Go Bully the Land of Snow Ninjas

"Tokuma, why have you returned?"

In the residence of the former patriarch, the father of Hyuga Hiashi looked at Tokuma in the courtyard, his brow furrowing.

The man was a spy Hiashi had dispatched to Root; why was he here reporting to him instead of Hiashi?

"The Third Hokage had Tsunade break the Caged Bird seal, but Danzo discovered it. He has now handed the method of breaking the seal to the patriarch. I feared Patriarch Hiashi would be unable to make the correct choice, so I wished to ask for your decision."

Hiashi's father's pupils constricted. He stared intently at Tokuma's expression, and after confirming there were no signs of deception, he closed his eyes.

"My lord, your tea."

At that moment, a maid walked over, her gaze meeting Hyuga Tokuma's for a brief second before she retreated after the former patriarch waved her away with an irritable gesture.

Hyuga Tokuma glanced at the departing maid, then lowered his head and said, "Danzo has already seized control of the Anbu and reached an agreement with the two advisors. The Military Police Force and other clans unaware of the situation were blocked by Root ninjas, and now that they have received orders from the Anbu, no one is coming to support Tsunade."

"Isolated and without reinforcements, she may temporarily leave Konoha."

"And without her suppression, Danzo will completely seize control of Konoha's administration."

After hearing Tokuma explain the current situation, Hiashi's father fell into deep thought.

Under such circumstances, clashing head-on with Danzo would not be wise.

"Very well. Tell Hiashi to temporarily follow Danzo's instructions."

"Understood!"

Receiving the order, he withdrew. After leaving the mansion, Hyuga Tokuma looked back with a cold, chilling gaze.

I was worried you might cause trouble for the Hyuga Clan at the end of your life, but I didn't expect I would be a step too late.

Not being able to do it myself... what a pity.

Inside the mansion, Hiashi's father collapsed to the ground in agony, clutching his throat and unable to utter a single sound.

The maid who had just served him tea wore a smile tinged with madness, watching him quietly from the side.

"My lord, I truly wanted to carve the original Caged Bird seal onto you myself, to torture you with it endlessly, and watch you struggle in pain as you died."

"Unfortunately, you have a good son. For the sake of Patriarch Hiashi, I will grant you a decent death."

Hiashi's father widened his eyes, attempting to activate the Caged Bird, but before he could even lift his hand, his eyes lost their luster.

The maid did not approach; she waited for a full three minutes to ensure his body had been thoroughly eroded by the poison before she went over to remove his Byakugan and quietly departed.

"This, this is..."

Hyuga Tokuma stepped into the conference room, and an ominous silence rushed to meet him.

The room was dimly lit, the air thick with a suffocating heaviness.

As his eyes adjusted, he could vaguely make out the silhouettes of tables and chairs. On the floor, irregular dark red stains and lifeless corpses appeared particularly jarring under the dim light.

Hyuga Tokuma swallowed hard, suppressing the ecstasy in his heart, and looked at the only living person in the room.

"Patriarch Hiashi, what happened?"

He did not deliberately put on a look of worry or grief, remaining as expressionless as always.

Hiashi looked at him, remembering the Branch Family members who had just left, and sighed: "Nothing, just the retribution that was due."

"You came to notify me according to Danzo's orders, didn't you?"

Hiashi stood up, his white clothes stained with blood, yet he paid it no mind, walking slowly toward the exit of the room.

Hyuga Tokuma stepped aside and bowed his head, waiting for Hiashi to walk out of the room before following behind him.

"I am going to change my clothes first. You go notify Hizashi and have him take over the Hyuga Clan."

Tokuma froze, looking up at Hiashi.

Under the midday sun, he could clearly see the exhaustion on the other man's stern face, and... a trace of relief.

"This time, I will stand on Danzo's side. I will bear all the blame. Once the Fourth and the others return, I will resign as patriarch and have Hizashi take the position. From now on, there is no need to call me 'My Lord'; the Hyuga Clan no longer has a Main Branch."

