This place truly was an insect paradise. The moment she stepped into the basin, Sakura could feel the air thick with the essence of a summer night, the incessant chirping of countless insects filling the air.
"This is what the Bikochu we're looking for looks like," Shino said, holding up a photograph for the others to see.
Sakura glanced at it and nodded. "I see. But in the end, you'll still have to be the ones to find it. I'm just responsible for the follow-up."
"I understand. Alright, Hinata, Shino, let's get started," Kiba said, rubbing his nose.
When it came to tracking and reconnaissance, everyone in Team 8 was an expert. Sakura decided not to get in their way. With nothing to do, she took a stroll through the jungle.
Since she was free, Sakura made her way to the only river in the basin and started preparing dinner. They had arrived late, and she was starting to get hungry.
She caught a few fish, skewered them on branches, started a fire, and began to roast them. While the fish were cooking, Sakura took the opportunity to sort through her thoughts again.
Capturing the Tailed Beasts was no small matter; she couldn't be too careful. In her previous calculations, it seemed that at this stage, the only one she could attempt to capture was the Seven-Tails.
Although the power of the Tailed Beasts wasn't strictly based on the number of tails, the Nine-Tails was undoubtedly the strongest. However, the rest of the Tailed Beasts were actually not that different in strength. In other words, below the Nine-Tails, all tails were more or less created equal.
Even so, there were still distinctions in power, and the reason lay with the Jinchuriki. The degree of compatibility between a Jinchuriki and their Tailed Beast largely determined the power they could unleash. This was why some Tailed Beasts seemed stronger or weaker than others.
Since Sakura had decided to capture the Tailed Beasts, she naturally had to analyze the situation carefully. Combining her memories, she had come to a conclusion: if she had to pick the weakest Tailed Beast at this stage, it would undoubtedly be the Seven-Tails.
She didn't have many memories of the Seven-Tails, but she had been to Takigakure on a previous mission. At the time, they were dealing with both internal and external troubles, so it was unlikely they had a Jinchuriki. If they did, it would have to be a recent development within the last six months. A Jinchuriki who had just had a Tailed Beast sealed within them, no matter how much of a genius they were, wouldn't be able to draw out its full power.
And that was her chance. A newly-minted Jinchuriki. With enough coordination, she might be able to pull it off without causing a major incident.
The key now was Yakumo. Just as Sakura's thoughts were drifting, a faint tremor ran through the ground.
"Hm? What's going on?" Sakura did a kip-up, springing to her feet and looking in the direction of the vibration.
"What's that?" Sakura was surprised. An enemy here? She had thought the only battle on this trip would be against Orochimaru after they tracked down Sasuke.
Heh, whoever you are, you're dead. Sakura sped toward the source of the tremor.
...
"That should do it!" a brown-haired woman said, looking down at Hinata lying on the ground.
"But will they hand it over? Jakuhochi," a man with glasses standing next to her asked doubtfully.
"Heh, if they were ninja from any other village, maybe not. But since they're from Konoha, they definitely will. Just watch, Jibachi. They'll do it," Jakuhochi said confidently.
"Anyway, let's go. Kurobachi, take her and let's move," Jibachi said, a hint of resentment in his voice. "To think that we searched for days without finding the Bikochu, only for a few kids to find it."
"But in the end, they just did all the hard work for us, hehehe..." Jakuhochi said with a smug, upward curl of her lips.
Hinata looked at them, her heart racing with anxiety. She couldn't believe she had been so careless as to get ambushed. Although she had detected them shortly after entering the jungle, she hadn't expected their target to also be the Bikochu. But now, she was completely powerless.
"Let's not waste any more time," Jakuhochi said. "Let's go."
Just then, a kunai whistled past Jakuhochi's ear, and a spray of blood erupted from her cheek.
"Tch!" Jakuhochi looked in the direction the kunai had come from, her expression furious. Wiping the cut on her face, she spat. "You got here fast, kid!"
"Heh heh." On a large tree in front of the three, Kiba and Shino looked down on the ninja who had abducted Hinata.
