Return to Konoha

Yuzuru Hyuga waited quietly for a moment. When no answer came, he merely smiled faintly.

"Then I apologize for the disturbance."

Yuzuru Hyuga put on his mask, tipped his chin at Kakashi, then turned to leave.

As for Yamato of Root—in the Byakugan's vision, he had swiftly used a ninjutsu to escape when Orochimaru left. Yuzuru Hyuga had no intention of keeping him here.

Given Yamato's current state of mind, wasn't it better to let him continue doing the bare minimum under Danzo?

The Iburi clan could hardly believe that Yuzuru Hyuga had truly given up on negotiating with them and was simply walking away.

Only when he was nearly out of sight did Gota Iburi finally snap out of it and hurriedly chase after him. "Please wait!"

Yuzuru Hyuga stopped.

Gota Iburi sighed. "I am willing to accept your proposal and your protection. If you need it, I am also willing to gather my clansmen to assist you. It's just... Yukimi, and those young people around twenty..."

The implication was that Gota Iburi had already offered himself and the other middle-aged clansmen as bargaining chips. He did not dare hope that Yuzuru Hyuga was truly acting out of kindness alone.

You need not fear using us. I can give you my life, and all the older members of the clan like me are willing to become your bargaining chips.

Only those young people—please show them mercy. Let them carry the fate of the Iburi clan and continue seeking hope in the future.

Yuzuru Hyuga could not be bothered to explain further. As for what would truly happen, they could see for themselves. He merely said calmly, "Wait here for now. I'll have someone come make arrangements before the day is over."

"If you decide where you want to go, you may leave whenever you wish. If you want to try finding a way to remove the curse mark or improve your bloodline trait, have someone come find me in Konoha then."

Yuzuru Hyuga was handing them the initiative.

I will not demand anything from you, nor will I rush to do anything for you.

I am simply offering you homeless people a temporary place to stay and some basic supplies. Nothing more.

If you have further needs—or if you hope for my help—

then come ask for it yourselves, with the appropriate attitude.

As for Yuzuru Hyuga's claim that he could arrange a place for them before the day was over, it was no empty promise.

The Hyuga Clan, even the Branch House, had some businesses spread across the Land of Fire. After all, everyone needed food and drink. Without money, how could a family this large survive on a ninja's meager salary alone?

The Branch House could not live entirely by the Main House's favor, either.

Fortunately, while the ninja world valued money, it did not value it above all else. Strength came first. That was why the Main House did not care that the Branch House had some businesses to supplement its income.

After all, whenever necessary, your money became my money. We are family.

Thus, Yuzuru Hyuga only needed to use his status to find a ninja at a nearby Hyuga business and make arrangements for the Iburi clan first, lest Orochimaru or Root return to wipe them out. After that, he could have trusted Branch House subordinates take care of them.

As for whether they would leave, or whether they would ask him to resolve the hidden dangers in their bloodline trait and the problem of the curse mark—Yuzuru Hyuga was not worried in the slightest.

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

Only a group of bewildered, helpless Iburi clansmen remained standing there blankly. Everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare.

The dream had ended, yet they still did not dare move.

ANBU soon arrived to search for Orochimaru's trail. They paid little attention to the "refugees" living in the hollow tree, merely recording them in a report before continuing their pursuit of Orochimaru.

Yuzuru Hyuga went to a nearby town and explained the situation. Issuing orders as Hizashi Hyuga's son, he sent the Hyuga Branch House ninja responsible for the business to receive the Iburi clan.

The Iburi clan could not possibly survive on hunting alone. For the convenience of supplies, although they had chosen to hide in the mountains and forests, they could not have been too far from a town.

Yuzuru Hyuga did not concern himself with what happened afterward. He appeared to have no intention whatsoever of taking things further.

In fact, even Kakashi, who had remained calmly observant throughout, found it difficult to determine what Yuzuru Hyuga's true objective was.

On their way back to Konoha to report the details, Kakashi finally could not suppress his doubts any longer and quietly asked.

"What exactly is your goal?"

Like the Iburi clansmen, he believed that Yuzuru Hyuga's actions were not so simple.

Yet Yuzuru Hyuga only let out a faint sigh. "Can't I simply be someone who wants to be a good person?"

Kakashi fell silent for a moment, studying him with a somewhat serious look. After a while, he arrived at an answer deep within his heart—one that surprised even him.

