Lurking danger

"Let's go.."

Sato said in a weird voice.

"Yeah.."

Fu mumbled in a low tone.

They started walking side by side; neither of the two spoke the whole way to the shop; the entire journey was silent. The atmosphere was subtle.

Just like that, they had reached the shop that sold Fu expired food.

"Ahem, you sold me expired food last time; what did you say? That's what I deserve? I see. Let me show you what you deserve."

*Bang*

*Boom*

*Clang*

After teaching the shopkeeper a lesson, Sato and Fu returned home. Throughout the day, they remained unusually quiet. Hinata had a sinking suspicion that something must have happened.

But neither of the two said anything about it; joke, how could they?!

Fu had done something which she felt extremely conflicted about; on one hand, she was too emotional; on the other, she kind of meant it.

As for Sato, he was out on a vacation with Hinata; telling her about Fu on the very first day would be a total tragedy. Sato decided to forget about the whole thing for now. Anyway, Fu did it by mistake, he thought.

Unknown to him, Fu didn't consider this a mistake. Yet because of her low confidence, she acted as if she decided to forget, just like Sato did.

*Tick tock*

Time passed quickly; for two whole months, Sato and Hinata stayed with Fu. During this time, Hinata was repeatedly using Byakugan, which was a big burden for her. Thankfully, she achieved results today.

"Sato kun! I got it!"

Hinata exclaimed with happiness while deactivating her Byakugan. Sato, who was reading a book he stole from this village, looked up with surprise.

"You found it? You found a way to steal the hero wate-"

*Umph*

Hinata quickly put her hand on Sato's mouth; this was a secret. She didn't want Fu to know they were here to steal her village's treasure.

"Sato kun, be more careful; you almost said it out loud. It would be bad if Fu knew the truth. I know she isn't here, but we should be more careful."

Hinata took her hand back from Sato's mouth, and Sato raised his hand up with an understanding expression.

But although he was agreeing with Hinata, there was something else in Sato's mind; he had a suspicion that Fu had figured out he wanted to steal the hero's water, not buy it.

But Fu's attitude had become a bit weird sometime ago, and Sato couldn't confirm if she was still by his side.

Sato shook his head. This wouldn't do; he wasn't dense. He knew why Fu was acting this way. He had thought she would forget about that day because she did it by mistake, but she obviously hasn't forgotten anything.

"Hinata, I wanted to tell you something."

Sato knew it was time to let Hinata know; they were going to leave soon, Fu would be all alone, and he had to clarify some things.

"I wanted to tell you something that happened two months ago, the day I took Fu out for the first time."

Sato spoke with seriousness, and Hinata just smiled gently. She pursed her lips and said.

"Is it about Fu?"

Hinata asked with her voice going low. Sato nodded, but just as he was about to say it, a loud, booming noise came from somewhere.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata instantly turned on her Byakugan; the veins around her eyes bulged. She turned her head like a radar and searched for the problem.

"Sato kun, something's wrong! Many strong chakra signatures are surrounding us."

"Fu is also being attacked; she is fighting against a lot of strong ninjas. She is in danger."

Sato immediately got up and turned on his lightning-release chakra mode. Right at that moment, the door to their house was broken down.

*Bang*

A ninja came in arrogantly.

*Booom*

And he flew out just as quickly. Sato retracted his leg after his kick. Acting arrogant before a hidden cloud Ninja? What a joke.

"Lets go, Hinata. They are surrounding Fu and that booming loud paper bomb explosion. This is a planned attack."

Sato and Hinata were definitely exposed, but something was wrong. This attack on Fu—something was off about it. It was as if the attackers didn't care about the villagers.

Ninjas don't use paper bombs so close to the village. There had to be a deeper story behind it.

*Step*

*Step*

Sato walked out of the house with confidence. Blue lightning was flashing around his body, spiking up his hair. Enemy village or not, he was the future Raikage. He feared nothing.

Hinata was right behind him; two lion heads had appeared on her palms. This was her self-made jutsu from the original series. Twin lion fist. Hyuga clan's strongest jutsu.

"Stop. Outsider. Shibuki Sama is calling you. Our village leader wants to meet you."

One of the Ninjas ordered Sato to stop in the name of the village leader, which was basically the kage of the waterfall village.

This made Sato pause. The village leader attacked him, but now he wanted to see him.

"Why did you surround us then? Is this how your leader shows hospitality?"

Sato frowned, but the Ninja shook his head.

"You are an outsider without a permit; this is a necessary precaution. Shibuki Sama wants to talk. This isn't an attack."

Sato was frowning deeply; he wasn't sure what to do about this. Was this really a friendly visit? So why do they attack Fu?

"Why did you attack Fu then? Don't tell me; using paper bombs against her is also a friendly greeting."

The Ninja leader was silent for a while, then spoke grimly.

"This doesn't concern you, outsider."

Sato chuckled. He slowly took out a coin from his pocket and held it in his palm. Lightning arcs flashed around him, and the coin began to float.

*Whiiizz*

In a few seconds, the coin started emitting energy; it had turned bright yellow from the sheer heat of Sato's charging Railgun.

The energy contained within this coin was so intense that the ninjas surrounding Sato were almost sent into panic.

"Wait wait!"

The Ninja leader hastily asked Sato to stop; he was a sensor and knew this coin contained enough energy to blow up a small mountain.

"Shibuki Sama asked us to invite you and Fu. We weren't given any orders to attack. I don't know why that squad is attacking her."

The Ninja leader quickly leaked his orders; in his entire life, he had sensed such a strong chakra only once in the seven-tail's tailed beast ball. Now Sato was doing such a thing with a coin.

He didn't bother hiding information from someone this bloody strong. He wanted to live okay.

And as if agreeing with the leader, the attacks on Fu quickly stopped, and the area regained its calm. Hinata turned on her Byakugan and checked if Fu was truly alright. She nodded to Sato after that. Confirming that Fu was okay.

"I see, I will meet your leader, and those guys attacking her without orders, they better get punished."

Sato spat and turned off the lightning chakra mode. The coin slowly stopped spinning and lost its bright yellow glow.

The Ninja leader breathed a sigh of relief and spoke again, this time respectfully.

"Please come with us. Shibuki Sama just wanted to talk to you about Fu. In fact, the leader knew you and that white-eyed girl were here two months ago."

"Your disguise was great, but you slipped up the very first night. When you and Fu were hugging on the street, your transformation was broken."

"Lord Suien had seen you that day; this was his idea, and Lord Shibuki agreed to it in the end. Shibuki Sama thinks you will make a great couple with her."

The ninja leader said it warmly, but Sato's face was hard to look at. He could feel it; Hinata's eyes were drilling a hole into his body from behind.

And that wasn't the only problem. If he remembers right, this guy named Suien was a villain in the orginal story, wasn't he? Now Sato was even more suspicious; this whole situation reeked of a conspiracy.

Advanced chapters ahead on patréon

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