"Lord Hokage, I still recommend keeping Kawaki Aoba in my squad for now. Let him grow stronger and gain more mission experience before transferring him to the Anbu. With his talent, I'm sure he'll soon become an outstanding Jonin."
Inside the Hokage Building, Yuhi Shinku, Kawaki Aoba's team leader, was laying out his proposal to Sarutobi Hiruzen. He hoped to persuade Hiruzen by demonstrating Kawaki's value and save his talented student.
As for Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage was deeply conflicted.
Originally, Kawaki Aoba, a genius who could barely be called a civilian, was someone Hiruzen had selected to build up his younger son Asuma's future team. Kawaki's talent for creating a hand-seal-free ninjutsu before graduating, along with his excellent performance on missions, had both impressed Hiruzen.
But who could have guessed that the boy would awaken the Byakugan during a mission, relying on his faint Hyuga bloodline?
If the Hyuga Main Family hadn't branded him with the Caged Bird, and he had already awakened the Byakugan, things would have been easy to handle—as long as the Hyuga Clan didn't find out. But now...
Hiruzen sighed inwardly. He'd learned about it too late. By the time he'd sent people to suppress the information, someone had already sold it to the Hyuga Clan.
Yuhi Shinku's argument made sense, of course. But was Kawaki Aoba really worth paying a price to pry him away from the Hyuga Clan?
Just then, while Hiruzen was still weighing the matter, a shinobi came to report that the Second Elder of the Hyuga Clan had requested an audience.
The Hyuga Clan truly was a venerable family with a thousand years of history in the Shinobi World. Its information network rivaled that of the Hokage, and its members moved just as quickly.
At that moment, Hiruzen's gaze turned distant, as still as a pool of dead water.
Still, now that the person concerned had come calling, there was no reason to refuse an audience.
Soon, the Hyuga Second Elder was ushered into the Hokage Office.
As soon as he entered, the Hyuga Second Elder spotted Yuhi Shinku standing off to one side.
Though Yuhi Shinku was that brat Kawaki Aoba's team leader, the Hyuga Second Elder's attention was entirely elsewhere.
Turning to face Hiruzen, the Hyuga Second Elder didn't bother with pleasantries. He got straight to the point.
He had come to ask the Hokage whether he intended to interfere in the Hyuga Clan's family affairs. If that really was the case, then the Hyuga Clan could consider doing Lord Hokage a favor—but the price would be...
Besides, perhaps he'd been riled up on his way out by the Uchiha, led by Fugaku, who had blocked the entrance to the Hyuga Clan compound. His words were more forceful and urgent than usual.
Sitting in his chair with his gaze lowered, Hiruzen could tell that despite the Hyuga Second Elder's polite words, his attitude was decidedly firm.
Hiruzen could understand how the Hyuga Second Elder felt, but he was the Hokage.
Well, yes, he was the Hokage, but he wasn't the only voice in Konoha. Even after leading a group of comrades to victory in the Second Shinobi World War, earning enough prestige to secure his position as Hokage, he still seemed to carry too little weight in the eyes of certain shinobi clans.
The Hyuga Clan before him wasn't as arrogant and overbearing as the Uchiha, but there was no mistaking its members' sense of superiority.
Hiruzen felt a knot in his chest. The scales of the balance he called interest tipped slightly toward one side.
Sometimes, balance and public sentiment mattered more than interest.
That was what Hiruzen had learned over his many years as Hokage.
Once he'd made up his mind, Hiruzen decided to muddy the waters further—not to save Kawaki Aoba, nor to trade him for some benefit from the Hyuga Clan.
He wanted to use this matter to put the Hyuga Clan in its place and rein in the pride of those so-called shinobi clans.
Hiruzen wanted them to understand that this was the era of the shinobi village. Even the great clans of the past were now merely part of the village.
Kawaki Aoba was undoubtedly a pawn in this game. Hiruzen didn't need to insist on keeping him. He only needed to ensure that Kawaki couldn't return to the Hyuga Clan. The old men would surely work out exactly what he meant.
Kawaki Aoba's appearance was an accident, but as long as Hiruzen remained Hokage, accidents like this could be arranged to awaken the Byakugan with a little human intervention.
Having decided what card to play, Hiruzen had no intention of waiting for the Hyuga Clan Head and the First Elder to return before making his move.
Compared with those two old foxes, wasn't the man before him a gift of an opponent? He might put on an intimidating front, but Hiruzen knew that his only real advantage was having been born into the right family.
As someone determined to surpass the two Hokage who came before him, however, Hiruzen didn't want even the slightest blemish on his record.
So right now, he needed someone who could charge into battle for him—a clean pair of hands.
Shimura Danzō: Present.
Perhaps he'd heard Hiruzen's unspoken thoughts. A figure radiating a sinister aura walked into the Hokage Office.
Half his body was wrapped in bandages, and only his left eye was visible.
"Sarutobi, I just heard some rumors outside that are very harmful to the village. Apparently, an elite shinobi from the Hyuga Clan attacked a civilian shinobi in the village for no reason. I wonder if this is true."
As expected of Shimura Danzō, known as the Darkness of the Shinobi World. He immediately laid his cards on the table, making no attempt to conceal his intentions.
The Hyuga Second Elder had originally come to ask the Hokage about Kawaki Aoba and demand an explanation. There had been a hint of coercion in it—his goal was to "bully" Hiruzen, that "honest man."
But who could have expected Danzō's arrival to turn the tables completely, changing the nature of the incident into an accusation that the Hyuga Clan had deliberately instigated a conflict in the village?
That high-handed accusation—that a great clan was bullying a civilian shinobi—wasn't an easy label to wear in the current climate.
And Danzō clearly wasn't someone who cared about reason. Compared with Hiruzen, the Hokage, Danzō seemed even more brazen.
Besides, if the Hyuga Second Elder remembered correctly, Danzō had visited the Hyuga Clan not long ago to recruit people into Root. They'd apparently been required to take a Curse Mark to prevent them from leaking secrets.
At that thought, the Hyuga Second Elder's expression turned grim.
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