He turned his head away and said, rather unwillingly and in an almost inaudible voice, "I believe you."

"As expected of the gentle Kakashi-senpai." Yuzuru Hyuga chuckled softly, disregarding Kakashi's awkward, disgusted glance.

Looking ahead, he spoke calmly, his words carrying a deeper meaning. "I will never demand that anyone trust me or follow me, Kakashi-senpai."

"So-called trust, recognition, and the following that comes from them are merely the wishful reliance of the weak. I do not need such things."

"To me, trust and recognition are the least worthwhile things to strive for."

"I only ask others to look at me, to watch me. That is all."

Yuzuru Hyuga turned to look at Kakashi. His eyes glittered with a pride Kakashi could not ignore and a confidence bordering on arrogance.

"Kakashi-senpai, I once told Itachi that all living creatures instinctively believe in those more outstanding than themselves."

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

"So why should I waste my efforts—or even scheme—to make others trust me, rely on me, and follow me?"

Yuzuru Hyuga tilted his head, a confident smile curving beneath his mask.

"You are the same. Go ahead and doubt me as much as you like. Watch what I do while holding onto the belief that you will never trust me."

Kakashi stared at him blankly. This youth, who had usually seemed somewhat unreliable and, in Kakashi's eyes, rather calculating, was now displaying a domineering arrogance he had never seen before.

This guy...

Kakashi withdrew his gaze and had no choice but to admit it inwardly.

Even he had wavered in that instant—he truly wanted to watch and see just where the end of this guy's ambitions lay.

Shaking his head and suppressing Yuzuru Hyuga's deafening words deep within his heart, Kakashi said coldly, "Unfortunately, right now, I only feel that you are becoming more and more dangerous to Konoha."

"Is that so?"

Yuzuru Hyuga's tone was frivolous. "Just don't say nonsense like that in front of the Hokage. What bad intentions could a five-year-old child possibly have?"

Kakashi fell silent for a moment. Thinking it over carefully, it seemed he was not wrong.

Other than him, who would take the words of a five-year-old child so seriously?

This guy was truly terrifying.

The two remained silent as they returned to the Hokage Building.

As expected, the Third Hokage did not blame them at all. After learning that the Iburi clan's bloodline trait was difficult to put to use, he approved of Yuzuru Hyuga's arrangements and did not investigate the matter further.

To put it bluntly, he was not innocent in this matter either. Root and Orochimaru had committed sins—could he, as Hokage, truly wash his hands of it? The Fourth had only been in office for a year, while this had begun during his own term. He had even known about the human experiments—only, they had initially used their own people, but the mortality rate was too high, so he publicly ordered the project terminated.

He appeared completely unaware that Danzo and Orochimaru had secretly found others to experiment on, but in truth, he could still guess some of it.

Yet the Third had never conducted any investigation into it.

Yes, he had his suspicions, but he had never investigated or even paid attention to Danzo's actions because of them.

That was the Third's way of doing things.

Therefore, Yuzuru Hyuga taking the initiative to handle the aftermath and deal with the Iburi clan—preventing them from going around publicizing Konoha's wrongdoing—was instead a good thing for the Third.

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

Orochimaru's defection seemed to have affected the Third somewhat after all. With a pipe clenched between his teeth and no hat on his head, his sparse hair stood straight up, giving him a rare aura of quiet authority.

"I understand. In that case, leave the pursuit of Orochimaru to others."

After speaking, the Third first looked at Kakashi, then at Yuzuru Hyuga. He seemed to be contemplating something. Only after a while did he say, "Yuzuru, step outside for a moment."

Yuzuru Hyuga had no objection. Smiling, he nodded and stepped out. The room was then left with only Kakashi and the Third.

The Third held his pipe in his mouth, smiling warmly. "Well, Kakashi? How did your new companion perform during this mission?"

Kakashi had the urge to expose every bit of that guy's appalling behavior, but after staring at the floor in thought for a moment and confirming, for who knew how many times, the answer his heart had given him, he slowly raised his head and quietly recounted the course of the mission and Yuzuru Hyuga's performance.

PS: "Uh, I'm Kakashi. I'm in Konoha right now, being plotted against by a very, very bad person. I need your help. Could you lend me three hundred recommendation tickets so I can buy a copy of Make-Out Paradise to calm myself down? You know what I mean, right? Salute!"