Behold! The Third

"I-I only know that much."

Aota took a deep breath and clenched his teeth, facing Neji in utter terror.

Neji merely narrowed his eyes and pondered.

"Where did you hear all that?"

Neji seemed to have hit the nail on the head with that question.

Aota stared at Neji in surprise. Neji looked as if he knew nothing, making Aota doubt his own judgment.

"Why haven't I heard of it?"

Neji flung Aota away with all his strength.

Aota hit the ground and staggered back several steps.

Neji walked toward him, his oppressive presence making it hard for Aota to breathe.

At that moment, Aota regretted deciding to come find Neji alone. Neji hadn't even fought seriously, yet the power surging through him was already on an entirely different level!

In just a few days, he had changed beyond recognition!

Aota could tell from the sheer force of Neji's chakra alone that Neji's growth had been astonishingly rapid!

"Are you still playing dumb? Your strength has improved so quickly. Who would believe you don't have the scroll?"

Aota straightened his collar, looking somewhat disheveled as he readied himself to fend off Neji's attack at any moment.

But he was only preparing to defend himself. He seemed to understand that Neji's true strength had reached the level of a monster.

Neji rubbed his chin. It was clear he wouldn't get anything out of Aota by asking like this.

Aota didn't seem to understand anything, either.

"Get lost. If you say anything else that makes no sense, don't expect me to go easy on you!"

Neji glared at Aota.

Then he turned and strode away.

At that moment, Aota's legs felt weak.

The scroll?

Hyuga Tenin?

The first was a completely unfamiliar term.

Neji had heard of the name that followed.

Tenin was a shinobi from the same era as Hyuga Tenshu and Hyuga Tenmoku, though he was a little older than them.

Tenin's master had been a shinobi from the same period as Hashirama Senju, the First.

Tenin was said to have inherited a one-hundred-percent pure Hyuga bloodline, and his Byakugan was almost one hundred percent pure as well.

Neji's own purity was only thirteen percent. Just that alone let him imagine how powerful this so-called Tenin must have been.

And now Neji had learned that such a powerful figure owed his strength to this thing?

Talent was talent, but without real ability to back it up, it was meaningless.

It was like how Wood Release had made Hashirama Senju, the Mangekyō Sharingan had made Madara Uchiha, and the Flying Thunder God had made Minato Namikaze.

Every generation's strongest shinobi had some special talent.

Was the scroll the secret behind it all? Hyuga Tenin, the pinnacle of the Hyuga Clan.

Neji stood outside the Main Branch compound, wavering for a long, long time.

From Aota's reaction, it seemed few people knew about this. And Aota's grandfather was... Hyuga Tenshu. Neji recalled seeing Tenshu speaking privately with Hiashi that day.

Either Hiashi knew nothing and Tenshu had planned everything himself, or Hiashi was on Tenshu's side.

No matter how he looked at it, Neji couldn't tell whether going to Hiashi now and bringing this matter up would be wise.

The more Neji learned, the more he felt that the Hyuga Clan's internal conflicts were extraordinarily complicated...

"The Hero Festival?"

Tenten blinked. As a shinobi who hadn't come from a prominent family, she didn't seem to know much about it.

At the meeting place, only Asuma, Tenten, and Neji were present.

"Yeah. There's a festival every year to commemorate the heroes who died in war. The Hokage attends, and the prominent families of Konoha are all invited to show their respect for the fallen. Ino-Shika-Cho represents three of Konoha's oldest clans: the Yamanaka Clan, the Nara Clan, and the Akimichi Clan. So none of those three will be able to attend training today."

After explaining, Asuma smiled and pinched the cigarette butt he had just finished smoking.

Tenten nodded calmly, then looked at Neji. "What about the Hyuga Clan?"

"The Hyuga Clan? Of course... they're one of the oldest clans in Konoha." Asuma hesitated, then lit another cigarette.

"The Hyuga Clan? The Main Branch probably went. I'm only from the Branch Family," Neji explained.

The three fell silent.

"When will the festival end?"

"It'll probably last until dusk. It'll definitely be over before sunset."

At dusk.

The setting sun painted much of the western sky red. The clouds were lovely and distant, as if the scene would last forever.

Everyone bowed solemnly before the Hero Monument.

The person on the platform seemed to be leading everyone in some kind of vow.

After a long while, the festival ended.

The crowd thinned. Everyone who needed to leave had gone.

"Tenzo, you should head out too. I can get back to the office on my own."

Hiruzen spoke to the masked shinobi before him. The Anbu member seemed surprised.

"All right, go on."

At last, the Anbu member left. Only one person remained at the site: the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

No one knew how long he stood there before lifting his head and calling out, "All right, you've been hiding long enough. If you have something to say, come out."

The bushes rustled.

A young boy appeared.

"You're from the Hyuga Clan?" Hiruzen asked with a frown.

Neji stepped out, initially keeping his guard up.

Then he approached and bowed.

"I am Hyuga Neji. I'm here to pay my respects to the Third!"

"Heh, Neji. What brings you here? Did you want to pay your respects to the fallen heroes, too?"

Hiruzen smiled cheerfully, but Neji couldn't share his good mood. His heart was still heavy.

"I came to make a deal with you."

Neji spoke seriously.

"A deal? Hahaha!"

Hiruzen chuckled and stroked the pointed beard on his chin. A child like Neji, who was unknown even among the Genin, naturally wouldn't have caught Hiruzen's attention.

It was like a celebrity admired by thousands paying no heed to an ordinary person. They simply weren't on the same level.

The scales were wildly unbalanced. What was there to negotiate?

"Neji, if there's something you need, just tell me. I'll do my best to help."

"You have to promise to keep everything I tell you today confidential. Only then will I talk to you."

Neji was extremely cautious.

This was a risky move.

So Neji had to take every precaution, just in case.

"Uh... little Neji, if you're really bored, you can go find Iruka-sensei and ask him to keep you company. Is Guy your team leader? Oh, right, he's on a mission. Then, then perhaps the clan head, Hiashi..."

"Lord Hiruzen!"

Neji's words made Hiruzen freeze.

A child nearly sixty years his junior had just called him by his name! The shock was considerable.

"What if I told you I witnessed Gekko Hayate's death? Would you still think I was joking?"

The smile vanished from Hiruzen's face. The stunned look in his eyes was as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue.

Inside the Hokage's office.

"I never would've guessed that the boy was you! The Sand Ninja actually betrayed Konoha..."

Hiruzen looked grave as he took a sip of tea, though he seemed to have guessed all of this long ago.

That wasn't what concerned Neji most.

He said, "I've gathered some information about the enemy's abilities and plans. With this information, we can greatly reduce the village's casualties, or even prevent this tragedy altogether."

"I see. That's what you're offering in exchange? Tell me, what do you want?" Hiruzen's expression finally turned serious.

Neji spoke unhurriedly. "Everything you can tell me about the Hyuga Clan's past, the name Hyuga Tenin, the Main Branch and Branch Family, and the scrolls passed down from generation to generation. I want all the information you can provide about these things!"