The Hyuga clan's atmosphere had turned frigid after the rumors spread through the village. It felt like a house battered by wind and rain, barely holding together.
Hiashi sat in silence, gripping the Caged Bird Scroll he had stolen from the research institute.
He had taken it from Orochimaru, yet neither Orochimaru nor Haruki had asked for it back.
That alone made it clear. It was intentional.
No matter what their motives were, Hiashi knew there was only one way to break this deadlock.
The clan had to give up its control over the Caged Bird Seal.
But he wasn't the clan head.
And in the Hyuga family, the elders held the real power in these decisions.
His expression darkened.
As he hesitated, struggling with his thoughts, he heard hurried footsteps.
Looking up, he saw Tsukasa leading several clan members into the compound. Their faces were tense.
They had clearly heard the rumors on their way back and had rushed home to deal with the situation.
"Father, is it true? Are all forty branch family ninjas dead?" Hiashi's voice was hoarse.
Tsukasa's eyes narrowed. "Where did you hear that?" He could feel the sharp glares from the branch family members.
"It's not just me. Everyone knows about it now," Hiashi said, his head spinning. He had held onto a sliver of hope, but that was gone now.
Tsukasa's face tensed. "Who leaked this?"
"I have no idea," Hiashi forced himself to stay calm. "But the entire village is talking about it."
The clan members around Tsukasa staggered, their faces paling.
Tsukasa inhaled sharply, then vanished into the hall.
He reappeared ten minutes later, his expression thunderous. A suffocating chakra leaked from his body, laced with fury.
"Who the hell is behind this?" His voice was sharp and cold.
He had just ordered his men to verify Hiashi's claim. Initially, he had assumed the rumors were just naturally spreading. But to his shock, they were multiplying at an alarming rate.
The moment he heard the villagers whispering about it, he had dismissed it as mere gossip. But now, it was clear.
Someone was deliberately stirring things up.
If it weren't for the fact that the Hokage might get involved, he would've already used Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation to smash some heads in.
But even if he took control of the situation now, the damage was already done. The rumors wouldn't stop.
"This didn't just spread by chance," Tsukasa said darkly. "For the whole village to know in a single day? Someone is pushing this from the shadows."
Hiashi hesitated, then spoke. "Father… what do we do now? This situation is bad for us."
"Even the Hokage can't sweep this under the rug," he added bitterly. "And no matter how it happened, the rumors aren't false."
Tsukasa clenched his jaw. His expression was unreadable, but the weight of reality pressed down on him.
"You're right." His voice was low and grim. "We need to talk to the elders. Now."
The two left the hall without hesitation and made their way to the elders' residence. After notifying the guards, they were swiftly led inside.
"This had to be the work of a rival clan or someone within the village who wants to stir up trouble," one of the elders said, his face grim.
No one had expected things to spiral out of control like this.
"The priority now is to report this to Hokage-sama and Danzo, making sure the truth is on record. At the same time, we need to calm the branch family down and explain the situation. If anyone still tries to cause problems..." The elder's gaze turned sharp. "....remind them why the Caged Bird Seal exists."
Tsukasa let out a slow breath. "Understood."
Hiashi remained silent, his thoughts unreadable.
Before long, Hiruzen convened a jonin meeting at the Hyuga clan's request. Danzo laid out the official version of events, which was soon posted on the village bulletin board.
But things didn't go as planned.
Public opinion was all over the place.
Some accepted the explanation, others found it full of holes. The idea that some "mysterious figure" had kidnapped and executed the branch family members sounded ridiculous.
Especially those from the branch family, were convinced that the Hyuga main house had struck a deal with the Hokage to cover up the truth.
—
New Konoha Bookstore
The store had been in Satoshi's hands for only a short time, but money and manpower worked wonders. He had purchased it, renovated it, and was now running it smoothly.
Meanwhile, Haruki sat in a chair, flipping through a novel.
"Tsk. This plot is way too predictable."
After reading high-quality works like Reverend Insanity, Lord of the Mysteries, and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, most books felt like cheap knockoffs.
Satoshi chuckled but didn't comment. Instead, he got straight to business.
"I sent someone to track down Master Jiraiya and discuss the publishing deal with him, using the profit-sharing model you suggested."
