Naruto: Hyuga Warlord

The wind passed without leaving a trace, except for birdsong lingering in the ears.

Basking under the ever-present grace of the Hokage, Hyuga Soushu was listed among the first batch of ninja to return to the village and enjoy caring rest leave.

Therefore, as the Konoha Ninja Forces prepared to retreat to the Land of Rivers and Konoha Border, Hyuga Soushu was directly appointed by Hatake Sakumo as the vanguard reconnaissance jonin. He was responsible for leading his Directly Commanded Squad to eliminate potential deserters along the main Konoha forces' retreat route, ensuring their safe withdrawal.

Of course, this was merely an excuse Sakumo had casually come up with. His real intention was simply to allow Hyuga Soushu to return to the village sooner rather than delay his journey due to the slow-moving post-war logistics teams.

Especially after those veteran ninja from the Western Border Forces, who had been specially granted rest leave, departed, the western front would fall into a leadership vacuum. Sakumo needed to send those ninja enjoying their break back to the village as soon as possible, so he could legitimately rotate his own followers in to reinforce.

As Hyuga Soushu traveled homeward with his Directly Commanded Squad, they trekked tirelessly. Wherever they went, nothing remained besides the desolation left by war.

A gentle breeze swept across the plains of the Land of Rivers, lifting flurries of snow mixed with dirt into the air; over the vast wilderness, only carrion-eating vultures cried out in the silent sky, their echoes reverberating endlessly.

The Land of Rivers had barely managed to rebuild its population and settlements since the First Great Ninja War, but now all that progress was rendered meaningless by the whims of a few ninja.

"Let's rest for ten minutes before continuing."

Even through his Byakugan vision, Soushu had not detected the slightest sign of human habitation along the way, clearly demonstrating how desolate this land had become.

"Alright!"

Might Duy's reply remained consistently loud and energetic as always, echoing across the barren landscape—but failing to disturb even a single bird or beast, because any careless birds or beasts had already been eliminated by the overly alert ninja.

Guided by Soushu, the group of four settled atop a cluster of rocks and took out instant meals to replenish their energy.

At this moment, Uchiha Mahiru displayed unusual gentleness and docility, quietly sitting beside Soushu and taking out dried meat from her pack to warm it with Fire Release.

Meanwhile, Maruboshi Kosuke skillfully pulled Might Duy aside to another corner of the rock formation, trying to avoid unintentionally becoming an awkward third wheel.

Hyuga Soushu understood this very well. He knew Mahiru's current behavior was only temporary satisfaction-induced laziness; chances are, once they got back to the village, she'd revert to her true self in no time.

Come to think of it, who could resist such a cold-outside-warm-inside kunoichi?

However, upon returning home, he surely would face various pressures from the Shin clan.

The Uchiha Clan probably wouldn't mind much—even though they're often seen as unstable, this red-eyed bunch has always respected power. But the Hyuga Clan, known for its rigid traditions and formalities, might not be as forgiving.

Thinking about this, Hyuga Soushu's mood instantly darkened.

"Soushu-kun"

Mahiru Uchiha felt a shift in the air, so she got up and sat beside him, placing a strip of meat warmed with Fire Release into his mouth.

"Everything will be alright."

Soushu chewed the dried meat as he mumbled, "No one can stop us!"

"Just let them try and object!"

Leaning close to Soushu-kun's ear, Mahiru whispered with the softest voice saying the fiercest words, "I'll chop off their heads and give them to my beloved Soushu-kun as a gift!"

"In that case, I'll look forward to it! But leaving them broken is still better left to me!"

Soushu leaned in and gently kissed Mahiru's red lips, then whispered, "You just need to take care of the final kills and burn the bodies."

"We'll make a necklace set from their skull caps!"

Mahiru threw her arms around Soushu's neck, passionately responding with her fiery lips.

When Soushu led his team back to the border defense base camp, only a handful of on-duty ninja remained. He quickly completed the handover procedures and obtained the documents authorizing his entire unit to return to the village for rest.

What surprised him most was finding two Anbu squads stationed in the camp.

That was extremely out of the ordinary.

In addition to the two Anbu squads already stationed here, there was yet another Anbu unit responsible for delivering orders and urging the withdrawal at the Land of Wind border region. In other words, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had dispatched nearly one-seventh of the directly commanded units visible on the surface.

The reason Soushu could confirm these were Hokage's direct Anbu rather than Danzo's Root Division was because he recognized one of them—the dog-masked Anbu he'd fought before.

Though they had never officially met or learned each other's names, Soushu could identify from the chakra signature that this was indeed the same person he had encountered before.

However, neither party exchanged any words this time—Soushu no longer deemed them worth his attention, while the Anbu operative had his duties to attend to and couldn't engage in casual conversation.

Thus, the two parties simply passed each other by and went their separate ways.

"Master Soushu"

On their way back to Konoha, Might Duy finally gave in to his curiosity and asked, "Those we met at the camp... were they truly the Hokage's Anbu?"

"Yes. What about it?"

Soushu slightly turned his head as he asked, "Are you really interested in joining the Anbu?"

"Yes yes yes!"

Might Duy bobbed his head up and down like a cabbage in a storm.

"In that case, just train hard enough. When your strength reaches a certain level, believe me, the Hokage will recognize your talents."

Of course, Soushu would never say anything like 'forget about joining Anbu with your personality'—instead, he chose to offer quite positive encouragement.

After all, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Since nobody else valued Might Duy, this once precious but disposable gem, Soushu would have no qualms about leading him down an entirely different path that hadn't been considered before.

Though staying silent, Kosuke Maruboshi also felt deep down that Might Duy's dream of entering the Anbu was unrealistic. However, since they had spent considerable time together, he found it difficult to speak the honest truth.

Adding to that, since Hyuga Soushu was the team leader, it was perfectly reasonable for him to say things that could inspire his subordinates' morale. Therefore, Kosuke Maruboshi didn't find anything wrong with what Hyuga Soushu had said.

As for Might Duy's strength…

Frankly speaking, Kosuke Maruboshi did acknowledge how hard he worked.

However, in his opinion, if a ninja chose the wrong training path, no matter how hard they worked or how much sweat they spilled, ultimately it would all be for nothing.

"Pity you weren't born with a talent for ninjutsu."

Kosuke Maruboshi sighed slightly, feeling some regret over Might Duy's innate abilities and destiny.

"By the way, sensei, do you wish to join Anbu?"

Excitedly, Might Duy burst out with an irrelevant question.

"I take pride in being a Konoha jonin."

Hyuga Soushu pointed at the forehead protector worn neatly on his brow.

"Oh."

Although his teacher's reply seemed off-topic, surprisingly, the usually clueless Might Duy appeared to somewhat grasp the meaning.

Then, without further conversation, he hastily pulled out a Military Rations Pill, swallowed it, and picked up his pace, because Hyuga Soushu and Uchiha Mahiru had already sped up ahead.

"This is the blazing passion of youth!"

Feeling the wind rush past him as he sped forward, Might Duy couldn't help but cry out!

"What a nut!"

Uchiha Mahiru was getting a headache.

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