The Matter is Resolved

"Xia, didn't you sleep well last night?"

Watching Hyuga Natsu yawn and look somewhat listless, Yu Zhihui asked with a hint of concern.

"Yeah, I was with Brother Dongyi last night, and we didn't get home to sleep until very late."

Hyuga Natsu said these suggestive words with a calm expression, completely oblivious to the strange look Yu Zhihui gave her after hearing them.

Thinking back to last night, Hyuga Natsu still hadn't fully grasped what had happened; she only knew that a ninja had snuck into Uncle Hiashi's house and kidnapped Lady Hinata.

Fortunately, Uncle Hiashi had sensed the intruder, killed the ninja, and rescued Lady Hinata. However, she hadn't quite understood Hyuga Gen's subsequent actions.

"Lord Clan Head, is that man dead?"

"Why are you two here?"

Hyuga Hiashi asked, puzzled. The appearance of these two juniors before him was indeed quite unexpected; he had initially assumed they were accomplices of the enemy.

"That's not important. Xiaojin, take this man out of Konoha quickly, and don't let anyone see you. The further away, the better—preferably past the borders of the Land of Fire, heading northeast."

Hyuga Gen said urgently, as the lights had already flickered on; it seemed someone in the gatehouse had noticed the anomaly.

"What are you trying to do?"

Hyuga Gen frowned. He didn't yet know who the kidnapper of his daughter was, and he didn't want to let him be taken away so easily.

"Lord Clan Head, please, you must trust me. I'll explain later. Someone is coming, and it's better to keep this matter confidential."

"Uncle Hiashi, please just trust Brother Dongyi this once. He must have his reasons, and he would never do anything to harm the interests of the clan."

Hyuga Natsu was always so reliable at critical moments.

"Xiaojin."

This time, Hyuga Hiashi did not stop them; perhaps he was caught off guard and forgot to intervene, or perhaps Hyuga Natsu's words had taken effect.

Xiaojin used its sharp claws to grab the dead Cloud Village kidnapper, who had died with his eyes wide open, and vanished into the night sky in the blink of an eye.

"Lord Clan Head, Xia and I will be going now. Please, remember to act as if nothing happened. Don't reveal this to anyone; I will explain it to you tomorrow."

With that, Hyuga Gen pulled Hyuga Natsu away.

Hyuga Hiashi watched the backs of Hyuga Gen and Hyuga Natsu as they departed, lost in thought. He suddenly recalled what Kamen had said earlier about the Cloud Village potentially coveting the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.

Considering the current situation, Hyuga Hiashi roughly knew who the culprit was, and he felt a surge of anger. But then, remembering Hyuga Gen's words, he calmed down slightly. More importantly, there was no evidence left now that the body had been hauled away, leaving him with no way to point fingers.

"Lord Clan Head, did something happen just now?"

"Nothing at all. A mouse was squeaking and keeping me from sleeping, so I was preparing to catch it, but it managed to get away."

Watching Hyuga Hiashi's back, the two guards looked at each other. They thought the Clan Head was quite humorous, but at the same time, they felt they had been negligent in their duties. They silently resolved to clear the area around the mansion of all animals—snakes, rats, cockroaches, and the like—so that nothing would disturb the Clan Head's rest again.

"Why are you looking at me so strangely?"

Noticing Yu Zhihui staring at her with a weird expression, Hyuga Natsu couldn't help but ask.

She had absolutely no idea how much ambiguity her previous words carried. The boys nearby, having overheard Hyuga Natsu, either flushed red, gritted their teeth, or wore expressions of utter despair.

The goddess in their hearts had actually, actually...

"No, it's nothing."

Yu Zhihui smiled awkwardly.

By now, Yu Zhihui seemed to have realized the situation. Recalling the way Yu Zhihui had scanned her thighs and waist, Hyuga Natsu shot her a fierce glare and stomped off to her seat in a huff.

"Xia, I was wrong. I shouldn't have thought that way. Please forgive me, okay?"

Yu Zhihui ran over to Hyuga Natsu, grabbed her arm, and shook it coaxingly.

"I'll forgive you, but you have to treat me to barbecue and hot pot."

"No problem."

"I really don't know what Brother Dongyi is thinking. He's a major shareholder of the shop, yet he still has to pay every time he goes."

Hyuga Natsu couldn't quite wrap her head around it.

Of course, it was the same for everyone; even Yu Zhihui, as the shop owner's daughter, had to pay out of her own pocket.

"Hmph, these boys are so annoying. Sneaking around to listen to us talk, like flies everywhere."

The surrounding boys immediately began to put on an act, retracting their gazes. Some pretended to chat with their companions, while others picked up books and acted as if they were studying intently, failing to notice they were holding them upside down.

Yu Zhihui suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for the boys in their class, though it lasted only a second. She couldn't help it if they insisted on sticking to them like adhesive plasters, so she offered them a three-minute moment of silence.

Hyuga Natsu's popularity in their class was incredibly high—cute, beautiful, and possessing a youthful face with a curvaceous figure. Even Yu Zhihui found her enviable, let alone those boys.

However, Hyuga Natsu was quite cold in class and showed no interest in those boys. Previously, a boy had written her a love letter and confessed, but Hyuga Natsu tore it up without even looking at it, and a single glare of her Byakugan was enough to scare him off.

Since then, no one had dared to hand her a love letter or confess.

She didn't shy away from walking to school with Hyuga Gen, often linking arms with him. The boys in class seemed to ignore it, continuing to fawn over her as if they enjoyed the abuse—something Yu Zhihui couldn't understand.

Come to think of it, she had received her fair share of love letters too. Perhaps because she had been helping out at the restaurant in recent years, she was gentle with everyone. Although she had politely rejected them, she had kept some of the letters; sometimes, she found them quite interesting to look back on.

But she knew she could never forget that figure, not particularly tall, that had once stood in front of her.

Elsewhere, in a dim basement.

"Have the envoys from the Cloud Village left? Have there been any irregularities over the past few days?"

"Lord Danzo, they have already departed. We did not detect anything unusual."

One of the two men kneeling below replied.

"Oh? Could it be that I was overthinking it?"

Danzo frowned and muttered to himself.

"Very well, you may withdraw."

On the other side, just outside Konoha, Tutai and his group came to a halt. He sensed that the people who had been monitoring them seemed to have left.

"Lord Tutai, may we dispel the ninjutsu now?"

"Do not dispel it yet. Wait until we have crossed the border of the Land of Fire."

Tutai spoke with caution. Their group consisted of four people, and it was clear that one of them was an impostor.

Strange, why hasn't the Hyuga clan made a move? Could the mission have failed? Even if it failed and he was captured, they should have come to us to demand an explanation.

However, I truly cannot sense Saiji's chakra within Konoha. Could the mission have been a success? If it were, I haven't seen him leave any marks along the way.

Tutai was deeply puzzled.

Forget it, thinking about it is useless. It is impossible to return to Konoha to investigate further. It is better to head to the rendezvous point first.

With that thought, Tutai and his group resumed their journey home.

Meanwhile, Xiaojin had already brought the person to the border of the Land of Fire. It flew forward for a while longer, loosened its talons, and dropped the corpse casually before turning around to head back.