Are You Suspecting Orochimaru?

"The atmosphere in the village has been very strange lately."

"Who's to say it isn't? Even though the battle with Kumogakure has ended, there isn't a shred of joy in the village."

At night, two patrol ninjas chatted idly.

Because many ninjas from the Uchiha Clan had been sent to the front lines, the Police Force was short-handed, so ninjas like them with spare time had been temporarily drafted into the force.

"You're the one who rotated back from the Kumogakure front, right? I remember the Yellow Flash was over there."

"That's right. The AB Duo of Kumogakure is truly formidable. If it weren't for Lord Minato, the Kumogakure front would have likely collapsed. But it's better now; the Third Raikage was killed by Iwagakure, and since the AB brothers couldn't break through Lord Minato's defenses, they had no choice but to lead their troops in a retreat. The pressure on the village has eased significantly."

"So, Lord Minato will be supporting other fronts now? Is the war going to end because of just one person?"

"That is how powerful Lord Minato is."

The middle-aged ninja who had returned from the front lines wore an expression of pure adoration.

"You really are..."

The other ninja shook his head with a smile, but suddenly, a scent drifted over, and his expression changed drastically. "The smell of blood?"

The two exchanged a look and began a grave search.

Eventually, they discovered a corpse in the corner of a building.

The body lying in a pool of blood had long black hair and the crest of the Hyuga Clan on its clothing; the eye sockets that should have held the Byakugan were now completely empty.

Because of his death, the Caged Bird had automatically destroyed his nerves and his Byakugan.

"It's Hyuga Akimi. He was a Jonin of the Hyuga Branch Family... I'll secure the scene, you report this to the Hokage immediately!" the middle-aged ninja said solemnly.

"Understood!"

Inside the Hokage Building, Sarutobi Hiruzen wore a complex expression.

"Hyuga Akimi. This is the third case this month, and this time it was a Jonin..."

"Someone is using the Caged Bird to hunt down ninjas of the Hyuga Branch Family."

Danzo, who had been summoned, spoke in a calm tone. "Although there is no evidence, the first two were Genin, so perhaps the attacker's strength wasn't that great to begin with."

"But to suddenly kill a Jonin this time without causing a stir... only the Caged Bird could achieve that."

"According to the investigation, the external wounds sustained by that Hyuga Jonin were not fatal, were they?"

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his gaze toward him.

"Was it you?"

To this, Danzo replied candidly, "Killing members of the Hyuga Branch Family has no meaning for me."

"But for anyone, killing members of the Hyuga Branch Family has no meaning."

Sarutobi Hiruzen furrowed his brows. "Especially for those who possess the Caged Bird, there is no necessity."

Those in Konoha who currently possessed the Caged Bird included the Hyuga Clan, himself, Danzo, and the members of the research team studying the Caged Bird.

Among these people, was there anyone who needed to repeatedly attack members of the Hyuga Branch Family?

Danzo said, "The three victims were all very close to the Main Family."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying someone is taking revenge on the Main Family?"

"Perhaps it is more than just revenge."

Danzo produced a document and handed it to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took it in silence, but after reading only the opening lines, he was consumed by rage.

"Danzo, you actually sent Hyuga ninjas to their deaths in my name!"

"Loyalty to Konoha is their duty."

Danzo said indifferently, "The two Hyuga ninjas I secretly sent to the Mist Village front were killed; they did not die by the Caged Bird."

"There is a Konoha ninja plotting in the shadows. He orchestrated that attack, making it appear as if the Mist Village had captured a Main Family ninja, with the sole purpose of forcing us to decipher the Caged Bird."

"But in reality, the Mist Village never obtained the Caged Bird. And the one currently killing Hyuga Branch Family ninjas in Konoha... is him!"

Danzo looked intently at Sarutobi Hiruzen, whose anger was gradually subsiding.

"He is a member of the Branch Family, and a very calculating one at that. This attack is both revenge against the Main Family and a way to apply pressure on us."

"To outsiders, the only ones capable of killing these Hyuga clansmen with the Caged Bird are those studying it. This will stir up public opinion within Konoha and force us to break the Caged Bird."

Three months—it had been exactly three months since the Main Family member was captured, and Danzo had long since begun verifying the inconsistencies in the matter.

"That proves nothing." Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and said calmly, "Your actions may have been seen through by the Mist Village. They are setting up a ruse to lure us into sending more Hyuga ninjas, only to wipe them out with the Caged Bird."

"My spy in the Mist Village is high-ranking enough, but he did not obtain the..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes turned sharp as he barked:

"Danzo, do not forget who is in charge of the Mist Village battlefield!"

If that attack had been a conspiracy by Konoha ninja, Orochimaru would certainly have sensed something amiss, as only a handful of people had the authority to know Hyuga Hisanobu's whereabouts.

Therefore, an inside job could never be hidden from him.

If one were to follow Danzo's logic, then the first suspect who needed to be questioned was Orochimaru himself!

Whether it was withholding information or aiding and abetting, Orochimaru was guilty of at least one of those things.

Danzo opened his mouth, but for a moment, he found it difficult to utter a rebuttal.

Would Orochimaru help a member of the Hyuga Branch Family?

Impossible; what value could a Hyuga Branch Family member possibly have?

Orochimaru had no reason to help a Hyuga Branch Family member break the Caged Bird!

But if that were not the case, then who was the enemy currently attacking the ninjas of the Hyuga Clan?

"The technique is too immature."

Hyuga Hane watched from the shadows as Hyuga Miyuki attacked another Chunin, shaking his head.

Although he had given her the technique to activate the Caged Bird, she was, after all, a girl who had lived for fourteen years viewing herself as nothing more than a tool.

Single-mindedly pursuing power, she was currently only attacking opponents she could handle, absorbing the ocular power of their Byakugan.

As for Jonin... she had to consider the possibility of dying before she could even activate the Caged Bird.

Yet, such a method would sooner or later lead Konoha to lock onto her.

From weak Genin to Chunin, and finally attacking Jonin, even a fool could deduce that the attacker's strength was gradually increasing.

Even the fact that she was killing Hyuga ninjas to increase her own strength would eventually be exposed.

Therefore, Hyuga Hane had used the Caged Bird to kill Hyuga Akimi precisely to disrupt the direction of the investigation.

"If I define these current actions as revenge against the Hyuga Main Family, it should naturally lead them to connect it to the previous incident."

"However, the Third Hokage, who could even show mercy when Orochimaru defected, will not suspect him."

"The prerequisite to catching me is to drag out Orochimaru; it will be a dilemma, won't it?"

Seeing that Hyuga Miyuki's movements were much sharper than before, Hyuga Hane smiled secretly.

"Three pairs of Byakugan have already rapidly boosted her strength to the edge of a Jonin, much faster than I anticipated."

"If you cannot find her soon, the future is going to be very interesting."

Aside from the method he and Orochimaru had discussed, there was another way for the Tenseigan to evolve.

Merging a massive amount of Byakugan!

This was the method for synthesizing a Giant Tenseigan.

But what if one were to simply fuse the ocular power?

The answer would soon be born.