep records of everything."
He hurried to a large shelving unit behind his desk, his fingers fumbling with the spine of a thick binder. He pulled it out, rushed back to the sofa, and placed it on the coffee table next to the untouched tea. He flipped it open, spinning it around so Asuma and Shikamaru could read.
"Here. The invoice. The transfer of custody. Signed and sealed."
Shikamaru leaned over the documents. Asuma peered over his shoulder. Ino tilted her head to see.
Hinata watched Shikamaru's body language. His shoulders didn't relax, they tightened. His eyes narrowed. He wasn't finding a forgery, he was finding exactly what the Director claimed.
"Describe them," Shikamaru said, not looking up from the paper. "The shinobi who picked this up. Who participated in the handover?"
"There were four of them," Takanori said. "Fully masked. Like your… ANBU, I believe? They presented identification scrolls. We verified them. It was me, Yumi, and my senior accountant present for the exchange."
"Masked," Asuma grunted. "Convenient."
"Their credentials checked out!" Takanori defended.
Hinata's mind worked through the logic. Valid IDs meant either high-level forgery or stolen credentials. But the biggest question remained.
Money.
Naruto had confirmed no funds had left the Konoha treasury. Yet, no merchant handed over millions of ryo worth of specialized equipment for free.
"How did they pay you?" Shikamaru asked.
Takanori blinked. "Excuse me?"
"The payment," Shikamaru said, his dark eyes locking onto the Director's. "Konoha pays via direct bank transfer for acquisitions of this size. But our treasury shows no outflow to your accounts."
Takanori's face, already sweaty, turned the color of old ash. He swallowed hard. "Well… yes. That was… unusual. But they insisted."
"Insisted on what?" Asuma asked sharply.
"Cash," Takanori whispered. "They paid in cash. Full amount. Upfront."
Hinata felt a chill. Cash left no paper trail.
"We don't do cash transactions for that kind of equipment," Shikamaru stated coldly. "You know the protocols."
"I know! I know!" Takanori held up his hands defensively. "But they were Konoha shinobi! They said it was a… important. Special ops. They implied that if I insisted on a bank transfer, the deal would be cancelled and… and my standing with the village would be jeopardized. I didn't want to offend your superiors!"
The Director was shaking now. He realized he had been played, or worse, complicit in something illegal.
Asuma glanced back at Ino, giving a subtle nod.
Ino leaned forward, her voice dropping to a persuasive, demanding tone. "Director. Where is that money now?"
Takanori looked at her, then back at Shikamaru. He seemed to calm down slightly, grasping for a way to fix this. "It's… it's still here. In the office vault. We were waiting to schedule a secure armored transport to the bank. It was too much to just walk over there with."
"Show us, and we need to question your accountant," Shikamaru said, standing up.
"I… yes. Of course." Takanori stood up on shaky legs. "I need to… I should call the accountant."
"Do that," Asuma ordered.
As Takanori walked to his desk to use the phone, the Konoha shinobi huddled briefly.
"Something is really wrong," Kiba whispered.
"Cash payment means untraceable funds," Hinata murmured. "Someone bought this equipment pretending to be us."
"And they used real money," Asuma noted quietly. "Which means this isn't just theft. It's a purchase made to look like an official acquisition."
"We split up," Asuma commanded in a low voice. "Director is going to take us to the money. Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru, you're with me. We need eyes and noses on that cash. See if we can track where it came from."
He turned to the others. "Ino, Shino, Choji. You find the accountant. Question him. Verify the Director's story. And keep an eye on that secretary. She's too calm for my liking."
"Understood," Ino whispered.
Takanori hung up the phone. "He's in his office down the hall."
"Lead the way to the vault," Asuma said to the Director.
The group separated. Ino, Shino, and Choji slipped out of the room first, heading down the corridor toward the accounting department. Asuma, followed closely by Hinata, Kiba, and Shikamaru, ushered the nervous Director toward the vault.
Hinata took one last look at the pristine office before following. The surface was clean, but the rot underneath was beginning to show.
The corridors leading toward the vault were significantly wider than the rest of the floor. Asuma, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Hinata walked in a loose formation, with Director Takanori shuffling nervously in their midst. The Director cast frequent, anxious glances upward at Hinata. In the confined space of the hallway, her armored form seemed even more colossal, her head is nearly brushing the ceiling tiles with every step.
