Hidden Compartment

Hiashi did not lack the courage to sacrifice himself for righteousness, especially at a time when Ning Qi still needed him alive to lure in more Hyuga clansmen. Without him, this crucial captive, Ning Qi, burdened with the Caged Bird Seal, would see his hunting efficiency greatly reduced even with the This-Realm Naraku Technique. The risk of exposure would also rise considerably, and this clan-extermination plan of a snake swallowing an elephant would become hopelessly distant.

Therefore, even if Hiashi wanted to die, Ning Qi would not let him off. The hinged mechanism from the Torture Division had never left prisoners room to take their own lives from the moment it was designed. Once their acupoints were sealed, even a Shadow Level expert could only die with resentment.

But while this old man Hiashi did not care about his own life, that did not mean he did not care about the lives of others.

From the moment he gave up information about several clan elders who were not in Konoha for the sake of his daughter Hinata, he no longer had the capital to keep resisting Ning Qi.

One step back led to another. During the days before Ning Qi defected from Konoha, being squeezed dry, flesh and bone alike, was the fate awaiting this Hyuga clan head.

For instance, everyone knew that the matter of him exchanging eyes with his daughter Hinata was merely a pretext Ning Qi had found to extort him. Even without this matter, there would have been another.

But Hiashi had no way to refute him. His backbone had already been broken, and he could only let Ning Qi take whatever he wanted, hoping he might show a little mercy and go easy on his daughter Hinata.

Hinata shuffled in with tiny steps and buried her face directly in Ning Qi's chest. Only then did she peek through the gap at the slovenly man seated before the desk.

"You don't recognize him?" Ning Qi did not react at first.

"My father really was sitting there earlier. He told me many things too, told me to endure the pain. I endured it... and then... then my father disappeared!" Hinata did not continue, but her meaning was already clear.

Hiashi watched Hinata throw herself into the arms of Ning Qi, the culprit behind all this, and his heart filled with bitter misery.

After Hinata had received one of his eyes and seen through the illusion, she had immediately run away from his side.

She clearly could not reconcile the elegant, refined father from the illusion with the person he was in reality... By then, Ning Qi had tortured Hiashi until he was barely recognizable. It was understandable that she did not know him.

Besides, it did not matter if she could not recognize him. As long as she had clearly heard what he told Hinata before the eye transplant: even if she could not escape the illusion, she had to dig up her mother's corpse and leave it somewhere conspicuous in the courtyard.

However... seeing his daughter nestled against the enemy's chest, he shook his head.

Hiashi knew that his daughter had not been living well within the clan lately. No one cooked for her, no one bathed her, and she suffered greatly.

For a young lady who had been pampered since childhood, it was a disaster she had never experienced. She was pure, like a blank sheet of paper.

Perhaps that was why her spirituality in this illusion lasted longer than that of the others. That was also why Hiashi had chosen his daughter Hinata rather than Natsu Hyuga or the others.

But judging by the situation, the final effort he had made as clan head to save his people had still failed in a place he had never anticipated.

Hinata, the young lady of the main family, truly had no talent or ability after all...

After a long silence, Hiashi sighed.

Sigh.

She was of the main family bloodline, after all. Perhaps it was fine that she lacked talent. There was no need to speak of revenge anymore; she could live out her life peacefully... The Hyuga clan would have another chance to prosper someday.

Hiashi looked directly at Ning Qi. This time, he did not argue further or leave behind any harsh words. Instead, he decisively conceded defeat.

Since you wanted ransom money, then I would give you all of it.

"On the left wall of my study, there is a secret room. To prevent Byakugan inspection, it must be summoned by forming hand seals. The sequence is Tiger, Ox, Boar... There are three hidden compartments inside, along with plenty of gold, silver, and money. You can take all of it."

With the exception of the Hyuga clan's public assets, such as shops and woodland, the wealth in that secret room was clearly the private property of the clan head's line.

Once Ning Qi became a rogue ninja wandering the Ninja World, he would indeed need such a windfall. He could not be short of money, or else constantly robbing houses and looting people would be too low-class, and he would not get far.

"Mhm." Ning Qi nodded faintly, indicating for him to continue.

"In the second hidden compartment, there are some summoning scrolls containing many ninja tools and emergency supplies."

This was probably the supply reserve the Hyuga clan had left for survivors in the event of a clan-extinction crisis.

Unfortunately, the far-sighted Hyuga ancestors could never have imagined that the greatest crisis of extermination would come from within the clan itself...

Ning Qi said lazily,

"These things aren't enough to buy her life."

For the first time, Hinata showed hesitation.

She could hear the real conversation between the two of them, and she could sense that something about their words was not quite right.

What was Brother Neji talking about?

What were they using?

Whose life were they trading for?

"I know. Don't rush me."

Hiashi paused, gave Ning Qi a meaningful look, and then said calmly,

"In the third hidden compartment... there are more than a dozen pairs of Byakugan passed down by Hyuga ancestors."

Huh?

Ning Qi's eyes abruptly widened.

The Byakugan of the Hyuga Branch Family would be destroyed by the Caged Bird the instant their owners died. That meant those Byakugan had all been passed down from deceased members of the main family throughout the generations...

More than a dozen pairs!!

Your clan head's line actually had such a reserve?!

If I had known about this earlier, why would my progress have been so slow all these years?

"You knew I was collecting Byakugan. Why didn't you hand them over sooner?" Ning Qi gritted his teeth. If he had not happened to return this time, wouldn't all that Byakugan Essence have been left underground to gather dust?!

At that thought, Ning Qi suddenly felt incredibly fortunate.

Hiashi really did have potential. If Ning Qi did not push him, he truly would not know where his limits lay.

"I don't know what you intend to do by collecting so many Byakugan, but now that I've told you this, can you kill a few fewer people?" Hiashi asked, his gaze carrying a trace of pleading.

Ning Qi considered it. More than a dozen pairs of high-purity main-family Byakugan—even accounting for the loss of vitality from being preserved for too long—should provide at least more than half the Byakugan Essence progress he needed.

Perhaps, during next week's clan-extermination operation, he really would not need to wipe out every remaining Hyuga clansman?

—No.

The moment that merciful thought arose, Ning Qi ruthlessly crushed it.

Since he was going to do this, he had to see it through to the end!

He would be a rogue ninja afterward. Whether he could ever return to Konoha was still uncertain!

With so much Byakugan Essence right before his eyes, his for the taking, he had to consider whether this might be the only opportunity he would ever have in his life.

Ning Qi had a faint premonition that even after his eyes advanced to their final stage, Byakugan Essence would still have great uses.

"I can spare her." Ning Qi patted Hinata's head.

She still looked utterly lost.

Hiashi nodded. That answer did not surprise him.

Insatiable greed—this was the Ning Qi he had come to know over these past few days.