Aftermath

The water mirror suspended in the air was removed, and Mo Jingxian closed his "Star Cross" Eye.

Panel displays: [Skill: Star Cross Eye]

The newly appeared eye-type Kekkei Genkai had no explanation.

Its specific functions would need to be explored slowly.

He attempted to place the Star Cross Eye on the "Balance of Fate," just like the Sharingan had been before.

The scale showed no reaction, refusing to accept it.

He had now figured out some of the rules of his golden finger, one of which was that items exchanged from the scale refused secondary recycling.

This was easy to understand.

The extended rule was that self-created elemental skills fell under the scope of the previous rule.

Therefore, it was easy to deduce that the Star Cross Eye was an elemental skill.

This made sense, as it belonged to a different advancement sequence than the Sharingan.

Currently, the only function he had tested was the ability to control the secondary explosion of elemental skills.

For example, the transformation of the Water Dragon Technique into the Ice Dragon Technique was the result of fusing two elements, which did not fall under the category of skills.

However, if the Water Dragon Technique suddenly split off an ice dragon from his body, that would be considered a secondary explosion of a skill.

After studying the eye's functions for a while, he found no further discoveries and had to give up for the time being.

--

Hokage's Office.

"Hiruzen, you are too soft. Today's incident was a test by the Hyuga clan."

As he spoke, Danzo deliberately emphasized his tone: "Leave this matter to me, and I will give you a satisfactory answer."

After the funeral, the Hokage had convened the Elder Council, and the four of them had a brief meeting in the office.

After discussing major issues such as front-line supplies, support, and defense, the conversation naturally turned to the incident at the cemetery.

This matter could be significant or minor, depending on how the Hokage handled it.

On one side were the ninja clans, and on the other were the civilian ninjas. Which held more weight?

Everyone in the room weighed the options in their minds.

"Yes, Hiruzen," Mitokado Homura said, adjusting his glasses. "Now that the Hyuga clan is causing trouble again, I think it's best to let Danzo handle it. After all, Konoha cannot have another Uchiha."

Utatane Koharu nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the other two supported him, Danzo felt a surge of joy.

He was already contemplating how to handle the Hyuga clan in the upcoming actions.

Going too hard would be bad, but letting it go too lightly was also not an option. The scale had to be carefully controlled.

Root's manpower needed to be expanded, experts needed to be cultivated, and Orochimaru's experimental support could not be cut off.

Thinking about it, he realized that resources were needed everywhere, and the Hyuga clan's actions were perfectly timed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, seated behind the desk, did not rush to a decision. He calmly took out a portion of the documents from a stack on the table.

"Take a look at these," he said, pushing the documents forward. Then, he took out his pipe and began tamping down the tobacco.

The three were somewhat confused, not understanding what their old friend meant.

Danzo was the first to take the documents and quickly flip through them.

This was an investigation report detailing the minor actions of the ninja clans since the start of the war.

Although each clan's actions were not excessively extreme, the accumulation of actions from numerous clans was quite shocking.

Danzo's expression remained unchanged. After finishing, he handed the report to Mitokado Homura.

Mitokado Homura read the report with a frown and then passed it to Utatane Koharu.

"How dare they!"

Utatane Koharu exclaimed indignantly. The events recorded in the report were completely undermining Konoha's foundation.

Then, her anger abruptly stopped.

Because she saw her own clan, and...

In short, all the ninja clans of Konoha were involved to varying degrees.

And this was only what was recorded; there would be even more that wasn't.

She also knew that the ninja clans used their connections to occupy important positions on the front lines, but wasn't it always like this in the past?

She just didn't expect them to go so far, sending civilian ninjas to take on dangerous missions and being the first to flee during retreats.

The Hokage's office fell silent for a moment. Utatane Koharu placed the report back on the desk.

"I know these were not your intentions," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, opening the report. Then, he changed the subject and began reading from the report:

"Sosuke Sarutobi, it has been confirmed that he embezzled a total of 30,000 ninja merit points from the front lines and profited from selling seized supplies..."

Utatane Shi, having abused his position to arrange for a large number of his own clansmen to be placed in the logistics department, has been verified...

Shimura Mura..."

There was much more, but Hiruzen Sarutobi did not read it all out one by one.

He closed the report and glanced at his three old friends.

"These are the facts uncovered over the last two months; there is no need for me to continue reading, is there?"

The expressions of the three were far from pleasant; they had not expected their clansmen to be so bold, nor that they would act so brazenly.

"Hiruzen, I..." Utatane Koharu immediately wanted to offer an explanation.

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand in a gesture to stop her, and she sat back down, sullen.

"We all bear responsibility." Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze toward the portrait hanging on the wall behind him: "It is we who have failed the expectations of our teacher."

The three followed his gaze to the portrait of Senju Tobirama hanging on the wall, looking down upon them.

"Scritch."

The match head sparked into flame, lighting the tobacco in the pipe.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took two puffs and exhaled a cloud of smoke: "So... what do you think? Shall we just watch the great tree of Konoha fall?"

There was a moment of silence.

Danzo tapped his cane against the floor: "Leave it to me. I will go to the front lines myself."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "That would be best. Let us start with our own clansmen first."

The expressions of the group remained grim.