They arrived at the end of the hall where the vault was located. It was secured by a massive set of metal double doors. Hinata tried to scan with her eyes the interior of this vault. However, her senses displaying this vault as a blurry wall. Looks like it has one of those cloaking seals placed from inside.
"It… it will take a moment," Takanori stammered, his hands shaking as he fished a large ring of keys from his pocket. He approached the wall of locks. "Security protocols…"
He began to unlock them, one by one.
Asuma stood with his arms crossed, watching the Director's back. Suddenly, he pressed a finger to the radio piece in his ear.
"Asuma-sensei," Ino's voice crackled through the comms. "We have reached the accountant's office. We are beginning the questioning now."
"Copy that," Asuma replied quietly. "Is the Director's secretary with you?"
"Affirmative," Ino replied. "She is right here. Just standing and watching us. She is very calm."
Takanori, oblivious to the radio chatter, twisted the final key with a loud mechanical thud.
"That is the last one," the Director announced, wiping sweat from his forehead. He gripped the heavy iron handles of the double doors. He planted his feet and grunted, straining visibly as he pulled. With a groan of high effort, and he slowly pried the doors open, revealing the dark interior.
"Please," Takanori gestured, breathing heavily from the exertion. "Enter. You will see."
The Director stepped in first. Asuma and the others followed him into the vault.
It was a large, reinforced room. Along the walls stood rows of metal sheds and open storage units, cluttered with archived paperwork, ledgers, and boxes containing various gold-made products that glinted in the dim light. In the center of the room sat a large metal table.
Piled high on the table were stacks of cash. It was a mountain of ryo notes.
Takanori walked to the opposite side of the table, turning to face them with the money between him and the shinobi. He began to gesture frantically at the piles.
"You see?" Takanori said, his voice echoing slightly in the metal room. "All of it. Every last banknote is here. The sheer volume… it was overwhelming. Me, the accountant, and Yumi… we spent the entire day counting it. My fingers were numb. It was exhausting work, truly exhausting…"
As the Director rambled on in the background, Hinata felt a cold prickle race down her spine.
It wasn't a sound. It was a sensation of absolute wrongness. It had been a low hum since she was walking on the corridor, but the moment she stepped into this vault, it screamed.
Inside her, Venom surged from dormancy to full alert in a moment.
THREAT.
Hinata's eyes widened, her Byakugan activating instantly. She sensed the chakra buildup before it even manifested physically.
"DANGER!"
Her warning ripped through the air.
At that exact moment, the walls and ceiling of the vault lit up. Invisible ink burned into existence, revealing massive, complex sealing arrays painted over every surface.
KA-BOOM!
The explosion was total. The walls were pulverized, the ceiling shattered. A massive, choking cloud of dust and debris billowed outward, filling the space where the room had been. The entire building shook to its foundation.
Silence hung for a heartbeat, broken only by the shrill, deafening ring of the fire alarm.
In the center of the ruin, a pile of heavy rubble shifted.
A massive slab of concrete was shoved aside. Hinata rose from the debris. Her helmet had deployed instantly. From her back, four thick, black symbiotic tendrils writhed, tossing aside the heavy beams and concrete that had tried to crush her.
She stood in a small circle of relatively clear floor. She managed to cast Kaiten to the whole room just as the detonation triggered. It absorbed the worst of the impact.
Nearby, another pile of rubble exploded outward.
"Cough! Hack! Damn it!" Kiba dragged himself out of the gray dust, Akamaru shaking his coat violently beside him. Shikamaru stumbled up next to them, waving his hand to clear the air, coughing into his elbow.
Another mound of debris shifted and burst apart. Asuma emerged, coughing but alive. Beneath him, curled into a ball and covered in dust, was Director Takanori. Asuma had moved with blinding speed, covering the civilian with his own body to save him from certain death.
"Status!" Asuma barked, checking the trembling Director.
Hinata scanned the area. The dust was thick, obscuring normal vision completely. She activated her Byakugan. The vault was gone. The walls had collapsed, opening the space up to the neighboring rooms and the corridor. The ceiling was torn open, revealing the sky.
Her vision locked onto a figure standing on the far side of the ruined corridor.
It was the secretary.
Hinata's mind raced. How? She was with Ino just seconds ago.
Through the swirling dust, Hinata saw the woman's chakra. It was burning in bright, violent colors, surging through her network. She knew how to use it.
The secretary's arm blurred. Swish-swish-swish.
Three kunai cut through the dust, flying straight for the Director.
