Night Interrogation

The wind was bitter, the rain cold, the sky dim, and the earth dark.

Hyuga Natsu walked down the street like a walking corpse, her eyes hollow and vacant as she stared ahead, letting the rain beat down on her mercilessly.

"Are you saying... Brother Dongyi, he's dead?" The smile that had once graced Hyuga Natsu's face gradually froze, then turned deathly pale. Doubting her own ears, she asked again timidly, completely unaware that her voice was trembling.

Once she received a definitive answer, whatever Uchiha Izumi said afterward no longer mattered. Whether it was for her sake or someone else's, it was irrelevant. What mattered was that Hyuga Natsu now knew her Brother Dongyi might never return, and she would never see him again.

"Stop following me, go away!" Hyuga Natsu activated her Byakugan, glaring fiercely at Uchiha Izumi as she swatted away the umbrella held over her. Did she hate Uchiha Izumi? Perhaps a little, but none of that mattered now.

Uchiha Izumi seemed startled by Hyuga Natsu, stopping in her tracks. Watching the devastated girl before her, she felt a heavy, painful tightness in her chest; this was not what she had wanted. Leaving the umbrella where it had fallen, Uchiha Izumi still followed, trailing silently behind Hyuga Natsu step by step until she saw her enter her home.

"Xia, what happened to you?" Seeing Hyuga Natsu in such a state, Hyuga Mikoto was struck with alarm and quickly grabbed a towel to wipe her down.

She wanted to ask what was wrong, but seeing the hollow look in Hyuga Natsu's eyes, her heart twisted with pain, and she dared not press further, a dark premonition settling in her mind.

She silently tidied her daughter up and tucked her into bed. Once she saw that Hyuga Natsu had fallen asleep, she went out to seek information.

When Hyuga Kamen heard the news of his only grandson's death, he stumbled back a step. He managed to suppress his grief long enough to see Might Guy out the door, but the moment he turned back to enter his home, his frame hunched significantly, and his hair seemed to have turned white in patches.

The sun set, and night fell.

Of course, Hyuga Gen knew nothing of what had transpired in Konoha; after all, he was currently in the Land of Grass.

He was crouching not far behind a tent, waiting for the perfect moment for a one-hit kill, and that moment was fast approaching.

"What's wrong with you?" the guard asked upon hearing a noise.

"Nothing, bad luck, I got pee on my shoe," the man replied. He pulled up his pants, fastening them as he walked out and stood at his post.

The other guard glanced at the shoes, saw the stain, and said nothing more. What he didn't know was that his teammate was now someone else entirely.

Late at night, the guard nearby grew drowsy. Hyuga Gen knew his chance had arrived. Activating his Byakugan, he unleashed the Ten-Pulse Divine Sword, firing a strike at a pressure point on the guard.

Naturally, Hyuga Gen did not intend to kill him; he controlled his strength, focusing on the pressure point to make the guard fall into a deeper sleep.

Seeing that the man was unconscious, Hyuga Gen entered the tent. Due to the intense fighting, the woman inside was exhausted and on the verge of death.

Through his Byakugan, Hyuga Gen could see the chakra within her. He had to admit that the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan was truly formidable; he could clearly see her chakra recovering rapidly.

Hyuga Gen placed his hand on her and began to channel his own chakra into her.

"Ma'am, can you hear me? You're Karin's mother, aren't you?" Hyuga Gen repeated the question, never stopping the flow of chakra.

"Who... who are you?" Under Hyuga Gen's persistent calling, she finally woke up and asked weakly.

"Who I am doesn't matter. Can you tell me where Karin is? I want to take her away from the Grass Village," Hyuga Gen asked urgently.

"You're not a ninja from the Grass Village, are you? Hmm, I remember now. You came by this morning, and I was wondering why you didn't bite me," she said, seemingly recalling something.

"Can you tell me where Karin is?" Hyuga Gen asked again. If Karin wasn't in the medical wing, it would take time to find her; she might be in some small corner of the Land of Grass.

"Leave. If you don't go, I'll start screaming. You wouldn't want to be exposed, would you?" Hearing Hyuga Gen ask about Karin again, she said with some displeasure.

What kind of good person would be skulking around in the middle of the night? Besides, the Uzumaki Clan had become like rats crossing the street, with everyone wanting them dead; she had seen too much of that. Being able to survive in the Grass Village was already a blessing, and so far, they had kept their word and hadn't laid a hand on her daughter.

She wasn't foolish enough to think someone would come looking for her daughter for no reason. They must be after something—likely the same regenerative ability she possessed. If that was the case, it didn't matter where she was.

"Ma'am, please don't get agitated. Please listen to me first. I do have a motive for seeking your daughter. I value the same healing ability she inherited from you, and I want to keep her by my side. Rest assured, I will treat her well. Even if she must be bitten, it will only be by me. If anyone else tries, they'll have to step over my dead body first," Hyuga Gen said firmly.

"I'm leaving now, but I will come back tomorrow. I hope you can tell me, and I hope you will agree. Actually, even if you don't tell me, I will still look for her, though it will take quite a bit of effort." With that, Hyuga Gen walked out.

Hearing him say this, she couldn't help but frown, for she sensed that he was speaking from the heart and not deceiving her. She was very clear about whether others were lying; others might not know of her sensory ability, but she was certain of it, having verified it many times without a single error.

Yet, she couldn't understand why a stranger would be so earnest and kind toward her daughter.

It seems Karin's sensory ability was inherited from her mother. She sensed me the moment I entered and knew I had been here this morning. Truly impressive, Hyuga Gen mused to himself.

Such a sensory-type ninja was the natural nemesis of the Transformation Technique.

Glancing at the guard still snoring nearby, Hyuga Gen walked over.

"Hey, wake up! Wake up. You take the watch now, I'm going to catch some shut-eye." Hyuga Gen woke the guard and said.

"Did I fall asleep?" The guard woke up, feeling a bit dazed.

"Yeah, you had a good nap. It's my turn now. I'm going to doze off here; wake me when it's dawn," Hyuga Gen said quickly, leaning back to feign sleep.

You were snoring away, and you expected me to keep watch alone? Not a chance, Hyuga Gen thought to himself. He didn't want to be the one losing out. It had to be said that he was quite bold, showing no sign of the anxiety one might expect from an impostor.

The night slowly faded, a sliver of light appeared, and dawn arrived quietly.

Meanwhile, in a hospital room at Konoha Hospital, Hyuga Mikoto looked at her daughter lying in bed with a face full of worry.

After her daughter fell asleep yesterday, she had gone out to inquire about the situation and learned the cause. Her own heart was heavy; how could she not understand her daughter's feelings?

What she hadn't expected was that by the time she returned, her daughter had developed a high fever, forcing her to rush her to the hospital.

She knew the fever wasn't just from the rain; she was well aware of her daughter's physical constitution. This only deepened her sorrow, and as she thought about what her daughter might be suffering from, she dared not let her mind wander further.

"Sigh, that wretched boy."