Konoha Anbu

Soon, several masked ninja arrived at the battlefield. The leader was none other than Konoha's elite jonin, Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi and his team had just completed a mission in the Land of Tea and were preparing to return to Konoha when they discovered the battle taking place nearby, prompting them to investigate.

"Stay alert."

Kakashi warned his team members before stepping into the center of the battlefield. He carefully examined the traces left behind by the fight, his expression growing increasingly grave the more he saw.

At that moment, Kakashi's other two team members approached Kakuzu. Seeing him lying limp on the ground, one of the Anbu members remarked:

"This should be the rogue ninja from the Waterfall Hidden Village, Kakuzu. I've heard his strength is formidable; I never expected him to die here. Who could have killed him?"

As they spoke, the two members approached Kakuzu, preparing to retrieve his body and bring it back to Konoha for examination.

"Watch out, he's not dead yet!"

Another, slightly smaller team member suddenly shouted. Before the words had even left his mouth, the Kakuzu who had been lying on the ground suddenly sprang up, reaching out to claw at the heart of the smaller Anbu member.

Quickly drawing his short blade, the smaller Anbu blocked the attack. At the same time, the other Anbu reacted, kicking Kakuzu away with a single blow.

Seeing his team member attacked, Kakashi stopped worrying about gathering intelligence from the battlefield and quickly moved to his team's side. He crouched low, eyes locked onto Kakuzu, ready to strike at any moment.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Kakuzu put some distance between himself and the three Konoha Anbu. Seeing them prepare for an attack, he hurriedly raised his hands and spoke rapidly:

"Konoha Anbu, do you want to know who beat me into this state? It was someone from the Hyuga Clan, but he has no Caged Bird curse mark on his forehead. He has been operating in the Bounty Exchange under a false identity for two years, so he is neither from the main house nor the branch house. Do you know what that means?"

After saying this, Kakuzu pointed to a spot on the battlefield—the marks left by Hyuuga Nen when he used Rotation. As he spoke, Kakuzu continued to back away.

Kakuzu had nearly died today. Four of the five hearts he had acquired through the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique had been destroyed, leaving his strength significantly diminished.

Realizing his sneak attack had failed, he immediately revealed the information about Hyuuga Nen, hoping to divert the Konoha Anbu's attention and create an opportunity to escape.

Hearing this, one Anbu member immediately went to the spot Kakuzu had pointed out and observed it. "These are indeed marks left by a Hyuga Clan Rotation!"

After reaching this conclusion, he returned to Kakashi's side and reported his findings.

However, Kakashi and the other smaller Anbu did not move; they simply kept their eyes on Kakuzu, as they had already noticed the traces of Rotation when they first arrived at the battlefield.

"How about it? I wasn't lying, was I? He only just left; you can still catch him if you go now." Having said this, Kakuzu turned and fled.

"Do not pursue."

Kakashi stopped his team member from chasing after Kakuzu, then turned to the smaller member and said, "Notify the Hokage immediately of the situation here."

Seeing Kakuzu escape, Kakashi hesitated for only a moment before letting him go. Although he still harbored doubts about Kakuzu's words, Kakashi trusted his own judgment—there were indeed traces left by an unidentified Hyuga clansman on the battlefield.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Kakashi's expression beneath his mask grew extremely solemn.

Kakashi walked to a corner of the battlefield and picked up a fragment of white fabric. From a distance, he had seen that the person fighting Kakuzu was wearing white clothing.

After retrieving the fabric, Kakashi immediately began forming hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"

As the smoke cleared, eight ninja dogs wearing blue vests appeared on the ground.

"I'm counting on you, Pakkun."

Kakashi crouched down and placed the fabric fragment in front of the nose of the small dog sitting atop a large ninja dog.

The dog named Pakkun sniffed the fabric fragment hard, then looked at Kakashi and asked, "Kakashi, who is the target this time?"

"Suspected to be someone from the Hyuga Clan."

Kakashi answered Pakkun's question. Upon hearing this, Pakkun's eyes widened, and his canine face displayed an anthropomorphic expression of shock.

On the other side, the smaller Anbu member also performed a summoning jutsu. He summoned a ninja crow, tied a written letter to its leg, and released it into the sky.

"Pursue!"

Seeing this, Kakashi stopped wasting words and followed Pakkun and the others with his team in the direction Hyuuga Nen had fled.

While running, one of the Anbu turned his head to look at Kakashi. "Captain, if what Kakuzu said is true, what should we do?"

Hearing this, Kakashi fell silent for a moment before replying, "If Kakuzu is telling the truth, it means the Hyuga bloodline has likely leaked outside of Konoha. You should both be well aware of the importance of the Byakugan to the village; this is a very serious situation for Konoha."

Hearing Kakashi's words, the two members realized the severity of the matter. A heavy atmosphere settled between the three of them, and for a time, they all fell silent.

"This couldn't have been done by the Hyuga main house; it could only have been the branch house," the smaller Anbu member concluded.

He continued, "Given the Hyuga Clan's system, the possibility of this happening by accident is very low. Therefore, a member of the Hyuga branch house intentionally left their bloodline outside of Konoha—this act is a betrayal of the village!"

Betrayal, is it? Kakashi thought to himself, but he did not respond to his subordinate's claim, instead continuing:

"The Byakugan holds significant strategic value on the battlefield. If it falls into the hands of other ninja villages, especially the other five great nations, you know what will happen, don't you?"

"Then should we capture him, or just..." another Anbu asked Kakashi, making a throat-slitting gesture as he spoke.

Kakashi shook his head. "For now, we only need to track him and prevent him from escaping. We will wait for orders from the Hokage before taking further action."

"Besides, since this Hyuga clansman was able to defeat Kakuzu, it means his strength is immense. We should avoid a direct confrontation and wait for reinforcements from the village."

Seeing the smaller member shake his head, Kakashi said to him, "Do you disagree with my assessment, Itachi?"

Hearing Kakashi, the youth named Itachi nodded. "Captain Kakashi, I believe we should capture this unidentified Hyuga clansman now to prevent any accidents."

"I know you are worried about Konoha, but I am the captain, and you must follow my orders," Kakashi retorted directly.

Hearing this, the two members could only nod, and in silence, they continued their pursuit of Hyuuga Nen.