Bait

Hyuga Yu, having left the village, bypassed the main road on the eastern side of the Land of Fire and turned onto a narrow path. At its end lay a dense forest with no roads.

After Hyuga Yu stepped up the trunks and leaped onto the canopy, a route unlike any ordinary road appeared before him.

It was a tree path for ninjas to move quickly.

Through Hyuga Tetsu, Hyuga Yu had already learned the Main House's general route—

They would travel east along the main road from the Land of Fire, cross the Grass Wave Coast, and reach the frontline camp. This was the relatively safest route. Most of the way was flatland with broad visibility, making it easy to scout the road ahead.

So, from the enemy's perspective,

They knew their target was the Hyuga Clan, who possessed the Byakugan and could scout the route, making it nearly impossible to conceal their movements from them.

Then how could they attack such a team, ensure they captured a Main House member, and obtain the Byakugan?

Very simply,

They had to set up an encirclement somewhere the Byakugan could not see, then close in from every direction the moment the Byakugan first spotted the ambushing ninjas.

Furthermore, to prevent the Hyuga Main Family members from destroying their eyes and committing suicide, they had to ensure the initial encounter was unexpected, keeping the enemy off guard until they were completely trapped.

And the most crucial question in this battle plan was—

How far exactly could a pair of Byakugan see?

Only then could they determine the shape and scope of the encirclement.

With continuous training, the range of every pair of Byakugan could steadily increase. Taking Hinata from Shippuden as an example, by narrowing her field of vision, she could see conditions ten kilometers away in a single direction, while her ordinary bird's-eye range was at least two kilometers.

However,

Hyuga Yu was not worried that the enemy would be unaware of the Main House Guard Squad's scouting range.

After all, he already knew the final outcome—the Main House's Byakugan would be taken by Ao of Kirigakure, and Kirigakure's hunting plan would be a great success.

Then a simple deduction made it easy to see,

Either Root had leaked the intelligence on the Main House Guard Squad members, or Kirigakure spies planted within Konoha had gathered that information.

Hyuga Yu was more inclined toward the former.

But neither possibility affected what Hyuga Yu intended to do now—

From the higher god's eye view, he would move far faster than the Main House team, break into the encirclement ahead of time, pass the enemies he would "accidentally" discover, and reach their rear first.

When the conflict erupted, he would find Hyuga Natsu and violently punch a hole through this encirclement!

With that thought,

Hyuga Yu stood atop the canopy of the forest sea, then jumped down and sped forward at full speed along the tree path formed by trunk after trunk.

Elsewhere,

In a clearing roughly one kilometer from the forest,

A group of ninjas wearing various masks and Anbu uniforms had gathered there.

Soon,

One of them, a ninja in a bird mask who was continuously sensing his surroundings with hand seals, suddenly seemed to notice something. He raised his head in surprise and looked in the direction Hyuga Yu had gone.

He immediately went to the front of the group and found Aburame Ryūma, who was crouching beside the bushes and observing something. Hesitantly, he said,

"Deputy Minister, that brat... he did not follow the Hyuga Clan. Instead, he went ahead to Kirigakure's ambush site."

"Could this... affect the plan?"

Aburame Ryūma, crouching at the edge of the clearing, raised an eyebrow. After thinking for a moment, he roughly guessed Hyuga Yu's plan, and a somewhat surprised expression appeared on his face.

"Oh? That brat actually figured out even the plan we arranged for Kirigakure?"

"The plan... we arranged?"

The bird mask Root ninja froze.

"Deputy Minister, weren't we here to inspect the situation?"

"Heh."

Aburame Ryūma glanced at him, shook his head in disappointment, and could not be bothered to answer.

As a Root member stationed at the center of Konoha's intelligence network, he did not even know what he was here for.

Either he was pretending, or he was genuinely stupid.

Aburame Ryūma did not want to speak with an idiot.

The bird mask ninja also realized he had overdone the act. He immediately gave an awkward laugh and admitted his mistake.

"Ah... I was wrong, Minister. I know, I understand now. But weren't we here to stop Kirigakure from intercepting the Byakugan?"

"If we let that brat act, won't we alert the enemy?"

"You're wrong."

Aburame Ryūma shook his head. A chill flashed through his eyes as he spoke indifferently.

"The Hyuga Clan's fate has nothing to do with us."

"The Byakugan brat leaving the village early was also the Hokage Secretariat's failure."

"Lord Danzo never gave an order to obtain the Byakugan."

At this point, Aburame Ryūma paused before saying calmly and coldly,

"Terai... we are only here to confirm one thing—Kirigakure has acted according to the intelligence we gave them."

"As for everything else, we only watch and do not intervene, lest the big fish that finally took the bait escape the hook."

"As for that Byakugan brat..."

"Let him do as he pleases."

Having said that, Aburame Ryūma lost interest in offering guidance and shifted his gaze to the ground.

At that moment,

Within the bushes below, a mantis lay between the branches, silently watching a grasshopper beneath it as it noiselessly raised its scythe.

Outside the bushes, a golden finch with golden tail feathers like reed plumes greedily watched the mantis about to hunt.

And higher up,

Aburame Ryūma adjusted his sunglasses and revealed a dazed smile whose meaning could not be discerned.

Meanwhile, farther away,

Before a crescent-shaped cliff,

A brown-haired ninja clutching a scroll arrived at full speed. After scanning the area, he cautiously formed hand seals and activated the barrier at his feet.

Soon,

Ripples surfaced across the cliff face beside him.

A young Jonin wearing a Four Water Waves forehead protector, with spiky teal hair and an imposing, stern face, stepped out from behind the cliff.

"Lord Ao!"

At the sight of the young man, the brown-haired ninja immediately dropped to one knee and presented the scroll with both hands.

"The final intelligence transmitted from within Konoha!"

"Understood." Ao accepted the scroll and immediately opened it to read.

A moment later, he called out solemnly toward the empty, jagged rocky slope below the cliff.

"The Hyuga Main Family has set out."

"As previously reported, this Main House member is accompanied by three Guard Squads."

"There are three Jonin, six Chunin, two Genin, and Hyuga Genko of the Main House, whose strength is unknown."

"The vanguard consists of Jonin Hyuga Hiroya, Chunin Hyuga Tetsu, Aburame Shiki, and Inuzuka Hana."

"Hyuga Hiroya's scouting range has a radius of 1.6 kilometers."

"Hyuga Tetsu's scouting range has a radius of 1.4 kilometers."

"Aburame Shiki commands Kikaichū, with a sensing radius of 0.4 kilometers."

"Inuzuka Hana..."

"The central team consists of Jonin Hyuga Hideki, Chunin Hyuga Natsu, Yamazaki Sumiko, and Main House member Hyuga Genko."

"Hyuga Hideki's scouting range has a radius of 2.1 kilometers. He possesses longitudinal sensing ability, with a maximum sensing range of seven to eight kilometers."

"Hyuga Natsu's scouting range has a radius of 1.99 kilometers..."

"..."

Very quickly, Ao finished reciting the detailed intelligence and sensing ranges of the Guard Squad members. He raised his head and looked around.

"Then,"

"According to the prearranged squad composition, everyone, proceed to your designated positions at once, await the signal, and complete the encirclement!"

"The intelligence is extremely valuable, and we only have one chance!"

Finally, a chill entered his eyes as he said in a low voice,

"So there can be no mistakes in this operation!"

As Ao's words fell,

A neat, unified shout suddenly rang out across the otherwise empty rocky beach.

"Understood!"