It was Sasuke that found the stamp this time.
"Of course, the academy already talked to me. Good job solving all the riddles and getting here" the kind woman behind the vegetable stand praised them, taking something from her pocket. The stamp. Hinata shyly gave her the coupon, and the woman pressed the object against the surface, before returning it to them. "You're the second team to come by today" she said thoughtfully, once the stamp was back in her pocket.
Shino spoke then. "I see. So we're a little behind" which was a shame. Hinata had wanted to try and finish first, but if that was no longer an option, then there was nothing they could do.
At their side, Sasuke clicked his tongue, glancing away.
The woman, however, giggled, causing the three kids to look her way again. "I said another team came by before, but they only had one other stamp, unlike you that already had two. So I guess you're still not that far behind" she winked, and the three felt their spirits lift.
"Ok, so, ready for the next clue?" Hinata and Shino nodded, while Sasuke simply gave a 'hn' of affirmation. "South of here there's another forest, and in that forest, there's a place that goes by the name of Mount Takurami. There, you will find your next stamp" she explained. Hinata and Sasuke exchanged a look, while Shino seemed to frown.
"Are there no more specific details?" the boy with sunglasses asked. The woman shook her head.
"That's all they told me to tell you."
"I see" then Shino bowed. "Thank you for the information" Hinata and Sasuke followed his example. After saying goodbye to the woman, the three turned south, in the direction of Mount Takurami.
They didn't talk until they arrived at the forest. From there, it was a rather long way to Mount Takurami, and, to be perfectly honest, none of them had any idea how to get there.
"We should have gotten a m-map from the library…" Hinata lamented, glancing down.
"Maybe we could turn back and get one" Shino suggested.
Sasuke sighed. "It will take us a long time going back to the library now."
"But it'll take us more time if we get lost."
"We could just f-follow the path…" Hinata said, but as soon as she did, she realized there wasn't actually a path to follow. She blushed at her blunder. "S-Sorry, forget I said anything…"
"No. That's a good idea" Sasuke interrupted, pointing somewhere a bit ahead of them. When Hinata and Shino turned to look, they saw Mount Takurami in the distance. It looked rather far away. "We have to use the abilities we learned in the academy to reach that place, no? Hinata, you have your Byakugan. Do you think you can use it to show us a direct way towards Mount Takurami?" he asked.
Hinata blinked, surprised at his suggestion. Did Sasuke know the details of the Byakugan? How it worked? She didn't remember ever telling him. Was it something that his father had told him? She herself knew nothing of the Sharingan, so it was curious to her that Sasuke apparently did with the Byakugan.
She opened her mouth to answer him. "My reach isn't that g-great. I can only see up to ten meters…" she said.
"It's still a good radius."
"I could use my insects to seek the correct path" Shino offered, surprising Sasuke and Hinata. They looked at him with confusion, and Shino raised a finger in response. A small bug walked along its length, stopping at the tip. "These are the kikaichu from my family. We use them for a variety of jutsu, but they can also be used to track things and assert the correct path to a destination… I've been learning to gather information with them" he confessed, sounding a little coy at the end. Sasuke and Hinata exchanged a look, outwardly amazed, before simultaneously giving a nod.
"If they can show us the c-correct path…" Hinata said. Shino nodded, allowing the small insect to fly away. Soon after, many more came forward from under his sleeves, surprising the other two, who didn't expect him to have so many of them.
"Is that the reason you wear that jacket all the time?" Sasuke asked, intrigued. Shino didn't answer.
A little after, the insects came back, and Shino guided them towards Mount Takurami. The path they took was fairly easy to follow, with little inconveniences along the way. When they finally reached the mount, Hinata was smiling, thinking how little time they took to get there at all.
"A-Alright, now we need to find the next s-stamp…"
"Easier said than done" Sasuke frowned, glancing around. "This place is too big. Where could it possibly be?" he asked, before glancing at Shino. "Can your bugs look for it, too?"
"They're called kikaichu" he corrected. Sasuke sighed.
