"I will never acknowledge you," Neji said.
"This..." Tenten and the others were instantly troubled.
"..." Kitahara Kaede.
Kitahara Kaede looked into Neji's pure white eyes.
Neji was from the Branch Family, and his father was Hizashi Hyuga.
Moreover, Neji was an unquestionable genius to the Hyuga Clan, yet because of the Branch Family system, there were many Hyuga Clan techniques he could not learn. Together with what happened to his father, he deeply hated the Hyuga Clan, yet maintained it in an almost pathological way.
That was why he could not stand Kitahara Kaede, an outsider to the Hyuga Clan... coming into contact with the Hyuga Clan.
After all, in the past, the Hyuga Clan had only ever intermarried within the clan.
So in Neji's eyes, Kitahara Kaede interacting with Hinata was an absolute taboo.
"Your target isn't me." Kitahara Kaede calmly looked at Neji's face. "What you truly want to oppose is the Hyuga Clan."
"If you don't have the courage to resist the Hyuga Clan, then don't stop me again."
"I'm only saying this to you for Hinata's sake."
"There won't be a next time."
With that, Kitahara Kaede turned and left.
Meanwhile, Neji Hyuga, who remained where he was, clenched his hands tightly.
The nails of his right hand dug into his palm, and blood had already seeped out.
The people in the small group did not understand what was going on.
Kakashi, the know-it-all, explained.
Minato Namikaze: This is about Neji's father, Hizashi.
Minato Namikaze: When the Third Shinobi World War ended, representatives from Kumogakure came to the Hidden Leaf Village to sign a treaty.
Minato Namikaze: All the ninjas went to welcome them, but Kumogakure's real goal was not the treaty. They were there to launch a surprise attack on the Hyuga Clan.
Minato Namikaze: They kidnapped Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan head, because they wanted the Byakugan.
Minato Namikaze: But Hyuga Hiashi, the clan head, stopped them and accidentally killed one of them.
Minato Namikaze: Kumogakure then used the Hyuga Clan injuring someone as an excuse to obstruct peace and threatened to start a war.
Minato Namikaze: The price of avoiding war was for the Hyuga Clan to hand over Hyuga Hiashi, the clan head who had killed that man.
Tobirama Senju: Kumogakure again, these bastards...
Tobirama's death had happened when he was signing a treaty with Kumogakure after the First Shinobi World War. Then... the Second Raikage had been betrayed by his own subordinates.
As a result, Tobirama sacrificed himself to protect his disciples while they retreated.
So, naturally, he had no favorable impression of Kumogakure.
Minato Namikaze: Uh...
Kakashi froze for a moment when he saw Tobirama use such crude language, but he continued replying.
Minato Namikaze: The solution at the time was for Hiashi's younger brother, Hizashi Hyuga of the Branch Family, to die in his place.
Minato Namikaze: Hizashi died in place of his older brother. And Neji is the son of that younger brother.
Minato Namikaze: Might Guy told me this. Neji has always hated the relationship between the Main Family and Branch Family, believing that Hiashi was afraid of death and let Hizashi die in his place.
Kakashi paused there.
From what they had just seen of the Third Hokage's remarks, everyone understood that the Third Hokage lacked the resolve to either make a desperate stand or go to war. He only chose compromise and endurance!
And so... victims appeared.
For example, Hizashi Hyuga.
The clan head's younger brother had died in his place.
Hashirama Senju: Sigh...
Tobirama Senju: Sigh...
Having learned the whole story, the Senju brothers sighed.
As their predecessors, they could do nothing, only watch their descendants retreat and compromise.
Tobirama sighed even more over his choice of Hiruzen.
At that moment, Tobirama truly hoped the Third Hokage would directly designate Kitahara Kaede as the next Hokage.
But judging from the current situation... the Hidden Leaf Village really was not appealing.
It was not some tasty prize, but a scalding hot potato.
Kitahara Kaede accepted the Third Hokage's mission: keep an eye on Orochimaru during the Chunin Ninja Exams.
And then... keep him alive.
In other words, although the Third Hokage had spoken normally, his underlying meaning was... as expected, he did not want to die.
As people aged, they became increasingly afraid of death.
It was a flaw, but also human nature.
Lost in thought, Kitahara Kaede continued walking and soon arrived at the shopping district.
Besides stores related to daily life, this street also had ninja tool shops.
Kitahara Kaede also spotted the ninja tool shop belonging to Tenten's family. Tenten was a member of Neji Hyuga's Team One, whom he had just encountered.
Her father probably loved her very much. Even the ninja tool shop was named after his daughter.
After hesitating briefly, Kitahara Kaede prepared to go inside.
