The Dagger Was Finally Revealed
Full of self-satisfaction, Dodai went to find Hiruzen Sarutobi, making sure to put on an extremely angry expression as he went.
Similar to his previous visit to Hiruzen Sarutobi, he went directly to the Hokage Building this time and simply pushed open the door to the Hokage's office.
We have no idea how a ninja from Kumogakure could freely enter and leave the Hokage Building, and we dare not ask. Anyway, he just walked in so casually.
What about Hiruzen Sarutobi? It seems he's made some preparations this time.
Hiding behind his desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up and saw Dodai. He immediately gave him a cold shoulder, and at the same time, he had a bad feeling.
This aggressive, accusatory attitude... what kind of trouble is Dodai up to now? What is he planning?
Soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi found out what Dodai was going to do.
Dodai strode up to Hiruzen Sarutobi, bracing himself against Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk with both hands, leaning forward, his tone and expression conveying extreme anger.
"Lord Hokage, please give me an explanation!"
Staring fixedly at the Dodai, Hiruzen Sarutobi truly exuded an aura of unwavering composure.
"Dodai Tutai, we in Konoha are investigating. Please don't worry, we will inform you as soon as we have the results."
At this moment, Dodai was almost laughing in anger:
"What? You're investigating? And you're notifying us immediately after you've finished your investigation?"
"Excuse me, Lord Hokage, the truth is we already know that our comrade Morui has indeed been murdered, and the one who killed him... wasn't it Hiashi Hyuga, the head of your Konoha Hyūga Clan Hyuga Hiashi!?"
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression immediately changed.
Didn't he strictly order that this matter not be leaked? How come the person in charge found out so quickly? Even if it was a leak, it happened far too fast! When did Konoha become so riddled with problems?
Is it possible that Konoha was always Hiruzen Sarutobi simply didn't notice it before, or perhaps even if he did, he was unwilling to face the reality and kept deceiving himself?
Staring intently at the Dodai, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was extremely grim.
Dodai stared intently at Hiruzen Sarutobi, their auras locked in a tense standoff. The atmosphere in the Hokage's office was heavy, as if a storm was brewing.
The first to act rudely was, as expected, the relatively domineering Dodai, who slammed his hands on Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk and continued his forceful questioning:
"Lord Hokage, is this your explanation to Kumogakure?! We all know who the mastermind is, yet you've kept it from us all this time? Is this how Konoha treats its guests? Is this Konoha's sincerity?!"
With a gloomy face, Hiruzen Sarutobi of his pipe and didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked a question that Hiruzen desperately wanted to know:
"Dodai envoy, where did you learn of this?"
With a cold laugh, Dodai didn't try to hide anything or conceal anything, but answered directly:
"It was fortunate, really. One of the people in our Kumogakure delegation found out about this by chance."
And you found out unintentionally, so someone must have deliberately leaked it to you, right? And then you just took the opportunity to come and cause me trouble.
As expected, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately guessed the general truth of the matter, and he wished the guy who leaked the information dead, while also desperately wanting to know who this bastard was.
The existence of such a traitor within Konoha, or rather, within his own Anbu, caused Hiruzen Sarutobi immense anxiety.
Wait a minute! Something seems off!
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up again at Dodai's indignant expression and confirmed that the murderer he had just mentioned was Hyuga Hiashi, and no one else.
He felt... well, he didn't know whether he was relieved or sighed, but his feelings were quite complicated.
Although the matter was leaked, Dodai did not know the truth. He did not know that Hyuga Hiashi was not the murderer, and that the person who actually killed the Kumogakure ninja was someone else.
In that case, the person in the Anbu who leaked the information wasn't of a very high rank, nor was he particularly close to them; otherwise, they wouldn't have mistakenly obtained information that wasn't entirely accurate.
But... the situation isn't much better now.
Regardless of who the Kumogakure delegation believes killed their companion—whether it's Hyuga Hiashi or someone else—they've come directly to cause me trouble.
If I'm not mistaken, this bastard is about to...
Thinking this to himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi, taking the opportunity to ask:
"Alright, does the Dodai envoy have any comments?"
