Kirigakure

As the ship approached the dock, Neji disembarked with the Hyuga Clan.

The moment the Hyuga Clan stepped onto the dock, eight members of the Kaguya Clan came over.

At their head was a broad-built, middle-aged ninja. His face lit up when he spotted Hyuga Keisuke, and he strode over. "Keisuke! It's been three years, hasn't it? I never expected you to be the one coming this time!"

"That's right, Yoshiyuki. I meant to come last year, but Hiroshi snatched the opportunity from me!" Hyuga Keisuke laughed.

"Come on! We haven't seen each other in three years. I'm going to show you a good time in the Land of Water. Quite a few fun places have sprung up here lately." Taketori Yoshiyuki led the way.

Hyuga Keisuke followed without hesitation.

Another Kaguya Clan Jonin, Taketori Takao, smiled at the rest of the Hyuga Clan. "Everyone, let's catch up with them. It's not often you visit Kirigakure. I hope you enjoy yourselves."

Hyuga Shunsuke, a Jonin from the Hyuga Branch Family, stepped forward. "We'll be in your care."

"No need to stand on ceremony." The broad-built Taketori Takao glanced over the Hyuga Clan's accompanying party. "Our clans have been friends for generations. Treat Kirigakure like Konoha."

"Let's go." Smiling, he led the Hyuga Clan after Taketori Yoshiyuki and Hyuga Keisuke.

Neji blended into the group. Though still young, he had grown quickly and hardly looked thirteen. He could easily pass for a boy of fifteen or sixteen.

In the Shinobi World, fifteen or sixteen was hardly young. Some prodigies had already become Jonin by that age.

The Land of Water was not as vast as the Land of Fire. After only a few hours on foot, Neji and the others reached a village shrouded in mist.

Neji looked around. Haze hung over everything, swallowing one building after another.

Streetlamps cast a hazy glow. The place looked like a city of fog.

"Well? Kirigakure has its own charm, doesn't it?" Taketori Takao said with a smile. "Quite a different atmosphere from Konoha!"

Hyuga Shunsuke nodded. "It does have a charm of its own. The mist gives it an elusive beauty."

"Haha, I'm glad you think so," Taketori Takao said. "You'll have to explore properly, then. First, I'll take you to the hotel our clan arranged."

The group entered Kirigakure under the watchful eyes of the guards at its two gates.

Few people were out on Kirigakure's streets, and those who were hurried along. There was none of Konoha's bustling foot traffic.

Neji also noticed that the passersby seemed terrified of them. The moment they saw Taketori Takao at the front, they lowered their heads. Some quickly ducked to the side of the street; others turned straight into nearby lanes.

Why is everyone avoiding them like the plague? The Kaguya Clan's reputation must be far worse than the Uchiha Clan's ever was. Neji was puzzled.

The Uchiha Clan had not been well liked in Konoha, but people had never reacted like this when its members walked down the street. Here, passersby recoiled as though they had spotted venomous snakes.

People outside Kirigakure say the Kaguya Clan is bloodthirsty and mad, but they've acted perfectly normally today. They haven't shown any of that supposed madness. They don't seem like mindless lunatics. Neji kept a careful eye on his surroundings.

The Kaguya Clan members were plainly used to the passersby's behavior. None of them reacted.

Neji was not the only one puzzled. Hyuga Shunsuke, the Branch Family Jonin leading the group, looked perplexed too. The passersby seemed afraid not just of the Kaguya Clan, but of the Hyuga Clan as well.

Kirigakure really is strange. Is this what the Blood Mist Policy has done to it? he wondered.

Hyuga Shunsuke kept his questions to himself and silently followed Taketori Takao.

Several people are watching us. I wonder which faction they belong to... Even without using his Byakugan, Neji could sense at least four people observing them from hiding.

Before coming, Neji had studied the intelligence on Kirigakure. Its strongest faction was certainly the one behind the Fourth Mizukage, who was a Tailed Beast.

But after taking office, the Fourth Mizukage had abolished the Third Mizukage's Blood Mist Policy, only to reinstate it before long.

His reversals had alienated the remaining Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Some had defected when he abolished the policy, and others when he reinstated it. Zabuza had even tried to assassinate the Mizukage.

The Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura's repeated actions had driven some of his own supporters into Genji's faction.

Even so, the Fourth Mizukage's faction remained one of Kirigakure's most powerful.

Genji's faction was Kirigakure's other major power bloc. They opposed the Mizukage's Blood Mist Policy and had plotted many things in secret. Even the Mizukage's position figured in their plans. They wanted to end the Blood Mist.

That faction was powerful too. Otherwise, it could not have survived the Mizukage's heavy-handed rule unscathed.

The Kaguya Clan, meanwhile, might belong to neither faction. The situation for bloodline clans was dire throughout Kirigakure and even the Land of Water.

Both factions considered clans with bloodlines that might run out of control extremely dangerous. It was one of the consequences of the Third Mizukage's Blood Mist Policy.

Deep-rooted prejudice was not easily erased.

The oppressive mood on the streets silenced both groups' leaders. They walked without a word until they reached a hotel reserved for foreign guests in Kirigakure.

The seven-story hotel was sizable, with ornate lights decorating its exterior. A sign above the entrance read: Water Mist Mansion.

"This is one of Kirigakure's finest hotels," Taketori Takao said as he led them into the lobby. "I hope everyone from the Hyuga Clan will be comfortable here."

"Sorry for the trouble," Hyuga Shunsuke said.

"It's nothing." Taketori Takao led them up to the seventh floor and smiled at Hyuga Shunsuke. "We've reserved this entire floor. Choose whichever rooms you like."

Just then, the door at the end of the corridor opened, and Hyuga Keisuke and Taketori Yoshiyuki stepped out.

Hyuga Keisuke turned to the Hyuga Clan party. "Everyone, the Kaguya Clan has prepared a Welcome Banquet for us. Let's go."

With an elder of the Main Family giving the order, Neji and the others from the Branch Family naturally complied. Neji followed at the back of the group. They went downstairs, walked a short way along the street outside the hotel, and arrived at the Kaguya Clan's stately, old-fashioned compound.