[H1][Center][b][color=fff79a]HIKARI HYUGA[/color][/b][/CENTER][/H1]
[colour=ee6262]"says you, spying on us..."[/colour] Lin said under his breath. If he had thought that would escape Hikari's notice, he was sorely mistaken. The volume aside, which would not escape Hikari's notice as someone who—in her own opinion—was all but officially Jonin skill-wise, Hyuuga were trained in lip-reading to make full use of their Byakugan, hence her knowing exactly what Lin said.

[colour=ee6262]"You got it, sis,"[/colour] Lin continued, trying to further antagonize his teacher.

Not that Hikari deigned to respond to either remark. Maybe when she first started working in the academy two years ago, but at this point, she was used to such remarks and furthermore had matured a bit to not be bothered too much.

Besides, ignoring it would probably infuriate the kid more, and thus a more satisfying 'payback' was what Hikari thought She supposed it WAS rather petty, but well she did say she had matured to the point of not being bothered TOO much, not entirely unbothered.

And so, making a deliberate show of ignoring Lin completely, Hikari turned to Shinya to listen to what the Aburame had to say.

[color=0072bc]"Of course, Sensei. We will do as you ask. Before that, however, I feel the need to inform you that these people had been paralyzed through one of my clan's jutsu or something of similar nature."[/color]

As Shinya was speaking, however, a massive build-up of chakra inside the body of the paralyzed shinobi caught Hikari's attention. It was almost akin to a high-powered explosive tag, Hikari was sure that they were about to explode. For a split second the question of 'How' crossed Hikari's head as her Byakugan would have noticed any explosive tags on them.

Now, however, was not the time to wonder about such things.

Hikari disappeared with the Body Flicker technique, immediately appearing between Lin and Shinya.

[color=fff79a]"Don't move!"[/color] Hikari ordered as she started to emit chakra from all of her tenketsu, before spinning rapidly, all the while making sure to control her chakra so that Shinya and Lin did not get caught up in the rapidly rotating chakra.

Revolving Heaven, the absolute defence of the Hyuga clan, met the blast head-on and shielded the three from the explosion.

[hr]

[H1][Center][b][color=0072bc]SHINYA ABURAME[/color][/b][/CENTER][/H1]

Before Shinya could even comprehend what was going on, his teacher was beside him, before spinning around as some sort of dome made out of chakra enveloped the three, just in time as Shinya heard a deafening blast.

A few moments later as Hikari stopped spinning and the dome faded, Shinya finally understood what had just happened. Several meters around them were charred with wood splinters and fragments scattered everywhere, the clear sign of an intense explosion. The five paralyzed shinobi had exploded.

If it weren't for the fact that Shinya would most definitely have died without Hikari—being at the epicentre of the explosion—he might have admired the ruthlessly logical way the five shinobis went out, preventing information leak while causing maximum damage to their enemy. However, seeing the aftermath of the blast, with the area around him, Hikari, and Lin being the only unnaturally untouched due to whatever defensive jutsu Hikari used...As composed and logic-oriented Shinya might try to comport himself at all times, he cannot help but think how close he had been to death.

Shinya immediately turned to Hikari. In such a situation deferring to one's superior was the logical course of action, after all.

Hikari appeared to be looking in the direction of the village with her Byakugan. For a split second, Shinya could have sworn he saw the slightest hint of panic at the ever-graceful and composed Hyuga princess, though it disappeared almost immediately that Shinya couldn't help but think he must have been simply projecting his own panic.

[color=fff79a]"...Several explosions had occurred inside the village. I will get you two back to the village. Afterwards, follow the evacuation procedure for civilians and keep your head down,"[/color] Hikari calmly said to Lin and Shinya, not taking her eyes off the village.

Shinya thought that was the correct choice. While the village might not be the safest place right now, there was also no guarantee staying outside the village's walls like this would grant them safety. Their best choice WAS to get back to the village and head to the designated safe houses for civilians prepared specifically for this sort of incident. They were academy students close to becoming Genin but their status was still civilians as of today. If this was an ant colony under attack, they would be the larvae protected by the rest of the ants, in hopes they would grow up and in turn, serve the colony in the future.

It was the logical choice, and so, despite it not fully feeling right to Shinya, as usual, he followed his reason and deferred to his superior, [color=0072bc]"Understood, Sensei."[/color]

He just hoped that his impetuous classmate will see reason and not make any trouble for their teacher and the rest in a time like this.