Hinata Was Playing a Grand Game

Looking at Shikamaru's complicated expression, Shikaku Nara in thought.

Konoha appears calm on the surface, and indeed it is. Since the deaths of Danzo and the two Hokage Advisor, there have been virtually no internal conflicts within Konoha.

Tsunade is a very magnanimous Hokage with high prestige in the village. The Hyuga Clan is also very well-behaved, unlike the Uchiha clan of the past who were always causing trouble.

Under these circumstances, Shikaku Nara naturally overlooked the hidden dangers within Konoha.

Perhaps due to his limited perspective, Shikaku Nara believed that since Hinata had voluntarily given up the Hokage Position, the Hyuga Clan naturally posed no threat to Konoha.

To be fair, if Hinata were to succeed as the Sixth Hokage of Konoha, Shikaku Nara would be willing to support her.

Shikaku Nara was an elder who had watched Hinata grow up, and Hinata and Shikamaru were good friends, so he understood Hinata's character quite well.

However, Shikamaru's worries were not unfounded. Shikaku Nara knew his son well; he was not the kind of person who spoke without reason.

"Did you find anything?"

Shikaku Nara said calmly, "Now that Hiashi and I are both Hokage Advisor, if I don't have solid evidence... I'll be in a difficult position!"

Shikamaru shook his head slightly; he could naturally understand Shikaku Nara's predicament.

Shikaku Nara and Hyuga Hiashi are both Hokage Advisor. If Shikaku Nara were to make a rash move, it would easily be interpreted as him vying for power. Even sending a clan member to keep an eye on Hinata could cause internal divisions within the village if discovered.

"It's just a feeling... Hinata and Sasuke should be connected."

Shikamaru slowly said, "After Sasuke assassinated Danzo, I went to the Hyuga residence to see Hinata. Hinata's reaction at the time... how should I put it, although she was somewhat surprised, it wasn't the kind of surprise I had imagined."

"Hinata is someone who hates training and often slacked off during her time at the Ninja Academy, but in recent years she has been working very hard, which is abnormal in itself."

Shikaku Nara frowned and said, "Her strength..."

Hinata's current strength has reached the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, and even the Five Great Shinobi Villages dare not easily provoke Hinata. Even the legendary leader of the Akatsuki, who possesses the Rinnegan, is only on par with Hinata.

Given Hinata's past personality, Hinata shouldn't have been working so hard at training.

Those who pursue power are bound to be ambitious, and Hinata willingly gave up the Hokage Position...

It is obvious that Hinata's ambition is not just to Hokage Position, but to pursue something on a higher level.

"As long as Hinata doesn't do anything to harm Konoha, then it has nothing to do with us."

Shikaku Nara patted Shikamaru on the shoulder and said slowly, "I know you're worried about your comrades, but Hinata and we are no longer on the same level of ninja."

Shikamaru shook his head slightly, still somewhat worried, and said, "I understand what you mean, but..."

Unlike Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru wasn't optimistic. He knew his childhood friend too well, but with limited information at the moment, Shikamaru also found it difficult to understand what Hinata was trying to achieve.

Shikaku Nara pondered for a moment, then said seemingly casually, "Actually, Lady Tsunade also has this concern. It seems that Lord Jiraiya heard something from Mount Myōboku."

Shikamaru looked up at Shikaku Nara, his expression slightly surprised.

Shikaku Nara smiled faintly, "This is not something we should be thinking about... Shikamaru, just do your own job well."

Shikamaru nodded slightly.

He simply doesn't have the power to investigate Hinata's affairs; it's better to leave this to Tsunade.

The Hokage Building.

Tsunade stood quietly by the window, gazing into the distance in the direction of the Hyuga residence.

Now that the Five Great Shinobi Villages have reached an agreement and the Akatsuki has temporarily gone into hiding, there shouldn't be anything that Tsunade should find troublesome.

However, when she thought of the information that Jiraiya had sent back some time ago, Tsunade suddenly realized the crisis hidden in the shadows of the Shinobi World.

After witnessing the Genjutsu left behind by Indra, Jiraiya investigating the Akatsuki, also continued to investigate the secrets of the Shinobi World from a thousand years ago.

Jiraiya once took Yahiko, Nagato, Konan as his students, Jiraiya he did not report this to Konoha.

When Jiraiya learned that the leader of the Akatsuki possessed the Rinnegan, he naturally thought of the red-haired, autistic boy from many years ago— Nagato.

Jiraiya was almost certain that Nagato was the leader of the Akatsuki.

However, as Jiraiya's investigation into the Akatsuki deepened, he discovered that the Akatsuki was merely an organization that had been brought into the open, while those in the shadows wanted to use Akatsuki to achieve their ulterior motives.

Moreover, Jiraiya's years of experience as a ninja told Jiraiya that all the information he had investigated was secretly guided to him by someone.

It is clear that the forces hidden behind Akatsuki have split into two factions, one of which wants to use Konoha to eliminate the other.

This was Jiraiya's speculation, and it was also agreed upon by Tsunade.

If you connect all the dots, Tsunade discovers that the person who has been guiding her investigation into the secrets of a thousand years ago is none other than Hinata Hyuga.

Although the battle in the Land of Fire was ultimately proven to be caused by the Rinnegan's power, it occurred precisely when Hinata was away on a mission.

Tsunade still remembers the situation at the time. Hinata's movie was a huge hit in the Shinobi World, and Hinata's fans came to Konoha to give Hinata a special mission.

Not long after Hinata left the village, a great war broke out in the Land of Fire.

Last year's battle in which Konoha besieged Orochimaru, although it was ultimately confirmed that the Akatsuki leaked Orochimaru's whereabouts to Konoha, judging from Kakashi's mission report, Hinata's final retreat was to save people, but Hinata was capable of turning back to fight the Rinnegan's true form after saving people.

Hinata, however, gave up at the time.

Sasuke's infiltration of Konoha to assassinate someone brought to light the mysterious person behind him who possessed Space-time ninjutsu. However, given the mysterious person's abilities, Sasuke didn't need to infiltrate Konoha to gather intelligence at all.

Before Danzo, Sasuke infiltrated Konoha alone to gather intelligence and transferred a large number of Jonin and Anbu away from Konoha.

If that mysterious person who possessed Space-time ninjutsu was truly Sasuke's ally, why would Sasuke risk gathering information? It would be completely unnecessary.

Many things that have happened in the last two years have subtly pointed to Hinata.

Years of ninja experience told Tsunade that Hinata was connected to someone who was hiding behind the scenes in the Shinobi World and orchestrating everything.

It makes Hinata doesn't care about the Hokage Position at all, but has been diligently training.

According to the information Tsunade obtained, Hinata had never assisted Hyuga Hiashi in handling Hyuga Clan affairs. Aside from power, Hinata seemed indifferent to everything else.

"Is it for the Sage of Sage of Six Paths' mother?"

Considering what Indra left behind in his Genjutsu, Tsunade could only come to this conclusion.

For Konoha Ninja, if there is anything more tempting than the Hokage Position, it must be eternal life.