On the Eve of the Visit

"You must never say such nonsense again. The village has had a difficult few years, and everyone longs for peace. If outsiders hear you..."

Hyuga Kamen frowned and looked sternly at Hyuga Gen.

"Cloud Village has coveted the Byakugan of our Hyuga Clan for a long time. It's not as if something like this couldn't happen."

Hyuga Gen pursed his lips, unconvinced.

If he hadn't known this would really happen, Hyuga Gen wouldn't have brought it up.

Hinata would be kidnapped, the Cloud Village envoy would be killed with a single blow from Hiashi, and Cloud Village would turn around and accuse them, forcing Neji's father, Hizashi Hyuga, to die in his place.

Cloud Village's move had to be called slick. Hyuga Gen almost wanted to applaud them. Look how smoothly they'd pulled it off—steady as an old dog, with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Then there was Konoha's pack of useless allies. Without comparison, you couldn't see how bad things were. They'd actually handed Hizashi over like fools.

At that moment, Hyuga Gen thought of the words the Third Hokage kept repeating in Shippuden and felt like laughing.

"Konoha is my home. Everyone is my family." Was that how you treated your family?

In Hyuga Gen's view, the Third Hokage really wasn't fit for the job. He didn't know what the man had been like in the early days, but in Shippuden, he seemed like Danzo's lackey. Whatever Danzo said went. He might as well have handed the position over to Danzo.

He wasn't decisive enough and was always hesitating. He couldn't bring himself to be firm when the situation called for it. That might have been all right for an ordinary person, but he was the Hokage.

If he'd hardened his heart and killed Orochimaru back then, he wouldn't have ended up being killed by Orochimaru. After conducting so many human experiments, didn't Orochimaru deserve to die? Yet the Third Hokage had let him go out of kindness.

When his own student Orochimaru killed him, did Orochimaru show him any mercy? Just thinking about it made Hyuga Gen find the whole thing laughable.

"Enough! Don't say another word. You'd better stay home for the next few days and not go out. Hmph."

Hyuga Kamen was displeased with Hyuga Gen. He was also afraid his grandson would get himself into trouble by speaking carelessly, so he turned and left.

Watching Hyuga Kamen go, Hyuga Gen didn't know what to say. Even Kamen didn't believe him, so no one else would, either.

But that made sense. Cloud Village was coming to negotiate peace, and it was doing so as a defeated nation. Almost everyone in Konoha was pleased.

After all, Konoha had been through a rough few years. The village had barely recovered from the Third Shinobi World War, and then the Nine-Tails Incident happened. The Fourth Hokage and his wife had died, and Konoha had suffered another devastating blow.

That had made the other nations restless, and there had been constant skirmishes along the borders, with many lives lost. Now Cloud Village was bringing a signal of peace. How could people not be happy?

And then someone came along and said, "Cloud Village has an ulterior motive. They're here to steal the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan?"

Who would believe that? They might even accuse you of having ulterior motives and sabotaging the peace, then arrest you.

The main problem was that there was no evidence. Without proof, no one believing him was only natural. If Hyuga Gen hadn't come from another world and known this would happen, he might not have believed himself, either.

"What should I do? Should I just leave it alone?"

Hyuga Gen was caught between a rock and a hard place.

He thought Hizashi Hyuga was a good man. It was a real shame that someone like him would die because of a disaster that wasn't his fault.

But what could he do?

Could he turn into Hinata and keep watch in her place? Was that even possible? Clearly not, unless Hiashi Hyuga agreed.

He'd already gotten nowhere with Hyuga Kamen. There was no chance Hiashi Hyuga would agree. Who would go along with this, when all he had was his word?

Thinking about how the Cloud Village delegation would arrive in Konoha tomorrow made Hyuga Gen anxious. He still hadn't figured out how to deal with this.

Back in his room, Hyuga Gen began thinking it over again. This really wasn't easy to handle. In Shippuden, Hiashi had discovered the kidnapper and killed him with one strike.

Since Hiashi had killed him so easily, the person sent over couldn't have been an elite jonin. He was probably a chunin, or maybe even a genin.

With that in mind, the ninja sent to kidnap Hinata might have been a disposable pawn. They had probably planned for what came next long ago. If they managed to kidnap Hinata, great. If they were exposed, that was fine, too—they could turn around and make accusations. Either way, they wouldn't lose.

So Hyuga Gen figured that even if Hiashi Hyuga hadn't struck the kidnapper in Shippuden, the man might still have killed himself. Perhaps Hiashi hadn't used much force at all, and the kidnapper had died anyway—not from the Gentle Fist, but by his own hand.

That was entirely possible. Thinking about it, Hyuga Gen had to admit that Cloud Village was pretty capable. They were efficient and ruthless.

But this wasn't the time to admire them. He needed to think of a way to help the Hyuga Clan avoid this disaster.

In Shippuden, Hinata Hyuga had been at home when she was abducted at night and carried out through the gate. That was suspicious. After all, Hiashi Hyuga was the clan head, and his house was quite large.

If the house was so big, how had the kidnapper found Hinata Hyuga and taken her away so quickly? It was unlikely he'd searched the rooms one by one.

And what was the Byakugan for? If the kidnapper hadn't acted quickly, he might not even have made it out of Hiashi Hyuga's courtyard before being killed.

So Hyuga Gen couldn't help suspecting there was a traitor in the Hyuga Clan, someone who knew the layout of Hiashi Hyuga's home very well. The traitor had told the kidnapper everything, allowing him to snatch Hinata and escape the courtyard so quickly.

So who was the spy?

The more he thought about it, the more secrets he felt were hidden in this matter. But he couldn't work out what had happened. It was all just speculation.

Though it was only speculation, Hyuga Gen felt the truth was probably close to what he'd deduced. He had confidence in his reasoning.

Hyuga Gen lay on his bed, thinking. After a while, he still couldn't come up with a good solution, and his mood grew increasingly restless.

"Forget it. I'll think about it tomorrow," Hyuga Gen said, taking a deep breath.

For some reason, he suddenly thought of the scene that evening when he'd taught Hyuga Natsu how to use Rotation.

They'd gone to their usual spot by the river. Hyuga Gen had demonstrated Rotation for Hyuga Natsu. First she'd looked surprised, then delighted, and then she'd excitedly asked him how to learn it.

Before long, Hyuga Gen had told Hyuga Natsu everything he knew, including how he'd learned Rotation and the tips and insights he'd gained.

Hyuga Natsu had listened intently and practiced just as seriously. She tried several times. Though she failed each time, she was still very happy.

"Natsu, even after you learn Rotation, don't use it lightly. Save it for when you're in danger."

"Why?"

Hyuga Natsu looked at her big brother, Gen, with a puzzled expression.

"Isn't it good to keep one trick up your sleeve? It catches people off guard and can work really well."

Actually, Hyuga Gen thought that if members of the Branch House used Rotation one after another, the Main House would surely feel uncomfortable seeing it. He was afraid that could lead to trouble.

"Big Brother Gen, I understand."

"By the way, Big Brother Gen, how many tricks have you kept up your sleeve?"

Hyuga Natsu blinked at him and asked in a cute little voice.