A Chance Encounter with Danzo

A few days later, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the Leaf Village with the ninja under his command. They had left without fanfare, and they returned just as quietly.

Still, some news leaked out. Although the operation had achieved its goal, quite a few ninja had been killed or injured, and that was impossible to hide.

Hyuga Iwa happened to hear about it and was somewhat surprised. Had he remembered wrong? Wasn't the Sky Ninja attack supposed to happen years later?

But then he reconsidered and felt that he had grasped something important: the Sky Ninja who attacked the Leaf Village in the future seemed to be surviving remnants of the Sky Ninja?

Then the Leaf Village's defeat of the Sky Ninja now made sense. Without their destruction now, where would those remnants come from in the future?

But the Sky Ninja seemed to have a lot of good things. He wondered whether the Leaf Village had obtained any of them.

Hmm, probably not. After all, they had not even discovered the Sky Ninja's fortress.

Ah, he really wanted to get his hands on the Sky Ninja's flying tools and study them. This was flight!

Hyuga Iwa suddenly realized that the Shinobi World seemed to have very few means of flight. Perhaps he could try exploring that direction as well?

Ah, there was so much to do, and even more to research.

Following the Hyuga Clan's unique training methods, Hyuga Iwa exercised his body, refined chakra, and practiced the Gentle Fist.

At the clan training ground, Hyuga Iwa struck a wooden training dummy with the Gentle Fist, each movement precise and methodical.

After practicing nonstop for two hours, his arms ached terribly, and sweat streamed down his body.

Hyuga Iwa was not the only one in the training ground. Several children who had successfully extracted chakra this time were also practicing nearby.

Children being children, they practiced for a while, then stopped for a while, making the Genin watching over them twitch at the corners of his eyes.

However, that Genin did not reprimand them too harshly. He knew that these children were only three or four years old and had just begun ninja training, so a few bad habits could still be tolerated.

Although the war in the Shinobi World had not yet ended and the pressure of war still remained, the village no longer had enough ninja to carry out missions. Many young ninja had been sent to the battlefield.

However, those were generally civilian ninja. Since the founding of the Leaf Village, ninja from the major clans had rarely gone to war so young.

The Hyuga Clan in particular, as a Kekkei Genkai clan, was extremely well protected. The Byakugan's strategic value was simply too great—it could spot enemies from a kilometer away, or even several kilometers away, depriving the Leaf Village's enemies of opportunities for sneak attacks and ambushes most of the time, greatly increasing their side's chances of survival.

Hyuga Iwa paid no attention to the others. He could be somewhat lazy too, but he was not so lazy that he lacked even this much patience.

Hyuga Iwa's conduct also pleased the Genin beside him greatly, and he nodded repeatedly.

As the sun rose higher and higher, the weather grew hotter. Hyuga Iwa wiped away the sweat running down his face when he suddenly felt something inexplicable.

He turned around and saw a man in a black skin-tight ninja outfit standing at the entrance to the training ground. The moment Hyuga Iwa looked over, their eyes met.

Although Hyuga Iwa quickly looked away, a chill still rose from the depths of his heart.

That gaze was cold and emotionless, yet carried a faint trace of madness.

But when Hyuga Iwa looked again, the man had already left.

However, judging from the man's clothing, he was clearly not a member of the Hyuga Clan.

After thinking for a moment, Hyuga Iwa walked over to the Genin and asked, "Excuse me, sir."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Sir, may I ask who that person who just passed by was?"

"Oh, oh, that was Lord Danzo."

Danzo!

Hyuga Iwa's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "Then do you know why he came here today?"

"How would I know that?" The Genin seemed to think of something and asked in return, "Why are you asking?"

"Oh, I just thought that person was strange. In such hot weather, he was wrapped up like Chiaotzu. Wasn't he hot?"

Hyuga Iwa casually made up an excuse.

The Genin did not think much of it. Seeing that it was about time, he sent Hyuga Iwa and the others home.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Go home, all of you. Refine chakra at home this afternoon; you don't need to come back."

