"Yes, Clan Head!"
A Uchiha Clan ninja respectfully acknowledged the order and left.
"Clan Head, I'm fine."
Uchiha Ryosuke held the little girl's soft, delicate body in his arms. Suddenly realizing something, he hurriedly said, "These men may be ninja from Kumogakure. Please destroy anything on them that could prove their identities, Clan Head."
"Hmm?"
Uchiha Fugaku was startled at first, then his expression shifted. He immediately ordered his subordinates to search the three bodies.
Without a doubt, they found things on the men that confirmed who they were.
Seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku didn't hesitate to burn the evidence to ash with a Fire Release technique.
"Hinata!"
A middle-aged man in fine clothes suddenly rushed in from outside the crowd, putting the Uchiha Clan ninja on alert.
But Uchiha Fugaku only shook his head and let the man approach.
He took the little girl into his arms.
"Dad..."
Hyuga Hinata's small body trembled faintly. At last, she couldn't hold back and burst into tears.
"Damn it!"
Hearing his daughter cry, Hyuga Hiashi looked at the ninja corpses on the ground, his eyes full of murderous intent.
"Uchiha Clan Head."
Hyuga Hiashi took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Thank you for saving my daughter. I owe you one for this."
"Think nothing of it, Hyuga Clan Head."
Uchiha Fugaku smiled warmly. "You should be thanking Ryosuke, not us. If he hadn't held those ninja off, we wouldn't have been able to save your daughter."
"Ryosuke?"
Hyuga Hiashi looked at Uchiha Ryosuke, who had a Kunai still embedded in his shoulder. He was covered in blood, his face pale, and too weak even to stand.
Hiashi couldn't help but regard him with new respect. He said earnestly, "My Hyuga Clan owes you one for this. If you ever need anything, come to the Hyuga Clan anytime."
"Hyuga Clan Head..."
Uchiha Ryosuke looked "overwhelmed with trepidation." He tried to stand, only to "weakly" collapse back onto the ground.
"Why haven't the medical ninja arrived yet?"
Seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but scold them. "What are you all good for?"
As he spoke, Uchiha Fugaku prepared to carry Uchiha Ryosuke to the medical ninja himself.
"Uchiha Clan Head! Hyuga Clan Head!"
A masked ninja suddenly appeared and said calmly, "Lord Hokage requests your presence."
"Whatever it is, it can wait until I've taken Ryosuke for treatment!"
Uchiha Fugaku replied without a trace of courtesy.
The Anbu were the Hokage's dogs, and they had never gotten along with the Uchiha Clan.
After all, the Hokage had appointed the Uchiha Clan to the Konoha Military Police Force, and now he'd created the Anbu to oppose them.
Wasn't it obvious he was pushing the Uchiha Clan aside and targeting them?
"Lord Hokage requests that you both come now."
The Anbu ninja replied without showing any deference or disrespect.
"You..."
Uchiha Fugaku's expression darkened. These people were showing the Uchiha Clan less and less respect.
"Clan Head, Lord Hokage's matter is important,"
Uchiha Ryosuke said weakly. "If you're worried, take me with you."
"No..."
Uchiha Fugaku had intended to refuse. After all, Uchiha Ryosuke was badly injured.
"Let's go together,"
Hyuga Hiashi said calmly. "There are things I'd like to ask Lord Hokage as well."
"All right."
Uchiha Fugaku nodded helplessly and took Uchiha Ryosuke with him, heading for the Hokage Office Building alongside Hyuga Hiashi.
Both men were Jonin, and they moved quickly.
But with two children to look after, they slowed their pace.
They were also accompanied by escorts from the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan.
It was less a visit to the Hokage than a trip to demand answers.
However, the two had only just reached the Hokage's office.
They heard an angry voice coming from inside.
"Third, you must give Kumogakure an explanation for this!"
"Kumogakure sincerely sought peace with Konoha, yet our envoy has gone missing in Konoha!"
"If you don't give us an explanation, then we'll go to war! Kumogakure will not tolerate any kind of insult!"
The man's voice was so loud that even Uchiha Fugaku and the others outside could hear him.
In fact, he was raising his voice on purpose.
His goal was to force the Third to take a stand.
"Bang!"
Hearing the man's voice, Uchiha Fugaku angrily shoved open the door. "An explanation? What kind of explanation does Kumogakure want?"
"Uchiha Fugaku?"
The Fourth Raikage narrowed his eyes at the man who had barged in, then glanced at the Third beside him.
The other man was gazing serenely into the distance, clearly intent on staying out of it.
The Fourth Raikage sneered. Just as he'd expected.
The discord between the Hokage and the Uchiha Clan was already out in the open.
That was why Konoha, despite being the strongest, had gained no advantage in any of the Shinobi World Wars—it was too busy tearing itself apart.
"Grandpa Hokage!"
A child's tearful voice suddenly rang out in the office. "Bad people tried to kill me! You have to stand up for me!"
The Fourth Raikage, who had been about to speak, froze.
The Third, who had been ready to shift the blame and watch from the sidelines, also stiffened.
"Grandpa Hokage."
Uchiha Ryosuke looked pitifully at the Third and sobbed, "Someone suddenly came to my house and tried to kill me. They said they were going to gouge out my eyes. I was so scared..."
"Don't be afraid, good boy."
The Third smiled stiffly. He glanced at the Kunai in Uchiha Ryosuke's shoulder—the boy had stuck it back in himself—as well as the still-bleeding wound.
Then there was that young face, so pale it was utterly bloodless. For a moment, the Third didn't know what to say.
He had seen everything that had just happened!
"Waaah..."
Uchiha Ryosuke kept up his fake crying, but inwardly he sneered.
Kumogakure might look brawny and dim-witted, all rough and honest on the surface.
But not one of them was any good.
They'd made the first accusation to establish themselves as the "victims" in the Hokage's eyes, then demanded that Konoha pay a price.
In the original story, Kumogakure had taken advantage of the Third's weakness.
They'd exploited his desire to end the war as quickly as possible, pressuring him to make the Hyuga Clan hand over the culprit.
In the end, Hizashi Hyuga had died in place of Hyuga Hiashi, the man who had killed the envoy, and Kumogakure had obtained the body.
The two Byakugan had also been transplanted into other people.
And the Hokage was no good either.
Never mind his suppression of the Uchiha—that was the politically correct thing to do in Konoha.
But the old man had no sense of responsibility as a leader.
He talked about doing everything for Konoha, yet didn't hesitate to sacrifice anyone.
Even the Hyuga Clan, who had given everything for the village.
Uchiha Ryosuke had always felt that Konoha was damned unlucky to have a useless Hokage like the Third.
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