Hinata was also participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams this time. Given her habits, she would probably prepare ninja tools for him to use in the exam.
But some things still had to be prepared personally.
Just as Kitahara Kaede was about to enter the shop, he suddenly stepped aside.
Because he saw someone else walking in as well.
It was a man wearing a conical hat and a thick white cloak designed to withstand intense heat and sandstorms.
Several people followed behind him.
Kitahara Kaede noticed that the man, whose face was mostly covered in bandages with only his eyes exposed, had his gaze fixed on him.
"Move aside!" However, one of the guard ninjas behind the man was well known.
He was Baki from Sunagakure.
Baki was a Jonin of Sunagakure, one of its core forces.
The person who could have him as a guard was naturally... his superior, the Kazekage of Sunagakure.
Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage.
"This is the Kazekage of Sunagakure!" Baki directly announced, then began clearing the area.
There had originally been quite a few people in the shop, but after hearing Baki's voice, most of them withdrew.
"..." The Fourth Kazekage made no move in response to Baki's somewhat domineering actions.
The Fourth Kazekage merely stood there straight, wearing his conical hat and heavy cloak.
However, he seemed quite interested in Kitahara Kaede, who stood off to the side without moving.
The pair of sharp eyes exposed above his canvas-wrapped face stared at Kitahara Kaede.
Observing Kitahara Kaede? (^_-) Small Group
The small group became lively once more.
They had just witnessed the Hidden Leaf Village's Third Hokage's true face, and now they were seeing the leader of another ninja village from the same era.
Unmarriageable Older Single Woman: This Fourth Kazekage is as weak as ever.
Mei Terumi, whose presence was low, spoke up.
The reason she spoke first was that Kirigakure was very weak, and she had discovered... Sunagakure was even weaker.
If Kirigakure only had her as someone capable of fighting,
then adding Chojuro, Ao, and one or two Kirigakure elders,
Sunagakure's side was even worse.
First, Rasa, Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage, was rather mediocre. His strength could not measure up to Kage level, and he was probably the weakest Kazekage in history.
Its core strength consisted of only Chiyo and the Jonin Baki.
However, they did possess a weapon capable of deterring the surrounding smaller ninja villages... One-Tails Shukaku.
By comparison, Kirigakure's Three-Tails had long been released into the wild after something went wrong with the Fourth Mizukage, becoming a free wild creature.
Still... Mei Terumi was confident that she alone could take down all these Sunagakure ninjas.
The reason was simple... during the Third Shinobi World War, Sunagakure had an Elite Jonin named Pakura, but in order to secure a treaty, Sunagakure had sold Pakura out to Kirigakure.
So... a village that could even betray its own elite would not possess any cohesion.
How could it possibly have the strength to fight?
Minato Namikaze: The Fourth Kazekage is no good?
Minato was the Fourth Hokage, so he was interested in the other Kage of his generation.
Unmarriageable Older Single Woman: Of course. First, his combat strength is lacking, and then he sold out his own Jonin to seek peace.
Izuna: Then isn't he just like that Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Although Izuna had died before the Hidden Leaf Village was established, he had been in the group for more than a day or two. He also watched the drama obsessively, so he had acquired a certain amount of information.
Thus, he asked curiously.
What he was referring to was the Third Hokage's... decision to make the Hyuga Clan hand over the clan head's corpse in exchange for peace.
Tobirama Senju: Sigh... are all the later Kage... this pathetic?
Hashirama Senju: Yeah. Back when the tailed beasts were divided up, Sunagakure's First Kazekage had the nerve to seize territory. Who would have thought they would be swallowing their grievances now?
Tobirama Senju: Big Brother, just shut up. You were clearly the strongest, yet at the Five Kage Summit, you got on your knees and begged the other four Kage for peace.
Tobirama Senju: If I had brought Madara here, it definitely would not have ended up like that.
Hashirama Senju: Oh? So, Tobirama, you don't actually hate Madara either?
Izuna: Tobirama, are you trying to steal my big brother?
Tobirama Senju: Both of you, shut up.
Tobirama Senju: I hate Madara Uchiha. That is true. I would never have any favorable feelings toward him.
Tobirama Senju: I just think Big Brother can be too soft sometimes.
Everyone had already understood the grievances between the Senju brothers and the Uchiha brothers.
It was an endless, tangled mess.
Minato Namikaze: But that Kazekage just looked at Kitahara several times.
Minato Namikaze: His gaze felt somewhat eager.
Unmarriageable Older Single Woman: Of course. Gold shines wherever it goes.
Unmarriageable Older Single Woman: But looking is useless. Someone who would betray his own ninja village would not even have the nerve to snatch someone away.
Before you continue