Hyuga Tokuma remained silent for a long time before saying in a low voice, "Understood!"

Hiashi looked up toward the distance.

The birds seeking freedom were the first to break the cage; they could fly anywhere, but their future would be earned by their own hands. As for the birds that could have left but chose to remain in the cage, they were treated kindly by their master because of this event.

It was hard to say what was gained and what was lost.

But since you have chosen this path, you will surely walk it with a smile. I wish for you to fly higher and further.

"If you hadn't come to find me, I wouldn't have known so many people in the clan wanted to leave."

Weaving through the streets of Konoha, Hyuga Miyuki glanced at Hyuga Yuki and the group of more than twenty people behind them, taking a deep breath.

Hyuga Yuki used his Byakugan to observe the surroundings and also remarked with emotion, "If it weren't for that person, I still wouldn't know there were experts like you in the Branch Family."

"I wanted to ask earlier, who is that person?"

"When the time is right, you will know." Hyuga Yuki only shook his head, refusing to say.

Even though they had not yet left Konoha, a Hyuga ninja behind them looked relaxed, shedding his former gloom as he teased:

"He keeps talking about 'that lord,' 'that lord,' but refuses to reveal anything. I've started to suspect that person doesn't even exist—that he just wants to rebel but lacks the confidence, so he's hallucinated a powerful existence."

Hyuga Yuki smiled, "Today's events, in a sense, really do feel like a hallucination, don't they?"

Hearing this, the group around them chuckled in unison.

Indeed... it felt like a dream.

"So... Clan Head Yuki, where are we heading next?"

A Hyuga clansman glanced at the massive scroll at his waist and asked.

This was a scroll capable of storing living beings—something non-existent on the open market—which Yuki had provided to them for the sake of housing their families.

They hadn't had the time to explain things to those people, so they had simply knocked them unconscious and taken them along.

Coupled with the sealing jutsu used to suppress the Caged Bird... it was precisely because of these items of unknown origin that they believed Yuki had someone backing him.

Hyuga Yuki: "We are going to the Land of Snow. The ninjas there are not strong, and there are no bizarre legends to worry about. Because of the incident with Danzo, Konoha is currently too busy to pay us any mind. We can establish a foothold there, cover our tracks, and develop slowly."

Among their group, there were six Jonin and Special Jonin, whereas if the Land of Snow were measured by Konoha's grading standards... it didn't have a single Jonin.

"By the way, what do you intend to do?"

Remembering there was one person he hadn't discussed future plans with, Hyuga Yuki asked Hyuga Miyuki.

"I'll stick with you all for now." Hyuga Miyuki shook her head; she hadn't made up her mind yet, but the first thing she likely needed to do was stabilize the ocular power in her eyes.

Previously, when her Byakugan evolved, she had stopped absorbing ocular power due to the political situation, but the power in her eyes remained active, as if something was about to be born, yet it lacked a certain something. In the future, she would likely search for that missing piece.

The Shinobi World had always been ruled by the strong; with strength, one could thrive anywhere. Having defected from the village, it was all the more important to improve her power.

Come to think of it, she had wanted to thank Hane, but he had gone to the battlefield.

If he were still in Konoha, would he have chosen to leave with them?

She wondered when they would have the chance to meet again.

As she muttered to herself, Hyuga Miyuki and the others were suddenly intercepted by several ninjas.

"What are you doing?"

The ninjas guarding the Konoha gate looked at them with confusion, shaking their heads as they felt the scene of dozens of Byakugan staring at them was somewhat familiar.

When had they seen this before?

"Orders from the Third, directing us to reinforce the battlefield." Hyuga Yuki held out the token given by Hiashi in his right hand while secretly gathering strength in his left.

Although Hiashi's words were credible, one could never lose their basic sense of vigilance.

"I see."

The gate guards nodded and cleared the path.

He remembered now; he had seen this exact scene over half a year ago, back when the Hyuga had withdrawn from the battlefield.