As for the actual taste of the famous pancakes from Uncle Hand-fired's place in the Uchiha Clan's territory, it had already become irrelevant to Soushu and Mahiru.
After all, the two barely tasted the food at Uncle Hand-fired's pancake shop. Instead, they slipped away to the Uchiha training grounds and stayed there until sunset. Eventually, Hyuga Soushu had no choice but to leave due to the near-curfew system enforced at night within the Uchiha Compound. Although nothing had happened between them, he still walked with a light-headed feeling, as if floating on air, and the only thing lingering in his dazed mind was the soft red lips of Mahiru-chan during their farewell.
"Smells amazing."
Walking down a small alleyway back toward the clan's territory, Hyuga Soushu continued savoring that moment of tenderness.
Truthfully speaking, in his previous life as an angry construction worker, he'd never actually experienced such a sweet little romance.
Throughout more than twenty years in his past life, he'd either been acting alone or dealing with businesspeople—when had he ever played this kind of childish romantic game?
Plus, compared with the sweet-potato-loving amateur boxer from his previous life, Mahiru Uchiha—who had a uniquely wired brain—could absolutely count as a classic yamato nadeshiko-style girl (a traditional ideal of Japanese femininity characterized by gentleness and devotion), despite being the same age as him and enjoying being unusually open and expressive in physical affection. Undeniably, she really was a good girl.
"What a shame! I should've gone to Mahiru's house to see that back-flipping cat!"
Recalling the process of their first date, Hyuga Soushu began feeling regretful.
In his past life, he had watched countless expert-level how-to videos. Now finally having the opportunity to put them into practice after reincarnation, he'd failed because his mind went blank at the crucial moment—he couldn't pull off that key final move. Truly careless!
That said, if he had really gone to Mahiru's house to see the cat, it would likely have been some kind of ninja cat anyway. Under those circumstances, maybe hanging out at the training ground was actually more interesting.
"Sigh..."
Hyuga Soushu sighed heavily with a gloomy mood, listlessly kicking Shoseki along the ground as he wore an especially dejected expression.
However, just after entering a narrow alley, his expression suddenly changed. He swiftly used the Body Flicker Technique to dart into a dark corner, simultaneously pulling out a sealing scroll from the ninja tool pouch across his chest with lightning speed. As he flickered to his predetermined position, he tore open the seal on the scroll.
[Puff!]
With a burst of smoke releasing from the broken seal, a long-handled lantern pole materialized in his hand.
Moments later, a cloaked figure wearing a leopard-print mask slowly entered the alley entrance—it resembled an Anbu ninja.
Simultaneously, atop low walls on both sides of the alley, two more figures silently appeared. Dressed similarly but wearing slightly different mask designs, they also appeared to be Anbu-level ninjas.
"So it's these rats crawling out from the sewers..."
Hyuga Soushu couldn't help but frown.
"Greetings, Tokubetsu Jonin Soushu."
The leopard-masked ninja standing at the mouth of the alley spoke in an emotionless tone: "No need to be alarmed; we mean you no harm."
His voice was like a piece of chalk screeching against a blackboard—rough, grating, and extremely unpleasant. Moreover, it was impossible to discern whether it belonged to a man or woman; anyone normal wouldn't possess such a voice.
Therefore, he most likely had altered his vocal tone using some drug or special voice-modifying ninja tool.
Even among the most secretive Anbu of Konoha, such extreme measures weren't usually considered necessary.
"When did underground rats grow bold enough to show themselves in Konoha?" Hyuga Soushu snorted coldly. The lantern at the top of the pole flickered with a lightless, chakra-infused flame.
"We are Konoha's guardians in the shadows. Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, people tend to misunderstand us quite often."
The leopard-masked ninja remained unfazed by Hyuga Soushu's guarded posture and provocative tone, continuing in the same flat voice: "Of course, if you truly understood our existence, you'd realize we're the ones who have contributed the most to Konoha."
"Hmph," Hyuga Soushu snorted again.
At the same time, chakra from various acupuncture points on his body began subtly surging outward as he heightened his sensory perception to its peak.
At this range, there was no need to activate his Byakugan yet.
Of course, it was better to avoid a fight if possible—but without the will to stand and fight when needed, nothing else mattered anyway.
However, the village's once-reliable Sensing Barrier seemed to have been shut down or completely abandoned—despite the obvious chakra fluctuations occurring in public, there was no sign of anyone coming to investigate.
Looking at the two masked figures perched on the rooftops across from him, their hands were hidden beneath their cloaks, and their bodies emitted faint, mysterious chakra pulses. Clearly, they must have been using some technique to block the Sensing Barrier's detection.
"We are members of the Anbu Training Division. We need to talk to you about something."
The leopard-masked ninja continued speaking in his annoying, emotionless tone: "So, Tokubetsu Jonin Hyuga Soushu, please come with us."
"The Training Division is just Root!"
Hyuga Soushu steadied himself, locking onto the Root shinobi before him—who stood casually forward yet appeared flawless in posture—with his chakra perception.
"So you do know about Root."