Hinata moved to intercept, but her enhanced eyes caught the detail instantly. The handles were wrapped in active exploding tags.
She couldn't let them detonate near the survivors.
Arcs of blue lightning crackled around her armored gauntlets. Two symbiotic tendrils shot forward from her shoulders.
Snatch. Zap.
The tendrils plucked the kunai from the air, the symbiote immediately flooding the tags with disrupting lightning chakra, rendering the tags inert. Hinata's hand caught the third, crushing the tag into useless paper against her palm.
She dropped the neutralized weapons.
She assessed her options. She couldn't use her heavy attacks. A lightning drill or a firestorm would compromise the building's remaining structure or kill the civilians on the floors below.
She felt the biomass on her legs ripple, muscles expanding and contracting under the armor to prime a burst of kinetic energy.
BOOM.
Hinata launched herself forward.
She reappeared instantly in front of the shocked secretary, her chakra-enhanced fist pulling back the air as she drove a punch straight for the woman's face.
The secretary moved with unnatural reflexes. She dove down, rolling forward under the blow.
Hinata's fist missed, slamming into the wall where the woman's head had been. The impact demolished a section of the wall, sending cracks shooting up to the roof.
Hinata spun, bringing her armored forearm up to block a vicious slash from the secretary's kunai. Sparks flew as steel met her armor.
The secretary didn't press the attack. She turned and sprinted, straight toward the ruins of the vault.
Hinata's Byakugan flared. She noticed the change immediately. The woman was now wearing a thick business suit jacket over her blouse, she hadn't been wearing that earlier.
Beneath the fabric of the jacket, Hinata saw the symbols. The suit was lined with dense, glowing arrays.
Explosive seals. The same ones that had destroyed the vault. She was a walking bomb.
A black shadow shot across the floor, cutting through the dust. It connected with the secretary's shadow.
The woman froze mid-stride, her muscles locking up rigid.
Shikamaru, on one knee amidst the rubble, held his hands together in the rat seal.
Thwip.
A black tendril shot from Hinata's wrist, wrapping tight around the secretary's waist.
Hinata yanked her arm back. The woman was ripped from the floor, flying backward through the air toward the armored kunoichi.
As the secretary came within range, Hinata's palm shot out.
THWACK.
A Gentle Fist strike, enhanced by the density of the armor, slammed into the woman's chakra center. A pulse of disrupting energy blasted through her system, scrambling her focus and preventing the activation signal from reaching the seals on her suit.
Hinata didn't stop the motion. She converted the strike into a powerful shove.
The secretary flew across the corridor, slamming back-first into the far wall with a bone-jarring impact. She slumped down, motionless.
RIIING! RIIING! RIIING!
The fire alarm was still blaring. Hinata didn't hesitate and quickly moved to the defeated secretary. She dropped to one knee beside her slumped form, her armored fingers gripping the woman's chin to tilt her head back.
The woman's face was a horrific mask. Her skin was turning a deep, saturated purple, rapidly darkening as if the oxygen was being burned out of her blood. Thick, dark blood leaked from her nostrils, the corners of her eyes, and her ears. A wet, rattling gurgle bubbled up from her throat as she convulsed.
Hinata's Byakugan flared. She scanned the body, tracing the chakra network. It was chaotic, firing random signals, but the organs were failing in a cascade. Her Gentle Fist strike had disrupted the chakra flow to the explosive tags, but it hadn't caused this.
Neurotoxin, Venom's voice rumbled in her mind, clinical and detached. Rapid onset. Seems to be self-administered.
Boots crunched heavily on the debris behind her. Asuma, Shikamaru, and Kiba skid to a halt, weapons drawn.
The secretary's body gave one final, violent arch, her back leaving the wall, before she collapsed. Her eyes glazed over, staring fixedly at nothing. The gurgling stopped.
"Yumi?"
Director Takanori stumbled past Kiba, falling to his knees beside the corpse. He reached out with a trembling hand, ignoring the blood. "Yumi? No… no, please…"
Hinata stood up, her armored form towering over the grieving man. Without a word, she reached down and grabbed the lapels of the dead woman's business suit. With a sharp tear, she ripped the jacket open and pulled it free from the body, holding it up for the others to see.
The inner lining was heavy with ink. Complex sealing arrays covered the fabric, glowing faintly with residual energy before fading. The lines of the seals were jagged and disrupted where Hinata's chakra strike had severed the activation pathways, rendering them inert.