"We spotted you a long time ago, we just didn't bother with you. What do you think you're doing, kidnapping Hinata?" Kiba demanded, pointing at Jakuhochi.
"If I'm not mistaken, you are insect users of the Kamizuru clan," Shino said slowly, observing the three. "In that case, your target must be the Bikochu."
"Not bad, kid. You know your stuff," Jibachi sneered. "We were just about to look for you. Since you've come to us, you can hand over the Bikochu now."
"As a fellow insect user, do you really think I would carry such a precious insect on my person?" Shino replied faintly.
"Just as I thought," Jakuhochi said with a cruel smirk. "So now, you either hand over the Bikochu, or you die with her."
The reason Jakuhochi hadn't attacked them directly was that she was afraid of harming the Bikochu in a fight. So, they had opted for a more roundabout approach. She had already anticipated that the two Konoha kids wouldn't be carrying the Bikochu on them; that was how a proper insect user should operate.
"Enough talk! Let Hinata go!" Kiba said impatiently.
"Hmph. Just two genin," Jakuhochi sneered, quickly forming hand seals. "Ninja Art: Bee Technique!"
A massive swarm of bees poured out from under her clothes, descending on Kiba and Shino like a dark cloud.
"Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba got into a fighting stance. "Woof, woof!"
A swarm of insects also began to emerge from under Shino's clothes. Just as a great battle was about to erupt, a strange blue light flashed across the sky.
In the dark of night, it was exceptionally bright, so much so that everyone present had to shield their eyes from the blinding blue glare.
The blue light came and went in an instant, and the forest, which had been lit up like day, was plunged back into darkness. But then, everyone realized that something was missing.
"Wh-what..." Jakuhochi broke out in a cold sweat, her face pale as she stared ahead. "Th-this is impossible."
"What happened, Jakuhochi?" Jibachi asked urgently.
"My... my summoned... bees... they're all..." Jakuhochi stammered, trembling. "They're all dead!"
"H-how could this be? What just happened?" Jibachi was also in disbelief. It wasn't that there weren't ninja who could wipe out a swarm of summoned bees in an instant, but it definitely wasn't these two kids. If they could do that, then dealing with them would be a piece of cake. But from the looks of it, they were just two genin.
"Who? Who's there?!" Jakuhochi yelled nervously. "Come out! I already see you! Stop hiding!"
The forest was silent, save for the chirping of insects. Shino quietly recalled his own insects. He had a good idea of who had just acted.
"I have to say, for two boys, you can't even protect the only girl on your team. It makes me a little worried about your future missions."
A soft voice came from behind the three Kamizuru ninja. Startled, they spun around, simultaneously throwing kunai behind them. The movement was fluid, without a single flaw.
However, when they turned and looked, the ground was empty save for the kunai they had just thrown. The genin they had captured was gone.
"Th-this is..." Jakuhochi's face was now even paler. They had exchanged several blows without even seeing their opponent's shadow. This was definitely a Jounin-level ninja...
"You've already found the Bikochu?" Sakura asked Shino as she peeled the sticky yellow beeswax off Hinata.
"Yes, we've found it. But we can't use it yet. We have to wait for it to rain so it can lay its eggs," Shino nodded.
Shino looked at Sakura, who was calmly cleaning Hinata, and found that he could no longer reconcile her with the Sakura from his memories. They were no longer in the same league. Is this what it means to be a genius?
"Then we'll wait for the rain," Sakura said. She checked Hinata's pulse. She had probably been knocked out by a drug. She didn't have any antidotes with her right now, but since they had to wait for the Bikochu to hatch anyway, there was no rush.
"Anyway, let's go back to the river. I've already prepared dinner. We'll spend the night there," Sakura said to Shino and Kiba.
"Understood," Shino nodded.
Kiba glanced at the three Kamizuru ninja in the distance, wanting to say something but holding back. Finally, he just said, "Let's go, then."
From beginning to end, Sakura hadn't spared the three of them a single glance, treating them as if they didn't exist. She hoisted Hinata onto her back and led the other two toward their camp.