Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 32 The Puppet Stage

Snap... Snap...

The cold autumn rain enveloped the entire forest, the dark green canopy layered into a dome, and the mist drifted among the branches, creating a gloomy and oppressive natural atmosphere.

Several dark shadows flickered on the tree trunks and branches in the forest, and rainwater dripped down the folds of the dark raincoat, leaving several winding water streaks on the surface of the waterproof cloth.

Wearing a black raincoat as well, Hinata Kumokawa stood in the middle of the group, carefully observing the other people accompanying him on this escort mission out of the corner of his eye.

Of the group of fifteen, twelve were ANBU ninjas, which meant there were three squads, with four ANBU ninjas in each squad.

This already shows a high level of importance; otherwise, the Anbu, as the Third Hokage's personal guards, would not easily go out on missions.

As for the remaining three people, besides Hyuga Kumokawa, who was being partially protected, there were two Konoha Jonin.

One is a Jonin of the Akimichi clan, and the other is a Jonin of the Aburame clan.

The others all wore masks of various shapes and sizes, exuding a cold and murderous aura.

It can be said that this escort team has extremely strong combat capabilities and there will be almost no security issues.

but……

"Danger may not necessarily come from the outside."

Hyuga Kumokawa's gaze swept over the Jonin of the Aburame clan, keenly sensing the familiar chill emanating from him.

The ninja of "Root".

Danzo Shimura hadn't given up after all, but that was fine, since they had the same goal.

"stop."

Hinata Kumokawa suddenly spoke, and everyone around him instinctively stopped and turned to look at him.

"At the 2 o'clock position, about one kilometer away, there are thirteen ninjas gathered. Their chakra aura is very chaotic, so they should be wandering ninjas."

As Hinata Kumokawa spoke, he removed his goggles to wipe them, revealing the skin beneath his eyelids that had turned white from being soaked in moisture.

"Let's take a detour." Akimichi Jonin's voice was distorted by the sound of rain.

As the name suggests, wandering ninjas are mostly unorthodox ninjas who roam around. They do not belong to any ninja village, travel between countries, and steal ninjutsu from various countries. Most of them only learn the basics, or they are similar in form but not in essence. Therefore, most of them are not very strong.

Of course, the fact that a dozen or so wandering ninjas were able to gather together strongly suggests that they were recruited by rogue ninjas from some village.

Their mission was simply to escort the body to Kumogakure as soon as possible, and to avoid causing any trouble along the way.

How far is it from the Land of Hot Springs?

Suddenly, Ryoma Aburame, a Jonin of the Aburame clan, spoke up and asked a question.

Hinata Kumokawa glanced at the map and replied, "About 150 kilometers."

The Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning do not share a border; they are separated by two smaller countries, the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon. Their destination is the Land of Hot Water.

At the normal speed of a ninja, without using the Body Flicker Technique, it would take three days and three nights to travel from Konoha to Sunagakure. The journey from Konoha to the Land of Hot Springs would be slightly shorter, but still take one day and one night.

“Senior Doto.” Aburame Ryoma turned to Akimichi Jonin beside him and suggested, “We’re still a long way from our destination, why don’t we rest here for a bit? Anyway, with Byakugan in the team, we don’t have to worry about anything going wrong.”

"..."

Akimichi Tou's eyes were squeezed into slits by his chubby face. He glanced at Hinata Kumokawa behind him and secretly affirmed the boy's performance along the way.

He was also a veteran Jonin who participated in the Third Shinobi World War, and he was once part of the squad led by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

They had initially thought that the Third Generation Lord would be a burden by including this boy in the group, but to their surprise, he was able to keep up with them perfectly, and thanks to the glare he received, he didn't encounter any trouble along the way.

This level of insight, this level of physical strength, and the composure he displayed...

"Rumors are indeed unreliable."

Akimichi Tou thought to himself, but did not refuse Aburame Ryoma's suggestion, and said, "Then let's rest here for a while."

After saying that, he looked at the eight ANBU ninjas from the fourth and fifth teams. The men nodded knowingly and then disappeared in an instant.