"Look at the patterns," Shikamaru said, his voice grim. "Those aren't just explosive tags. Those are demolition arrays. High grade. She was going to bring the whole floor down on top of us."
Asuma pressed two fingers to his ear piece. "Ino. Status."
There was a moment of static before Ino's voice came through, sounding breathless and urgent. "Asuma-sensei! What the hell just happened? The whole building just jumped! We're shaking down here!"
"Explosion in the vault," Asuma replied, his eyes fixed on the dead woman. "We have the secretary here. She attempted a suicide run with an explosive vest, but she's dead. Suicide poison."
Hinata watched the Director. He was weeping openly now, clutching the dead woman's hand, even after the fact that she had tried to kill him seconds ago.
"We… we have a situation here too," Ino reported. "Right when the shockwave hit, the accountant's assistants… they snapped. They pulled weapons out of nowhere. Tried to kill the accountant."
"Did you contain them?" Asuma asked sharply.
"Two are dead," Ino said. "Shino and Choji had to put them down. We captured the third, but… he bit something. Foamed at the mouth and died in seconds. They were fast, Sensei. They moved like trained assassins, not office workers."
Kiba wiped dust from his face, looking to the dead woman. "The timing… She must have slipped away the second Ino's team got jumped. She used the chaos to make a run for the vault."
The fire alarm continued its relentless, piercing shriek, echoing off the exposed steel beams of the shattered ceiling. Asuma stood amidst the rubble, rubbing the back of his neck, his face grim. Shikamaru was staring at the floor, his mind visibly working through scenarios.
"There could be others," Hinata said, her voice a low, resonant rumble that cut through the noise of the alarm. "If the accountant's assistants were sleeper agents, there may be more embedded in the general staff."
"The alarm is going to trigger a mass evacuation," Shikamaru said, looking up. " hundreds of people flooding the exits. If there are other infiltrators, they'll use the crowd to slip away."
Asuma nodded, switching instantly into command mode. He turned to Kiba. "Kiba, stay here. Guard the Director. Do not let him out of your sight. If anyone approaches who isn't us, put them down."
"Got it," Kiba growled, stepping closer to the shaken man, Akamaru taking a protective stance at his side.
"…everyone else," Asuma ordered, "we're heading downstairs. We need to filter the workers."
The scene outside the administrative building was controlled chaos. Hinata, Asuma, and Shikamaru rendezvoused with Ino, Shino, and Choji near the main entrance. The accountant was slumped over Choji's shoulder, who had fainted from the sheer terror of the assassination attempt.
They quickly scanned the bodies of the two assassins Ino's team had neutralized. They were dressed in standard office wear, their pockets empty save for simple identification cards.
As the employees began to stream out of the building, panic rippling through the crowd, a squad of uniformed shinobi arrived from the street. They wore sashes emblazoned with the Fire Capital's crest, the Feudal Lord's Guardians. Tension spiked for a moment until the lead Guardian spotted Asuma. He immediately recognized him, and followed by a sharp salute. Asuma spoke to him briefly in hushed tones, leveraging his past status without revealing the sensitive details of the missing equipment. The Guardian nodded, signaling his team to assist rather than interfere.
Together, the Konoha shinobi and the Guardians formed a funnel. The security staff guided the terrified civilians through the cordon.
It was a silent, high-stakes screening. Hinata stood like a statue near the gate. She was looking through them. She scanned circulatory systems for the tell-tale spikes of chakra usage, checked mouths for poison capsules or seals, and looked for concealed weapons beneath suits and dresses.
Ino and Shikamaru scanned the crowd for suspicious behavior. Anyone too calm, anyone checking exit routes rather than running. Choji, Shino, and Asuma stood ready, waiting for a signal that never came.
The stream of people thinned and then stopped. The Guardians took custody of the unconscious accountant, rushing him to a secure medical facility. Surprisingly, the explosion in the vault had been purely concussive, there was no fire.
The silence in the ruined corridor was heavy. The fire alarm was now turned off. The office building was now completely empty, save for the Konoha unit standing near the crater that used to be the vault.
The secretary's body lay against the far wall, her face now covered by her suit jacket. Director Takanori sat on a piece of fallen wall, clutching a bottle of water Kiba had found for him. He looked pale, but the immediate shock was fading, replaced by a hollow, haunted look.
Shikamaru stepped over a pile of pulverized drywall and approached the Director. He looked down at the man.