They each had their own selfish calculations, but the prerequisite was that the great tree of Konoha must not fall.

Moreover, their reverence for Teacher Tobirama was genuine; recalling his past teachings, a wave of shame welled up in their hearts.

"Let Homura and me go as well." Utatane Koharu looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Rest assured, we will not be soft-handed."

Mitokado Homura followed suit and expressed his agreement.

"As friends of several decades, of course I trust you." He said: "Do not be in a rush. Tomorrow, I will convene a grand meeting of all clans and Jonin, and we shall discuss this issue again at that time."

The three understood.

The Hokage intended to use this incident to strike hard, cutting out the malignant tumors on Konoha in one fell swoop.

By following the prevailing trend, he would not only win public acclaim but also warn certain people to behave themselves.

To achieve this, Hiruzen Sarutobi was willing to take the blade to his own clansmen.

Yet, no matter how one looked at it, the Hokage always appeared to be standing on the side of justice.

Danzo felt an indescribable sense of frustration; clearly, he was the one doing the heavy lifting, yet Hiruzen had neutralized his efforts and claimed all the glory for himself.

"What about the Uchiha? What do you intend to do?" Danzo asked.

"The Uchiha are different from the Hyuuga. I will pay a visit another day to speak with Hiashi." Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was hidden once again behind the smoke: "It no longer matters who poked through this layer of window paper, don't you agree?"

Indeed, the conflict between the two classes had reached a point where it could no longer be ignored.

Once the conflict erupted internally, its power would be no less than a national war; if handled poorly, Konoha could be destroyed by their own hands.

This was something no one wanted to see, even Danzo... he merely coveted the position of Hokage, he did not wish to destroy Konoha.

"Fine, we know what must be done."

Mo Jingxian walked out of the Konoha prison, the heavy gates closing behind him.

The sunlight was somewhat blinding, and he reached up to shade his brow.

"Xian." A figure lunged forward and threw her arms around him: "It's so good that you're alright. Do you have any idea how worried I was..."

"Why are you here?" Mo Jingxian pulled away: "No, I mean... you are safe now, the clan didn't make things difficult for you?"

Ayako Hyuuga burst into tears of relief: "How can you be so stupid? Don't you know that standing up like that could have gotten you killed?"

"Are you even listening to me?" Mo Jingxian rolled his eyes and pulled up the girl's sleeve: "Hurry up and wipe your nose."

"You're going to die!" Ayako was somewhat flustered; this detestable boy always knew how to ruin the mood.

"I am going to die, smothered by your snot, hahahaha..."

"Bastard, if you have the guts, don't run! I'm going to tear your stinking mouth apart!"

On the streets of Konoha, a pair of young people chased each other with laughter, becoming a beautiful sight to behold.

That Ayako Hyuuga was safe and sound was thanks to the Hokage's visit.

That very day, she had been escorted back to the Hyuuga clan and placed under house arrest in a small room.

At the time, she thought she would lose her freedom forever.

She did not know what the Hokage had said to the clan head and the elders.

She only knew that after that day, her situation had changed, and the clan no longer restricted her freedom.

And he even taught her ninjutsu that only the main family could practice.

When Ayako told Mo Jingxian all this, she hoped to get an answer from him.

Mo Jingxian shook his head: "I'm not an immortal, how could I know what your clan head is thinking."

Hyuga Ayako seemed to have blind confidence in him, thinking that he must have guessed something but was deliberately hiding it from her.

"Don't overthink it," Mo Jingxian reminded her, "Don't forget, strength can solve 99% of problems, including worries."

"You're right." Ayako highly agreed with his words: "Let's go, let's go train."

Since returning to the village, she hadn't properly trained for five days.

Mo Jingxian had some ideas about ninjutsu that urgently needed verification, so he happily agreed.

The two found a secluded training ground.

"Let's begin."

"Mhm."

The two stood facing each other, forming the seal of opposition.

"Bang!" A small pit appeared under Hyuga Ayako's feet, and she instantly rushed in front of him.

"Gentle Fist · Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"

Ayako went all out from the start, which was exactly what Mo Jingxian wanted.

"Good one!"

He lunged forward, his body clad in "Water Scale Armor," and clashed with Ayako.

Fighting purely with taijutsu, Mo Jingxian voluntarily gave up on ninjutsu.

Two figures moved rapidly in the arena, the sounds of "bang bang" clashing echoing incessantly.

Half an hour later.

Ayako came over, panting, and sat beside Mo Jingxian: "You're a monster, infinite stamina?"

After a few seconds of no response.

Hyuga Ayako turned her head and found Mo Jingxian staring blankly, lost in thought.

She raised her hand and waved it in front of him: "Hey, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about Gentle Fist."

"What about Gentle Fist?"

"It's not Gentle Fist!" Mo Jingxian suddenly clapped his hands and looked up to meet Ayako's gaze: "It's the chakra nature of your Hyuga clan."

Ayako didn't understand what he was saying, her eyes wide as she waited for an answer.

"Come on, hit me with Eight Trigrams Palms," he said, jumping up.

Ayako thought Mo Jingxian had gone mad: "Are you sure?"

"Just hit me if I tell you to, stop with the nonsense." Mo Jingxian not only affirmed but also actively removed all his defenses.