Huff.
The black-robed man scrutinized Neji. Seeing the suspicion in his eyes, he sighed and slowly removed his mask.
"Since you want to see, take a good look."
Neji narrowed his eyes. After seeing the face beneath the mask, he raised an eyebrow. "You're certainly cautious."
The spy before him wasn't the real person, but a Puppet Doll.
No wonder his movements were stiff and awkward when he walked, like a mechanical puppet.
What Neji found curious was how the other man could control a Puppet Doll from such a distance.
This Puppet Technique was far more sophisticated than anything practiced in Sunagakure, the village most skilled in puppet control in the Shinobi World.
"I have my reasons."
The Puppet Doll's voice was hoarse. Then he said harshly, "I can only show myself like this. It's all because of the Main Family."
Neji's pupils contracted.
It wouldn't be difficult to discover the man's real identity by following the clues in his words.
The Puppet Doll said coolly, "Let's talk about our cooperation."
Neji took a sheet of yellowed paper from his Ninja Tool Pouch and tossed it to the Puppet Doll.
The Puppet Doll caught the old paper and glanced at the small, blurred writing on it.
[Hyuga Tenin held a giant "eye" in his hands as he entered a mysterious space-time passage and vanished from the Shinobi World.]
[Several days later, a meteor fell from the sky. The Hyuga clan announced that Hyuga Tenin had been gravely ill and died despite treatment.]
The Puppet Doll asked in confusion, "What are you trying to say?"
Neji said quietly, "Hyuga Tenin lived during the Warring States Period, more than three hundred years ago. His real name was 'Zechin'; 'Tenin' was his title.
"I want you to search the Hyuga clan's history