The Raikage Struck While the Iron Was Hot, and the Leaf Village Higher-Ups Compromised Again!

Cold threads of rain dripped steadily from the eaves.

Hiashi Hyuga stood before the window, gazing at the northwestern sky with a bitter smile.

Just as he was questioning his life and lost in a thousand thoughts—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Urgent knocking brutally shattered his contemplation.

"Lord Hiashi! The Hokage has summoned you urgently!"

An Anbu wearing a tanuki mask pushed the door open without waiting for a response, his voice anxious.

"The Hidden Cloud Village delegation has arrived. They specifically demanded that you come!"

The Hidden Cloud Village?

Hiashi Hyuga frowned, his heart sinking as an ominous feeling welled up inside him.

Hokage Building, top-floor conference room.

The atmosphere was even colder than the weather outside.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at the head of the table, his expression so grim it seemed water could be wrung from it.

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane wore equally miserable expressions.

Across from them—

A hulking Hidden Cloud Village jonin with dark skin and muscles knotted like those of a black bear sat sprawled in his chair.

He had one leg crossed over the other, his posture arrogant, his nostrils pointed at the ceiling. The only thing missing was the words "I'm here to pick a fight" carved across his face.

"Lord Hiashi is here."

When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Hiashi Hyuga enter, it was as if he had seen a savior. He cleared his throat, breaking the suffocating silence.

"Ahem... This is the Hidden Cloud Village's envoy, Lord Headman."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed toward the dark-skinned brute across from him, with a faint trace of ingratiation in his tone.

"Lord Headman has come on behalf of the Fourth Raikage to sign a new peace and friendship treaty with our Leaf Village."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded expressionlessly at the Hidden Cloud envoy in greeting.

But inwardly, he sneered.

Peace and friendship?

Bullshit.

Everyone in the shinobi world knew what state the Leaf Village was in.

The Uchiha Clan had left, the Fourth Hokage was gone, and the village had been turned upside down by the Nine-Tails.

Those muscleheads from the Hidden Cloud Village could have come sooner or later, yet they chose this exact moment. Their intentions could not have been more obvious.

Were they really here to sign a treaty?

They were clearly here to kick them while they were down and extort them!

"You're Clan Head Hiashi, right?"

The Hidden Cloud envoy, Headman, looked Hiashi Hyuga up and down. He bared a mouthful of stark white teeth in a thoroughly ill-intentioned grin.

"Our Raikage said that signing a treaty is fine, but you must first show some sincerity."

He paused, then slapped a bloodstained scroll onto the table.

"Last night, an envoy from our Hidden Cloud Village, who had been sent ahead to negotiate, was brutally murdered within your village's territory!"

"What?!"

Hiashi Hyuga's pupils contracted sharply.

That was impossible! The Leaf Village's defenses had recently been raised to the highest level. How could an envoy from another village have been killed within their borders?

"According to our investigation of the scene, the murderer used the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist!"

Headman suddenly slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, pointing at Hiashi Hyuga's nose as he roared.

"And before dying, our envoy had only one purpose: to have a 'friendly' ninjutsu exchange with the Hyuga Clan's eldest daughter, Hinata Hyuga!"

"Now that he's dead, your Hyuga Clan must give the Hidden Cloud Village an explanation!"

Boom—!

It was as though thunder had exploded inside Hiashi Hyuga's head.

He understood everything at once.

Those bastards!

What friendly exchange? They had clearly intended to take advantage of the chaos to kidnap the main family's heir and seize the Byakugan bloodline limit!

When the kidnapping failed, they had been killed on the spot by patrolling clan members. And now they actually dared to turn around and accuse the victims!

"You're making baseless accusations!"

Hiashi Hyuga trembled with rage. Veins bulged around his Byakugan as the terrifying aura of a Kage-level powerhouse erupted.

"Your Hidden Cloud Village coveted my clan's Byakugan first, and now you dare to accuse us instead?!"

"Outrageous!"

Blasted back two steps by that aura, Headman flew into a rage out of humiliation.

"Hiashi Hyuga! Are you trying to start a war between our two nations?!"