Since we've decided to rest here temporarily, let's also take this opportunity to clear out the wandering ninjas. After all, they're in the Land of Fire, and most of them are a nuisance.

The remaining few found places to rest, their dark raincoats rustling softly like a flock of soaking wet owls preening their feathers. Akimichi Tou summoned an eagle, handed it the completed scroll, and instructed it to deliver it back to the Third Hokage.

They must maintain communication with the village; if they lose contact, the village will immediately send someone to check on the situation.

Hinata Kumokawa also found a seat and sat down. Since someone was taking his place, he closed his Byakugan and focused on refining and restoring his chakra.

However, just as he took out the water bottle and tilted his head back to drink, his eyes flickered slightly.

An insect flew into his sleeve.

The insect was very small and ordinary; no one, not even Akimichi Tou, would have noticed it.

However, Hinata Kumokawa's perception abilities don't rely solely on the Byakugan.

"Are they the pests of the Aburame clan?"

Hinata Kumokawa calmly put down the kettle, seemingly unaware of the insect's unusual behavior.

The Necrozoans are reconnaissance insects used to gather intelligence and are not as dangerous as the Parasitic Necrozoans and Nano-Viruses.

However, this will still have some impact on his subsequent actions.

Just as he was pondering how to get rid of the insects, his eyes suddenly twitched slightly, and he looked down at the ground.

"Watch out, it's underground..."

Hinata Kumokawa spoke up without hesitation to warn him, but before he could finish speaking, the muddy ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked open.

Earth escape: beheading in the heart technique.

boom!
Two hands suddenly emerged from the ground without warning, gripping kunai and aiming at Hyuga Kumokawa's ankles.

This is an attempt to cripple him, to destroy the "eyes" of this squad.

Not only under Hinata Kumokawa's feet, but also under Akimichi Tou and Aburame Ryoma's feet, a pair of hands emerged.

The former simply raised his hands to form a hand seal, lifted his muscular legs, lowered his head slightly, and stomped down with all his might, while the latter was enveloped by insects.

Click! Pfft!
A pool of red and white blood mixed with rainwater spread across the ground, and countless insects swarmed to the ground, making a chilling gnawing sound.

The two quickly dealt with their own enemies and instinctively turned to look in Hinata Kumokawa's direction.

But then they saw Hyuga Kumokawa dodge the attack, grab the two hands that were sticking out of the ground, and forcefully pull the figure out of the ground.

With a single palm strike, the immense penetrating force created a huge, transparent hole in the opponent's abdomen, from which blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed out uncontrollably.

“It’s a rogue ninja from Iwagakure.” Hyuga Kumokawa glanced at the corpse’s forehead and said, “It must have been the group that discovered us…”

As he spoke, he looked up at Akimichi Tōdō and the others, only to be met with several pairs of surprised eyes.

It's no wonder that Akimichi Tou and the others looked at him that way; such a brutal way of killing enemies didn't quite fit their stereotypical image of the Hyuga clan.

These rogue ninjas were at most Chunin level, so it's not too surprising that Hyuga Kumokawa was able to kill them.

But what kind of Hyuga clan member would smash someone's stomach with a single blow? Isn't your method a bit too cruel and brutal?
At the same time, Aburame Ryoma frowned slightly, realizing that his Destroyer Bug had died. He subconsciously looked at Hinata Kumokawa's sleeve, but only saw a blurry blood-red stain with blood foam.

Thinking it was just bad luck that Hyuga Kumokawa had killed it, it simply released a few more Destroyer Insects and flew away silently.

But now, no matter how many he releases, it's no use.

Hinata Kumokawa's true form had already donned a shadow robe and quietly departed; the Kumokawa who remained here with his smile was merely a shadow clone.

He's going ahead to set up the stage.

To be one's own "puppet".

In the dense shadows of the trees, Hyuga Kumokawa, clad in a shadow robe, almost became a black shadow, silently chanting in his mind as he moved stealthily: "Manifestation - Otsutsuki Ruins..."

This time, the people he's going to fool are no longer a single person or a group of people.

It includes everyone in the ninja world, including Kumogakure and Konoha.

Hinata Kumokawa is about to tell a colossal lie.

(End of this chapter)