As a Kekkei Genkai inherited directly from Otsutsuki Kaguya, the power of the Byakugan hardly needed explanation. In the original story, its brilliance was almost completely overshadowed by the endlessly enhanced Sharingan and Rinnegan. Yet when it came to searching and detection, the Byakugan undeniably surpassed both of them by far.
To Hinata, the enormous Forest of Death was like a transparent map incapable of hiding any secrets. Whether it was oddly shaped plants and rocks or all kinds of dangerous, strange animals and insects, everything lay completely exposed before her. She barely even needed to adjust her viewing angle. Shinobi whose chakra was stronger than the surrounding environment appeared in the Byakugan's vision like clusters of blue flame, completely unable to conceal themselves.
Although Hinata had not yet trained her Byakugan to achieve a perfect one-kilometer range, she could still see everything clearly within several hundred meters around her. Along the way, she spotted at least four or five teams. Some were still advancing cautiously while scouting, some were already fighting over scrolls, and naturally there were also several groups whose scrolls had been taken and whose members were lying on the ground, their fates unknown.
Hinata had no interest in paying attention to any of them right now. In fact, part of her main objective had already been achieved.
The unity of the Hinata Group was not yet especially stable. For now, it was built mainly on Hinata's distribution of benefits and the friendship of former classmates. If she wanted these eight people to develop a genuine sense of belonging to the Hinata Group, then they needed to experience one particular feeling: when they followed the Hinata Group, they could crush other enemies with ease. If they left the Hinata Group and acted alone, they would immediately feel the cruelty of this world.
Hinata intended to establish the first half of that lesson here, and reality was already cooperating. The deadly battles over scrolls that Hinata had thought might occur had instead become one-sided routs under the Hinata Group's strength. Its members barely even had dust on their clothes. While everyone else was nervously advancing or searching, they could sit comfortably at camp waiting for grilled meat and sleep, almost as though they were on an outdoor vacation.
Once they had such a comfortable precedent for group operations, whenever these people found future missions difficult, they would naturally remember how smooth and simple everything had been when they acted with the Hinata Group. From there, they would naturally come to believe that following the Hinata Group was the correct choice.
That way, there would be no need to worry about these eight people wanting to leave the Hinata Group. It would also provide greater cohesion for Konohagakure's new-generation leadership bloc.
At that moment, Hinata's gaze sharpened slightly. A striking pale-gold chakra signature had appeared not far ahead. The color was unmistakably the same one she had noticed earlier, the chakra belonging to Uzumaki Karin.
"Found~ you~!!"
With a savage grin, Hinata kicked hard off the tree branch and shot forward in that direction!
As a shinobi of Kusagakure (Hidden Grass Village), Karin had unquestionably never received truly fair treatment. Whether it was her instructor or her teammates, their definition of her role was extremely clear: she was nothing more than a tool used to restore the chakra and physical strength of her two teammates.
"Damn it~! We finally got away! It's all because of you. You're completely useless!"
Panting as he leaned against a tree to rest, a young Grass shinobi clenched his teeth bitterly. They had considered themselves among Kusagakure's elite Genin, only to discover after entering this place that their abilities were hardly worth mentioning. Just moments ago, a group of Rain shinobi had chased them and nearly wiped out the entire team.
"But... no one ever taught me how to fight..."
Used as a target for their anger, Karin could only argue weakly in a low voice. Just as she said, because her instructor feared she might resist or run away, he had never taught her any combat skills. Everything she learned consisted of theoretical knowledge and Sensory Ninjutsu.
"Shut up! Are you actually planning to defy us now?"
The other Grass shinobi shouted angrily as well. Karin instinctively bit her lip and lowered her head, no longer daring to speak. This was the sum of everything life had taught her so far. If she resisted, she would be locked up and starved. Because they needed to preserve her as a useful tool, they generally avoided beating her severely, but starvation alone was already a terrifying punishment.
"Huh? Wait... someone's coming!"
At that moment, Karin suddenly jolted. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, her sensory ability was undoubtedly excellent. Before either of the two Grass shinobi noticed anything, she had already sensed a chakra signature barreling rapidly toward them!!
Without question, Karin's healing and sensory abilities were the key reasons their team had avoided being wiped out until now.
But this time, they clearly would not be able to hide again. The other side's reconnaissance ability was already sufficient to leave them nowhere to conceal themselves.
"Oho~ You have sensory ability too? That doesn't really match your appearance."
Following the contemptuous remark, Hinata strolled leisurely out from the bushes to one side. Her eyes remained fixed on Karin, and the predatory desire burning within them was not concealed in the slightest.
"Heh~! Only one person? Idiot! You've been getting on my nerves for a while. Perfect—you came straight to us!"
Yet the two young Grass shinobi clearly failed to recognize the danger in Hinata's appearance. Instead, their greedy eyes swept over Hinata's figure and face before they made an excited decision. Without question, having a weak and easily bullied female shinobi like Karin constantly beside them had distorted their understanding of female shinobi to some extent.
That was also understandable in its own way. This world still placed expectations of propriety on women. No matter how powerful a woman might be, she was still expected to silently devote herself to her family, as though strength had little use for her.
But now, it was easy to see that there was a reason these two idiots were merely minor characters.
"Die."
Hinata had no interest in saying anything more to the two Grass shinobi. Her body abruptly surged forward. By the time the two young men realized how badly they had misjudged the difference in strength, it was already too late. The Byakugan girl had arrived before them like a god of death.
Crack!
