It Had to Be Orochimaru!

Hyuga Hiashi was furious at Hinata's disappointing behavior... Then, at that very moment, he noticed the strange looks from the surrounding ninja, along with their hushed whispers and discussions:

"I'd heard rumors before that some little girl from the Hyuga Clan was acting far too grown-up for her age and had already learned how to date. I thought it was fake, but it's actually true!"

"At such a young age, she already knows to defend her boyfriend!"

"She'd only just escaped that mysterious Water Release ninja... yet she recovered so quickly and immediately started defending her boyfriend. No wonder the Hyuga Clan Head's face is so dark."

"If my daughter actively went looking for men, kept a man, and defended a man at such a young age... I'd probably just have him assassinated..."

"That only proves you lack tolerance. Look at the Hyuga Clan Head—despite seeing his daughter find a boyfriend, keep a boyfriend, and defend a boyfriend... he's merely angry. He hasn't even thought about killing the person who stole his daughter away."

Hearing those words, Hyuga Hiashi grew even more furious, and his expression darkened further.

His body trembled violently as he clenched his fists and thought to himself:

I have tolerance?

Do they think I don't want to get rid of Roman, that pretty-boy blond who stole away my daughter Hinata?

It's just that Hinata protects him too fiercely, and the two are practically inseparable... On top of that, I'm worried that if I really kill that blond brat Roman, Hinata will hate me for the rest of her life. That's why I haven't acted.

I'm waiting for a while instead.

He and the Hyuga Clan elders all believed that, as time passed... Hinata's feelings for Roman would gradually fade. Then she would come to like someone new, something new.

That would be the true time to drive that blond brat Roman out of the Hyuga Clan!

As Hyuga Hiashi thought this, he noticed a particular gaze fixed upon him.

Looking closely, he immediately discovered that it came from the Third Hokage.

This surely meant that the Third Hokage wanted him to ask the crucial questions:

Such as the mysterious Water Release ninja's appearance and features...

Thinking of this, Hyuga Hiashi immediately suppressed his many dissatisfied feelings toward Roman and said seriously, "Hinata, Roman, tell me honestly. What did the person who kidnapped you look like just now? Did he have any distinctive features?"

Upon hearing this, the Konoha Jonin all pricked up their ears.

They also wanted to know who exactly this mysterious Water Release ninja was—the one who had infiltrated Konoha... infiltrated the Forest of Death, kidnapped Hinata before the Cloud Village could, and ultimately abandoned the kidnapping because Konoha's main force arrived.

Yet none of the Konoha ninja noticed that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Root Commander, Shimura Danzō, had both lightly furrowed their brows.

Since Roman and Hinata had kept their attention focused on the two old men, the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō, they naturally noticed their unusual expressions immediately. A trace of amusement flashed through both their eyes.

Then, the two began working together.

Hinata Hyuga wiped away the glistening tears she had forcibly worked up in the corners of her eyes and said, "Father, Third Hokage, the ninja who kidnapped me just now was someone who radiated a gloomy aura all over. He also had a tongue like a snake's."

The moment Hinata Hyuga said this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression froze. Shimura Danzō's scalp went numb, and sweat poured down his back. At that moment, all the Konoha Jonin thought of one person:

One of the three disciples the Third Hokage had taken in during his early years, someone who had earned the title of one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin during the Second Great Ninja War, performed brilliantly in the Third Great Ninja War, and had even possibly competed with the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, for the position of Hokage.

—Orochimaru!

But Orochimaru should have specialized in human modification techniques, not Water Release Ninjutsu.

Could it be that after defecting from Konoha, Orochimaru had gone to Kirigakure to study Water Release? That was far too absurd, wasn't it?

So what exactly was going on?

The ninja all fell into confusion. Even Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha Clan, and Hyuga Hiashi were deeply bewildered.

Only Shikaku Nara, a Jonin from the Ino–Shika–Chō clans, was the first to react:

Orochimaru had defected from Konoha because he researched forbidden arts and conducted human experiments in his laboratory.

And there was that outrageously large-scale Water Release?!

Could it be... that before Orochimaru betrayed Konoha, the Third Hokage-sama had already passed the forbidden technique Impure World Reincarnation from the Scroll of Seals on to him?

So that when Orochimaru defected from Konoha, he had even dug up the Second Hokage's corpse along the way?!

And used Impure World Reincarnation on the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju?!

And this time, Orochimaru had brought Tobirama Senju's reincarnated body to Konoha in order to study and take away the Byakugan... only failing to seize Hinata's Byakugan because of some accident?!

After thinking this through, Shikaku Nara quietly raised his head and casually observed the expressions of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and even the Root Commander, Shimura Danzō.

After noticing that both of them looked unusual, he immediately understood that the conjecture in his mind was most likely true. If so, Hinata and Roman absolutely could not be allowed to continue speaking!

Otherwise, the situation would become extremely bad!

Having thought this far, Shikaku Nara immediately raised his voice:

"Stop.

"Hinata, Roman, don't say anything else for now.

"I, Shikaku Nara, have something to report to the Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood motionless for a long time. Only after squeezing the hands behind his back and discovering that they were covered in sweat did he come back to his senses. He tried hard to suppress the strange emotions in his heart and said:

"Speak."

Shikaku Nara said solemnly, "The true culprit who kidnapped Hinata and Roman was able to infiltrate Konoha, infiltrate the Forest of Death, without leaving a trace. It is highly likely that they have an insider within the village."

"Only by doing so could the ninja who kidnapped Hinata easily bypass Konoha's protective barrier and enter Konoha."

!!

The assembled ninja were all shaken by those words.

After all, they had already guessed that the intruder was the S-rank rogue ninja, Orochimaru. Didn't Shikaku's words imply that someone among them was Orochimaru's informant?

The Jonin began to stir.

At that moment, Shimura Danzō spoke up with righteous indignation:

"That's right. The person who kidnapped Hinata must have had an insider within the village, someone who knew the weaknesses of Konoha's barriers.

"Only then could they have infiltrated Konoha so easily, entered the Forest of Death without anyone noticing, and remained hidden until they made their move.

"Therefore, Shikaku is right. It would not be appropriate to reveal the true culprit behind Hinata's kidnapping in public. We should return to the Hokage Office first, then report it to me, the Root Commander, and Sarutobi... the Third Hokage!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded repeatedly. "Yes, that's right... Danzō's meaning is my meaning."

Seeing this, Shikaku Nara let out a long breath inwardly.

We finally got through that.

As the two people directly involved, Hinata and Roman watched it all unfold. They wore bewildered expressions on the outside, but inwardly, they were laughing themselves sick.

Shimura Danzō!

Orochimaru's greatest collaborator in Konoha—not only had he worked with him to research Wood Release, but also the Sharingan... and now he was using his words to imply that someone in Konoha had joined forces with the rogue ninja Orochimaru to seize the Byakugan!

This was truly very interesting!