Dodai's attitude remained as tough and rude as ever:
"What other opinions could there be? A life for a life, a debt for a debt—this is an age-old principle, and even if this person is the head of the Hyūga Clan, Hyuga Hiashi, it should still be the same."
Hyuga Hiashi Kumogakure without cause, severely provoking our Kumogakure and damaging the relationship between our Kumogakure and yours.
Therefore, I demand that Konoha hand over Hyuga Hiashi so we can deal with him and bring him back to Kumogakure for trial!
Their scheme is quite obvious; it's practically a case of revealing their true intentions.
Hearing the demands of this Dodai, Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered inwardly.
And you even damaged the relationship between Kumogakure and Konoha? You demanded that Hyuga Hiashi be handed over? You wanted to deal with him? You even wanted him to be taken back to Kumogakure for trial? That's utterly shameless!
If it were an ordinary ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi might have agreed... cough cough, no, even if it were an ordinary ninja from Konoha, or even an ordinary villager from Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never compromise or hand the person over in this situation!
Not to mention that this person is Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyūga Clan. If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to hand him over like this, wouldn't the entire Hyūga Clan explode?
Moreover, even if Hiruzen Sarutobi were stupid, he would understand the true purpose of the Kumogakure delegation, or rather, the Dodai in front of him, now that things had come to this.
Hyuga Hiashi is the head of the Hyūga Clan, the true Main Family. What does this mean? It means that Hyuga Hiashi doesn't have the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead, and his Byakugan can be gouged out.
If you really take Hyuga Hiashi away to Kumogakure, then you'll be able to take all of Hyuga Hiashi's Byakugan at will!
Even in the worst-case scenario, you might treat Hiashi Hyuga as a race, forcing him to reproduce Hyuga Hiashi day, desperately trying to preserve his offspring and bloodline.
This sounds shameless at first glance, but Hiruzen Sarutobi is pretty certain that given the shamelessness and integrity of the Kumogakure, they would definitely do something like this.
Don't underestimate the allure of a powerful bloodline for a powerful ninja village; such a lure is enough to make any politician cross the line of morality and ethics.
Having understood all this, Hiruzen Sarutobi was even less likely to hand over Hyuga Hiashi. Facing Dodai, he shook his head seriously, his tone becoming angry and threatening:
"Embassy of the Dodai, let's not beat around the bush. How was that Morui killed? Why was he killed by the Hyuga clan leader? Don't you know?"
Dodai still feigned ignorance, but then shook his head and asked with a humble expression:
"To be honest, Lord Hokage, I really don't know the secrets behind this. I'm sure Konoha has already investigated the reasons. Please tell me."
This attitude infuriated Hiruzen Sarutobi, but he could only suppress his anger for the time being and continued furiously:
"The reason is simple! It's because your Kumogakure coveted our Konoha's Byakugan first!"
That Morui probably received an extra mission from your Fourth Raikage. On the night he disappeared, he secretly infiltrated the Hyūga Clan's territory and kidnapped the eldest daughter of the Hyūga Clan's Main Family, who is also the daughter of the Hyuga clan leader!
How could the Hyuga clan leader tolerate such a thing? He immediately gave chase, and the follow-up Morui was also killed instantly! His daughter was also successfully rescued."
It's important to note that Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't explicitly state that Morui was immediately killed afterward; rather, he was killed by Hyuga Hiashi.
He only said the word "killed," which might have led Dodai to mistakenly believe that the murderer was indeed Hyuga Hiashi.
Unless absolutely necessary, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want to reveal Yun Yan's existence to Dodai, especially not to let Dodai know that the real murderer was Yun Yan.
It's already troublesome enough that these bastards from Hyuga Hiashi are targeting Kumogakure alone; if they find out that the real killer was Yun Yan, the trouble will only get worse.
When they demand that Konoha hand over Uchiha Yunyan, what can Hiruzen Sarutobi do?
Should we really hand Yun Yan over? It would be better to force Yun Yan to betray the village.
If they don't hand him over, the Kumogakure will be extremely difficult to deal with; the more they think about it, the more difficult it becomes.