Return to Konoha

Yuzuru Hyuga waited silently for a moment. When he didn't receive an answer, he simply smiled faintly.

"Since that's the case, I'll be taking my leave."

Yuzuru Hyuga put on his mask, nodded towards Kakashi, and turned to leave.

As for Yamato of Root—in his Byakugan's vision, he had already fled using ninjutsu when Orochimaru left, and Yuzuru Hyuga didn't intend to keep him here.

With Yamato's current mindset, wouldn't it be better for him to continue working half-heartedly for Danzo?

The Iburi Clan couldn't believe that Yuzuru Hyuga had actually given up on negotiating with them and was walking straight out.

It wasn't until he was almost out of sight that Iburi Ibuta hurriedly came to his senses and chased after him, "Please wait!"

Yuzuru Hyuga stopped.

Iburi Ibuta sighed, "I am willing to accept your suggestion and your protection. If you need it, I am also willing to gather my clan members to provide assistance, but... this child Yukimi, and those young people around twenty years old..."

The implication was that Iburi Ibuta had already offered himself and the other middle-aged clan members as bargaining chips, not daring to hope that Yuzuru Hyuga was simply acting out of kindness.

I'm not afraid of you using me; I'll give you my life, and all the old people like me are willing to become your bargaining chips.

Only for the young people, please be merciful and let them carry the fate of the Iburi Clan and continue to seek hope in the future.

Yuzuru Hyuga was too lazy to explain further. He would let them see for themselves how things would unfold and simply said, "Wait here for now. I'll have someone arrange things for you today."

"If you've decided where you want to go, you can leave anytime. If you want to try to find a way to remove the Curse Mark or improve your Bloodline Limit, you can have someone find me in Konoha then."

Yuzuru Hyuga's implication was that he was handing the initiative over to them.

I won't demand anything from you, nor will I eagerly do anything for you.

I'm simply providing a temporary shelter for you who have no home, along with some basic living necessities. That's all.

If you have further needs, or if you hope I can help you.

Then come to me yourselves to seek help, with the proper attitude.

As for Yuzuru Hyuga's statement that he could arrange housing for them within the day, it was not an empty promise.

The Hyuga Clan, even the Branch Family, had some assets located throughout the Land of Fire. After all, everyone needed to eat and drink. Without money, how could they support such a large family on just the ninja salary?

The Branch Family couldn't just live by the Main Family's goodwill, could they?

Fortunately, while the Ninja World valued money, it wasn't particularly obsessed with it. Strength was paramount, which allowed the Main Family to not mind the Branch Family having some assets to supplement their income.

After all, when needed, your money is my money. We're family.

Therefore, all Yuzuru Hyuga needed to do was use his identity to find ninjas from nearby Hyuga family businesses to arrange for the Iburi Clan to be settled, preventing Orochimaru or Root from launching a surprise attack, and then have his trusted subordinates from the Branch Family take care of them.

As for whether they would leave, or if they would seek his help to remove the hidden dangers of their Bloodline Limit or the problem of the Curse Mark—Yuzuru Hyuga wasn't worried at all.

Yuzuru Hyuga's figure quickly disappeared into the tree hollow.

All that remained were a group of bewildered and clueless Iburi Clan members standing dumbfounded in the tree hollow. Everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare.

The dream was over, but they still didn't dare to move.

The Anbu soon arrived to search for Orochimaru's traces and didn't pay much attention to this group of 'refugees' living in the tree hollow. They simply noted them down, reported them, and then continued their pursuit of Orochimaru without further concern.

Yuzuru Hyuga went to a nearby town to explain the situation and issued orders in his capacity as Hizashi Hyuga's son. The Hyuga Branch Family ninjas responsible for managing businesses set out to meet and escort the Iburi Clan.

The Iburi Clan couldn't live solely by hunting. For the convenience of supplies, although they chose to live in seclusion in the forest, they weren't too far from the towns.

After that, Yuzuru Hyuga didn't worry about anything else. He showed no intention of taking things further.

In fact, even Kakashi, who had been observing the situation calmly, found it difficult to discern Yuzuru Hyuga's true intentions at this moment.

On the way back to Konoha to report the situation, Kakashi finally couldn't contain his curiosity and asked softly.

"What exactly is your goal?"

He shared the same thought as the Iburi Clan members, believing that Yuzuru Hyuga's actions were not simple.

But Yuzuru Hyuga merely sighed faintly, "Can't I just be someone who wants to be a good person?"

Kakashi fell silent for a moment, his gaze carrying a hint of serious scrutiny. After a while, he received an answer from the bottom of his heart, one that even surprised himself.

