This Eye Must Be Closed

The Cloud Village Delegation wanted to say more, but ultimately didn't voice their thoughts.

The key was that they were intimidated by the Third Hokage's stance. If they dared to press the issue further and try to extort the Hyuga clan.

They genuinely feared the Third Hokage might snap and actually start a war.

If it truly escalated to that point, they would be sinners of the Cloud Village!

The Cloud Village Delegation stopped causing trouble. After signing the peace treaty, they left immediately.

Looking on the bright side, they weren't entirely without gains this time. At the very least, they exchanged two people for four Jonin and over a dozen Chunin. Not a loss!

But the moment they thought about the Byakugan's importance to their Cloud Village, a shadow fell over their hearts. They truly didn't know how Lord Raikage would punish them upon their return.

"What a waste of these ninjas. It would have been better to hand them over to Root, let them make use of their remaining value."

"Value? As your test subjects?" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Danzō, his gaze unfriendly.

"Yes, even though these ninjas were Orochimaru's subordinates, they were still village ninjas."

Utatane Koharu seemed to recall something, her expression turning somewhat grim.

That's right, these were Orochimaru's subordinates.

After Orochimaru defected, due to the suddenness of the event, he only took a small portion of his subordinates with him.

The remaining individuals, some were tested and screened, and continued to stay in the village. But there was another portion, too loyal to Orochimaru, whom the village couldn't possibly employ. Ultimately, the village could only imprison them.

They never expected these people to die now over a baseless accusation.

Danzō didn't say anything further in the end. The people were already dead, and further words were useless.

After the Cloud Village Delegation departed, the village entered a long-awaited period of peace.

Yet, beneath this tranquility, some individuals were so busy they were pulling their hair out.

In a certain underground laboratory in Konoha, some ninjas were agonizing over a room.

To be precise, they were agonizing over the "thing" sealed within the room.

While calling it a "thing" was somewhat impolite, those studying the entity within the room had no idea how to refer to it.

They had been studying this entity for several days, but had only managed to uncover some superficial information.

For example, it was immune to physical attacks. The power of ninjutsu attacks against it was even weakened by 99.999%. Even sealing jutsu couldn't contain it for long. They had to regularly maintain the sealing formula and replenish chakra.

However, they had no clue about its origin, its identity, or whether it was a "living" being.

They hadn't figured out any of it.

It wasn't just them who were busy. Ever since the appearance of Black Shadow, the Hyuga clan had dispatched an outstanding clan member to stand atop the Hokage Rock every day, overlooking the entirety of Konoha.

They wouldn't be just sightseeing on the Hokage Rock, would they?

One day, the Third Hokage brought some snacks and arrived at the Hyuga clan compound.

The Hyuga family quickly welcomed the Third Hokage into their home.

Hyuga Hiashi: "Lord Hokage, you are so busy with state affairs, what brings you to our Hyuga compound?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen: "It's just that a few days ago, due to the Cloud Village Delegation, I suddenly left Miss Hinata's banquet. I felt rather remiss, so I brought some snacks for children to apologize to our Hyuga Princess."

Hyuga Hiashi smiled: "Lord Hokage is too kind."

After some pleasantries, Sarutobi Hiruzen revealed his true purpose. "These past few days, I've seen your Hyuga clan members going to the Hokage Rock. May I ask why?"

"This..."

Hyuga Hiashi thought for a moment before replying, "Regarding this matter... I suspect that Black Shadow is not an isolated case, and a second Black Shadow might appear."

"Therefore, I've dispatched clan members to watch over Konoha day and night, to prevent future occurrences."

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned upon hearing this. "Isn't the Hyuga clan head being overly cautious? It's just a Black Shadow that can be easily sealed. What's there to fear?"

Hyuga Hiashi didn't waste words. He directly activated his Byakugan and looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "I believe Lord Hokage already has some understanding of Black Shadow and knows it's composed of pure energy. If I say that the energy composing Black Shadow permeates this world, and that the birth of Black Shadow is just the first, there will be a second and a third Black Shadow born."

"Lord Hokage, do you believe me?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils contracted. Hyuga Hiashi's explanation was very clear, and he understood.

But the problem was, why now? And in Konoha? Furthermore, what energy constitutes Black Shadow? How did the Hyuga clan head know?

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of the Hyuga's Byakugan. Was it seen with the Byakugan?

However, if that Black Shadow was composed of energy that was omnipresent in this world, why didn't it appear sooner, but only now?

No, perhaps they had already appeared!

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of the Tailed Beasts, these immortal creatures composed of chakra. Even if they were killed, they would still revive elsewhere.

The nature of Black Shadow had some similarities to the Tailed Beasts.

"Speaking of Black Shadow, the village is preparing to invest heavily in researching its properties. This matter cannot be done without the help of the Hyuga's Byakugan. I hope I can trouble you, Hyuga clan head, at that time."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke after a period of silence, completely hiding the fact that the idea of heavily investing in Black Shadow research had just occurred to him.

"Contributing to the village is the responsibility of every ninja. As long as the village needs it, the Hyuga clan will not shirk its duty."

Hyuga Hiashi couldn't think of a reason to refuse.

Hyuga Hiashi was right, the Third Hokage was indeed very busy, so he didn't stay long at the Hyuga compound before leaving.

After the Third Hokage left, Hyuga Hiashi breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn't lied to the Third Hokage about the Black Shadow potentially reappearing.

What he hadn't mentioned, however, was that the possibility of the Black Shadow's return had been told to him by his daughter.

On that day, Hyuga Hiashi realized that his daughter's Byakugan had surpassed his own.

Keep in mind, Hinata was only three years old!

Could it be that Hinata's bloodline had such a high degree of ancestral reversion? Or perhaps, their Hyuga ancestors were that formidable?

Hyuga Hiashi was unsure whether to be happy or worried.

At the same time, he was somewhat concerned about his daughter's current state.

Ever since her birthday banquet, she had rarely opened her eyes.

Hyuga Hiashi had asked her, and she had said:

"I'm seeing too many things, so I'm currently shutting down some functions. It's just that the energy I saw this time seemed very advanced, and the stimulation to my eyes was quite strong, making it difficult to shut down."

Hyuga Hiashi was completely bewildered upon hearing this. This time? So you've shut down your eyes' functions before, daughter!?

Or rather, what did "eyes' functions" even mean? Were those things something you could just turn off at will?

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.