Uchiha En's squad cautiously approached. When they were about 300 meters away, Asana said, "It's our own people."
Yamanaka Kagetsu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and put away the Kunai in his hand.
The three continued forward, passing through a small patch of jungle, and arrived at the location of the other group.
They saw a bonfire on a flat piece of ground, with seven people sitting around it.
Six of the seven were children roughly their age, and the only adult had short golden hair and a warm smile. It was none other than Minato Namikaze, whom they had met once before.
"Huh? En? What are you doing here?" asked the watermelon-haired boy in a green jumpsuit, who ran over from the bonfire.
"Idiot, we're returning to the Village for the Chunin Exams. En graduated at the same time as us, so they must also be returning to the Village for the Chunin Exams," said the boy with a senbon in his mouth.
"Is that so? Then En, we're going to have a passionate battle this time!"
"Guy, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you this time. The three of us don't need to participate in the Chunin Exams," Uchiha En said with a smile.
"Eh? Why?"
"Because the three of us have completed many high-level missions and can directly skip the exam to be promoted to Chunin," Yamanaka Kagetsu said proudly.
"Kagetsu, seriously, I envy you for having two such strong teammates. You can get promoted to Chunin just by lying down, unlike us who still have to take the Chunin Exams," Shiranui Genma said to Yamanaka Kagetsu.
Yamanaka Kagetsu immediately became anxious upon hearing this. "Who said I got promoted by lying down? I play a huge role in our squad! En, Asana, aren't I right?"
Uchiha En and Asana exchanged a smile, then nodded simultaneously.
"See! My teammates really acknowledge me, you guys..."
"Alright, Kagetsu, let's go say hello to Minato-sama first!" Uchiha En interrupted Yamanaka Kagetsu, and then the three of them walked towards Minato Namikaze.
"Minato-sama, hello, it's good to see you again!" Uchiha En deliberately lowered his posture and greeted Minato Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze smiled and said, "You don't need to be so polite. My relationship with Senior Shibi is very good. Since you are his subordinates, there's no need for honorifics.
Especially you, Asana, you are Orochimaru-sama's disciple. My teacher and Orochimaru-sama are both Hokage-sama's disciples, so we are considered peers. Using honorifics is not very appropriate."
"Then how about calling you Minato-senpai?" Asana asked.
Minato Namikaze nodded.
"Minato-senpai, are you bringing your subordinates back to the Village for the Chunin Exams?" Uchiha En asked.
"Yes, Rin and Obito have also reached the point of being promoted to Chunin after a year of training. As for Kakashi, he's already a Chunin, and after another year of training, he'll probably be promoted to Jonin."
Yamanaka Kagetsu was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Kakashi and Obito were the same age, and these two were a year younger than them, so they should be 11 this year. Does that mean Kakashi could be promoted to Jonin at 12?
That's too impressive, isn't it? There has never been anyone in the Village promoted to Jonin at 12, right?
Despite his surprise, Yamanaka Kagetsu didn't show it. He had also grown a lot in the past year.
Moreover, being promoted to Jonin is nothing. One of his two teammates can already directly confront the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and the other can defeat a regular Jonin. It's still uncertain if Kakashi can defeat a Jonin!
"En, I heard that your squad is very active on the Land of Bears battlefield! You even managed to hold off Kurosuki Raiga, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, right?" Minato Namikaze asked with a smile.
"Minato-senpai overpraises me, I was just lucky that time," Uchiha En replied.
"I'm not overpraising you. If it were the other two Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, one might say it was luck, but holding off Kurosuki Raiga requires real strength.
Kurosuki Raiga's Ninja sword is the Lightning Blade: Kiba. This sword is wrapped in lightning, and to perfectly unleash its power, the wielder's proficiency in Lightning Release must be high. And Ninja skilled in Lightning Release are generally fast.
To hold off this type of Ninja, there are generally two ways: either be faster than him, or have superior raw strength."
After hearing Minato Namikaze's words, Kakashi looked up at Uchiha En.
Uchiha En smiled and said, "It must be that my speed was faster than Kurosuki Raiga's!"
"Is that so! En, are you very skilled in Body Flicker Technique?" Minato Namikaze continued to ask.
Uchiha En nodded.
"I'm also quite skilled in Body Flicker Technique. We can exchange pointers sometime."
"Sounds good! I've also wanted to witness Minato-senpai's Flying Thunder God Technique for a long time."
Since they had run into Minato Namikaze and Guy, and everyone had the same goal of returning to the Village, Uchiha En's squad joined their group. They would rest tonight and depart together tomorrow.
Meanwhile, at the Land of Bears camp, Orochimaru and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were examining the corpse of a Hyuga Main Family member.
The body had been discovered yesterday in the middle of the night, but neither Orochimaru nor the Ino-Shika-Cho trio knew how to proceed.
After all, it was a deceased member of the Hyuga Main Family, and the Byakugan was missing.
"Orochimaru-sama, have the three Ninja responsible for guarding the Hyuga Main Family member still not been found?" Akimichi Choza asked.
"No, I've sent out everyone I can to search, but there's been no sign of them."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing Orochimaru's reply.
After a long while, Orochimaru finally said, "Inoichi, use your Yamanaka Clan's secret technique to read his memories!"
Yamanaka Inoichi was startled, and Nara Shikaku immediately objected: "Orochimaru-sama, that might not be appropriate! Members of the Hyuga Main Family know many secrets of the Hyuga Clan. If we rashly examine his memories, it might cause dissatisfaction from the Hyuga Clan."
"If the Hyuga Clan has any objections, I will take responsibility. The key now is to find out how he died and where his eyes went. Compared to this, other matters are not important.
If we don't figure out the whereabouts of the Byakugan now, and if it later plays a significant role in the enemy's hands, that would be a disaster for us, and it could even affect the war situation.
The situation in the Land of Bears has only just stabilized. Teacher Sarutobi and the other high-ranking officials of the Village definitely wouldn't want to see such a thing happen."
Nara Shikaku fell silent for a long time, then turned to Yamanaka Inoichi and said, "Inoichi, proceed with the examination! Orochimaru-sama is right, the important thing now is to find out the whereabouts of the Byakugan."
The Ino–Shika–Choji Three Clans usually deferred to the Yamanaka Clan for decisions, so when Yamanaka Inoichi saw Nara Shikaku agree, he didn't hesitate and immediately began to examine the memories of this Hyuga Clan member.
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