Tianyun Hyuga is Dead

The drizzling spring rain washed away the gloom of Konoha, but it also washed away the joy of the Hyuga clan.

Because...

Tianyun Hyuga was dead.

"Bang!"

The sound of a teacup shattering exploded suddenly, sending porcelain shards flying in every direction.

"Who exactly was it?!"

Hyuga Hiashi slammed his palm onto the table, his chest heaving violently. Those signature Byakugan eyes were now bloodshot, sweeping sharply over every head of the main and branch families present.

The branch family heads lowered their heads one after another, fearing the clan leader's wrath would fall upon them.

The members of the main family all wore grave expressions.

They knew clearly that Hiashi was truly enraged this time.

This was the first time since Hyuga Hiashi had ascended to the position of clan leader that he had lost his composure to such an extent.

"Clan leader, what has happened has already happened; saying anything more now won't change that," Hyuga Hizashi, sitting beside Hyuga Hiashi, whispered in consolation.

Although he did not understand why his older brother had urgently recalled him from the front lines, he knew that something major must have occurred within the clan.

He just hadn't expected that Elder Tianyun of the main family would be dead, and that a pair of branch family Byakugan from the secret vault would be missing.

"Elder Tianyun was killed by an intruder, but fortunately, the main family's Byakugan are still there... only the branch family's Byakugan from the secret vault were stolen..."

Hyuga Hizashi attempted to soothe his brother's emotions.

The theft of Byakugan had occurred once before on the Mist Battlefield a few years ago, so its recurrence was not entirely unheard of.

"Clan leader, Elder Tianyun..."

"What do you know?!"

Hyuga Hiashi whipped his head around, glaring fiercely at his younger brother.

The unfamiliarity and sharpness in that gaze frightened Hyuga Hizashi into instant silence.

"..."

Seeming to realize his emotions were too intense, Hyuga Hiashi took a deep breath, forced down his anger, and explained in a low voice: "On such an important day for our Hyuga clan, someone actually snuck into the secret vault to steal Byakugan."

"Killing a main family elder and stealing branch family Byakugan..."

"The crux of the problem is not about the main or branch families, but the timing!"

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi felt a slight sense of relief in his heart.

So that was it; he hadn't expected his brother to value the branch family so much...

A hint of gratitude appeared in his eyes as he looked at his brother.

In recent years, the fact that he—the biological son of the previous clan leader—had been relegated to the branch family, combined with the successive Byakugan theft incidents, had made the situation for the branch family increasingly difficult.

It seems my brother truly wants to improve the relationship between the main and branch families...

Hyuga Hizashi lowered his head, silently pondering.

However, was Hyuga Hiashi, sitting in the center, truly thinking that?

No.

He was thinking about something else entirely.

Qinglan only submitted that scroll a few days ago... and right as the clan was holding its celebration, an intruder arrived.

When did the village's security become so lax?

Hyuga Hiashi mused inwardly, a ball of fire clogging his chest. He was not angry about the stolen Byakugan at all.

What he cared about most was that Qinglan's scroll had also vanished along with them.

That was the hope for the Hyuga clan to march toward glory...

They hadn't even finished researching the evolution method of the Byakugan, nor had they fully verified it...

It had only been a few days?

And it had already been snatched away by someone?

Not only that, but a powerful main family elder had also lost his life.

How could he not be furious?

But he could not reveal it.

"Hiashi, now is not the time to think about these things."

Elder Hyuga Riwo, sitting at the end of the table, slowly opened his cloudy Byakugan. He locked eyes with Hyuga Hiashi in a grave exchange: "The most urgent priority is to report this to the Third Hokage and strictly investigate the spies currently in the village."

"In my opinion, it must be that a spy discovered the news that our clan was about to hold a celebration and took the opportunity to plot for the Byakugan."

"If we can launch an investigation quickly, perhaps we can still recover the Byakugan."

Hyuga Riwo deliberately emphasized the words "Byakugan," and Hyuga Hiashi understood his meaning immediately.

He suppressed his surging emotions and ordered in a deep voice:

"Hizashi, take a team to the secret vault to investigate for clues. You must find traces of the culprit!"

"Yes!"

Hizashi Hyuga accepted the order and hurried away with the branch family members present.

The meeting room returned to silence, leaving only the few main family elders who knew the inside story, all of them wearing grave expressions.

"Hiashi, where is that kid Hyuga Qinglan?"

Hyuga Riwo suddenly spoke up, stopping Hyuga Hiashi just as he was about to go report to the Hokage.

"Qinglan?" Hyuga Hiashi's figure paused as a terrifying thought suddenly emerged, and he turned sharply to look at Hyuga Riwo.

"Are you saying... it is possible that Qinglan did this?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out."

Hyuga Riwo's tone was calm: "After all, he is from the branch family, and he was the first person to come into contact with that scroll."

"Furthermore, perhaps he had already read the entire scroll..."

"That is unlikely."

"When Qinglan handed over the scroll, the seal on it was intact, and the age and material of the scroll cannot be faked."

"Most importantly, if he had read this scroll and could still safely hand it over to us... that would mean this child's schemes are far too deep."

Hyuga Hiashi waved his hand, continuing to explain: "Besides, after Qinglan handed over the scroll a few days ago, he was sent to the front lines to escort supplies under the arrangement of the Hokage..."

But as he reached the end of his sentence, his voice grew quieter and quieter.

He left the village right after handing over the scroll...

And immediately after, Elder Tianyun died...

Hyuga Riwo's brows furrowed tighter and tighter, yet he was still unwilling to believe that Hyuga Qinglan was responsible for this.

If he had to guess, the probability of the culprit being Shimura Danzō was higher than it being Qinglan.

After all, Qinglan had been dutiful and responsible all these years, never uttering a single word of complaint even while enduring the pain of the Caged Bird.

"Elders, let us deal with the matter at hand first..."

The group exchanged glances and nodded in unison toward Hyuga Hiashi.

"Phew... the front lines are truly not looking optimistic."

Ebisu wiped the sweat from his forehead, the rain mixing with the sweat as he wiped it away.

He looked up at Hyuga Qinglan walking in front, his tone carrying the relief of someone who had survived a disaster: "Captain Qinglan, shall we go get some barbecue later?"

He then turned to look at Shiranui Genma, who was walking behind with a senbon in his mouth and a nonchalant expression: "If it weren't for Captain Qinglan on this mission, we would have had to put in much more effort, wouldn't you agree, Genma?"

"Well said."

Shiranui Genma shifted the senbon to the other side of his mouth and responded lazily.

"If it weren't for the Captain's Byakugan, the Iwagakure ambush squad likely would have succeeded. Those guys were hidden quite well."

Hyuga Qinglan smiled slightly but did not respond.

His pace was neither fast nor slow, and as raindrops fell onto his conical hat, they slid along the edge, weaving a hazy curtain of rain before him.

This mission was to escort a batch of military supplies from the capital of the Land of Fire to the Iwagakure front lines.

It was originally just a B-rank mission, and he had only been dragged along by Shiranui Genma and Ebisu to make up the numbers.

Unexpectedly, they encountered a squad of Iwagakure ninja halfway, and the B-rank mission was upgraded to an A-rank mission.

However, this was exactly what Hyuga Qinglan wanted.

"You should save your mission reward money."

"As for the barbecue, let's do it next time."

Hyuga Qinglan raised his eyes to look at the towering gates of Konoha in the distance, as well as the guards who were strictly screening people entering and exiting in the rain, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Let's go, the timing should be just right."