"Yay! It's finally over."

"Yeah, yeah. This was exhausting."

"Mhm, I'm so hungry."

"Me too..."

Hyuga Iwa looked at the Genin before him, the corner of his mouth twitching. Suppressing his laughter, he turned and left.

Yet Danzo remained on his mind. Unfortunately, he lacked information, and because of his age, he had nowhere to gather any. It was unbearably frustrating.

But since that old schemer Danzo had come, nothing good could come of it!

And indeed, that was the case!

At the Hyuga Clan head's residence, Danzo stood arrogantly before Hyuga Hiashi. The two seemed to have serious differences, and the room's atmosphere was tense enough to draw swords.

Danzo pressed aggressively, "No matter what, I must take several people away today to replace the ANBU members who died."

"Hmph, don't think I don't know. I doubt they're for the ANBU. They're for your Root, aren't they?"

"What difference does that make? Root was established on the foundation of the ANBU! Are you Hyuga Clan people planning to defy orders?"

"Hmph, the Hyuga Clan naturally would not defy orders or show disrespect, but there must be an order from the Hokage!"

"My words are the Hokage's orders."

"Hmph, words alone prove nothing. Bring the Hokage's written order. As long as you can produce one, the Hyuga Clan will certainly cooperate!" Hyuga Hiashi held out his hand, demanding the order.

"You!" Danzo's face instantly flushed red. "Fine, I will bring the written order. I hope you won't remain so stubborn when the time comes."

"Take care. I won't see you out!"

"Hmph, this old man has his own feet. I don't need you to see me out." Danzo snorted coldly and stormed off.

Once Danzo had left, Hyuga Hiashi, who stood nearby, let out a breath. "Father, won't offending Danzo like this cause him to act against our Hyuga Clan?"

"Hmph, it doesn't matter. Does he really think he is the Hokage? Besides, even if the Hokage himself came, he would not dare speak to me like that!

"And does he think we don't know? Not one of the clan members who joined them before ever returned. Does he really think the Hyuga Clan is easy to bully?"

"Then this time..."

"Without a written order personally signed by the Hokage, it doesn't matter who comes!" Hyuga Tenka waved his hand indifferently, then continued, "Today is the last time I will help you. From now on, you must face the Hokage's faction yourself. Do not disgrace the Hyuga Clan in the future!"

"Yes, Father."

As he passed the Hyuga training ground, Danzo stopped to watch for a moment, but the grounds were already completely empty.

A Root ninja behind him could not help saying, "Lord Danzo, should I investigate them?"

Danzo did not answer. After lingering for a moment, he slowly walked out of the Hyuga Clan Grounds.

Just after leaving the streets around the Hyuga Clan Grounds, Danzo suddenly stopped. He did not turn around, but his voice carried back. "Don't let the Hyuga Clan discover you."

The Root ninja behind him froze for a moment, then immediately understood Danzo's meaning and left in response.

Danzo turned to glance at the Hyuga Clan Grounds, snorted coldly, and headed toward the Hokage Tower.

After returning home, Hyuga Iwa found Danzo's figure flashing through his mind from time to time. He always felt that something bad was about to happen.

Ah, given how sinister Danzo was, he really might do something to him. But he was still too young and too weak. Even if he wanted to do something, there was nothing he could do.

Ah, hopefully it was only a misconception.

Perhaps because he had trained so much during the day, Hyuga Iwa ate an unprecedented five bowls of rice.

Honestly, perhaps because the Hyuga Clan specialized in taijutsu, most people in the clan were huge eaters, and the ninja among them had especially enormous appetites.

The Hyuga Clan's appetite was not much worse than the Akimichi Clan's!

Fortunately, the Hyuga Clan was wealthy. As long as one became a ninja, everyone in the clan, whether from the Hyuga Main Family or Hyuga Branch Family, received a considerable allowance. Even a ninja-in-training like Hyuga Iwa had an allowance. Otherwise, his mother's meager wages from working would probably not even be enough to feed the two of them!