Hinata lowered her head slightly to avoid the instinctive shuriken thrown by the Grass shinobi on the left, then drove one finger into his Zhangmen Point. This time, unlike when dealing with Temari and Kankuro, she held back nothing and applied enough force to kill. The terrifying impact traveled through her finger into his body in an instant, directly rupturing the spleen behind the Zhangmen Point. The Grass shinobi could not even scream. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, his knees gave way, and he collapsed.
With a single finger, a life was snuffed out beyond recovery.
"Ah~! You!!"
Seeing his companion die instantly, the remaining Grass shinobi was unquestionably terrified out of his wits. He had never imagined that this beautiful, seemingly delicate female shinobi could possess such terrifying and ruthless killing power.
"Not every female shinobi is a submissive tool for other people to take their frustrations out on, right?"
Hinata raised her head with a savage grin. She understood her present strength very clearly. While training Maiden Masher (Ya Otome) in the Land of Waves, she had already become accustomed to using her own body to kill. In the terrified gaze of the second Grass shinobi, her figure suddenly blurred, and several points across his body erupted with horrifying pain.
Shanzhong Point, Yunmen Point, Zhangmen Point, Chongmen Point, Qihai Point!! Hinata's fingers moved across the Grass shinobi's body with the ruthless precision of a death god's daggers. After the final strike, the Byakugan girl pulled her right hand far back. Chakra rapidly condensed, forming a flame-like Rasengan in her palm, and with a thunderous impact she drove it heavily into the Grass shinobi's chest and abdomen!!
The eight streams of fire-nature chakra Hinata had previously driven into the Grass shinobi's body detonated simultaneously under that strike. From a distance, it looked as though a firebomb had suddenly exploded inside him. His entire body burst apart amid sparks and blood, with fragments of organs and bone scattering in every direction!!
Cruelty was never simply an inborn nature. It was a psychological habit created through later conditioning. To Hinata, the extraordinarily vicious Maiden Masher (Ya Otome) itself represented an almost impossible-to-conceal bestiality. Yet that same bestiality also highlighted the technique's overwhelming ferocity and terror.
"Uwaaaaaah~~~"
Karin, the only person left, had unquestionably been frightened senseless. Even after living in darkness for many years, seeing people beside her turned into chunks of flesh scattered across the ground still filled her with indescribable fear and shock.
"Hehehehe~~ You're frightened, hm?!"
Hinata looked harshly at Karin, who had fallen onto the ground, and felt a surge of difficult-to-suppress desire rise within her. Human beings were creatures whose reactions became stronger the more intensely they were suppressed. Although Hinata normally used her abilities and methods to turn many things in this world into support for herself, that did not mean she lived without pressure of her own.
That was why, when she met Haku, someone before whom she could genuinely release all of that pressure, she had found it difficult to restrain herself and forcibly claimed him. For Hinata, refusing to restrain herself in front of someone who allowed her to relax was the most effective and intoxicating way to release pressure.
And Karin before her now was likewise someone who could not possibly threaten her. The delicate red-haired girl sat on the ground, almost screaming as she instinctively scrambled backward. Tears poured down her face like floodwater through an opened gate. But showing weakness was also the only method she had left, a desperate hope that this terrifying enemy might spare her life.
"~~How pitifully adorable~ Huh? A girl wetting her shorts? That's hardly proper. Right now, you're like a dish of food placed on a plate. The moment the person who wants to eat you starts, you'll be cut apart, chewed up, and swallowed like a pile of ruined meat."
Hinata laughed softly. The wet stain and smell coming from the red-haired girl's shorts made her instinctively stop. Without question, to Karin at this moment, the terrifying demon who had torn people apart before her was the embodiment of death and fear. That terror had pierced so deeply through her that she could barely control her own body.
"Don't come closer... please... let me go... I'll... I'll do anything... please... spare me..."
Karin backed against the trunk of a large tree with a thump and realized she had nowhere else to retreat. She instinctively forced out the plea like the whimper of a small animal. As a female shinobi with no ability to resist, she had no remaining method to guarantee her own survival. She was not yet the Karin who would later appear in Shippuden.
The Karin of Shippuden had at least developed her own ideas and abilities through Orochimaru's use and instruction. More than that, she had gained considerable authority by managing the Northern Hideout in Orochimaru's place. But now, she was still merely a pitiful person treated by the Grass shinobi as living medical equipment, something that existed like food.
What Hinata displayed, meanwhile, was unimaginable ferocity and cruelty. The overwhelming brutality of Maiden Masher (Ya Otome) filled Karin with indescribable fear and pressure.
"How pitiful. Don't worry~~ I won't kill you. And~ I'll make you as strong as I am, so you'll never have to worry about people treating you like food and eating you again."
Hinata crouched in front of Karin, her voice taking on a strongly coaxing tone. "So answer me now~ Will you die here for no reason, or will you submit to me?"
Hinata's words made Karin slowly open her tightly shut eyes, trembling. After a brief moment of hesitation, the red-haired girl instinctively nodded.
"I... am willing to submit to... you..."
The answer made Hinata's brows relax in satisfaction. Since Karin had already answered, she naturally would not choose death the way Haku had. In that case...
"You should become something that stays with me for a very long time~"
Hinata reached out and seized Karin by both shoulders. Her hands tightened slightly, and with the sound of tearing cloth, she ripped open the red-haired girl's thin shirt. Karin's pale body, covered in bite marks, came into view before Hinata.
"Then... I want you now."
Karin heard those words. A moment later, the Byakugan girl pushed her down onto the ground and pressed herself down over Karin.
(Come on, little glasses girl! Have some fun with this lord~!)