"Forget it. Two more have shown up. Go capture them and bring them before me."
Upon hearing Neji Hyuga's words, the eighteen Hyuga Branch Family members dropped to one knee in unison and answered, "Yes!" Eighteen shadows then vanished from before Neji, darting into the forest toward the four figures secretly watching him.
"Takashi, leave those two mysterious fellows to this old man." As they rushed toward the four mysterious ninja, one frail, elderly Hyuga Branch Family member—older even than Hiruzen Sarutobi, Takashi Hyuga's great-grandfather's younger brother, his second great-granduncle—grinned.
"Second Great-Granduncle, this is Young Master Neji's mission. Please finish them quickly and bring them before Young Master Neji," Takashi said as he raced toward the mysterious ninja. "Be careful."
"I will. It is rare to finally see such an outstanding junior willing to do what I was never capable of doing." Takashi's second great-granduncle smiled. "As long as I have not seen the Caged Bird Seal disappear from your foreheads, I will not be willing to die."
"Let these old bones of ours usher in a new era for Young Master Neji and the Hyuga Clan," another aged elder behind Second Great-Granduncle replied with a chuckle.
"Split up. End this quickly!" Takashi immediately gave the order.
At once, Takashi led seven Hyuga Branch Family members toward the two distant surveillance ninja, while his second great-granduncle led ten Branch Family members toward the other two ninja who had appeared later.
The surveillance ninja two kilometers away, as well as the ninja watching from another location, noticed the disturbance.
"We've been discovered. As expected of the Hyuga." The first two ninja monitoring Neji wore animal masks, and they realized the situation did not seem to be what the Hokage had described.
There were actually more than a dozen Branch Family members