The Truth Draws Near

Root.

"You said Wu is dead?"

Danzo was quite surprised by the report from his subordinate.

Wu was the mole Shikaku had caught, the decoy Danzo had pushed forward. His background was spotless, with no connection to them whatsoever.

"Who killed him?"

"When Hyuga Hiashi and the others were returning, they encountered an attack by Mist Ninjas. Wu was killed by the Mist Ninjas in the chaos."

Danzo frowned deeply. This was completely beyond his expectations.

A Mental Defense Barrier Technique had been placed in Wu's mind. Anyone skilled in mental intrusion who broke through the barrier would then fall under a Genjutsu and see information Danzo had fabricated.

That false information was what Danzo wanted to pass on to the Third Hokage, as well as Minato, Shikaku, and the others.

Danzo knew perfectly well how credible a mole who merely passed information outside could be.

The first thing he thought of upon hearing that Wu was dead was that Shikaku and the others had killed him. If that were the case, it would have been fine. He could directly tell Sarutobi that Shikaku and the others had wanted to destroy the evidence and harbored ulterior motives.

Whether Sarutobi believed it or not, the blame would have been redirected.

But Wu had died at the hands of the Mist Ninjas.

Didn't that mean all his plans had gone down the drain...

If he tried again, wouldn't it be far too obvious?

Inside the Hokage's office.

Sarutobi had a smoking pipe between his lips. Smoke curled through the air, obscuring his face.

Hiashi stood there and continued, "The failure of this mission was my responsibility. I ask the Hokage to punish me."

Sarutobi lightly tapped his pipe and slowly said, "There is no need to say that. You were attacked by enemies, which led to this outcome."

Then he asked, "You said earlier that when you caught this mole, Inoichi did not get any information out of him, correct?"

After some thought, Hiashi responded, "Inoichi said a Mental Defense Barrier Technique had been placed in his mind and that he needed people from the Interrogation Division to interrogate him."

Sarutobi's gaze flickered slightly. The people in the Interrogation Division might not necessarily be better at this than the Yamanaka Clan. Inoichi could have obtained the results first and then reported to him. Why had he not done so?

Was Shikaku hinting at something...

Sarutobi pondered for a long time. Many thoughts arose in his mind, but he did not dare reach a conclusion lightly.

He said, "You have worked hard on this trip as well. Your original task was only to transport supplies. That mole was a criminal of the village; since he is dead, then so be it. Go back and rest first."

Hiashi bowed. "Thank you for your understanding, Hokage. The Hyuga Clan also wishes to help the village eliminate moles. If there is a mission, please be sure to summon us."

Only after he left did Sarutobi reveal a deeply troubled expression.

The clue that had appeared with such difficulty had been cut off just like that. Those Mist Ninjas had appeared at the worst possible time... Could they have been after that mole? Did someone want to silence him?

Just as Sarutobi's thoughts raced, there came another knock at the office door.

A member of the medical unit, dressed in a white coat, entered.

"Hokage."

"What is it?"

"There is something wrong with the corpse!"

Not long after Zhen returned home, Ayari hurried over.

"You brat, why didn't you tell me you were going on a mission?" Ayari demanded, her face full of displeasure.

"Lord Hiashi summoned me suddenly, so I didn't have time to tell you."

Ayari walked up to Zhen and carefully examined him from head to toe. "How are you? I heard you encountered enemies. Were you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Zhen said. "Only a companion died."

"Are you really okay?" Ayari was still worried, wondering whether Zhen was lying to her. She did not care at all about the latter half of what he had said.

"Want me to strip naked and show you?"

Ayari could not help kicking him in the shin. "You're so improper!"

Then she asked again, "Was the mission dangerous?"

"Someone died. What do you think?"

Only then did Ayari remember that Zhen had said one of his companions had died.

"Then how are you okay?"

"I'm very strong."

"How strong?"

"Very strong kind of strong."

Seeing Zhen sorting through some ninja tools on the table, Ayari asked, "What are you doing?"

"Yesterday, we left in too much of a hurry, so I didn't have time to bring a lot of things. I'm sorting them out properly now. They may come in handy next time."

"You're going on more missions?"

"I've already gone on one mission. Naturally, I'll carry out missions again when the village needs me."

Ayari nodded thoughtfully. As far as she remembered, Zhen had not gone out on missions since losing his Byakugan.

During their time together, she had nearly forgotten that Zhen was still a ninja.

Zhen suddenly tossed something over. Ayari, sitting on the sofa, hurriedly caught it and discovered it was an exquisitely crafted short blade.

"I found it on one of those Mist Ninja corpses. I thought it looked pretty good, so I brought it back. It's for you."

Ayari carefully inspected the blade in her hand. As she drew it from its sheath, the bright blade reflected a cold gleam.

She laughed. "You really know how to give gifts. You gave me something from a dead person, and who gives a girl a knife?"

"It would look nice on a table. If you don't like it, you can give it back to me."

But Ayari placed the blade in her lap. "How can you take back a gift once you've given it? I'll reluctantly accept it."

As she spoke, she kept playing with the blade in her hands.

That afternoon, Natsu came as well.

Ayari was the one who opened the door. She was rather surprised to see Natsu standing outside, and Natsu's reaction was much the same.

"Natsu, you came to see Zhen, right?" Ayari immediately said with a beaming smile.

At the same time, she thought, That brat Zhen is doing pretty well. He can even get girls to come to his door on their own.

Natsu looked somewhat awkward. "Sister Ayari, I heard Zhen had returned from his mission, so... I came to see how he was."

Ayari smiled. "Then you two talk. I was just about to leave."

She turned to Zhen, said that she was leaving, then picked up the short blade from the sofa and departed.

Zhen got up, walked to the door, and welcomed Natsu inside.

It was Natsu's first time visiting Zhen's home. After a quick glance around, she found it cleaner and tidier than she had expected.

After sitting on the sofa, she asked the same question Ayari had asked earlier.

"I heard you encountered Mist Ninjas on the way back. How are you? Were you injured?"

"No."

"The mission must have been dangerous. I heard one of your companions was killed."

"Yeah. The return mission failed too."

"It's good that you're okay."

Natsu seemed somewhat reserved and unnatural, unlike her usual poised manner. It was only a subtle difference, but Zhen still noticed it.

This girl might not have come to see him entirely of her own accord.

They only chatted idly for a few sentences before Natsu excused herself and left.

The next morning.

Hiashi suddenly received a mysterious package. A servant had found it in the courtyard and delivered it to him.

Inside was a bloodstained kunai, along with a pair of Byakugan contained in a glass vessel!

Hiashi was greatly shaken. He used his Byakugan to search the entire Hyuga Clan Compound, yet found no suspicious figures.

Then it struck him. Didn't the bloodstained kunai and the Byakugan represent Jinyuu's death and the stolen Byakugan?

Who had left them behind?!

Who dared provoke him like this?!

Hiashi was filled with rage. There was also a note in the package, stating a time and place and asking him to meet at a location outside the village that night.