24. Sarutobi: You're Slapping My Face

The banquet was in full swing when Tsunade and Sarutobi Hiruzen concluded their meaningful conversation, just as they were about to speak further.

Suddenly, an Anbu operative rushed in from outside the courtyard, breathing heavily, clearly bearing urgent news.

"Lord Hokage!" The Anbu's voice was laced with undisguised tension. "There is an emergency that requires your report!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's brows furrowed tightly. His instinct was to handle the matter discreetly, but seeing the people present—especially the gaze of his hand-picked successor—he sighed inwardly.

"Speak directly."

"The Kumogakure delegation... they have discovered the corpse of their missing companion within the Hyuga Clan Grounds!"

As soon as the words fell, Hyuga Hiashi's face turned ashen.

"Let's go! We're going to take a look!"

Tsunade did not give them time to react; she strode out with long, purposeful steps, her voice loud and brooking no argument.

"I want to see what those barbarians from the Land of Lightning are plotting this time!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a pang of regret, but ultimately nodded. "Tsunade is right. Let us all go."

The group marched toward the Hyuga Clan Grounds in a grand procession, with Tsunade leading the way as if she were the backbone of the team. The Hokage, conversely, trailed behind, confirming details with the reporting Anbu.

Hyuga Kiyonari held Hinata's hand at the very back of the group, and feeling the pressure in her palm, he could almost touch the tension in her heart.

He squeezed her hand slightly, then leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Don't be nervous. I'm here."

"Mm."

Hinata Hyuga nodded, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

Upon entering the Hyuga Clan Grounds, they could see from a distance a crowd gathered at the entrance of Hyuga Hiashi's estate. Aside from the Hyuga clansmen, there were several envoys from Kumogakure. They surrounded a corpse, their expressions ferocious and aggressive.

"Lord Hokage!"

Nukai, the leader of the Kumogakure delegation, saw the group approaching and immediately rushed forward to demand an explanation.

But when he saw the size of the procession, his footsteps faltered. Then, his muscle-filled brain felt a surge of delight. In his view, the more witnesses there were, the more he could solidify the "fact" that their companion had died by the Gentle Fist.

He was so focused on cementing the "evidence" to make Konoha unable to argue that he forgot... extortion requires no evidence.

"You must give us an explanation, Konoha! We just signed a peace treaty, and our companion has already been murdered! And he died right inside the Hyuga Clan head's estate!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and stepped to the front of the group. "Let me see the situation first."

The others gathered around as well.

The body lay against the wall. Externally, there were no obvious wounds—no blade marks, no blood.

A ninja from the Forensics Division stepped forward to report the autopsy results: "The deceased has multiple ruptured internal organs. The direct cause of death is heart failure, preliminarily suspected to be a Gentle Fist strike to the heart, causing it to stop instantly. If a more thorough examination is required, the body must be sent to the Forensics Division for dissection."

"Absolutely not!" Nukai immediately blocked them. "If you take the body away, won't it be up to you Konoha to decide the outcome? How would we know if your results are real or forged!"

The Forensics ninja remained unfazed by his interference and continued: "Judging by the rigidity of the corpse, the time of death was approximately twenty to thirty minutes ago."

Tsunade looked at the body on the ground and suddenly asked, "What is the possibility of poisoning?"

As soon as she spoke, Nukai reacted as if triggered, shouting, "What else is there to test! Are you just looking for time to fabricate excuses?"

"The fact is that our companion died in Hyuga Hiashi's estate, and your own autopsy report confirms it—he was killed by the Gentle Fist! The evidence is ironclad; the murderer is Hyuga Hiashi!"

Tsunade stepped forward to stand beside Sarutobi Hiruzen and challenged, "Shouldn't you explain why a Kumogakure ninja was appearing in the Hyuga Clan Grounds? Or specifically, the estate of the Hyuga Clan head?"

Nukai did not argue with Tsunade but instead looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Lord Hokage, regardless of the process, the fact remains that our Kumogakure ninja died in Konoha, and he was killed by the Hyuga family's Gentle Fist!"

"The Raikage treats all his companions in the village as brothers. Now, the Raikage's brother is dead. If Konoha cannot give us a satisfactory explanation, I fear... the Raikage will have to reconsider the peace treaty between our two villages!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the expressions of everyone present changed.

This was a threat to restart the war.

There were no fools among those who had walked out of Tsunade's banquet. Even the young Itachi Uchiha could see that the true goal of these bandits was the Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai—the Byakugan.

The man was dead, where he died, how he died... none of that mattered.

Because Kumogakure had ignored all logic, insisting stubbornly that it was Hyuga Hiashi's doing. This was a blatant lie! It was open extortion! It was a public humiliation of Konoha!

At this moment, Hyuga Hiashi actually felt a sense of relief; to him, it was just a matter of life or death, but Sarutobi Hiruzen had much more to consider.

His face turned shades of blue and purple, and the veins on his forehead bulged; he was clearly struggling to suppress the fury in his heart.

As the longest-serving Hokage in Konoha's history, he had seen all manner of shameless tactics. But to be humiliated so brazenly by Kumogakure in front of so many Konoha high-ranking officials and clan heads was a first!

Kumogakure's actions were a direct slap to his face!

Sarutobi Hiruzen's fists clenched until they creaked. If not for his excellent self-restraint, he might have already erupted in curses.

These bandits had intentionally killed their own companion, used the Gentle Fist to fake the cause of death, and framed the Hyuga family to blackmail Konoha into handing over the Byakugan. Moreover, Kumogakure was not worried about Konoha exposing the truth; their real leverage was "war."

Konoha had endured the Third Shinobi World War, the Nine-Tails Incident, and the death of the Fourth Hokage... the village was severely weakened and could not afford the cost of another war.

"Lord Hokage." Nukai's voice sounded again, carrying a hint of triumph. "Please make your decision. Will you hand over the murderer, Hyuga Hiashi, or... will you choose war?"

The atmosphere had turned ice-cold. Everyone was waiting for Sarutobi Hiruzen's answer.

At this moment, all the heads of Konoha's major ninja clans were standing there.

If he said he would hand over Hyuga Hiashi, he might silence Kumogakure, but the consequence would be that every major clan would feel endangered, and the worst-case scenario... would be the disintegration of Konoha.

But if he did not hand him over, would Kumogakure really restart the war?

In Konoha's current state, could they truly afford it?