He paused before adding, "I also reached out to Princess Tsunade and Lord Orochimaru. They weren't interested at first, but after reading your letter, they both agreed to meet."
Haruki smirked. "Good. Now let's see what kind of terms Jiraiya is willing to accept. Either way, we need to make sure we walk away with the biggest slice of the pie."
The bookstore was set up with a modern media strategy in mind. It was practically impossible for it to fail.
And it wasn't just Jiraiya's books.
Haruki had also recruited multiple writers to recreate bestselling stories from another time and place.
Stories that had already proven their success elsewhere.
For example, Demon Slayer, which he had recently discussed with Jiraiya.
Of course, Demon Slayer wasn't even close to the level of the top novels he had read. But in this world, it was more than enough to make waves.
This world wasn't ready for those peak fictions yet.
"I see." Satoshi nodded, then asked, "Are you still stirring up the Hyuga clan situation? Now that the Hokage has stepped in, his influence has watered down our efforts."
"No need." Haruki pulled out a letter and handed it over.
Satoshi frowned. "What's this?"
"An official complaint from the Sand Village's Anbu."
Satoshi's eyes widened. "Wait… how did you even get this?"
Haruki smirked. "It's fake, obviously."
Satoshi exhaled, still processing.
"Danzo pinned everything on the Sand and Cloud villages," Haruki continued. "So imagine if, at this exact moment, a letter from the Sand's Anbu arrives in Konoha, angrily denying any involvement. It'd claim that the Sand never worked with the Cloud, much less kidnapped Hyuga ninjas."
Satoshi hesitated. "Would people even believe that?"
"Doesn't matter." Haruki shrugged. "People aren't looking for the truth. They just want a good show. When something explosive drops, they get caught up in the drama. Whether it's real or not, stops being important."
Satoshi slowly nodded.
"The Sand didn't actually do anything," Haruki went on, "but even if the Third Kazekage found out about this fake letter, he'd assume it came from within his own Anbu. Hell, even if he knew the whole thing was fake, he wouldn't waste the chance to screw over the Hyuga clan.
"So, post this on the village bulletin board when the time's right. Give it a little push behind the scenes."
"Got it." Satoshi tucked the letter away and vanished.
Things escalated fast.
By the next day, Konoha was on fire.
Everywhere Haruki walked, people were buzzing. The village was practically boiling over with rumors. It had been a long time since something this juicy happened.
Years of post-war tension had built up, and now, all that suppressed frustration erupted into an all-out gossip frenzy.
Haruki smirked to himself as he made his way to Orochimaru's lab.
—
Inside the dimly lit lab, Haruki got straight to the point.
"What's your take on the Chimera Technique?" He tossed Hiruko onto Orochimaru like an unwanted doll.
Orochimaru barely glanced at him. "A half-baked forbidden jutsu. Fusing multiple bloodline limits puts too much strain on the body. Not worth it."
Haruki hummed in agreement, remembering how Hiruko had ended up looking like a bandaged mummy in the original timeline.
"Can it be improved?" he asked.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Why? You don't need something like this. Why waste your time?"
Haruki smirked. "What about you? Word is that if you successfully combine kekkei genkai, you can achieve perfect immortality. That's your whole deal, isn't it?"
Orochimaru scoffed. "If only it were that simple. The risks are massive. Nowhere near as effective as my Living Corpse Reincarnation."
Haruki was quiet for a moment.
In the original timeline, Hiruko had seemingly fixed the side effects of the technique. But in this world, years ahead of schedule, the Chimera Technique was still crude. Perfecting it would take countless experiments.
And that meant Money.
Haruki's finances mostly came from the Oshima Chamber of Commerce.
But he hadn't spent a dime of it on himself. Almost all of it went into funding Orochimaru's research and supporting the orphanage.
And Orochimaru burned through eighty percent of the budget.
Haruki's eyes narrowed in thought.
Orochimaru didn't have time to refine the Chimera Technique. But maybe Hiruko did.
The problem was loyalty.
Then again, he hadn't actually killed those forty Hyuga branch ninjas. What Danzo and the others saw were just wooden clones.
He could have them assist Hiruko in the research.
And once it was nearly complete, he'd bring the Hyuga clan into the loop.
By then, it'd be too late for them to object, their interests would already be tied to the results.
They'd realize the whole situation had been a setup.
And they'd keep their mouths shut.
________________________
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