By the time Zhang Miao brought Hinata home, it was already late at night.
It was currently the middle of winter. Although there was no snow outside, the room was still very cold. Zhang Miao touched his cold bed and then looked at Hinata in his arms. He immediately frowned.
"The little girl would be blown by the cold wind outside. If she is not careful, it will be troublesome."
Thinking of this, Zhang Miao looked left and right. When he saw Naruto sleeping soundly inside his blanket, his eyes immediately lit up.
"I got it!"
With that, Zhang Miao walked to Naruto's bedside, then pulled open the blanked and stuffed Hinata in. Only then did he nod in satisfaction.
Just as Zhang Miao thought of this, he saw Naruto suddenly snatch the blankett away. After that, he even smacked his lips, looking very satisfied.
Looking at this scene, he couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.
"Damn, this guy is still annoying even in his sleep."
In the face of such a situation, Zhang Miao could only pull the blanket off Naruto and cover Hinata again.
After doing this, he thought for a moment, then pulled Naruto out of the the bed and stuffed him directly into the cold quilt next to him.
Perhaps because the temperature had changed too much, Naruto, who was already asleep, immediately shivered and muttered at the same time.
"It's snowing... It's snowing, big brother...!"
Hearing his sleeptalk, Zhang Miao, who had just laid down, could not help but shake his head with a smile. Then he hugged him in his arms and gently touched his little head.
"Big brother is here. Go back to your sleep!"
It seemed that Zhang Miao's voice worked. After hearing his words, Naruto's breathing became steady again. Looking at his sleeping face, Zhang Miao also closed his eyes with a smile.
What Zhang Miao didn't know was that while he was sleeping soundly with Naruto in his arms, the Hyuga residence was in a mess.
"Hinata-sama is missing, quickly find her!"
"There isn't any trace of her here either. You guys quickly go over there and take a look!"
"There is none here either... Ah, there is a corpse here. It is a ninja from Kumogakure. Quickly go and tell the clan leader, quick..."
The daughter of the clan leader was gone, but outside the courtyard, there was a dead body of a Kumo ninja. Moreover, this ninja was part of the envoy's entourage who came to Konoha for a visit. The elders of the clan knew the seriousness of this matter, so they immediately sent someone to report to the Third Hokage.
After Hiruzen knew about this matter, he immediately frowned.
"If I am not wrong, this dead Kumo ninja should be trying to steal our precious Bloodline Limit, but he was discovered by another person. Then, the two of them fought, and the Kumo ninja died. In short, the most important thing right now is to find the clan leader's daughter!"
Thinking of this, Hiruzen immediately waved to the Anbu in front of him.
"Immediately keep a close watch on the movements of the other Kumo ninjas. In addition, give the dead body to the intelligence department and tell Inoichi to immediately check his memories. We must find out what happened before dawn and who killed him!"
"Yes!"
The Anbu agreed and went out. Hiruzen was not in the mood to sleep. He immediately got up and got dressed. Then he went to the Hokage's office to wait for news. At the same time, he was thinking about countermeasures.
At dawn, a knock on the door interrupted his thinking.
"Knock-knock!"
Hearing this knock on the door, Hiruzen suddenly frowned, "Is it Inoichi? Come in!"
"Yes!" With a response, the door of the office was pushed open. The person who came in was Inoichi from the intelligence department.
After entering the door, Inoichi lowered his head to Hiruzen.
"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. This Kumo ninja does not have any valuable information on him. What we know now is that he is indeed trying to take away the Hinata away.
"..."
"Hm!" Hiruzen had a pipe in his mouth. After hearing Inoichi's words, he nodded.
"In the Third War, Kumogakure suffered a lot in the hands of the Hyuga clan. It is normal for them to want to find out the secret of the Byakugan. However, I did not expect that they would use such an extreme method. So who killed this ninja? Someone from the Hyuga clan?"
"No!" Just as Hiruzen finished speaking, Inoichi shook his head, "He committed suicide, but before he died, he encountered Ryunosuke and was injured by the latter's Wood Release jutsu."
"Uh... Ryunosuke?"
Hiruzen obviously did not expect this answer, so he was stunned for a moment, and then frowned, "Why did he not sleep in the middle of the night and go to the Hyuga residence?"
"I don't know!"
Hearing Hiruzen's question, Inoichi shook his head again, "According to the memory of the Kumo ninja before he died, Ryunosuke suddenly appeared in front of him. Not only did he take away the daughter of the clan leader, but he also humiliated him with his Wood Release!"
"He humiliated him with the Wood Release?" Hearing Inoichi, Hiruzen suddenly opened his eyes wide, "What kind of Wood Release is he using?"
"It's the' Wood Release: Backdoor-crushin Jutsu', a modified version of the Thousand Years of Death!" At this point, Inoichi could not help but twitch his mouth.
"Using the wooden thorn created by Wood Release to stab the enemy from behind, the user was able to inflict serious damage by spawning ten more thorns on the said thorn from before... Not only can it seal the enemy's chakra, making them impossible to use Ninjutsu, but it can also cause severe pain to the enemy. Unless it is a person with a very tenacious will, they wouldn't be able to stand up after this jutsu hit them."
Hiruzen: "..."
"Once one got hit, they can only wait for death?"
"What a vicious technique. Although he did not directly kill the enemy, but it made the other party taste a pain worse than death. No wonder Kumogakure are so afraid of him. This kid is really ruthless, much more ruthless than his father Minato!"
Thinking of this, the corner of Hiruzen's mouth could not help but twitch twice, and then he looked up at Inoichi.
"So, now that Hinata is with Ryunosuke, did you send someone to pick her up?"
"The Anbu went to retrieve her, but they were all blocked at the door." Hearing Hiruzen's words, Inoichi immediately revealed a bitter smile.
"Ryunosuke has a subordinate named Hyuga Yuji. His Gentle Fist is stronger than the Hyuga's. He can even use the Hyuga clan's secret technique, the Rotating Heaven! The Anbu can't get in."
"Hyuga Yuji?" Hearing this name, Hiruzen frowned again. "I know this person, but why did he block the Anbu? Is it Ryunosuke's order?"
"No!"
Hearing Hiruzen's words, Inoichi's face flashed with a complex look, "He said that his boss is sleeping and can not be disturbed by others. He asked us to wait until sunrise."
Hiruzen: "..."
"Damn, he couldn't possibly stop the Hokage from seeing his master, right?"
Thinking of this, the corners of Hiruzen's mouth twitched twice again, and then he stood up directly.
"Then I will go personally. Inoichi, you go inform Hiashi!"
"Yes!"