"So what if I am?!" Hiashi Hyuga was completely enraged.

"My Hyuga Clan would rather shatter like jade than survive as broken tiles!"

Just as the conference room was on the verge of erupting into a fight—

"Enough! Both of you, shut up!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the table, forcibly suppressing the hostility on both sides.

He first placated the furious Hidden Cloud envoy, then turned to Hiashi Hyuga with an utterly weary gaze.

"Hiashi, the village can't withstand any more turmoil right now."

There was an unmistakable note of command in Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice.

"The Hidden Stone Village is watching us like a tiger from the north. We absolutely cannot make an enemy of the Hidden Cloud Village as well."

"This matter must be settled."

Hiashi Hyuga's heart sank bit by bit.

He understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's unspoken meaning.

They wanted him—the Hyuga Clan—to take the blame!

"Lord Hokage, what do you mean?" Hiashi Hyuga's voice was unbearably dry.

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long while.

He glanced at Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane beside him.

The two old figures nodded in unison, their eyes cold.

At last, as if making some grave decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly spoke.

"The Hidden Cloud Village's demand is to hand over the murderer."

"Since Lord Headman has identified you, then you..."

"Impossible!"

Before Hiashi Hyuga could speak, an explosive roar came from the doorway.

Hizashi Hyuga had arrived at some point. He rushed into the conference room and stood firmly in front of his older brother.

"My brother spent all of last night handling clan affairs and never stepped outside. He could not possibly have killed anyone!"

Hizashi turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi, his eyes filled with disappointment and grief.

"Lord Hokage, you cannot sacrifice a hero of the village for the sake of so-called peace!"

As Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the agitated Hizashi, an almost imperceptible glint suddenly flashed through his cloudy old eyes.

He seemed to have found a solution that would satisfy both sides.

"Hizashi..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice suddenly became incomparably "grieved."

"What the Hidden Cloud Village wants is an explanation—the life of the Hyuga main family's clan head."

"Since Hiashi did not leave last night, then the person who killed the Hidden Cloud envoy must have been someone else..."

He paused, and his gaze fell upon Hizashi.

"Hizashi, you and Hiashi are twin brothers. You look exactly alike..."

The moment those words were spoken—

Hiashi Hyuga felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his entire body turning ice-cold.

He abruptly turned toward his younger brother, his eyes full of horror and disbelief.

He finally understood what the higher-ups were planning.

Handing over Hiashi Hyuga would shake the entire Hyuga Clan, and the Leaf Village could not afford that loss.

But if they handed over a twin brother from the branch family to take the blame...

They could appease the Hidden Cloud Village's anger while preserving the main family's dignity.

It was practically the perfect solution!

The conference room fell into deathly silence.

Everyone's eyes focused on Hizashi Hyuga.

There was urging in those gazes, coercion, and cold indifference.

Hizashi Hyuga smiled.

A smile filled with boundless desolation.

He slowly turned around and looked at his elder brother, who was consumed by grief.

Then he looked at those expressionless Leaf Village higher-ups seated at the head of the table, who regarded human lives as worthless as grass.

He suddenly felt that the Uchiha Clan's choice had been so very right.

Hizashi Hyuga bowed deeply to Hiashi Hyuga.

"Brother, this is the branch family's fate."

Then he straightened up. Without looking at anyone else, he strode out of that revolting conference room.

Hiashi Hyuga reached out, as if trying to grab something, but caught only cold air.

Watching his brother's resolute back, his tears finally burst forth.

"No... Hizashi!!!"

As he stepped out of the Hokage Building, icy rain struck Hizashi Hyuga's face.

He raised his head and gazed at the gray, overcast sky.

He saw his brother stumble out after him, like a trapped beast whose spine had been torn away, suffering so deeply that he could not utter a word.

Yet a bleak, relieved smile appeared on Hizashi's face instead.

He gently stroked the green Caged Bird curse mark on his forehead, his voice so soft it was like he was speaking in a dream.

"Brother, don't mourn for me."

"This is the Leaf Village we swore to serve unto death."

"The fate of the branch family truly is... to become nothing but sacrifices."