Ragna stared down at the kunai buried in his chest, a broken gasp escaping his throat. "No…" The word barely left his lips before his strength failed. His fingers slackened, dropping Raven from his hands.
Raven stood still for a moment, her breath calm, blood glistening on the blade in her hand. "All right, Hinata," she said softly. "You can come out now. It's safe."
A nearby rock shimmered and morphed as chakra dispersed around it. In a swirl of light, Hinata appeared, brushing dust from her sleeves. "How was I, Raven? Did I… did I do a good job pretending to be a rock this whole time?"
Raven's expression softened, and a faint chuckle escaped her. "You did excellent. Your Transformation Jutsu's come along real well."
Hinata sighed with relief, her shoulders finally loosening. "I'm good at hiding," she admitted quietly, "but I need to get good at fighting."
Raven crouched down to meet her gaze. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you're good at both in the future."
Hinata looked around the wreckage, the scattered corpses of the Kumogakure ninja, the shattered stone walls, and the lingering heat in the air. "He drugged my parents," she whispered, voice trembling. "Do you think my dad's okay?"
Raven nodded firmly. "Don't worry, your father's gonna be fine. He's just probably sleeping off all the alcohol. That man wouldn't dare poison the whole Hyūga clan, and even if he tried, the Third Hokage wouldn't let it go that far."
Raven leaned closer, lowering her tone. "Speaking of him, Hinata — if you ever meet the Third Hokage, don't believe everything he says, and don't trust him easily. He's a good talker, and he likes to preach about something called the 'Will of Fire,' but most of the time it's just a way to make other people do his work for him. So if you ever have questions or doubts, come to me first."
Hinata's eyes widened. "You don't trust the Hokage?"
Raven smiled faintly. "I trust results, not speeches. Remember that." She stood and stretched her shoulders, the tension of battle still lingering in her muscles. "My parents live at the Krusty Kunai. You can always find me there. I will teach you how to sneak out with a Shadow Clone so you can come train with me. I'll show you how to use Water Release — and when you've mastered that, I'll teach you Ice Release, so you can freeze your water techniques into something beautiful and deadly."
Hinata's eyes shone with awe. "You're so cool, Raven!"
Raven raised one hand and examined her nails with mock composure. "That's what best friends are for."
The sound of distant footsteps broke the quiet. Raven glanced toward the Hyūga mansion, her senses picking up the arrival of others. "All right, Hinata — get going. Find your father before anyone realizes what happened here. I've gotta get out of sight before someone starts asking questions."
Hinata nodded quickly. "Bye, Raven!"
Raven gave a short wave before vanishing in a blur of motion, leaving only a faint ripple of chakra behind her.
Moments later, several Hyūga elders rushed into the courtyard, lanterns in hand. "What the hell is all that destruction and racket going on?" one demanded, eyes sweeping the ruined walls. The group froze as they took in the sight of the dead Kumogakure ninja lying across the ground, burned, slashed, and broken.
"Raise the alarm!" shouted another elder. "Quickly — we have intruders! There are corpses in the courtyard!"
One of the younger guards sprinted off, yelling orders as the others began to search the area. "Go inform the elders quickly!" someone barked.
A moment later, another ninja ran in, panting heavily. "Sir — it's the elders! They've been knocked unconscious by the delegation from Kumogakure! They tried to kidnap the Hyūga heiress and failed!"
The first elder groaned, clutching his forehead. "Oh no. We're all gonna get a flogging for this."
He turned sharply toward the others. "Quickly! Go inform the reserve elders! Wake those idiots who've been drugged — and administer antidotes in case they were poisoned!"
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