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"He is the Kumo Ambassador's assistant. I know what he did is unforgivable, but we need to manage through this carefully." Hiruzen said with a serious tone.
Hiashi's eyes widened slightly, but his anger didn't go away. If anything, his anger seemed to rise. He didn't meet the Kumo envoy and his escort personally, but he was informed that they had come to Konoha with the intention of making a peace treaty with Konoha. But it seems to be a conspiracy, a cover-up, to obtain the Byakugan, kidnapping his daughter being part of the process.
"And what does this change? This…. man tried to kidnap my daughter." Hiashi said with barely controlled rage.
"I know, Hiashi. But this man is a part of a diplomatic convoy; if we are hasty, then it might come back to bite us. Let's traverse through this carefully so he won't go scot-free, and so that it won't affect us negatively." Hiruzen said
Hiashi gritted his teeth in quiet anger as his fists clenched, his eyes locked with so much intensity at the unconscious Kumo nin that it seemed like he wanted to make holes through his body.
After a couple of seconds of tense silence, Hiashi unclenched his fists while letting out a sigh.
"I apologize for my outburst. I will follow what you think is best, Hokage-sama." Hiashi said as he attempted to go back to his usual demeanor. Hiruzen nodded in acceptance.
Hiashi then turned to Team Shi before saying, "I thank you for rescuing my daughter and stopping the Kidnapping attempt." To which the team nodded without replying
Hiashi then turned back to Hiruzen before saying, "I will be taking my leave, Hokage-sama. I have things to take care of back at the compound."
"That is fine," Hiruzen replied.
Hiashi then turned around and left the office, Hizashi walking right beside.
"Hizashi," Haishi called to his brother
"Yes, Ni-sama," Hizashi replied
"When we return, I want you to bring me all those who are responsible for the compound security tonight," Hiashi said with anger seeping back into his voice.
"It shall be done, Ni-sama," Hizashi replied. But he couldn't help but be worried. The nightly guard duty is the responsibility of the Hyuga branch family with supervision from the main family. The ones who are found guilty of tonight's incident would be punished severely, no matter who they are.
Half an hour later, in the Hokage building;
'What is going on? Did the plan fail?' Masaru thought worriedly to himself. His mind raced with thoughts the moment an Anbu team knocked on his door and then escorted him to the Hokage's building. When he inquired about what this was about, an Anbu operative said that the Hokage wanted to see him immediately. This set a series of alarms in Masaru's mind, as being called to the Hokage in the middle of the night, is not a good sign.
As they reached the Hokage's office door, one of the escorting Anbu knocked on the door.
Knock Knock Knock.
"Come in," Came Hiruzen's voice from inside.
The Anbu team opened the door and guided Masaru inside the room.
As Masaru entered the office, his eyes fell on Hiruzen before he saw something in the corner of the room that made his blood drain from his face.
His assistant, Daiki, was bound with ninja wire in a kneeling position with what looked like a seal strapped on his forehead. On each of his two sides stood an Anbu operative, one with a dragon mask and one that was shaped like a type of bird.
"What is the meaning of this, Hokage-sama?" Masaru asked in a grim tone as he forced himself to calm down.
"I should be asking you the same question. Masaru-san." Hiruzen asked in a blank tone as he looked directly at Masaru.
"What are you talking about? Daiki only wanted to go out on a late-night stroll. There was no need for such treatment. " Masaru said with a calm tone.
"So, you are telling me that Daiki-san was out on a casual walk into the Hyuga compound and into the Heiress's room," Hireuzen said with a tone that seemed to freeze the room.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Masaru denied knowing anything. The room fell into a couple of moments of tense silence.
"Hmmmm. I thought you would say that. Sadly, that isn't what I wanted to hear. From now on, you and your convoy aren't allowed out of your place of temporary residence until I get an explanation from Kumo about this." Hiruzen said with a grim tone.
