The Sky Cleared...

"Lord Hokage, you must investigate this thoroughly!"

"Last time, at the Mist Battlefield, the Mist Village stole our Byakugan. That was bad enough. My Hyuga Clan considered the greater good and let it go."

"But this time, the Hyuga Clan will absolutely not stand by and do nothing!"

Hyuga Hiashi recounted the theft of the Byakugan in detail. Every word was delivered with fiery conviction.

Sarutobi Hiruzen puffed on his pipe. Through the swirling smoke, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

What did he mean, "the Hyuga Clan considered the greater good and let it go"?

He remembered it clearly. The Hyuga Main Family had wanted to claim some battle honors, so they ignored orders and took their Branch Family guards deep into enemy territory to scout. They fell into a Mist Village trap, were wiped out, and had their Byakugan stolen.

Perhaps someone had indeed been pulling strings behind the scenes.

But in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, the Hyuga Clan's defeat on the Mist Battlefield had been largely of their own making.

What he found even harder to accept was that afterward, the village had fought tooth and nail to reclaim the Byakugan and protect the Hyuga Clan's reputation, only for the Hyuga Clan to step in and forcibly overrule the village's decision.

If it had been the Uchiha's Sharingan that someone had stolen...

Wouldn't they have fought to the death?

Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed deeply at Hyuga Hiashi, an unreadable look in his eyes.

And now... the Hyuga Clan was causing trouble again.

They had held a celebration, and a secret-vault elder had been killed, resulting in the theft of the Byakugan.

"A clan that puts itself above the interests of the village..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed to himself, but ultimately ordered the village to go on high alert.

Whatever the circumstances, the Hyuga were one of Konoha's most prominent clans.

A Kekkei Genkai had been stolen within the village. Whether the Hyuga Clan had brought this upon themselves or not, the village had to take it seriously.

Besides... didn't this incident show how poorly defended the village had become?

"Hiashi."

With that in mind, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly spoke, interrupting Hyuga Hiashi's impassioned speech.

"You should understand the village's current situation..."

"Has the Hyuga Clan been taking it too easy?"

"I..."

Hyuga Hiashi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came.

Of course he knew the state Konoha was in.

A thousand Iwagakure shinobi had invaded the Land of Fire, and the Battle of Kannabi Bridge had just ended.

After the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been crippled by Might Duy, Kirigakure was arming itself and preparing to return.

Cloud Village kept harassing the border from time to time.

Sunagakure had shut itself off from the outside world, and no one knew what they were plotting.

And what had the Hyuga Clan done?

They had recalled every ninja who wasn't on a mission at the front lines and held a grand celebration.

Hyuga Hiashi couldn't possibly tell the truth.

But in the Third Hokage's eyes, didn't it look like they were plainly shirking the fight?

"Good. I'm glad you understand."

Sarutobi Hiruzen rose and walked to the window with his hands behind his back, watching the drizzle outside.

"The village will investigate the Hyuga Clan's affairs. Reassign the remaining ninjas to their posts."

"But..."

"Hiashi," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, turning around. His gaze was as calm as a deep pool, giving nothing away.

"As the head of one of Konoha's most prominent clans, staying in the village for so long... will invite gossip, don't you think?"

"Uchiha Fugaku has been moving from one battlefield to another. He even took his four-year-old son to the front lines..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't finish. He simply watched Hyuga Hiashi in silence.

Hyuga Hiashi shuddered. He had clearly realized how inappropriate his recent behavior had been.

Ever since receiving Qinglan's scroll, excitement had swept him away.

The front lines had sent repeated requests, and he had delayed each one. Instead, he had thrown a grand celebration in the village, lost in the dream that the Hyuga Clan was on the verge of rising to prominence.

But what was the reality?

The reality was...

Until they had fully unraveled the secrets in the scroll, the Hyuga Clan still had to keep its head down. It still couldn't measure up to the Uchiha.

"I understand, Lord Hokage." Hyuga Hiashi lowered his head, his voice complicated. "Then I'll leave it to the village..."

"Mm..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, his tone softening a little. "The village will make sure the culprit who stole the Byakugan is brought to justice."

"Yes!"

Hyuga Hiashi bowed deeply, then turned and left.

The office door closed softly, cutting off the sound of his heavy footsteps.

As soon as it shut, it opened again.

There was no need to guess who had arrived.

"Danzo," Sarutobi Hiruzen said calmly, betraying no emotion. "Were you behind this latest theft of the Byakugan?"

"The Byakugan was stolen?!"

Shimura Danzo's heart lurched.

His mind raced through the personnel transfers he had arranged recently.

After rapidly weighing the possibilities, his expression darkened. "Hmph... Don't pin everything on me."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his head abruptly. Shimura Danzo had never seen such fury in his eyes.

"Don't you know the state the village is in right now?! And you're still making these petty moves?!"

"Don't think I don't know you were behind the last theft of the Byakugan!"

"You..."

Danzo's eyes flew wide. He stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen in disbelief.

The old man looked so furious that Danzo might have believed him, if he hadn't known what he'd been doing lately.

And even if a Root operative had done it...

How could he, their leader, not know?

"I didn't do it!"

Having thought it through, Danzo stood his ground, arguing his case without yielding an inch.

"You didn't..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen froze.

Something was off.

Whenever Danzo had done something and Hiruzen confronted him, he would stay silent, wearing the hardheaded expression of someone saying, "Yes, I did it. Do what you want."

But today...

Could it really have been someone other than Danzo?

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared into Shimura Danzo's eyes, trying to find a tell in that sinister, single eye.

Shimura Danzo didn't back down. If anything, his gaze seemed to overpower Hiruzen's.

"..."

"In that case, I was wrong to accuse you."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression changed in an instant. The thunderous anger from moments ago vanished as if it had never been there, replaced by a kindly smile.

"Hmph..."

A trace of satisfaction crossed Danzo's mind, but he didn't forget the reason he'd come.

"I'm leaving the village for a while to discuss sending troops with Salamander Hanzo..."

--

"If you're not coming for barbecue, we'll head out first, Captain Qinglan."

Ebisu waved to Hyuga Qinglan.

"See you."

Hyuga Qinglan set down his pen, turned, and waved back.

He walked through Konoha Gate.

The checks at the village entrance were much stricter than usual.

People were constantly being stopped and questioned, but every one of the guards conducting the checks was either a Genin or an ordinary Chunin.

The experienced veterans had probably all been sent to the front lines.

"Looks like the village is in its most desperate hour..."

Hyuga Qinglan sighed softly.

The fiftieth year of Konoha really was a troubled time.

The Battle of Kannabi Bridge had taken place at the start of the year. Kirigakure had returned to the fight midyear. Danzo had taken Root's elite to Amegakure to seek an alliance, only to be defeated and sent packing because of Nagato.

Later, Sunagakure and Iwagakure joined forces and fought all the way to the village gates...

"What a cruel twist of fate..."

He lifted his head and looked at the sky.

The clouds were slowly parting, and golden sunlight streamed through the gaps, bathing all of Konoha in brilliant light. Every brick and roof tile gleamed with a golden edge.

"But the skies always clear eventually."

"Captain Qinglan."

A crisp voice called from behind him.

Hyuga Qinglan stopped and slowly turned around.

The sunlight after the rain fell just right on Anko, bright enough to make him squint.

The skies had cleared...

"Orochimaru-sensei wants to see you."

Anko tilted her head and repeated Orochimaru's words with a beaming smile.

"He said, 'Even dried medicinal herbs lose some of their potency when they fall on the ground,' oh~!"