"Your kikaichu, then."
"I could try. Though I can't help but wonder how our other classmates are supposed to find the stamp. What is the method our teacher wants us to use?"
"Does it matter, now?" Sasuke asked. Shino shrugged.
"I guess not."
"I-I think I know how…" Hinata interrupted, pointing at a place in the distance. It was a small path down the side of the mountain, and, right on one of the walls, there was a small, blink-and-you-miss-it sign attached to it. "M-Maybe the idea was going back to the library… and ask for a map that would g-guide us in that direction…" she commented. Shino nodded.
"It makes sense. Do you want to see what it says?" he asked her. Hinata bit her lip, looking at Sasuke for guidance. It might be faster to get Shino to use his kikaichu again, but at the same time, she wanted to try doing things the way they were meant to. Would Sasuke be alright with that?
Sensing her gaze and guessing what it probably meant, the boy turned to look at her, and, with a huff, rolled his eyes. "You don't need my permission. You are the leader after all, no?" he answered her unspoken question.
Hinata blushed, knowing he was right and feeling rather silly for looking for his approval. Then, she guided her group towards the sign, and once in front of it read it out loud. "Five-hundred meters to the front, then three-hundred meters to the right."
"Not a riddle this time" Shino commented.
"L-Let's go."
The stamp was hanging from another tree, one of the lasts on the path towards the summit. Next to the stamp, there was another map. Hinata quickly copied it and showed it to the boys.
"It looks like it's higher up" Shino said. Sasuke clicked his tongue.
"At least we don't have to go too far."
"It's our last stamp. We might be able to f-finish first" Hinata smiled at the thought. She wasn't especially competitive or anything, but the idea of being first in something excited her.
Quickly, the three made their way over to the last stamp. However, they soon found out the last part of their exercise was slightly more complicated when, instead of another path they could walk through, when they turned to the right, there was a wall of around two hundred meters tall obstructing their way. And no visible way around it.
Sasuke groaned. "Do we have to climb this up?"
"It seems like it. Luckily it isn't too steep" Shino looked up, assessing the best way to go about it. Hinata bit her lip in nervousness. It was taller than anything they have climbed before, and definitely it wouldn't be as easy as climbing a tree. The edges were smoother, and there wasn't a lot to get a hold of either.
Would she be able to do it?
"Do you want us to find another way up?" Sasuke surprised her when he asked, and when she turned towards him he was looking at her with a small frown, but not of annoyance, rather, he seemed… concerned?
She blinked, surprised. "I…"
"Or I can go on my own" he offered. "The three of us don't need to climb together to get the stamp."
Shino looked at her, as if just now realizing how nervous she looked. Hinata felt herself blushing. Was she that obvious? She quickly shook her head. Regardless of that, and of how kind Sasuke's offer sounded, she couldn't allow that. Being afraid of simply climbing a wall was shameful. Didn't ninjas climb more dangerous and steeper places on a daily basis? She couldn't stay in her comfort zone all the time.
Besides, it was already time for them to learn how to start moving like actual shinobi. Most likely, that was the objective of their teacher by giving them this, relatively easy, wall to climb.
With a small smile, she told Sasuke. "T-Thank you, Sasuke-kun, but I think we should all go t-together, as a team. Shino-kun is right. The wall isn't too steep."
To her surprise, the boy gave her a small smile of approval before nodding. "That's good. Then, shall we go, leader?" he asked, surprising her again at the use of the term.
Hinata blushed even more, but, this time, with a bigger smile, nodded back. "Yeah!"
I guess the little ninjas need to learn how to give those superhuman jumps that allow them to reach houses' roofs and other tall places at some point or another, so why not now? The next chapter is also the last of this mini-arc, so look forward to it!
Fun fact: I've never seen the anime in my life, only ever read the manga... until now. I've been watching it slowly (filler included) and Mount Takurami appears in one of the episodes from Part I. Thought it would be a nice easter egg for those that bother to watch filler too.