"Bang!"
The tea room's exquisite sliding doors were kicked open with brutal force, slamming into the frames on either side with a piercing crash that sounded especially terrifying in the dead of night.
Inside, the lights burned brightly, and sandalwood incense curled through the air.
Five elders who normally stood high above everyone else, wielding the Hyuga Clan's authority, sat around the tea table.
But now, none of their usual composure or arrogance remained. Their faces were deathly pale, their eyes darting in panic like startled birds.
The sudden crash made all of them shudder. Oblivious even to the tea they had spilled, they turned their terrified gazes toward the doorway.
As the dust cleared a little, they made out two figures standing backlit in the entrance-especially the silhouette of the tall figure in front, draped in a black cloak.
The elders' taut nerves suddenly relaxed, and they nearly collapsed with relief.
The First Elder even instinctively put on a relieved smile. Rising shakily, he tried to hide his earlier loss of composure with a lighthearted tone:
"Oh, it's... it's the clan head!
You've... you've come back just in time!
A vicious criminal somehow broke in just now. The clan..."
As he spoke, he instinctively moved to greet him, as though he had found someone to lean on.
Before he could finish, however, the Third Elder beside him seized his sleeve. His face was ashen, his eyes fixed on the doorway.
"What's wrong?"
Interrupted, the First Elder turned back with some displeasure.
The Third Elder did not look at him. His old eyes were wide, one hand forming a hand seal to activate the Caged Bird Seal on the man before him. Horrified, he pointed a trembling finger at "Hiashi" in the doorway, his voice as dry as scraping sandpaper: