To the Main Family members of the Hyuga Clan, if Hyuga Hiashi had not taken considerable care of Hyuga Chiba over the past twelve years, the latter, who had been born with Innate Blindness, might not have survived until now, let alone caused them so much trouble.
Even after everything that had happened today, Hyuga Hiashi's attitude toward Hyuga Chiba remained extremely passive.
On the other hand, he took Hinata's sudden transformation into a big eater far more seriously.
Well, the Main Family Elders were also quite shocked by that.
But compared to Hyuga Chiba's situation, Hinata's little change was nothing at all, wasn't it?
"What do you want me to say?"
Watching the Main Family members talk over one another, either targeting Hyuga Chiba or demanding that he take a stance, Hyuga Hiashi spoke with an utterly calm expression. "Haven't I already tacitly allowed you to send some Branch Family members and even Main Family members with Jonin-level strength to cooperate with the village in pursuing Hyuga Chiba?"
"What else do you want me to do? Do you want me, the Clan Head, to personally hunt Chiba down?"
Hyuga Hiashi was also deeply shocked by Chiba awakening the Tenseigan and attacking the Hokage Building, but he did not consider it a major problem.
On the contrary, he looked forward to Chiba bringing even more change to the increasingly decayed Hyuga Clan.
And after seeing Hinata, who had previously eaten only one bowl of rice at a time, devour forty-six bowls today and still seem unsatisfied, Hyuga Hiashi was utterly stunned.
He felt deeply guilty. As her father, he had known so little about his daughter Hinata.
No wonder Chiba had said she was malnourished.
Because of that, Hyuga Hiashi also felt much more grateful toward Chiba.
There was no way he would truly stand with these foolish Main Family Elders against Chiba.
He simply could not say that outright.
The good news was that Chiba was strong enough that Hyuga Hiashi genuinely had no good way to deal with him.
"Th-This..."
Upon hearing Hyuga Hiashi's answer, the Main Family Elders' expressions stiffened.
They clearly understood that no matter how much they hated Chiba or pressured Hyuga Hiashi, the Hyuga Clan could do nothing more now.
"If there's nothing else, go back and attend to your own affairs."
Without waiting for the Main Family Elders to respond, Hyuga Hiashi rose and left.
"Damn it!"
"Hiashi is clearly doing this on purpose. He never truly wanted to deal with Hyuga Chiba."
"Still, we have to admit it. Hyuga Chiba, after awakening the Tenseigan, is truly far too powerful. Even Lord Hokage and the others would find it difficult to face him at full strength."
"Let's hope the village can capture him—or even kill him—while Hyuga Chiba is still weakened."
"Otherwise, once he recovers, we'll be in real trouble."
The Main Family members sighed repeatedly, but aside from waiting for the outcome, they had no other options.
At the same time!
The Land of Rain!
True to its name, it rained there all year round.
Worse still, because it bordered the Land of Earth to the northwest, the Land of Wind to the southwest, and the Land of Fire to the southeast, every war among those three great nations turned it into an innocent victim of conflict.
The people living in the Land of Rain often endured endless suffering because of the wars between those great nations.
"Only by making the world feel true pain will those great nations stop so readily starting wars, and only then can the Ninja World welcome true peace."
"Yahiko"—or rather, Deva Path Pain—stood by the window, looking down at the Land of Rain beneath the curtain of rain. With orange hair, an Amegakure forehead protector, eyes marked by multiple concentric rings, black rods through his nose and ears, and a black Flame Cloud Robe, he spoke with absolute conviction. "Therefore, the plan to gather the Tailed Beasts, make the Akatsuki the greatest deterrent in the Ninja World, and have a god use absolute power to stop the wars between nations is necessary."
"All obstacles that arise along the way must be eliminated!"
"Unfortunately, a new variable has appeared in Konoha." At that moment, "Zetsu," dressed in the same black Flame Cloud Robe, with one half of his face black and the other white, his entire head encased in some kind of green spiral-shaped structure, floated up from the floor. His expression was slightly grim as he warned, "It is said that the Progenitor of Ninjas, the Sage of Six Paths who created the world, possessed a pair of Rinnegan."
"These eyes were also called the Rinnegan by those of us born in later generations."
"Yet beyond the Rinnegan, there is another pair of eyes on the same level: the Tenseigan!"
"Within Konoha's Hyuga Clan, a Branch Family member who should have been born with Innate Blindness has instead awakened the Tenseigan. He..."
"Once this Hyuga Chiba is allowed to grow, he will undoubtedly become the greatest threat to our plan."
"But if he is willing to join us, or if we dig out his Tenseigan for our own use, our plan may proceed even more smoothly."
Zetsu and the White Zetsus under his command all possessed a special ability known as the Art of Floating.
This ability allowed their bodies to merge with the earth, grass, and trees, enabling them to move swiftly underground.
Furthermore, during that time, all traces of their presence were concealed.
Even the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan and the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan found it extremely difficult to detect them.
The numerous White Zetsus thus became Zetsu's best "spies" for gathering the secrets of every nation.
Therefore, not long after the Konoha Tenseigan Incident, while the spies from the Great Ninja Villages in Konoha had yet to send the information back, Zetsu already knew about Chiba.
After judging that Chiba might become an obstacle to his Mother Rescue Plan, Zetsu, led by Black Zetsu, decisively came to warn Deva Path Pain.
"Who would have thought that Konoha's Hyuga Clan could awaken a Tenseigan on par with the Rinnegan?"
Konan, dressed in a Flame Cloud Robe, with short blue-violet hair, a light-blue Paper Flower in her hair, pale purple eyeshadow, and a Lip Ring through her lower lip, looked greatly surprised. She then asked Deva Path Pain, "Pain, what should we do?"
"The Tenseigan?" Deva Path Pain spoke in a level tone, yet his voice was filled with confidence. "It is not even a fraction of the Rinnegan!"
"In this world, there can only be one god: me!"
"Hyuga Chiba is currently heading toward the Land of Wind, correct?"
"Then have Sasori and Deidara recruit him."
"If he refuses, kill him and bring back his eyes."
"If necessary, the Pain Six Paths will personally carry out Divine Judgment!"
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