"As for Daiki-san, he would remain in our custody until further notice." Hiruzen continued
"Team Ni, escort Masaru-san back, and keep watch on them," Hirzuen said with finality, dismissing Masaru and the team that escorted him. That is as far as Hiruzen can go if the convoy behaves until Konoha and Kumo resolve this situation; it is a 'diplomatic convoy' after all. As for Daiki, he will be imprisoned for the time being.
As the Anbu team escorted Masaru out of the Hokage office, his mind was running wild, trying to think of a way out of this situation.
'The plan completely failed. This is the worst possible outcome. There is no need to stay here anymore, but how can I even return to Kumo after this?' Masaru thought bitterly to himself. He wished that, at least if they were able to catch Daiki, he would have died so that they could blame it on Konoha.
An hour later, in the Hokage office;
Hiruzen sighed tiredly as he stood up from his seat. He stretched his body as he was ready to retire for the evening. He had sent a message to Kumo and ordered a council session to be held first thing in the morning.
Booooooom
Hiruzen's tiredness evaporated the moment he heard the explosion. He took off his Hokage robes, revealing his battle attire underneath.
"Anbu, on me," Hiruzen ordered as he jumped out of the window and towards the site of the explosion.
A few moments later, at the guest house of the Kumo convoy;
Hiruzen arrived at where the Kumo envoy should be staying, only to find the place almost destroyed with fires scattered around.
Several Anbu teams started appearing on site, and among them were team Ro and team Shi.
"I want to know what happened here. Spread out." Hiruzen ordered, making the Anbu teams start looking through the explosion site.
Ryuu, on the other hand, went to a spot near the destroyed building entrance. His senses had spotted two familiar Chakra signatures, with the third one missing.
After making six shadow clones, Ryuu started to go through the wreckage alongside his clones.
"Prime, there is one of us here." A clone called him, carrying a member of team Ni towards Ryuu with he help of another clone.
As the clones put the Anbu operative in front of Ryuu, he kneeled slowly without rushing. It was already too late. The body of the now deceased operative had his heart pierced, along with a deep slash on the neck, and other injuries on his body. Ryuu was also unable to sense any more chakra from the body.
Ryuu took off the dead operative's mask and closed his eyes before taking out a white cloth and covering his face with it, before putting the mask on his chest.
"Prime, we found the other two. One of them is in a critical condition." The clones brought the other two members of Team Ni and set them near Ryuu.
"I will work on the more severe case. Three of you help me, and the others tend to the other one." Ryuu said as he started to give first aid to the critically injured one.
As Ryuu and his clones tended to the injured, Hiruzen walked over towards him. His eyes held a bit of sadness and sorrow upon seeing one of his Shinobi being killed. It stung more seeing that it was in the middle of the village.
Just then, the less injured Anbu operative woke up with a deep intake of air before his hands went to where his pouches are, looking for a Kunai.
"Calm down, Deer. Friendlies, friendlies." The clones assured as they held Deer down. Upon hearing and seeing them, Deer calmed down and lay back flat on the ground.
Hiruzen walked over to where Deer was before standing near his face.
"What happened here?" Hiruzen asked
"W..We escorted the Kumo ambassador back as ordered. But after about an hour, they attacked us. I was only able to hear Buntaicho asking them what they were doing before everything went dark." Deer said with a hoarse tone.
Hiruzen stayed silent for a moment after hearing this. He then turned towards Ryuu and asked, "What is his condition?" while looking at the Anbu that Ryuu worked on.
"Deer and Hog's injuries are from the explosion and debris, with Hog's injuries being more critical, but he will make it. As for their deceased team leader, Moose, his injuries were caused by both long and short blades. I am sure he was the only one who was able to fight the Kumo convoy before they overpowered him." Ryuu replied
"Anbu" Hiruzen called, making all the operatives appear in front of him. Eyes fell for a moment on their deceased and injured comrades.
"Hunt down the members of the Kumo convoy along with their ambassador and bring them to me alive. I want every one of those remaining eight in front of me as soon as possible." Hiruzen said with a blank tone
"Hai," the operatives' collective response before they all left. Team Shi, among them, with Ryuu leaving his clones to tend to the injured.
To be continued.
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