"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT ALL!!"
Danzo stood at the edge of the riverbank where the battle had taken place, his usual cold demeanor shattered. His face was red with frustration, his composure completely gone.
Before arriving, he had already planned how to deal with the mysterious man who could use Wood Release.
Interrogation, organ harvesting, and forced breeding.
Wood Release was a power he had dreamed of obtaining, a kekkei genkai even more valuable than the Sharingan.
As the head of Root and Konoha's shadow leader, he understood the terrifying might of Hashirama Senju better than anyone.
To ensure success, he had brought seven elite squads, all trained in the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques. Even if their target had the power of a tailed beast, Danzo was confident they could capture him.
But this bastard hadn't even given him a chance.
Nearby, Tsukasa and the Hyuga clan members instinctively covered their eyes, as if shielding themselves from the brutal reality before them.
The river ran red with blood.
Forty Hyuga shinobi lay scattered across the battlefield.
All of them were dead.
Tsukasa and the other clan elders turned pale, their faces drained of color.
How were they supposed to explain this to the branch family?
The loss was catastrophic. Forty Hyuga, all from the branch family.
And the damage wasn't just personal.
For generations, the Hyuga had prided themselves on being one of Konoha's strongest and most prestigious families, standing on equal footing with the Uchiha and Senju.
Now, they had suffered a blow unlike anything before.
They had failed to protect their own.
If word got out, the village would start questioning them.
How could they call themselves one of the strongest clans in Konoha if they couldn't even protect their own people?
A masked Root ninja finished examining the corpses and turned to Danzo. "Danzo-sama, they've been dead since yesterday."
Danzo's eye twitched as he swallowed the murderous rage rising inside him. "Yesterday?" His voice was low and controlled, but anyone who knew him would recognize the fury simmering beneath the surface.
"That means he never intended to negotiate. His goal was to wipe them out from the start."
Tsukasa clenched his fists, his expression twisted with frustration. "I don't get it. Why target the Hyuga if it's not for the Byakugan? Is this really the work of the Hidden Cloud?"
Danzo's single visible eye gleamed with a predatory light, his mind working at full speed.
"Ryoma," he said coldly, "go get Sakumo."
Without hesitation, Aburame Ryoma nodded. "Understood."
In the next instant, he vanished into the trees.
——
Not long after, Sakumo arrived at the scene. The moment he saw the bodies scattered across the battlefield, his expression darkened, his breath hitching for just a second.
"Lord Danzo, they were killed by Hiruko. It happened yesterday."
Though Sakumo's strength was on par with Danzo's, his official rank was lower. He followed protocol and maintained a respectful tone.
Danzo narrowed his eyes. "Haruki did a good job patching you up. Any signs of those two Cloud ninjas?"
"No." Sakumo shook his head. "They were too fast. Neither the Anbu nor my men could track them."
"So, the mystery man who was with Hiruko last night might be a Hidden Cloud spy," Danzo mused. Then, without a second thought, he waved Sakumo off. "This no longer concerns you."
But in truth, Danzo had already dismissed the Hidden Cloud as suspects.
If that man really belonged to the Cloud Village, there was no reason for him not to coordinate with the Sand Village and wipe out Konoha's forces in one stroke.
Besides, Danzo simply couldn't believe that someone with Wood Release came from Hidden Cloud.
'No, this person... he has to be connected to the Senju.'
Sakumo clenched his fists at Danzo's dismissive attitude.
'How can he say this has nothing to do with me? The fallen Hyuga were my subordinates. This was my responsibility.'
But he knew better than to argue. His gaze flickered to the Root members methodically gathering the corpses.
Wasting time here was pointless. He had battles to win.
Haruki's strategy was already taking effect.
Just this morning, their casualty ratio had dropped significantly. He needed to focus on the battlefield, not on Danzo's politics.
With that, he turned and left without another word.
Danzo, meanwhile, shifted his attention to the Hyuga clan members. They stood frozen in place, still processing the horror in front of them.
He never liked the Hyuga. They had always sided with Hiruzen. But they held significant influence in the village, and since Danzo aimed to become Hokage, there was no need to sour the relationship unnecessarily.
Besides, he had to distance himself from any suspicions.
Hiruko had been his subordinate, after all.
"This isn't your fault," Danzo said in a calm, calculated tone. "The Sand and Cloud villages were simply too ruthless."
Tsukasa and the others snapped out of their daze, their expressions shifting ever so slightly.
The problem wasn't that they failed to negotiate.
It was that this mysterious man killed their people before they even had the chance. The branch family had no reason to blame them.
"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Danzo."
Tsukasa bowed slightly, relieved. Danzo's word carried weight. The branch family might not believe Tsukasa alone, but a senior village elder like Danzo had no reason to lie. His endorsement would be invaluable.
But what Tsukasa didn't know was that the news had already spread long before they could return.
By the time they arrived, no amount of explanations would change anything.
Once public opinion had turned against them, there was no coming back from it. Tsukasa was doomed to fail.
———
Meanwhile, Haruki and Hiashi sat in a quiet corner of a restaurant, but the atmosphere was anything but peaceful.
In the distance, villagers were engaged in heated discussion.
"Did you hear? The entire Hyuga squad in the war got wiped out!"
"What?! What happened?"
"I heard the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki personally attacked and captured forty Hyuga ninjas."
"That makes sense. The Hidden Cloud is obsessed with bloodline limits. They probably wanted to trade them for the Byakugan."
"So, did the Hyuga agree to the exchange?"
"If they're all dead, then obviously not!"
Hiashi's fists clenched under the table. His anger was boiling over.
Haruki, watching silently, suddenly stood up.
"Let's go," he said, turning toward the exit.
Hiashi hesitated for a moment before following him.
As they walked through the streets, another rumor caught their ears.
"They say a high-ranking elder from the Sand Village wanted to marry off his daughter to a Hyuga from the branch family. Supposedly, they asked the main family to remove his Caged Bird Seal."
"Seriously? That's ridiculous!"
"Yeah, but either way, the Hyuga clan looks terrible right now."
Haruki couldn't help but smirk internally. 'Heh. Even if Hiruzen himself stepped in, he wouldn't be able to fix this mess.'
If those forty Hyuga had survived, Hiruzen, Konoha's so-called god of Shinobi, might have been able to sway public opinion.
But the dead don't talk.
Forty lives lost wasn't something that could be brushed under the rug. Anyone who cared to look into the matter could find the truth.
'If they want to calm the outrage, there's really only one solution,' Haruki thought, his eyes glinting with amusement. 'Free the birds from their cages.'
His gaze flickered toward Hiashi.
"What will you do, Hyuga Hiashi?"
As they walked, he could no longer endure the whispers and stares. Without a word, he used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished.
Back at the Hyuga compound, the air was heavy with grief and resentment.
The main family members wore tense, uneasy expressions.
The branch family, however, made no attempt to hide their emotions. Their eyes, filled with bitterness and anger, bore into Hiashi like venomous snakes.
Hiashi froze in place.
An indescribable bitterness rose in his chest.
The glory of the Hyuga name, which once felt like an unshakable pillar of strength, now cut into him like a thousand blades.
Layer by layer, it stripped away his confidence.
'Even if we lift the Caged Bird Seal to ease their anger… what then? Without the unity of our clan, can we still call ourselves one of Konoha's most powerful families?'
________________________
Sparky's Note: Finally 500 power stones! You lot really pulled through. Guess that means it's time for a bonus chapter.
Also, MC didn't actually go on a Hyuga-killing spree. Chill. Those were just wooden clones.
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