"Director," Shikamaru said quietly. "We need to know about her. Yumi. When was she hired? Where did she come from?"
Takanori stared at his shoes. "About a year ago," he rasped. "She… she had excellent credentials. Top of her class at the institute. She had a letter of recommendation from a logistics firm in the southern port city. I called them myself. They gave her a glowing review."
The Konoha shinobi exchanged glances. A year. That was a long time for a sleeper agent to wait.
"What exactly did that recommendation say?" Shikamaru pressed. "Why hire her specifically for this office?"
Takanori rubbed his face with trembling hands. "It mentioned… specifically… that she had experience handling procurement orders from Konoha."
Hinata's eyes narrowed behind her visor.
"She was brilliant with the paperwork," the Director continued, his voice cracking. "She knew your protocols better than I did. When those… those men in masks came last month with the cash… I was nervous. But Yumi… she stepped in. She told me she would handle the filing, ensure the serial numbers were logged so it wouldn't look suspicious. She convinced me it was fine."
He looked up, eyes wide with a sudden realization. "And the assistants… the ones who attacked accountant… she interviewed them. She hired them two months ago."
Hinata stood motionless, her sensory perception focused entirely on the Director. She could hear the rhythmic thumping of his heart, the ragged intake of his breath. The pheromones coming off him were purely those of grief and fear.
"He is telling the truth," Hinata stated, her dual voice flat.
Hinata processed the timeline. A year of infiltration. Forging credentials. Inserting a team of assassins. All to intercept a specific shipment of medical equipment and cover the tracks. This wasn't a crime of opportunity. This was a dedicated, long-term intelligence operation aimed specifically at blinding Konoha's medical infrastructure.
A waste of resources, Venom's voice echoed in Hinata's mind, sounding bored. All that planning. All that infiltration. A year of preparation for a single, pathetic explosion. That crystal woman was worthy enemy. This… this is just tedious. They should have challenged us directly. At least that would have been entertaining.
Hinata ignored the internal monologue, her focus remaining on the current situation. "The vault was the target," she announced, her voice resonating through her helmet. "We need to investigate it."
Asuma grunted in agreement. "You heard her. Let's see what they were so desperate to destroy."
The group moved back into the rubble that was once the vault, even Director Takanori trailing behind them like a lost ghost. The air was thick with the smell of concrete.
GRRR-CHUNK.
Hinata's armored hands gripped the edge of a massive, twisted metal shelf. With a surge of power, she heaved it upward. Choji and Asuma moved to her side, adding their strength to lift the heavy debris. Kiba and Akamaru dug through the smaller rubble, clearing a path.
Beneath the wreckage, the heavy metal table was bent and scorched but surprisingly intact. The stacks of cash were still there, covered in a thick layer of gray dust. Some bundles had been ripped apart by the shockwave, fluttering loosely, but the majority remained tightly bound.
My Kaiten… it shielded more than just us, Hinata realized.
After a few more minutes of heavy lifting, the table was completely clear. The Konoha shinobi and the Director stood around it.
"Find anything that looks out of place," Asuma ordered.
Each shinobi took a stack of the dusty banknotes. Takanori just stared, his mind seemingly elsewhere.
Hinata picked up a bundle, her armored fingers brushing away the grit. She focused her eyes and all her other senses on the object in her hands. She pushed her chakra through the paper, listening, smelling, feeling.
"This is weird," Kiba muttered, holding a stack close to his nose. Akamaru whined, nudging another bundle with his snout.
"Weird how?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes scanning his own stack for any visible markings.
"It smells…" Kiba paused, sniffing again. "Aside from the dust, it's like… like this part smells like it was pulled out of a rotten corpse. But this part…" He gestured to another stack. "This smells too clean. Sterile."
Hinata's focus sharpened. She began to move her hands over multiple stacks, her senses expanding. Two thin, black tendrils, no thicker than wire, emerged from her gauntlets, their tips gliding over the paper.
Traces, Venom confirmed. Congealed blood. Microscopic. Multiple genetic markers. And here… The chemicals humans use to mask the scent of decay.
Hinata pushed her perception deeper, past the physical realm, searching for the spiritual echoes left behind by the money's previous owners. The stacks were practically screaming. A cacophony of faint, desperate whispers. The lingering psychic residue of fear, pain, and death.
She straightened up, retracting the tendrils. Her helmeted head turned towards Asuma, a single, decisive nod.
