Imprisonment

The girl's voice was taut as she stepped past the crowd to stand directly before the supreme ruler of Konoha.

Amidst the predatory gazes, Ayako Hyuuga's hands trembled, yet she stubbornly met the hawk-like eyes of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Lord Hokage, could you recite the 'Will of Fire' once more for the heroes beneath these tombstones?"

Unexpectedly, before the graves of the fallen, Ayako stood up to the Hokage on behalf of those who could no longer speak.

"Ayako!" Hyuga Hiashi stepped out from the crowd and bowed before the Hokage.

"My apologies, Lord Hokage. It is my failure to discipline my kin that has allowed a clansman to disturb the rest of our heroes."

The crowd was taken aback, especially the ninja clans in the front rows, whose eyes now fell upon the thin-shouldered girl with a newfound sense of scrutiny.

"I ask that Lord Hokage resolve my confusion!" Ayako Hyuuga said, her voice timid yet stubborn.

"Ayako!" the Hyuga clan head's tone rose sharply. "Do you know what you are doing?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand to interrupt Hyuga Hiashi, meeting the girl's gaze as he said calmly, "Whatever you wish to ask, you may ask directly."

His voice was steady as he surveyed the area. "As Hokage, it is my duty to answer the doubts held by the new leaves of this village."

Hiruzen Sarutobi could be considered a competent Hokage; there were some things he did not fail to understand, but rather, he was unable to act upon.

The great ship that was Konoha was already fractured; he could not stop for a total overhaul, only replace the broken planks one by one.

When every plank on the ship had been replaced, was it still the same ship?

Perhaps there would never be an answer.

A breeze blew by, and a few fallen leaves swirled over, some landing beneath the tombstones.

Ayako Hyuuga bent down and picked up two leaves.

Mo Jingxian knew what the girl was about to do; he had once told her a small anecdote to help guide her.

Yet, he had never realized that Ayako Hyuuga had been harboring this intention.

To question the Hokage to his face, right here before the tombstones.

Did she not know the consequences of such an act?

Of course she knew, yet she chose to do it anyway.

She hadn't even dropped a hint to him, likely fearing she would implicate her companion.

Mo Jingxian was suddenly struck by a sense of immense humiliation—not toward her, but toward himself.

He had prided himself on his superiority, viewing himself as a chosen child of destiny.

Compared to that trembling girl, he was cowardly beyond measure.

Facing the elders' schemes by playing both sides, accepting his role as a discarded pawn, and even trying to rationalize it while his friends were being betrayed—this was reality.

In truth, he was the useless one, a failure through and through.

Rage churned within his heart, a volcano of emotion surging toward his eyes.

The ocular power that had always remained dormant suddenly roiled, as if trying to pierce through everything and shatter its cage.

Mo Jingxian's vision began to blur, but he still walked toward Ayako, step by steady step.

Thank you! Thank you for your courage in letting me see myself clearly.

He vowed this in his heart, casting all his calculations aside.

At this moment, he was no longer drifting outside the world; he was a life grown from this very soil.

"Lord Hokage, can you tell me which of these two leaves is noble?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned imperceptibly; he had already guessed what the girl was going to ask.

At first, Ayako's voice had carried a tremor, but as she spoke these words, she suddenly grew calm.

"Or perhaps I should rephrase... on this great tree of Konoha, which leaves are truly nobler than the others?"

"Shut your mouth!" The elder of the Hyuga clan turned pale.

He could not let her continue, or the entire clan would be ostracized.

One only had to look at the Uchiha to see what that fate entailed.

No one would believe that a girl who had graduated from the Ninja Academy less than a year ago could ask such a treasonous question.

They would surely assume this was a decision made by the Hyuga clan.

That she was merely a mouthpiece for their true intentions.

There were many ninja clans present, and some rules were unspoken, tacit agreements.

But no matter how politically correct an unspoken rule might be, it could not be brought into the light, or it would face the lash and spit of everyone present.

Regardless of whether they were a ninja clan or not, no one dared to publicly support such hidden rules.

Ayako Hyuuga was digging at the roots of every ninja clan, even shaking the very foundation of the great tree that was Konoha.

And so, the Hokage did not speak again to stop her.

The Hyuuga Great Elder immediately activated the Caged Bird curse, causing Ayako to suddenly scream in agony.

The next moment.

An Ice Flood Dragon materialized out of thin air, coiling around the Great Elder as the surrounding temperature plummeted.

"Old man, make another move and you die!"

Mo Jingxian rushed out from the crowd, shielding Ayako behind him.

A layer of frost spread instantly, covering the tombstones in ice crystals until they looked as if they were studded with gemstones.

No one expected Mo Jingxian to dare act at a time like this, especially against a member of the Hyuuga clan.

And that massive Ice Flood Dragon—everything was far too unexpected.

Many people began to whisper; it was no secret that Mo Jingxian hailed from the Uchiha clan.

But, what was the deal with the Ice Release?

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. Dual bloodline limits!

Mo Jingxian had struck back fiercely the moment he saw Ayako under attack.

He was prepared to lay his life on the line today; whoever wanted to hurt Ayako would have to step over his corpse.

It had nothing to do with faith or right and wrong; he only sought to keep his conscience clear.

The ocular power belonging to his Uchiha bloodline surged wildly, unable to find an outlet, accumulating more and more.

He felt as if his eyeballs were about to burst.

"To act so presumptuously in front of the Hokage, let this old man teach you some manners."

Uchiha Yashiro flew in to attack.

He had noticed Mo Jingxian the moment he appeared.

As Mo Jingxian's fame grew, it felt like a resounding slap to his own face.

How could he not hate him?

