Danzo Was Furious! Hiashi, What Are You Doing?

Knock, knock, knock!

A knock sounded from outside the door.

Namikaze Mirai smiled as she ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Dinner's in the kitchen. Heat it up yourself. Uncle has to go out for a while."

"Okay."

Naruto nodded obediently.

When she opened the door, a masked Anbu leaped down from a tree and stopped in front of Namikaze Mirai.

His voice carried no emotion.

"Mirai, the Hokage requests your presence at the Hokage Office."

"Lead the way."

Namikaze Mirai remained calm, as though she had expected this all along.

Following the Anbu, she arrived at the Hokage Tower and pushed open the doors to the third-floor conference room.

The room was deathly silent.

Ninjas sat at both ends of the long, spacious conference table. Nearly all of them were village higher-ups or heads of clans large and small.

Everyone's gaze converged on her in an instant.

Those looks held many emotions.

Scrutiny, disgust, surprise...

Namikaze Mirai's expression did not change. It seemed Sarutobi Hiruzen had come prepared, deliberately summoning so many of the village's higher-ups.

He was preparing to use their collective pressure to pass Judgment on her.

"Mirai, you're here at just the right time. Find a seat."

He said to find a seat, but in truth, only one seat remained empty.

Namikaze Mirai did not care. She sat down directly, her posture utterly composed as she casually leaned back against the chair.

That natural display made Sarutobi Hiruzen, seated at the head of the conference table, slightly stir.

He gave her a deep look.

Then, after a brief pause, he composed himself and said,

"Three days ago, the Envoy Delegation Kumogakure sent to Konoha was brutally murdered at night!"

"I believe everyone here has already heard about this, correct?"

The instant his words fell, the entire conference room erupted.

"That happened?"

"Who has that kind of nerve? Killing a Kumogakure Messenger—is someone trying to force Konoha into war?"

The expressions of some ninjas hearing of the matter for the first time changed instantly.

Killing an envoy from a major ninja village—especially ninjas who had come to sign a Peace Treaty—carried entirely different implications.

This was a major diplomatic incident!

However, even more ninjas remained calm. Several days had already passed since the incident, and most of them had long known about it.

Sarutobi Hiruzen swept his gaze over the people in the conference room. Seeing that his earlier words had achieved the effect he wanted, he fixed his eyes on Namikaze Mirai.

"Mirai, is there anything you wish to say about this matter?"

There seemed to be a chill in his eyes.

"After all, you were the one who caused this."

A fresh wave of uproar rose through the conference room.

"Namikaze Mirai? Isn't she Minato's younger sister? Why would she do something like this?"

"Doesn't she know what consequences killing a Kumogakure Messenger will bring?"

Countless angry and bewildered eyes focused on Namikaze Mirai.

A cold smile appeared in Sarutobi Hiruzen's gray-brown eyes.

Namikaze Mirai held a special status. She was the Fourth Hokage's younger sister.

With that identity, coupled with her unruly nature,

Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally would not dare harshly rebuke her under ordinary circumstances.

But now, so many Konoha higher-ups and clan heads sat around this conference table.

With such overwhelming pressure behind him, was he really afraid Namikaze Mirai could stir up any trouble? This subtle shift in expression naturally did not escape Namikaze Mirai's notice.

"It was indeed my doing."

She admitted it openly and without hesitation.

That set off another uproar.

"Why, Mirai? Why would you do something like this?"

"If the Raikage uses this as a pretext to attack, does the village have to go to war again?"

Even Danzo, seated beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, froze when he heard Namikaze Mirai admit it so openly.

Did this girl even understand the situation? She just admitted it that simply? "The Raikage was furious after learning of this matter. If we cannot quell his anger, war could break out again at any moment."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared straight at Namikaze Mirai.

The atmosphere in the conference room dropped to freezing point.

Many Konoha higher-ups looked at Namikaze Mirai with anger in their eyes.

They had only just begun to forget the pain brought by the Third Great Ninja War. Peace had finally arrived, yet war might break out again because of something like this.

And the culprit behind it all was sitting here so calmly?

"Mirai! You slaughtered Kumogakure Messengers without restraint. Do you even care about the village?"

Having finally seized an opportunity, Danzo angrily pinned a charge on Namikaze Mirai.

"Danzo, shouldn't you explain to everyone why those Kumogakure Messengers appeared there?"

Leaning back calmly in her chair, Namikaze Mirai looked at Danzo indifferently.

As though his accusation just now had been nothing more than farting.

"Mirai, don't change the subject. What we are discussing now is how to quell the Raikage's anger."

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly, trying to steer the conversation back.

"It was because of my daughter."

The previously silent Hyuga Hiashi spoke.

At that, the higher-ups around the conference table looked at one another.

What did this have to do with the Hyuga?

All they knew was that Namikaze Mirai had killed Kumogakure ninjas. They did not know the specific circumstances.

That was also the result Sarutobi Hiruzen had deliberately guided them toward.

"Enough, Hiashi. Hasn't the Hyuga matter already been settled? We are now discussing Namikaze Mirai's actions."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked somewhat displeased. Why was Hiashi speaking up at a time like this?

Hyuga Hiashi took a deep breath.

"Please allow me to finish."

"That night, while my daughter was holding her birthday banquet, Kumogakure's envoys took advantage of the clan's lax defenses and abducted my daughter, Hinata. Namikaze Mirai had no choice but to kill those Cloud Ninja in order to save Hinata."

As they listened to his account, the frozen expressions of the ninjas around the conference table gradually eased.

"So that was it. Then Namikaze Mirai had no choice but to act in order to save Hinata."

"But why would Kumogakure's envoys abduct Hinata? What was their objective?"

Danzo frantically signaled to Hyuga Hiashi with his eyes.

What the hell was Hiashi doing? By revealing the whole story so easily, how were they supposed to pressure Namikaze Mirai? Hadn't the Hyuga matter already been settled?

But Hyuga Hiashi's next words made Danzo's expression stiffen, leaving him utterly stunned.

"Knowing full well the severe consequences this matter could bring, in order to quell the Raikage's anger, my younger brother Hizashi had no choice but to trade his life for their satisfaction."

Hyuga Hiashi's voice carried a trace of sorrow. His pure white, crystalline eyes were filled with a grief utterly unlike his usual self.

Every ninja at the conference table erupted in outrage.

For merely killing Kumogakure's envoys, the Hyuga, one of Konoha's two great clans, had to use the clan head's younger brother's life to quell their anger.

Kumogakure was being far too overbearing.

Besides, when all was said and done, this had been their fault, hadn't it?

Danzo could no longer endure it.

"Enough! Hiashi!"