Asuma saw it immediately. He gave a subtle, almost imperceptible flick of his head toward Choji. Choji understood. He placed a gentle but firm hand on Director Takanori's shoulder.
"Sir, perhaps it is best if you wait over here. We need to discuss some sensitive Konoha matters," Choji said kindly, guiding the dazed man further down the corridor.
Once they were out of earshot, Hinata spoke.
"There are traces of blood and human tissue on the notes. Some are saturated with various antiseptic compounds."
"Yeah, that's what I'm smelling," Kiba confirmed, Akamaru barking in agreement.
"My kikaichu have also identified similar organic and chemical residues," Shino added, his voice a low monotone.
Shikamaru was staring at the money, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Asuma, however, remained relaxed, taking a slow drag from a fresh cigarette. He watched them, his eyes calm, letting them piece it together. Looks like he already had his theory. Hinata had noticed it from the beginning. Asuma was the commander, but he let Shikamaru run the most of the work. He was shaping him.
Or he is lazy, Venom offered. Delegating difficult cognitive tasks to a subordinate is an efficient method of energy conservation.
Hinata sweatdropped from hearing that.
"That level of antiseptic…" Ino mused aloud. "You see that most often in one place. Mortuaries."
Kiba's eyes widened. "You're kidding. You think these guys were robbing morgues? Emptying the pockets of every corpse in the country?"
Shikamaru finally looked up from the cash, his lazy eyes now sharp and focused.
"No," he said, his voice cutting through the speculation. "Not just robbing them. This isn't random theft."
He picked up a stack, holding it up. "This is bounty money."
Everyone turned to him.
"Think about it," Shikamaru continued, his mind working at full speed. "It explains the smells. A bounty hunter kills their target, they get paid in cash. The money is often old, dirty… sometimes bloody. They probably tried to clean some of it to make it look legitimate for the payment here, which explains the antiseptics. It's a mix of fresh kills and old payments."
He looked around at the faces of his comrades. "Our fake Konoha shinobi weren't just spies. They were bounty hunters. High-level ones. And their secretary handler found a way to launder their dirty money by using it to buy our equipment."
"There are only two official bounty stations in the Land of Fire," Hinata's dual voice cut through the dusty air. "One is here in the capital, affiliated with our village. The other is in Konoha itself. Transactions of this nature are meticulously logged."
She knew that Shikamaru and Naruto had spent days buried in those exact logs. If there had been a legitimate, large-scale cash payout, they would have found it already.
"What about local garrisons?" Kiba piped up, scratching Akamaru's head. "Sometimes the city police put out their own bounties for local thugs, right?"
"Only for small-time criminals," Ino countered, shaking her head. "Anything that would generate this much cash would be a B-rank threat or higher. Those go straight to the bingo books and get processed through Konoha and mostly fulfilled by our own shinobi. The whole system is centralized for a reason."
"So they were either running a thousand tiny bounties," Kiba mused, "or they were operating in another country."
"It's neither," Shikamaru said, his voice quiet but firm. He looked up from the cash, his lazy eyes now sharp and focused. "Official bounty stations don't pay in cash. Not for jobs this big. It all goes through a bank transfer to a registered Konoha account. It's the same for the other Great Villages. It's how they vet the hunters. If you're a missing-nin or have a shady reputation, you can't get paid. The smaller countries and villages don't have the resources for a network like that. That leaves one option. The Black Market."
Hinata's mind clicked. She had been on missions to dismantle those shadow economies before, hidden networks where cash was king and questions were discouraged.
Asuma took a final, long drag from his cigarette, then dropped the butt and crushed it under his heel. Sssss. "A plausible theory," he grunted. He looked at his sensory specialists. "Kiba, Shino. You have the scent, the traces?"
"Locked in," Kiba confirmed, Akamaru barking once in agreement.
Shino gave a curt nod.
Asuma's gaze shifted to Hinata. "I've read your file. You have a knack for long-range tracking. Did you get a lock on the source?"
"Yes," Hinata confirmed. "The source signature is strong. And it is not in this city."
Asuma's face hardened. "Then we're wasting time. Let's move."
A few minutes later, Director Takanori was escorted away by a squad of the Feudal Lord's Guardians, officially under witness protection. A dedicated investigation team from Konoha will secure the site. With the handover complete, the two teams of Konoha shinobi, still covered in streaks of gray dust from the explosion, turned their backs on the pristine office building. They moved into the shadows of the alleyways, leaving the bustling capital behind them as they set off on a new trail.