This time, the leopard-masked ninja's tone finally shifted slightly: "Since you participated in the War in the Land of Rain, you should understand how much we've contributed under Lord Danzo's leadership."
"Root's intelligence error rate has reached thirty-three percent!"
Hyuga Soushu cut off the gender-unknown leopard-masked ninja mid-sentence.
"That's a blatant lie!"
This time, the leopard-masked ninja became visibly agitated, spouting nonsense like blaming command officers, saying things would've been different if Danzo had commanded directly, and claiming frontline idiots failed to grasp Root's deeper intentions. Hyuga Soushu couldn't help but laugh out in mockery.
"So, I take it you're not planning to come with us?"
Hyuga Soushu's laughter struck like icy water, snapping the leopard-masked ninja out of its mindless repetition. Instantly, its tone returned to the original sharp, emotionless timbre.
He began to reach his right hand into his cloak.
Since Hyuga Soushu hadn't activated his Byakugan yet, he couldn't see the specific movement beneath the loose cloak fabric.
Whether preparing to draw a ninja blade or form Hand Seals with one hand, these were all rather disadvantageous moves for Hyuga Soushu, theoretically speaking.
About eight meters away, two more enemies stood on the wall, ready to flank him.
The chakra-flame at the tip of Soushu's lamp post burned even more fiercely. Although it still didn't emit the glow of normal fire, from the density and intensity of the chakra alone, it was clear he was already prepared to strike.
"What a joke. Just a mere Special Jōnin."
The Leopard-masked Ninja sneered again mockingly.
[Counter Storm!]
[Flash!]
[Jumping Slash!]
Hyuga Soushu had no interest in listening to his taunts. Instead, he immediately activated his hero skill, unleashing a Flash + WQ combo move!
"Nin—"
As the final syllable left the Leopard-masked Ninja's mouth, Hyuga Soushu had already dashed overhead, cloaked in [Counter Storm]'s protective stance. Then, unleashing a powerful [Jumping Slash], he drove the chakra-burning lamp post straight into the enemy's left shoulder!
"Crash!"
With that single heavy blow, the Leopard-masked Ninja's left shoulder shattered completely!
Following up immediately, Soushu smashed a rising knee into this unfortunate bastard's face, sending him flying through the air.
Boom!
The dull thud of his body hitting the ground from midair made it clear enough—the Leopard-masked Ninja had already lost consciousness. Otherwise, he wouldn't have landed with such a lifeless, hollow sound.
Yet just as this clearly squad-leader-level unlucky guy got knocked out cold, the thrown weapons from the other two Root ninjas finally reached the corner of the wall where Hyuga Soushu had previously stood on alert.
But their leader had fallen far too quickly, leaving the remaining two Root ninjas no time to react.
[[Shifting Body Technique]… (a high-speed movement skill similar to teleportation)]
Even Root ninjas, whose brutal training had long stripped them of human emotions, couldn't help but feel their hair stand on end—they hadn't even seen any sign of Hyuga Soushu initiating his [Shifting Body Technique]!
In other words, if Soushu truly wanted to attack, they'd end up no different than their leader—knocked unconscious!
But then again, this was Root.
The two Root ninjas exchanged glances before pulling out their dull, unpolished blades from beneath their cloaks without hesitation.
"Judging from those tools, you perfectly match my stereotype of Root," Soushu remarked casually.
At this moment, the air seemed to carry a faintly sweetish scent—one coming precisely from the location of these two ninjas.
Or more accurately, from the special odor emitted by the poison coating their blades.
"Tell me, are you really going to just ignore whether he lives or dies?" Soushu asked, raising the lamp post in his hand toward the previously threatening, now writhing and unconscious Leopard-masked Ninja lying on the ground.
"If treated promptly, I believe with Root's medical standards, they should be able to heal his injuries."
Meanwhile, Soushu also turned his head to double-check the man's condition.
It had to be admitted that the quality of Root's masks was quite good. Even though its user had already been knocked unconscious by Hyuga Soushu's knee strike, the mask only showed a dense network of cracks without actually breaking and revealing the wearer's face.
"Root will never abandon its mission!"
One of the Root ninja standing on the eastern edge of the wall clearly couldn't hold back any longer, shouting toward Hyuga Soushu.
Yet neither of the two Root ninjas took advantage of the moment when Soushu turned his head to launch an attack.
After all, even without activating their Byakugan, Hyuga clan members naturally had a much wider field of view than ordinary people.
"When did Root's dogs become allowed to appear inside the village?"
At this moment, an Uchiha ninja slowly appeared at the mouth of the alley.
Under the moonlight, Soushu recognized him immediately as the middle-aged Uchiha Jonin who previously had appeared outside the Hyuga District attempting to uphold justice during his confrontation with Hyuga Ibo and others!
Shortly afterward, another figure appeared on the treetop to the north—a person wearing a cloak too, yet lacking the oppressive aura typical of Root. It was a Konoha Anbu!
"Their look is just like Hong Kong cops—strict, uniformed, and always watching!"
Soushu couldn't help but curse out loud.