He turned his head and said, quite reluctantly, in an almost inaudible voice, "I believe you."

"As expected of the kind senior Kakashi," Yuzuru Hyuga said with a light laugh, ignoring Kakashi's slightly awkward and displeased look.

He looked straight ahead, his words carrying a hidden meaning, and said calmly, "I never ask anyone to trust and follow me, Senior Kakashi."

"The so-called trust, recognition, and the resulting following are merely the one-sided hopes of the weak. I don't need those things."

"Therefore, for me, trust and recognition are the most worthless things to strive for."

"I only ask others to watch me, to pay attention to me, that's all."

Yuzuru Hyuga turned to look at Kakashi, his eyes flashing with an undeniable pride and an almost self-aggrandizing confidence.

"Senior Kakashi, I once told Itachi that all living beings instinctively believe in beings more excellent than themselves."

"I only need to become the most outstanding existence and do what I want to do. Those who gain courage and trust from my actions will naturally follow me. This is what I need to do, and the only thing I need to do."

"So, why would I waste my efforts, or even scheme, just to make others trust me, believe me, and follow me?"

Yuzuru Hyuga tilted his head, a confident, faint smile on his face beneath the mask.

"You too. First, doubt me to your heart's content, and with a heart that will never trust me, watch everything I do."

Kakashi stared at him blankly. The boy, who was usually a bit unreliable and, in his eyes, somewhat calculating, now exuded a dominance and arrogance Kakashi had never seen before.

This guy.

Kakashi withdrew his gaze, admitting to himself.

Even he, in that moment, had been shaken—he actually wanted to see just how far this guy's ambition would go.

Shaking his head, he suppressed the deafening sound within his heart, and Kakashi said coldly, "Regrettably, as of now, I only feel you are becoming increasingly dangerous to Konoha."

"Is that so?"

Yuzuru Hyuga replied flippantly, "Don't talk nonsense in front of the Hokage. What bad intentions could a five-year-old child like me have?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment. Thinking about it carefully, what he said seemed to be true.

Besides himself, who else would seriously consider the words of a five-year-old child?

This guy is truly terrifying.

The two remained silent and returned to the Hokage Building.

As expected, the Third Hokage didn't blame them at all for this. After understanding that the Iburi Clan's bloodline limit was difficult to utilize, he approved Yuzuru Hyuga's arrangements and didn't delve too deeply into the underlying matters.

If this matter were laid bare, he wouldn't be in a good position either. Root and Orochimaru caused trouble, but could he, the Hokage, absolve himself of responsibility? The Fourth Hokage had only been in office for a year, yet this had begun during his tenure. In fact, he was aware of the live experimentation—it was just that initially, they used their own people, but the mortality rate was too high, so he publicly ordered the termination of the experimental plan.

It seemed as if he was unaware of Danzo and Orochimaru secretly finding people for experiments, but in reality, he could guess a little.

However, the Third Hokage had not initiated any investigations into this.

Yes, he had his suspicions, but he hadn't investigated or even paid attention to Danzo's actions because of it.

This was the Third Hokage's way of handling things.

Therefore, Yuzuru Hyuga taking the initiative to handle the aftermath and deal with the Iburi Clan, preventing them from causing trouble and spreading negative rumors about Konoha, was, in fact, a good thing for the Third Hokage.

However, the Third Hokage had no intention of letting the two of them rest.

Orochimaru's defection seemed to have affected the Third Hokage to some extent. He held his pipe, not in his pocket, his sparse hair sticking up, exuding a rare aura of imposing authority.

"I understand. In that case, the pursuit of Orochimaru will be assigned to others."

After speaking, the Third Hokage first glanced at Kakashi, then at Yuzuru Hyuga. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Yuzuru, please step out for a while."

Yuzuru Hyuga readily agreed, smiling and nodding as he withdrew. Then, only Kakashi and the Third Hokage remained in the room.

The Third Hokage, holding his pipe, smiled and said, "How was it, Kakashi? How did your new comrade perform on this mission?"

Kakashi felt an urge to reveal all of the other's terrible behavior, but after staring at the ground and contemplating for a moment, confirming the answer he had reached in his heart for the umpteenth time, he slowly looked up and began to softly recount the details of the mission and Yuzuru Hyuga's performance.

PS: "Uh, this is Kakashi, I'm in Konoha right now and being manipulated by a very, very bad person. I need your help. Could you lend me three hundred recommendation votes to buy a copy of Icha Icha Paradise to calm my nerves? You know what I mean? Saluting you, Salute!"