The Conspiracy Behind

An unknown child charged toward Uchiha Chen, and the opponent's actions immediately made it clear to him who had sent them.

Easily dodging the kunai in the child's hand, Chen countered by grabbing the boy's wrist.

"Ah!"

A miserable scream rang out; the poor wretch had his wrist snapped directly by Chen.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

A shadow clone appeared and charged straight at the others, while Chen tossed the brat in front of him to the clone.

Ignoring this meaningless skirmish, Chen walked toward Hinata, who was standing there in a daze.

"You are Hinata, right?"

"Y-yes, may I ask who you are?"

Hinata looked timid, her cheeks still flushed—perhaps from shyness—making her look incredibly endearing.

"Uchiha Chen. You can call me Chen. You actually have the strength to defeat them, don't you?"

Hearing Chen's words, Hinata was slightly stunned, clearly not understanding why he would say such a thing.

"Perhaps your strength isn't enough to defeat them yet, but as long as you show some backbone, they won't dare to bully you again. Blind tolerance only emboldens those who bully you; if you take a step back, they will only press forward. Kindness is a virtue, but it should be reserved for the right people. If you keep letting them walk all over you, what happens when they eventually target your family? Do you think that would be a good thing?"

Hinata was not weak; her childhood personality simply had some issues. As long as she understood when to be brave, the rest would depend on her.

Furthermore, although Chen didn't say it explicitly, he was hinting at Hinata's younger sister.

As a sister who doted on her sibling, she would surely pull herself together, if only for Hanabi's sake.

"Thank you, Chen-kun."

"It's nothing. We are all members of Konoha. I'll walk you back; it wouldn't be good for these people to keep pestering you."

Hinata hesitated for a moment before nodding. Chen walked with her toward the Hyuga House, the two of them chatting along the way.

"Hey, and you called me unscrupulous? You're starting a 'child-rearing' project now—isn't that worse than me?"

The system's voice suddenly rang out, leaving Chen speechless.

Everything sounded twisted when it came to the system.

"Why so quiet? Let me check—Hinata's favorability is already at seventy, double that of Uchiha Izumi's forty. Feels like you could max it out at any moment."

"Get lost. Do I look that depraved to you?"

"Who knows? How about I issue a mission? That way you'll have an excuse. How about it? I'm so thoughtful, aren't I?"

The system spoke with a lewd tone, and Chen could almost visualize its sleazy expression in his mind.

"Not interested. I have no interest in Hinata."

By this time, Chen and Hinata had arrived outside the gates of the Hyuga House. The guards were surprised to see someone from the Uchiha Clan, and even more taken aback to see their young mistress in his company.

"Goodbye, Chen-kun. Thank you for helping me out earlier."

Hinata spoke with a blushing face. Though still shy, something deep within her had already begun to change.

"It's nothing. We are all members of Konoha; anyone would help if they saw someone in danger."

With that, Chen waved goodbye to Hinata.

"Hey, seriously, want me to issue that mission? Come on, don't be shy."

Chen couldn't help but feel the system was becoming increasingly unscrupulous. It used to just be a nuisance, but now it was acting like a pimp.

"No."

"Tch."

"I have no interest in Hinata—or rather, I have no interest in the adult Hinata. While she is beautiful when she grows up, she isn't my type. The younger Hinata is much cuter. The adult version... how should I put it? She's just not my cup of tea."

Chen had no intention of pursuing Hinata; this intervention was merely a chance encounter.

Returning to the scene of the incident, the shadow clone had already tied up the unlucky fools.

Chen had initially assumed they were children from some clan, but the moment they attacked, he realized they were just ordinary people—likely orphans.

There was a reason they bullied Hinata, and that reason was Danzo.

Danzo wanted to become Hokage, so he naturally had to weaken the power of the Hokage faction. The Hyuga House was part of that faction; if the heir to the Hyuga House was a failure, the threat posed by the entire family would be significantly reduced.

Furthermore, if Hyuga Hiashi were to die suddenly, one could easily imagine what would become of the entire clan if it fell into the hands of the timid Hyuga Hinata.

Moreover, since there are members of the Hyuga Clan among Shimura Danzō's subordinates, they could easily prop Hyuga Hinata up as a puppet clan head.

Originally, it should have been Naruto who stepped in when Hyuga Hinata was being bullied, but for some reason, it was Uchiha Chen who encountered the situation.

Having already been suspicious of such a plot, Uchiha Chen realized everything the moment he sensed the killing intent from those children.

After tying up these unlucky fellows who had been knocked unconscious, Uchiha Chen brought them directly to the Hokage Office Building.

The guarding ninjas were extremely puzzled by this scene; after all, what kind of maneuver was a child from the Uchiha Clan bringing a group of unconscious people here?

"Uchiha Chen? What is the meaning of this? Who are these people behind you?"

Although the Third Hokage had received a report, he was still somewhat confused upon seeing the reality of the situation.

"Third Hokage, these people just attempted to make a move on Hyuga Hinata of the Hyuga Clan, and they were discussing plans to seize Hyuga Hinata's Byakugan."

"What!"

Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was also stunned.

Not long ago, Kumogakure had attempted to kidnap Hyuga Hinata, a situation that ultimately ended with Hizashi Hyuga dying as a substitute.

How much time had passed since then, and yet there were still people coveting Hyuga Hinata?

If Hyuga Hinata were to be kidnapped again, it was feared that the entire Hyuga Clan would fight Konoha to the death.

"Uchiha Chen, are you certain that what you are saying is true?"

The Third Hokage spoke with a grave expression.

"Yes, I overheard their conversation; they mentioned gouging out the Byakugan and offering it to some 'lord.' Although I do not know who they intended to offer it to, their intent to lay hands on the Byakugan is certain. I just knocked them unconscious and sent Hyuga Hinata back to the Hyuga Clan, which is why I brought them here to be handled by the Hokage."

Hearing Uchiha Chen's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen's brows locked in a tight frown, for he too began to suspect Shimura Danzō.

After all, it was impossible for Kumogakure ninjas to infiltrate the village so easily, and even more impossible for them to send a group of children to seize Hyuga Hinata.

The only person capable of pulling this off within Konoha while also standing to gain from it was his old comrade, Shimura Danzō.

Could it be you?

Harm the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan to peel the Hyuga Clan away from my side.

If only a few children were to act, they would leave no evidence behind. If they had truly succeeded, even if I suspected you, there would be no proof.

Seeing the Third Hokage's expression, Uchiha Chen knew his plan had succeeded.

Sometimes, suspicion without evidence is far more terrifying than facts with evidence, for no one knows what a person might conjure up in their own mind.