Whoosh-
Whoosh whoosh-
In the forest on the outskirts of Konoha Village, four Anbu's members leaped and darted through the trees, gradually converging from different directions.
"No sign of the target!" An Anbu's Ninja stopped and landed on a tree branch, using sensory techniques to scan the surroundings before reporting to his comrades through the earpiece communicator.
Honestly, the technology in the Ninja World was oddly inconsistent. Firearms development had largely stagnated, and scientific progress was uneven, yet they already had access to radio communication and even microphone devices.
The other Anbu's members also stopped, each taking position on high vantage points among the branches, keeping watch.
"Strange, where did they go?" The sensory Ninja formed another hand seal, sending out ripples of Chakra, but still found nothing.
Whoosh-
A sharp sound of movement cut through the air as Kakashi, wearing his white cat mask, landed nearby.
As an Anbu Captaion, Kakashi wouldn't normally mobilize so readily. However, this incident involved the Hyuga Clan… one of Konoha's two great noble clans.
The Third Hokage had personally ordered Kakashi to lead a team of Anbu to investigate.
"Captain!" The other Anbu's Ninjas turned their heads toward him.
"No luck on your end either?" Kakashi's single visible eye beneath the mask was sharp with focus.
After the mysterious masked man vanished into the night, Kakashi had immediately led the Anbu in pursuit, fanning out like a net to track the target.
However, even though they were almost at the village's barrier, they still couldn't find any trace of the other party.
"The orphanage has been checked and nothing unusual is found." One Anbu added, "This area only has a few scattered buildings. The orphanage's director is Yakushi Nono."
"The Wandering Miko?" Kakashi murmured under his breath.
Of course he had heard of Nono's name. After all, the Root was technically a subdivision of Anbu, and many of Root's spies and personnel records were shared with Anbu.
Of course, the operatives Danzo privately trained were another matter entirely.
"Continue the search! You two, sweep east along the village barrier. The rest of you, come with me to the west!" Kakashi ordered.
"Yes!" Several Ninjas quickly dispersed into action.
…
Konoha Hospital, in the intensive care unit.
After being rescued by Medical-Nin, Hizashi is no longer in danger of death and was placed in a private room to recover.
After all, Hizashi is not only a Jonin, but also the head of the Hyuga Clan's branch family and the younger brother of the Hyuga Clan's head.
However, despite his injuries, Hizashi couldn't sleep.
Lying on the hospital bed, his white eyes fixed on the ceiling, his brow furrowed deeply.
The memories of the battle replayed relentlessly in his mind.
Against the combined assault of himself and Hiashi, the mysterious figure had exploited his blind spot with terrifying precision… as if they knew everything about the Hyuga Clan.
Knock knock…
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Hizashi, who was lying on the hospital bed, turned his head and looked towards the door.
The door opened slowly, revealing Hiashi, who is now dressed in casual attire, stepping inside.
"Brother..." Hizashi struggled to sit up in respect, but Hiashi raised a hand to stop him.
"Stay down. Your condition isn't good." Hiashi said, taking a seat beside the bed. His expression darkened as he looked at his injured younger brother.
Though recent events had strained their relationship, Hiashi couldn't deny that Hizashi's combat prowess was nearly equal to his own.
Yet, despite their joint attack, the mysterious masked man had left one severely wounded and the other lightly injured!
'Such a powerful Ninja couldn't be some unknown figure.'
'And more importantly…'
"I came to confirm the techniques that mysterious masked man used." Hiashi said sternly.
"Understood…" Hizashi lay still, his expression somber as he recalled, "That person… knew us, or rather, the Hyuga Clan… far too well."
"When I first engaged him, my Gentle Fist strikes targeted his Chakra Points, but he countered by releasing Chakra from those very points, shielding them. Each hit felt like striking iron… it was nearly impossible to seal his Chakra Pathways or inject my own."
Hiashi's own exchange with the intruder had been brief, and he hadn't used Gentle Fist precision strikes, opting instead for the Eight Trigrams Palms.
So when he heard this, Hiashi's expression grew even graver.
"I tried to use my Byakugan to see his face under the mask, but beneath his mask was only an abyss of darkness. And his Chakra reserves was so huge that it was indescribable."
"And… he seemed to know my blind spot..." At this, Hizashi's body trembled slightly.
The [Caged Bird] seal imposed on the branch family created a one-degree blind spot unique to each member… something nearly impossible to pinpoint in a single encounter.
A seasoned Jonin like Hizashi, having survived countless battles, had never had his blind spot exploited so effortlessly before.
But today's mysterious masked man, after just over ten exchanges-
Hiashi crossed his arms in front of his chest, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly spoke: "I was defeated by his Twin Lion Fists."
"What?!" Hizashi, who was lying on the hospital bed, jolted in shock.
At the time, after being sent flying by the mysterious man, he was already half-unconscious and hadn't witnessed Hiashi being struck down by the Twin Lion Fists.
But as the head of the branch family, Hizashi had seen his elder brother use the Twin Lion Fists many times during their sparring sessions.
The Twin Lion Fists, formally known as the [Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists], was an advanced Taijutsu that only the Hyuga Clan's main family could learn.
By clenching both fists and gathering a large amount of Gentle Fist Chakra, the user could shape it into two lion heads attached to their fists. Combined with footwork, it greatly increased attack power and range.
Its difficulty was on par with the Rotation. Even Hizashi, who had independently developed the Rotation, had not been able to create the Twin Lion Fists.
In an instant, countless possibilities flashed through Hizashi's mind.
'The Hyuga Clan… could there be a traitor among them?'
…
Late at night, the residence of Hyuga Clan's main family.
After shaking off the pursuit of the Anbu's Ninja, Menma made a sudden U-turn.
Taking advantage of the fact that both Hizashi and Hiashi had gone to the hospital, Menma leisurely strolled into Hiashi's study.
The little Nine-Tails jumped out from Menma's fur collar and onto the desk, rummaging through the drawers.
"What was it you said we were looking for again?" Flipping open a drawer, the little Nine-Tails paused, 'What exactly were we searching for?'
"Clues about the moon and the Tenseigan." Menma replied, standing in front of a bookshelf filled with volumes, running his right hand along the spines as he searched.
'It is impossible that the descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura on the moon have no contact with the Hyuga Clan in the Ninja World.'
'Otherwise, there would be no explanation for why, among so many Kekkei Genkai clans in the Ninja World, only the Hyuga Clan had developed a sealing technique like the [Caged Bird].'
'What they were guarding against might not just be other Ninjas in the Ninja World trying to steal the Byakugan.'
'Even if other Ninjas in the Ninja World stole the Byakugan, at most they'd end up like Ao, obtaining one or two Byakugan and nothing more.'
'But the Otsutsuki Clan on the moon were a different story.'
'Moreover, in the [Naruto Movie], Otsutsuki Toneri and his father had once visited the Ninja World as children, found the Hyuga Clan's territory, and observed Hinata from afar.'
'As an adult, Toneri even sought out Hiashi for a discussion, and Hiashi brought two trusted aides to the meeting.'
'This suggested that Hiashi might have known something about the moon from the clan's ancient records.'
"Menma." The little Nine-Tails, who had been rummaging through the drawers, suddenly sensed something and quickly jumped back into Menma's fur collar.
"That big sis is coming." The Little Nine-Tails said before retreating into the mental space.
"Hmm?" Uzumaki Menma, who had been flipping through a copy of [The Byakugan User's Manual], froze.
He expanded his Negative Emotion Sensing and detected a familiar Chakra approaching.
And the other party seemed to be in a pretty bad mood.