Traitor

"Ow, ow!"

Hyuga Hiashi hurriedly got to his feet, only then realizing that he had been so anxious just now that he had been kneeling.

He had utterly disgraced himself!

He said coldly, "I ask Lord Hokage to deliver justice! Uchiha Akira entered the Hyuga Clan without our invitation, then disrupted our Clan Tournament. I ask Lord Hokage to punish him severely!"

If he could not even punish a mere Uchiha clansman, then he, the head of the Hyuga Clan, would lose all face!

The gazes of the many Hyuga Branch Family members around him only made him even more furious!

Hyuga Neji's little face changed. He hurriedly cried, "It isn't Teacher's fault!"

"It's all because of me. Blame me if you must!"

He stepped forward.

His body was small, but his face was filled with resolute determination.

"Neji, get back here!"

Hyuga Hiashi's face darkened. As a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, when the Main Family had been humiliated, Neji had not stood in front of them. That was no different from betrayal.

Hyuga Neji's body trembled.

His tiny seven-year-old body looked incomparably frail at that moment, like a wisp of smoke that could be scattered by a gust of wind. Yet he gritted his teeth, standing where he was and resolutely blocking Uchiha Akira.

Like a stubborn foxtail grass growing from a crack in the wall.

"Neji!"

Hyuga Hiashi's expression became extraordinarily ugly.

If Neji's actions at first could be dismissed as a child's ignorance, then this was a blatant slap in the Hyuga Clan's face!

He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, feeling as though his own face hurt. "Lord Hokage, you saw it. Uchiha Akira not only disrupted the Hyuga Clan's Clan Tournament, but even bewitched a member of the Hyuga Clan. His intentions are utterly vile. I ask Lord Hokage to deliver justice!"

He had already made up his mind.

No matter what happened today.

He would definitely make Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Akira pay the price!

"Hahaha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed several times, looking as though he had seen something amusing.

"Hiashi, don't be angry. They're only children. Even Akira is only fifteen years old now, so don't lower yourself to their level."

As if it were some trivial matter, he brushed it aside lightly.

Children?

Don't lower himself to their level.

Hyuga Hiashi opened his mouth in astonishment. Did Hiruzen even hear what he was saying?

Neji could still be called a child, but Uchiha Akira had already awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan. His strength was no weaker than Hiashi's, the head of the Hyuga Clan. How could he still be called a child?!

In the Second Shinobi War, children as young as six could already go to the battlefield!

He stammered, "L-Lord Hokage..."

"Enough. This matter ends here."

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, cutting off everything Hyuga Hiashi wanted to say. He looked at him with disappointment. Right, Hyuga Hiashi was merely an Elite Jonin. The Uchiha Clan had more than twenty such powerful figures.

And now he had lost all face.

Why had he come to ask such an incapable clan head for advice? How laughable.

Hyuga Hiashi's expression stiffened at once. He said hesitantly, "Y-Yes."

"Heh."

Uchiha Akira sneered beside him, his eyes filled with nothing but mockery.

Even after the shinobi village had been established and external threats had diminished, strength still ruled within the village. In the past, Hyuga Hiashi could use the Main Family's status to avoid war, but once he made a move and was defeated.

His strength became the final judgment.

Once the veil was torn away, all that remained was to be trampled beneath others' feet.

It was like a certain country from his previous life, known as the elephant. Before it acted, both great powers were wary of it. But once it acted and failed against a small nation, it was destined to become a piece waiting to be taken from the board.

It stopped making a fuss.

It stopped acting arrogant.

All that remained was the possibility of waiting to die.

That was the situation Hyuga Hiashi faced now.

"By the way, Akira, I have something to ask you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke, his cloudy eyes flickering. "Do you know the cause of Shisui's death? At the time... were you with Neji?"

His gaze shifted uncertainly like a deep lake, making his emotions impossible to read.

There was simply no need to stand up for a Hyuga clan head who could not even defeat an "ordinary Uchiha." From the moment he was defeated, Hyuga Hiashi had lost his prestige.

Hm?

Uchiha Akira raised a brow.

He was asking here?

At a time like this?

Asking openly in front of everyone?

Everyone knew that questioning someone in a sealed interrogation room was an interrogation. But asking solemnly in full view of the crowd—what was that called?

That was called helping him cheat!

Akira instantly understood. Hyuga Hiashi had been temporarily abandoned.

His expression abruptly turned furious, his voice going cold. "Is Lord Hokage questioning me?!"

Hm?!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression shifted slightly. What a sharp kid—he actually had such political talent. His face immediately darkened. "Akira, I am merely investigating the cause of death of Anbu elite Uchiha Shisui. Every person in Konoha must cooperate, whether they are anyone else or the Uchiha Clan!"

"Neji, this is an Anbu investigation. You have been studying under Uchiha Akira recently. Tell me, where was he yesterday?"

He had intended to make things tense first, then later seek out Uchiha Akira and express his good intentions.

He could win some goodwill while also showing his sincere concern. Yet he had not expected Akira to understand his intentions and make the best possible response!

One of them wore a profound expression.

The other looked furious, yet in the depths of their eyes, they saw the same flicker of approval.

That kid Akira had talent!

That old bastard Hiruzen was crafty enough!

Hyuga Hiashi's face lit up with delight. He sternly asked, "Neji, tell the truth. Did Uchiha Akira leave the Senju Clan yesterday?!"

His wording was extremely vague.

It was as though Uchiha Akira might have killed Uchiha Shisui so long as he had left the Senju Clan yesterday.

"No!"

Hyuga Neji answered decisively. His little face was unnaturally calm, as though he had rehearsed it countless times.

"Yesterday, I stayed in the Senju Clan the entire time, studying under Teacher. Teacher never left the Senju Clan. The only time Teacher left the Senju Clan was when an elder from his clan came to call for him."

"Therefore, Teacher absolutely knows nothing about Uchiha Shisui's death!"

Traitor!

Hyuga Hiashi's expression darkened.

"Hmph!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi snorted coldly, looking at Akira with scrutiny.

"If you did not do it, then why refuse the investigation? Uchiha Akira, your Will of Fire is not pure!"

"Then I won't trouble Lord Hokage."

Uchiha Akira's voice was hard, as though he held enormous dissatisfaction toward the Hokage. "The Uchiha Clan's Will of Fire has always been displayed to the fullest on the battlefield. It requires no one's doubts!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew even more unfathomable.

The delight in Hyuga Hiashi's heart could no longer be concealed, curling at the corners of his mouth.

He had just been about to say something.

When he met Uchiha Akira's needle-sharp gaze, as though Akira were looking at a piece of trash.

"And you, Hiashi. Don't target Neji behind his back. Otherwise, every time I see someone from your Hyuga Main Family, I'll beat them up!"