Naruto: Becoming a master taijutsu using martial arts.

Dekai-sensei disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only a whirlwind of leaves where he had been standing. His abrupt and sudden departure left an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air.

"Seriously... this guy is so weird!" Jimei exclaimed, crossing his arms and frowning. "He pops up out of nowhere, talks as if we're heading to war, then disappears without giving any more instructions. Is this how a sensei should behave?"

"Relax, Jimei. We'll be fine." I said, letting out a sigh.

"You say that like this forest isn't terrifying!" Jimei muttered nervously, eyeing the forest in front of us.

"Yeah, but the test is simple. We cross the forest and protect the eggs. And we're going to do it together."

After saying that, I turned my gaze to the Hyuuga girl. So far, she hadn't said a word. Unlike Jimei, who always expressed his thoughts openly, she seemed to be a very quiet person.

Her serious face, controlled posture, and the way she held the egg in her arms indicated that she was disciplined. But there was something else there. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

If I had to guess, I'd say she wasn't too fond of social interactions. The Hyuuga clan, from what I knew, was known for being traditional and rigid. And since she was wearing the headband on her forehead, she was probably from the branch family.

She probably grew up surrounded by rules and duties. Maybe that's why she seemed hesitant, like she was afraid of making mistakes or exposing herself. It was strange to be on the same team as someone like that.

"I'm Hoshino Kenshin." I said, breaking the silence. "And this is Jimei."

She looked at me for a moment, either surprised by my initiative or surprised that I was talking to her.

"I'm Hyuuga Natsu." she said softly but firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Natsu-san." I said with a slight smile. "We'll get through this together."

I noticed her lavender eyes widen slightly before she silently nodded.

Would this be a problem later? Maybe. But right now, we had a more urgent goal.

"We're going to need to work together to get through this forest." I said after a moment of thought. "Natsu-san, can you guide us with your Byakugan?"

She nodded again and closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them, her veins around her eyes expanding.

"Byakugan!"

After activating her famous doujutsu, Natsu stiffened, and her eyes widened.

"This... this forest is full of chakra. This is weird."

"What? What do you mean weird?" Jimei asked, sounding even more nervous.

"The mist..." Natsu continued, looking around. "It's full of chakra. It's going to be difficult to spot any hidden enemies. But... I can still guide the way."

"Well, that's something." I replied calmly, thinking about the Byakugan.

It was an amazing ability, able to see through obstacles and even spot the chakra flow of people. But if even the Byakugan was being affected, then this forest was truly dangerous.

"Ken-kun..." Jimei whispered near my ear. "Are we really going in there?"

"It's the only way," I replied, looking at the egg in my hand.

It was then that I noticed Jimei was putting the egg into his shuriken pouch. His shuriken pouch... full of shurikens... strapped to his butt.

"What are you doing?" I asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"Putting the egg away." he replied casually.

My expression grew even more incredulous.

"Why the hell are you putting a fragile egg into a pouch full of weapons that are going to shake around and could break it at any moment?"

Jimei blinked a few times, as if just now realizing the problem.

"Ah... yeah... maybe that wasn't the best idea."

I huffed and crossed my arms, trying not to give in to the urge to bang my head against the wall because of the stupidity he was showing.

"Maybe?"

"Hm... Err... We could wrap the eggs with our chakra." Natsu suggested suddenly, drawing our attention. "If we create a protective chakra layer around the egg, it'll be more resistant to impact."

I raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised by the suggestion. Could we do that?

"Wait, can we really do that?" Apparently, Jimei wanted to know the same thing.

"Yes. In the Hyuuga clan, we use this technique on training dummies to increase their durability." Natsu replied. "We just need to make a thick chakra layer so it doesn't dissipate quickly, then wrap it around the egg."

"That's actually really smart. Thanks, Natsu-san." I said after considering the idea. This could work.

She blushed slightly and looked away. That was... unexpected. But I didn't comment on it. Maybe she wasn't used to being praised. Who knows?

"So, how do we do this?" I asked.

"Just concentrate your chakra and mold it around the egg. Think of it like creating a protective film around it." she explained, demonstrating with her own egg. "It needs to be dense enough to not dissipate, and you have to stick it to the egg, like you're spreading glue."

Jimei tried first, and as expected, he did it in a somewhat clumsy way, but he eventually got it. I followed right after, wrapping my egg in a thick chakra layer.

"You can take the kunai out of your leg pouch and store the egg there, I think that's the safest place," Natsu again gave us a great idea, which we quickly agreed with.

It wasn't too difficult, just required control. It felt like an adapted version of the tree-walking exercise.

We spent about 5 minutes figuring out how to do it, but now with the eggs protected, we were ready to enter the forest.

"Now we're set. Let's go." I said, taking the first step toward the thick mist waiting for us.

With no other choice, we moved forward into the Forest of Despair.