Hiashi's Diehard Loyalty and the Carriage Bound for Kyoto

In the battered Hokage's Office, shafts of dawn light slanted through the room, stretching the kneeling Hyuga Hiashi's shadow long across the floor.

His body still trembled faintly, but not from fear. It was an exhilaration born of extreme awe mingled with the fervor of rebirth. The Yang Release Chakra implanted between his brows had already dimmed, yet it was like a miniature sun, radiating warmth without end as it washed through every inch of his Meridians and reshaped his understanding of power.

For the past several decades, everything he had pursued and everything the Hyuga Clan had clung to had been as fragile as a sandcastle before that thread of golden light.

What did the title of Konoha's foremost clan matter? What did the pride of possessing a Kekkei Genkai matter? Before a miracle capable of creating life and reversing damage, they were all mere dust.

"Bloodier missions..."

Hiashi savored those words in his mind. Far from feeling the slightest resistance, he was filled with a desire unlike anything he had ever known.

He desperately wanted to prove that the Hyuga Clan, personally "purified" by God, was worthy of becoming the sharpest blade in His hands!

"Stand up, Hiashi."

Baishi's indifferent voice came from the Throne.

"Yes!"

Hiashi answered respectfully and rose with meticulous care, yet he still remained slightly bent at the waist, head lowered, not daring to look directly into the eyes of the man seated on the Throne. To his senses now, Baishi was no longer a man, but a chaotic energy body formed from light and darkness entwined together, its essence impossible to see through even with the Byakugan. Merely looking at him made Hiashi's soul ache.

"Orochimaru's pawn has already entered the game." Baishi's fingers tapped lightly against the armrest, producing a steady rhythm.