"Not Konoha ninja?" Seeing the two men, Kenji's gaze narrowed slightly, and he became cautious.
Although they hadn't yet reached the era of the Second Great Ninja War, conflicts between the various ninja villages were constant, and they were always guarding against one another.
For a ninja from another village to enter without permission, regardless of the reason, was a capital offense.
Kenji noticed that one of them was carrying a huge scroll on his back.
In the original story, Naruto was instigated by Mizuki to steal the First Hokage's Scroll of Seals. Could this be that scroll?
If that were the case, the Hidden Leaf must be pursuing these two with full force right now.
A cornered rabbit will bite; if these two were pushed to the brink, it was hard to say what they might do.
As Kenji thought this, the young boys from the Uchiha and Hyuga clans also became nervous and uneasy. They weren't fools; they could tell these two visitors had ill intentions.
Uchiha Fugaku shouted loudly, "If you don't leave quickly, once you are discovered by other Hidden Leaf ninja, you will surely die."
The two middle-aged ninja laughed sinisterly. "We want to leave too, but unfortunately, the Hidden Leaf ninja are chasing us too ruthlessly, so we can only hide here for a while."
"As long as you are within the Hidden Leaf's range, you can't hide. You'd better go turn yourselves in!"
"Since our tracks are exposed, it is indeed hard to hide. However, if we have hostages in hand, I reckon it will be much better. What do you think?" The two revealed sneers of conspiracy.
Hearing this, everyone was startled.
"..."
"You are all graduates from this batch, right? Your potential looks quite good. If we capture you, the Hidden Leaf won't dare to act rashly."
To the Hidden Sand Village, these two ninja might just be small characters who could be sacrificed at any time, but they were still Chunin who had experienced hundreds of battles.
The group of Uchiha and Hyuga boys were just students who had barely graduated from the Academy—flowers in a greenhouse who had never seen a real life-and-death battle formation.
Consequently, several of them immediately began to tremble with fear, instinctively wanting to retreat.
"None of you can run!"
The two Chunin sneered and formed hand seals simultaneously.
"Earth Style: Earth Prison of a Thousand posts!" (Doton: Senrō no Jutsu)
A cage made of earth rose from the ground, trapping everyone inside and restricting their freedom of movement.
"It's over, it's over! There's nowhere to run!"
"Mom, Dad, I want to go home!" Some of them simply burst into loud wailing.
"Shut up!" Uchiha Fugaku scolded angrily, scaring the person into stopping their crying, though they continued to sob.
"Oho, this kid has some guts, doesn't he?" The two Sand ninja stared at Uchiha Fugaku.
Uchiha Fugaku's expression was gloomy, his mind seemingly calculating something.
"Hiashi, what should we do?" Feiyu Hyuga looked at Hiashi Hyuga, his expression uneasy.
Hiashi Hyuga didn't speak but looked toward Kenji.
Kenji rubbed his chin, took two steps forward, faced the two Sand ninja, and asked, "Using Earth Style to lock us in... are you planning to catch turtles in a jar?"
"What do you think?" Even though Kenji was acting a bit unique, the two Sand ninja didn't take it to heart.
In their eyes, no matter how special Kenji was, he was just a kid.
"I think it is indeed catching turtles in a jar, but who the turtle is remains to be determined!" Kenji suddenly changed his tone and said to Uchiha Fugaku and Hiashi Hyuga, "You two, are you really prepared to sit and wait for death? If we fight with all our might, there might be a sliver of a chance."
Uchiha Fugaku and Hiashi Hyuga didn't speak, but the two Sand ninja held their bellies and laughed.
"Kid, aren't you getting too carried away? Fight?"
"Although you are Chunin, we have the numbers. If we fight, who says we will definitely lose?" Kenji's demeanor was calm as he said faintly, "Underestimating Hidden Leaf ninja will cause you to suffer a loss!"
"Is that so? Then I'll kill you first and see who suffers!" The Sand ninja carrying the scroll gave a cruel smile and suddenly rushed toward Kenji without warning.
With so many hostages here, killing one or two didn't matter.
The Sand ninja's speed was extremely fast, and coupled with the suddenness of his action, it was almost impossible to react in time.
However, in the nick of time, a figure in white appeared in front of Kenji, wearing a face of cool composure and unyielding determination.
"I will repeat Kenji's words: Underestimating Hidden Leaf ninja will cause you to suffer a loss."
The Sand ninja looked in shock at Hiashi Hyuga, who had appeared suddenly. How can this kid be so fast?
"Byakugan!"
Hiashi Hyuga activated his Byakugan instantly. Blue chakra gathered in his palms as he struck out with extreme speed.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
"Don't think I'll let you have your way!"
In his panic, the Sand ninja resisted with all his might.
Bang!
However, he was half a beat too slow. Hiashi Hyuga's palms slammed into the Sand ninja's abdomen, blasting him backward.
"A pity..."
Hiashi Hyuga sighed inwardly. He knew that although he hit the Sand ninja, the attack had been dodged enough to miss the vital chakra points.
Otherwise, that one move would have been enough to incapacitate him.
The boys from the Uchiha and Hyuga families watched in a daze. Hiashi Hyuga was actually this powerful? He knocked a Chunin flying?
This strength was definitely not weaker than Uchiha Fugaku's.
"Uchiha Fugaku, didn't you want to compete with me earlier? How about we each take one?" Hiashi Hyuga seemed to be provoking him, yet also motivating him.
"Why not? Give me the injured one, I'll handle the other!" Uchiha Fugaku agreed immediately.
Hiashi Hyuga laughed. "Then you'd better last a bit longer. Wait for me to finish mine, then I'll come help you."
"Bullshit, I need your help?" Uchiha Fugaku shouted angrily and immediately rushed toward that Sand ninja.
Hiashi Hyuga's hands and feet weren't slow either as he took on the other opponent.
The members of the Uchiha and Hyuga families all broke out in a cold sweat. Two Genin dueling two Chunin—could they win?
Kenji understood clearly. Both Hiashi Hyuga and Uchiha Fugaku knew that even if their strength wasn't bad, there was little possibility of victory in a one-on-one against a Chunin.
But the situation was critical. As representatives of the Uchiha and Hyuga, they couldn't retreat. They only hoped to drag out the battle as best they could and wait for Hidden Leaf ninja reinforcements.
"Looks like it's time for me to make a move too!"
Kenji suppressed the fatigue from a day of training, calmed his mind and spirit, and chanted silently in his heart.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"