This time, he had finally seized the opportunity to use the guise of righteousness to teach this rebellious brat a lesson.

As a veteran Uchiha, Yashiro had once carved out a fearsome reputation for himself with his mastery of genjutsu.

Their gazes collided in mid-air.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Uchiha naturally possessed high-level Yin Release Chakra, which flowed along his gaze to invade Mo Jingxian's eyes.

Everything should have gone normally; it was meant to be a simple harvest.

But he happened to run into the ocular power lurking like a beast at the back of Mo Jingxian's eyes.

That power, accumulated for so long, finally found an outlet and surged out along the path of the intrusion.

It was Yashiro's misfortune.

He had inadvertently helped Mo Jingxian undergo an alternative awakening, and by provoking the resistance of that ocular power, he triggered a passive "Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change."

The genjutsu was reflected back, and as Great Elder Yashiro's vision blurred, he was sent flying like a cannonball.

Everything happened too fast.

"Elder, are you alright?" A group of Uchiha clansmen scrambled to help him up.

Another group berated Mo Jingxian: "How dare you attack an elder! Are you trying to start a rebellion?"

Yashiro was beyond furious!

He had lost all face; if he couldn't take down this little beast, how could he ever show his face again?

After many years, the Uchiha Great Elder, Yashiro, opened his Three Tomoe in a rage.

However—

Upon meeting Mo Jingxian's gaze, he froze.

It wasn't just him; everyone present stared in astonishment at Mo Jingxian's eyes.

They were eyes that had never been recorded in the history of the Ninja World.

Seeming to be the exact opposite of the Byakugan, Mo Jingxian's entire eyes were replaced by an ink-black color, with a silver cross marking at the pupils.

The two intersecting pupil patterns looked like crossed blades.

The point was, no one had ever seen these eyes before, including Mo Jingxian himself.

"Your eyes!" Ayako Hyuuga cried out in panic.

Uchiha Yashiro wanted to seize the chance to take down Mo Jingxian, but was indignantly interrupted by the Hokage.

"Enough!" Hiruzen Sarutobi swept a cold gaze over them: "Do you still acknowledge me as the Hokage?"

The enraged Hokage regained a measure of his former glory as a Ninja Hero, and for a moment, no one dared to retort.

He turned to Ayako Hyuuga: "Little girl, I will give you an answer; I guarantee it in the name of the Hokage."

This guarantee was heavy indeed, causing the expressions of many clan ninjas to change drastically.

Many clan heads attending the funeral began to secretly calculate how to safely weather the storm that was about to follow.

"Anbu, where are you!"

It was not over yet; after dealing with the issue of Ayako Hyuuga, next was Mo Jingxian.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The six Anbu members hidden in the surroundings to maintain security all knelt on one knee in unison: "Subordinates are here."

"Take everyone who just laid a hand away to the prison for confinement; kill anyone who resists without exception!"

The Hokage was playing for real, and the sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed all around.

No one had expected things to develop to this point.

The Anbu members hesitated for only half a second before responding loudly: "Yes, Lord Hokage!"

The Hyuuga elder, Yashiro, and Mo Jingxian were taken away by the Anbu ninjas.

The grand funeral ceremony had been torn to shreds, eventually ending in a hasty mess.

Konoha Prison.

Mo Jingxian's treatment was decent; he was locked alone in a single cell.

The walls were built of bluestone, damp, cold, and gloomy.

The smell of mold and the earthy scent in the air mingled together, irritating the mucous membranes of his nasal cavity.

Both the walls and the iron door were covered in sealing formulas.

With sealing shackles on his wrists, even a Jonin would have to resign themselves to their fate if they were trapped here.

Mo Jingxian studied the sealing formulas on the shackles for a while; they were far more complex than those at Hozuki Castle, and there was no hope of dismantling them in a short time.

The chakra within his body moved at a snail's pace, but his elemental power remained unaffected.

Mo Jingxian did not regret his actions; on the contrary, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

Taking advantage of his leisure, he carefully reviewed the events of the day.

In truth, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not incompetent; he had seen all the little schemes of the ninja clans.

It was not that he did not want to manage them, but that he could not break the balance that had long been established in Konoha.

Today, Ayako Hyuuga had pierced through this layer of window paper, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had used the momentum to swing the butcher's knife. It all seemed to follow logically, and he could even earn a wave of prestige in the process.

This was quite sickening.

Thinking of this, Mo Jingxian curled his lips and cursed under his breath: "Old fox."

He wondered how Ayako was doing; had those bastards from the Hyuuga clan given her a hard time?

Thinking of that girl who was usually dazed but dared to stand against everyone for the sake of commoner ninjas, he could not help but feel worried.

Meanwhile.

Fukasaku found the Great Sage sitting on his high stone chair.

"Great Sage, the scout left in Konoha has sent back intelligence."

The Great Toad lifted his eyelids slightly: "Speak."

"A new pair of bloodline eyes has appeared." Fukasaku lowered his head to look at the report: "It is a ninja named 'Mo Jingxian'. By the way... Jiraiya once paid attention to him, but it seems he gave up later."

"A new bloodline, one that has never appeared before?"

"Yes, there are no records."

Having said that, Fukasaku handed over the intelligence: "The report contains a description of the new bloodline; please take a look, Great Sage."

The Great Toad took the intelligence and read it for a few moments, his attention focused primarily on the description of those eyes.

"Could it be him?" His webbed frog claws tapped on the armrest of the stone chair: "Fukasaku."

"I am here, Great Sage, please instruct me."

"From today on... focus your attention on..."

The Great Toad stalled again, and Fukasaku reminded him: "Mo Jingxian."

"Right, that's him; from now on, focus your attention on 'Mo Jingxian'."