Chapter 6: Are You Suspecting Orochimaru?
"Something feels off about the village's atmosphere lately."
"Who wouldn't think so? Even though the war with the Hidden Cloud Village is over, there's no sense of celebration in the air."
Late at night, two patrolling ninjas were chatting idly.
Due to the Uchiha clan deploying many of their members to the battlefield, the Police Force was short on manpower, so ninjas like them, who normally had free time, were temporarily assigned to patrol duties.
"You were on the Hidden Cloud battlefield, right? I heard the Yellow Flash was there."
"That's right. The Hidden Cloud's AB Combination was incredibly strong. Without Lord Minato, the Cloud battlefield might have completely collapsed.
But now it's over. The Third Raikage was killed by the Hidden Stone, and with the AB Brothers unable to overcome Lord Minato, they had no choice but to retreat with their troops. The village's burden has been greatly eased."
"Will Lord Minato head to another battlefield next? Could the war really end because of just one person?"
"That's how powerful Lord Minato is."
The older ninja, who had returned from the front lines, spoke with admiration.
"You're really something…"
The other ninja shook his head with a smile, but his expression suddenly changed as a scent wafted through the air. "Blood?"
The two exchanged glances, their faces growing serious as they began searching the area.
Eventually, they found a body in the shadows between two buildings.
The corpse, lying in a pool of blood, had long black hair and the Hyuga clan crest on its clothing. Its eye sockets, once housing the Byakugan, were now empty.
Due to his death, the Caged Bird seal had automatically destroyed his nervous system and the Byakugan.
"It's Hyuga Meiken, a jonin from the Hyuga branch family... I'll handle the scene. Go report this to the Hokage immediately!" the older ninja said gravely.
"Understood!"
---
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was complicated.
"Hyuga Meiken… This is the third case this month. And this time, it's a jonin..."
"Someone is using the Caged Bird seal to hunt Hyuga branch members," said Danzo, who had been summoned. His tone was calm. "Though there's no evidence, the first two victims were chunin. The attacker likely wasn't very powerful initially.
But now, killing a jonin without drawing attention... Only the Caged Bird seal could make that possible."
"Based on the investigation, the external wounds on the Hyuga jonin weren't fatal, correct?"
Hiruzen turned his gaze to Danzo.
"Was it you?"
Danzo replied calmly, "I have no reason to kill Hyuga branch members."
"But killing branch members benefits no one," Hiruzen said, his brow furrowed tightly. "Especially those who control the Caged Bird—there's no need for them to do this."
Currently, those with access to the Caged Bird seal included the Hyuga clan, Hiruzen himself, Danzo, and members of the Caged Bird research team.
Among them, who would need to repeatedly attack Hyuga branch members?
Danzo stated, "The three victims were all close to the Main Family."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you saying someone is targeting the Main Family out of revenge?"
"Perhaps it's more than just revenge."
Danzo handed a document to Hiruzen.
"..."
Hiruzen took it silently, but after reading just the first few lines, his anger flared.
"Danzo, you used my name to send Hyuga ninjas to their deaths!"
"Loyalty to Konoha is their duty," Danzo replied indifferently. "The two Hyuga ninjas I secretly sent to the Mist battlefield were both killed. They did not die due to the Caged Bird seal.
There is a Konoha ninja plotting in the shadows. He orchestrated the attack, making it seem like the Mist captured Main Family ninjas to pressure us into breaking the Caged Bird seal.
But in reality, the Mist never obtained the seal. And now, the one killing Hyuga branch members in Konoha… is that same person."
Danzo stared seriously at Hiruzen, whose anger was slowly subsiding.
"He's a branch family member—a cunning one at that. These attacks serve both as revenge against the Main Family and as a way to pressure us.
From an outsider's perspective, the use of the Caged Bird seal to kill these Hyuga members points directly to those involved in the Caged Bird research, stirring public opinion within Konoha and forcing us to break the seal."
It had been three months since the Main Family's capture. Danzo had long begun to uncover the inconsistencies in the situation.
"This proves nothing," Hiruzen said, shaking his head calmly. "Your actions may have been discovered by the Mist, and they are creating this smokescreen to lure us into sending more Hyuga ninjas, only to eliminate them all with the Caged Bird seal."
"My spy in the Mist is highly placed, yet he has not acquired any information about the Caged Bird seal..."
Hiruzen's eyes turned sharp as he shouted, "Danzo, don't forget who is in charge of the Mist battlefield!"
If this attack were truly an internal Konoha conspiracy, Orochimaru would have detected something amiss, as only a handful of individuals had the authority to know Hyuga Kyushin's movements.
If Danzo's theory were correct, then the first suspect would be Orochimaru himself!
Whether through turning a blind eye or direct involvement, Orochimaru would be implicated either way.
Danzo opened his mouth, momentarily unable to refute.
Would Orochimaru aid a Hyuga branch member?
Impossible. What value could the branch family possibly hold for Orochimaru?
Orochimaru had no reason to help the branch family break the Caged Bird seal.
But if that wasn't the case, then who was the enemy currently targeting Hyuga ninjas?
---
"Too amateurish."
Hyuga Fuji observed Hyuga Miyuki as she attacked another chunin, shaking his head slightly.
Even though he had given her the Caged Bird activation technique, she was, at heart, still a 14-year-old girl who saw herself as a tool.
Focused solely on pursuing power, she was now targeting opponents she could handle and absorbing their Byakugan ocular power.
As for jonin… she still had to account for the possibility of dying before she could activate the Caged Bird seal.
But this approach would eventually lead Konoha to identify her.
Starting with weaker chunin, moving on to stronger ones, and eventually targeting jonin—it wouldn't take a genius to deduce that the attacker was growing stronger with each fight.
Even her motive—killing Hyuga ninjas to gain strength—would become obvious.
This was why Hyuga Fuji had personally killed Hyuga Meiken using the Caged Bird seal: to misdirect the investigation.
"If this is framed as revenge against the Hyuga Main Family, it could connect to previous events," Fuji thought.
"But the Third Hokage, who showed leniency even when Orochimaru defected, won't suspect him."
"To expose me, they'd first have to implicate Orochimaru. That would put them in a difficult position."
Watching Miyuki's movements, which had grown much smoother than before, Fuji smiled faintly.
"Three Byakugan pairs have already boosted her strength to the level of a near-jonin. Faster progress than expected."
"If they can't catch her soon, things are going to get very interesting."
The evolution of the Tenseigan had more than one method beyond what he had discussed with Orochimaru.
Merging a large number of Byakugan pairs was another way—this was how the Giant Tenseigan was created.
But what about simply merging their ocular power?
The answer would emerge soon enough.
(End of Chapter)
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