Group: Hui, Ape: Shadow, Door: Peng

"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Having made his decision, Chiba immediately formed hand seals.

"Peng!"

"Peng!"

"Peng!"

Accompanied by a series of puffs of smoke, dozens of Shadow Clones identical to Chiba appeared all around him.

"It's a pity. I just activated the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, so there isn't much chakra left in my body."

"Otherwise, the number of Shadow Clones I could produce would definitely not be fewer than Uzumaki Naruto, who possesses a 'ton' of chakra."

"But for now, this is enough."

After shaking his head with some regret, Chiba, along with the vast majority of his Shadow Clones, moved rapidly in the direction of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, leaving only one Shadow Clone behind.

From then on, every time he traveled a sufficient distance, he would leave behind another Shadow Clone.

The primary purpose of these Shadow Clones was to practice various Forbidden Jutsus and Ninjutsus, as well as to intercept any pursuers.

If they could not stop them, they would automatically or passively dispel, serving as a warning to Chiba.

As Chiba headed toward the Land of Wind, a storm that no one could have imagined was gradually brewing due to his sudden rise.

Konoha!

Inside the new Hokage Building, temporarily constructed through Yamato's Wood Release!

"Hiruzen, hand over Hyuga Chiba, whether captured alive or dead, to Root."

"Only Root can bring out the maximum value of the Tenseigan!"

An old man with half his body wrapped in bandages, leaning on a cane and looking like anything but a good person, strode swaggeringly into the Hokage's office. He spoke directly to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was back in his Hokage God Robe, sitting at his new desk with a pipe in his mouth.

"Danzo, that is impossible!"

Seeing who had arrived, Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and refused without hesitation. "Hyuga Chiba has merely developed a misunderstanding regarding me, the village, and the Will of Fire. If possible, I would rather resolve this misunderstanding and have him become a leaf willing to burn for Konoha."

"Even if there is truly no other way and we have no choice but to kill him, his Tenseigan should rightfully belong to the Hyuga Clan."

"Furthermore, I need to correct you: we have not yet captured Hyuga Chiba, let alone brought back his corpse."

"Your request is premature."

"Hmph!" Shimura Danzo let out a cold snort and said, "That godlike form of Hyuga Chiba's cannot possibly be maintained for long."

"The chakra inside his body has also likely reached its limit."

"As long as they can catch up to him in time, a few Elite Jonin will be more than enough to take him down."

"Before you came over here, you had already dispatched Root Jonin to hunt down Hyuga Chiba?" Sarutobi Hiruzen caught the implication of his old friend's words. His expression darkened slightly as he warned, "Danzo, I will never allow you to bring Hyuga Chiba, especially his Tenseigan, to Root."

"Furthermore, given your personality, you must have already started having Root find ways to control those in the Hyuga Clan who have ties to him—such as the common branch family members whose Caged Bird seals he undid, and Hyuga Neji, right?"

"Immediately withdraw the Root Ninja from the Hyuga Clan Compound. I will not allow you to take action against them."

"What did you say?" Shimura Danzo looked both surprised and furious upon hearing this.

It was one thing for Sarutobi Hiruzen to guess his intentions, but to forbid this and forbid that—wasn't he being a bit too excessive?

"Danzo, I don't think you're so old that I need to repeat myself, do you?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked directly into Shimura Danzo's eyes and said, word for word, "You should also understand that I am not joking."

Shimura Danzo finally could not hold back any longer and uttered his classic line: "Hiruzen, you will definitely regret this!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!" Sarutobi Hiruzen responded in a very cooperative manner.

"..." This simple sentence choked all of Shimura Danzo's words back into his throat.

He felt deeply unwilling. It was precisely because he had been a split second slower than Sarutobi Hiruzen back when they were in danger and their teacher, the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, asked who was willing to stay behind to cover their retreat, that he had completely lost the chance to become the Third Hokage.

Over these years, even though Shimura Danzo had established Root, which was known as the "Darkness of the Shinobi World," he had never been able to truly hold his head high in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage.

"Hiruzen, I will watch as you pay the price for today's choice."

After saying this last sentence, Shimura Danzo turned and walked out of the office, slamming the door shut with a "bang."

"Sigh!"

After Shimura Danzo left, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed helplessly.

He couldn't help but think of the various sarcastic remarks Hyuga Chiba had made not long ago.

Although in many of those matters, the true mastermind was Shimura Danzo.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen had to admit that he had also played a less-than-honorable role by standing by and indulging Shimura Danzo.

The incident with Hizashi Hyuga back then was indeed a result of his overly weak attitude toward Kumogakure.

Before this, no one had ever dared to bring those matters up to Sarutobi Hiruzen, so he could naturally pretend that none of it had anything to do with him.

But now, Hyuga Chiba had begun to question those past events in front of everyone, questioning the Will of Fire that he had always championed. He could no longer pretend that nothing had happened.

It was precisely because of this that, upon returning to the Hokage's Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen had gradually begun to calm down.

The order to list Hyuga Chiba as a Konoha S-Rank Rogue Ninja was no longer something he could easily revoke.

However, whether it was to protect Hyuga Chiba in other ways or to prevent the powerful Tenseigan from being abused, he absolutely could not allow Danzo's Root to act recklessly any longer.

This was also the reason why Sarutobi Hiruzen's attitude toward Shimura Danzo had been firmer than usual just moments ago.

Hyuga Clan Compound!

"Hyuga Chiba, how could that bastard be so strong?"

"A mere member of the Branch Family, yet he was actually able to awaken the Tenseigan, which is rumored to be on par with the God's Eye (Rinnegan)?"

"Is there some kind of mistake? The one who awakens the Tenseigan should be someone from our Main Family, right?"

"Damn it, Hyuga Chiba actually dared to attack the Third Hokage and destroy the Hokage Building and the Hokage Rock. I heard he even stole the Scroll of Sealing?"

"Does he have any idea how much trouble this will bring upon our Hyuga Clan?"

"We shouldn't have raised that beast in the first place. If we hadn't, we wouldn't have ended up raising such an ingrate!"

"Hiashi (Clan Head), say something!"

"Are we really just going to ignore everything regarding Hyuga Chiba like this?"

The members of the Hyuga Main Family were currently filled with fear toward Chiba's terrifying strength, envy and jealousy over his possession of the Tenseigan, and, even more so, anger and dissatisfaction that he, a member of the Branch Family, would dare to "bite the hand that feeds."

Also causing dissatisfaction among the Main Family members was their Clan Head, Hyuga Hiashi.