"The village has felt strange lately."
"Tell me about it. The fighting with Kumogakure is over, but there's no joy in the village at all."
At night, two patrol ninja chatted as they made their rounds.
With so many Uchiha Clan ninja deployed to the battlefield, the Military Police Force was short-staffed. Even ninja with free time, like them, had been temporarily assigned to the force.
"You came back from the Kumogakure battlefield, right? I remember the Yellow Flash was over there."
"That's right. Kumogakure's AB Duo were incredibly strong. If it weren't for Lord Minato, the battlefield would've collapsed.
"But things are better now. The Third Raikage was killed by Iwagakure, and the AB brothers couldn't break through Lord Minato's defenses, so they had no choice but to retreat with their troops. The pressure on the village has eased considerably."
"Then Lord Minato will support the other battlefields next, right? Could one man really bring the war to an end?"
"That's just how powerful Lord Minato is."
The middle-aged ninja who had returned from the front lines wore an admiring expression.
"You really are something..."
The other ninja laughed and shook his head. Suddenly, a smell reached them, and his expression changed. "Is that blood?"
The two exchanged a glance and began searching the area, their expressions grave.
At last, they found a body in a corner between the houses.
The corpse lying in a pool of blood had long black hair and the Hyuga Clan crest on his clothes. The eye sockets that had once held his Byakugan were now empty.
Upon his death, the Caged Bird had automatically destroyed his nerves and Byakugan.
"It's Hyuga Akimi. He was a Jonin from the Hyuga Branch Family... I'll secure the scene. Report this to Lord Hokage at once!" the middle-aged ninja said gravely.
"Got it!"
Inside the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen wore a troubled expression.
"Hyuga Akimi... That makes three cases this month, and this time it was a Jonin..."
"Someone is using the Caged Bird to hunt down ninja from the Hyuga Branch Family."
Danzo, whom he had summoned, spoke calmly. "There's no evidence, but the first two victims were Genin. The attacker may not have been particularly strong."
"To kill a Jonin this time without making a sound... Only the Caged Bird could do that."
"According to the investigation, the wounds on that Hyuga Jonin weren't fatal, were they?"
At that, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his gaze toward him.
"Was it you?"
Danzo answered without hesitation. "There's no reason for me to kill members of the Hyuga Branch Family."
"But no one has any reason to kill them."
Sarutobi Hiruzen furrowed his brow. "Least of all someone who knows how to use the Caged Bird."
Among those in Konoha who knew how to use the Caged Bird were the Hyuga Clan, himself, Danzo, and the members of the team researching the seal.
Would any of them need to keep attacking members of the Hyuga Branch Family?
"The three victims were all close to the Main Branch," Danzo said.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "You mean someone is taking revenge on the Main Branch?"
"Perhaps it's more than revenge."
Danzo took out a document and handed it to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen took it in silence. He had barely read the opening lines when fury surged through him.
"Danzo, you used my name to send Hyuga ninja to their deaths!"
"Serving Konoha is their responsibility," Danzo replied indifferently. "The two Hyuga ninja I secretly sent to the Mist Village Battlefield were killed, but not by the Caged Bird.
"A Konoha ninja was plotting in secret. He arranged that attack to make it seem as if the Mist Village had captured a Hyuga Main Family ninja. His aim was to force us to break the Caged Bird.
"But the Mist Village never obtained the Caged Bird. And the one killing members of the Hyuga Branch Family in Konoha now... is the same person!"
Danzo looked intently at Sarutobi Hiruzen, whose anger was beginning to fade.
"He's a member of the Branch Family, and a particularly scheming one. This attack was both revenge against the Main Branch and a way to put pressure on us.
"To outsiders, the only people who could have used the Caged Bird to kill these Hyuga clan members are the ninja researching it. That will stir up public opinion within Konoha and force us to break the seal."
Three months had passed since the Main Branch was captured. Danzo had long since begun investigating the inconsistencies in certain events.
"That doesn't prove anything." Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and replied calmly. "The Mist Village may have seen through your actions. They could be laying a false trail, luring us into sending more Hyuga ninja so they can kill them all with the Caged Bird."
"My spy in the Mist Village is high-ranking enough, but he never got the information about who was using the Caged Bird—"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze sharpened as he cut him off.
"Danzo, don't forget who's in charge of the Mist Village Battlefield!"
If the attack had been a plot by a Konoha ninja, Orochimaru would surely have noticed something amiss. Only a handful of people had the right to know Hyuga Hisanobu's whereabouts.
So an insider couldn't have acted without Orochimaru finding out.
If Danzo's theory was right, then Orochimaru was the first person they needed to suspect!
Whether he had concealed what he knew or helped the culprit, Orochimaru had to be guilty of one or the other.
Danzo opened his mouth, but for a moment he couldn't find anything to say.
Would Orochimaru help a member of the Hyuga Branch Family?
Impossible. What value could a Branch Family member have?
Orochimaru had no reason to help a member of the Hyuga Branch Family break free of the Caged Bird!
But if that wasn't what had happened, then who was attacking the Hyuga clan ninja now?
"Your methods are too amateurish."
Hyuga Hane watched from the shadows as Hyuga Miyuki attacked another Chunin, and shook his head.
He had taught her the technique for activating the Caged Bird, but she was still a fourteen-year-old girl who saw herself as nothing but a tool.
Focused on gaining strength, she was only attacking opponents she could handle and absorbing the power of their Byakugan.
As for Jonin... she had to consider the possibility that she might die before she could activate the Caged Bird.
But this approach would inevitably lead Konoha to identify her.
Starting with weak Genin, moving on to Chunin, and eventually attacking Jonin—anyone could guess that the attacker was getting stronger.
It would also give away that she was killing Hyuga ninja to gain strength.
That was why Hyuga Hane had used the Caged Bird to kill Hyuga Akimi: to throw the investigation off course.
"If they decide this is revenge against the Hyuga Main Family, they'll probably connect it to the earlier incidents."
"But the Third Hokage was willing to show mercy even when Orochimaru defected. He won't suspect him."
"To find me, they'll have to expose Orochimaru first. That'll leave them with a difficult choice, won't it?"
Hyuga Hane watched Hyuga Miyuki move with more ease than before and smiled to himself.
"Three Byakugan have already brought her strength close to Jonin level. Much faster than I expected."
"If you don't find her soon, things will get interesting."
There was another way to evolve the Tenseigan besides the method he had discussed with Orochimaru.
Fuse a large number of Byakugan!
That was how the Giant Tenseigan was made.
But what if the eye power alone was fused?
The answer would emerge soon enough.
Before you continue