"Hey? Why are there people from the Hyuga Clan here?"
Uchiha Jie had just finished arranging the Uchiha Clan's corpses. As he looked up, his brow furrowed.
Many parties had been involved in the clan's extermination: Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Obito, the Third Hokage, and Shimura Danzō. But the Hyuga Clan had definitely played no part. The newcomer couldn't be a Root or Anbu member, either—she wasn't wearing a mask.
She wore only a white robe embroidered with the Hyuga Clan's crest. It looked like casual home clothing, and on her feet were not the usual Ninja boots but tabi and wooden sandals. A short sword without a scabbard hung at her waist, its blade glimmering faintly blue in the moonlight.
A Konoha Forehead Protector was tied firmly around her forehead. Beneath it, her eyes were as white as her robe, making her identity clear.
"The barrier's already been taken down. If she happened to pass by, it's possible she noticed what was going on here," the Cat-faced Anbu said, equally puzzled. "The Hyuga Clan and Uchiha Clan don't get along. She wouldn't be wandering around here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, would she?"
"But it doesn't matter if she came over. We've just about finished cleaning up here anyway." The Cat-faced Anbu handed Uchiha Jie the mission report she'd only half finished, then used the Body Flicker Technique, appearing in an instant before the Hyuga clanswoman.
"Sorry, Anbu business. Please leave this area."
"If I remember correctly, this is the Uchiha Clan's compound."
The Hyuga girl's voice was as fresh and delicate as jasmine, making people instinctively want to draw closer. Her face looked just as fragile, as if a gust of wind could knock her over. It was hard not to wonder how someone like her had become a ninja.
The Cat-faced Anbu seemed moved by her appearance, and her voice softened involuntarily. "Something happened to the Uchiha Clan. You'll probably find out what in a couple of days."
The Cat-faced Anbu's explanation was no explanation at all, but the Hyuga girl simply nodded and walked away, step by step, in her wooden sandals.
But not even two days passed. As soon as dawn broke, everyone in Konoha—from ordinary Jonin to civilian ninja and villagers—knew what had happened.
The Security Force, which had bullied and oppressed people, had vanished. Masked Anbu had taken over their duties and were now maintaining order in the village.
The Uchiha Clan's compound lay empty. Some people dared to go inside, only to find bloodstains that hadn't been cleaned away and signs of battle everywhere. A few Anbu were still cleaning up inside. When they spotted villagers who had wandered in by mistake, they politely escorted them back out.
Some rejoiced. The village's cancer was gone, and surely Konoha would prosper from now on. Others were gripped by fear. If the Uchiha Clan could be slaughtered to the last person in Konoha, would they be next?
That was exactly what Hyuga Hiashi thought. The moment he confirmed the news, he hurried to the Hokage Building. But several Clan Heads from large and small ninja clans were already waiting there.
They had just exchanged glances when the doors before them opened. A squad of Anbu quickly left the Hokage Office, and the Clan Heads filed inside. Some clans were on familiar terms, so their members gathered in pairs and threes. Others had little power and wisely kept to the sidelines.
Before he knew it, Hyuga Hiashi found himself at the front of the group of Clan Heads, facing the Third Hokage, who sat with his head lowered and a cigarette in hand.
"Lord Hokage? Everyone's waiting for an explanation," he asked quietly.
"This, I think, is the explanation." The Third Hokage's desk was a mess, documents piled everywhere. His eyes were bloodshot; he clearly hadn't slept all night.
The explanation he gave them was a wanted poster. The ink was still wet—it had clearly just been issued and hadn't even been made public yet.
Most of the Clan Heads recognized the man in the picture. He wasn't yet as famous as the veteran shinobi of the Shinobi World, but the first step to becoming a competent ninja was learning how to gather information.
The man on the wanted poster was the eldest son of the Uchiha Clan Head: Uchiha Itachi.
"Last night, he killed his parents and his clansmen. Only his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, survived." In a somber voice, the Third Hokage laid all the blame for the Night of the Uchiha Clan Extermination at Uchiha Itachi's feet.
He could pin the blame on him, but whether anyone else would believe it was another matter.
"Lord Hokage, are you joking? More than a hundred Uchiha had awakened their Sharingan, and quite a few had Three Tomoe. What could Uchiha Itachi possibly have done?" someone demanded loudly. Others muttered under their breath from the back.
The Third Hokage never resorted to tricks like "believe it or not." He wasn't angry or annoyed. He simply slid another sheet of paper across the desk.
It was another portrait of Uchiha Itachi, larger and clearer than the one on the wanted poster. The perceptive ninjas quickly noticed the difference between the two images.
"His eyes..." Hyuga Hiashi, with his Byakugan, was the first to spot the oddity. The Sharingan in Uchiha Itachi's eyes was no longer the Three Tomoe pattern. It had become a pinwheel. It was a Sharingan, yet one no one had ever seen before—and with those eyes, Uchiha Itachi looked especially ferocious.
"This new form of Sharingan is an evolution of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. It seems able to suppress the Three-Tomoe Sharingan with ease, leaving it completely powerless," the Third Hokage explained, tapping the desk.
"This..."
The Clan Heads all turned their eyes toward Hyuga Hiashi at the front. Each clan had its own traditions and specialties, but when it came to knowledge of ocular jutsu, only the Byakugan-wielding Hyuga Clan had any authority to speak.
Hyuga Hiashi fell silent for a moment, thinking to himself. He had competed with the Uchiha Clan in secret for so many years—how had he never heard of a Sharingan that could so easily suppress other Sharingan?
Then he thought of his own Byakugan. The differences between members of the Hyuga Clan who awakened the Byakugan were nowhere near as great as those among the Uchiha. The biggest gap between clansmen lay in their mastery of the Gentle Fist; their eyes only served as a support.
His eldest daughter's Byakugan was as exquisite as a piece of pure white jade, more striking than those of the other clansmen. Yet despite those eyes, her strength could only be described as utterly pathetic.
She couldn't compare to Uchiha Itachi, the eldest son of the Uchiha Clan Head. She couldn't even measure up to the only brat left in the Uchiha Clan. The comparison was humiliating.
But to kill every member of his own clan...
Hyuga Hiashi suddenly thought of the Branch Family girl who had come to see him that morning, bringing him the first-hand news about the Uchiha Clan.
Even someone utterly pathetic could wipe out her entire clan in a short time. As the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family, she had the means. Once the Caged Bird Seal was activated, no one in the Branch Family could escape.
As the eldest son of the Uchiha Clan Head, Uchiha Itachi naturally had the same means. If no one stopped him, he could easily have ambushed his unsuspecting parents, even as a ninja who had been in the profession for years,
Hyuga Hiashi silently nodded, accepting the Third Hokage's explanation. He still had his doubts, but now was no time to question it.
The most powerful Uchiha Clan had been wiped out just the night before. Even if all the other ninja clans joined forces to object, Hyuga Hiashi would be leading them. The Hyuga Clan might not be destroyed, but it would inevitably suffer severe losses.
The other Clan Heads' reactions grew more animated, too. A low murmur filled the Hokage Office as everyone began whispering among themselves. If the Third Hokage or the Konoha High Command hadn't been behind it...
The Uchiha Clan had left behind a cake far too big to ignore.
They were already gathered before the Third Hokage, so there was no time to go home and discuss things. They had to start forming alliances right now and grab whatever share they could.
Hyuga Hiashi was among the few who stayed where they were, standing respectfully with their eyes lowered toward the Third Hokage. The latter slowly took out another sheet of paper. Hyuga Hiashi, sharp-eyed as ever, had already spotted what was written on it.
The spoils.