"I also wanted to overthrow Konoha... I wanted the Hyuga Clan to rule the entire Shinobi World! I want to be the Great Elder of the Shinobi World..."
The Main Family's Great Elder lay sprawled on the dirt floor of the secret room. Thick blood mixed with saliva had pooled into a dark, congealing puddle beneath him.
A wet, gurgling rasp came from his throat. His entire body twitched violently, blood leaking from all seven orifices, yet he kept spewing even more outrageous confessions.
Once terrified of death, he now only begged for it to come quickly.
These Root's members truly had no concept of restraint.
Bolstered by the potent and persuasive Great Memory Restoration Technique, the Hyuga Clan's Great Elder spun his tales of shocking crimes seamlessly, the logic flawlessly self-consistent and utterly convincing.
The Root's members stored the recorded scroll away without a flicker of emotion. For them, the truth of the confession was irrelevant, all that mattered was that their Danzo-sama had obtained the desired outcome.
Hiashi stood inside the room, listening as the earth-shattering screams from outside gradually faded into delirious muttering. Drops of blood fell from his clenched fingertips onto the white jade floor tiles.
They looked like trampled red plum blossoms, a horrifying sight.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the ice in his gaze seemed cold enough to freeze the very air.
The Great Elder's fate meant little to him, in fact, his death might even be more advantageous.
But Danzo had gone too far this time, grinding their Hyuga Clan's thousand-year-old honor into the mud, like a thorn driven deep into bone.
Staring fixedly at Danzo, Hiashi ground out through clenched teeth, "In this matter, our Hyuga Clan admits defeat!"
His voice was colder than the stone slabs under the eaves. "But I will report your actions today, every last detail, to Sandaime Hokage!"
Hearing this, Danzo let out a derisive snort, his cane tapping idly on the floor, his heart filled with utter contempt.
'Your Hyuga clan thinks you can report me? To Hiruzen? A fool's delusion. He won't lift a finger for you.'
The thought was followed by another internal sneer.
'Hmph. If you want to report me, you'd need to resurrect the Nidaime Hokage. Otherwise, who in all of Konoha dares to control me, Shimura Danzo?'
Seeing the murderous look in Hiashi's eyes, Danzo remained utterly unmoved. He wasn't one to be intimidated.
The other Main Family's elders stood with fists clenched, knuckles white, but none dared to speak up.
Their spines weren't as weak as the Great Elder's, but neither did they wish to suffer a beating for no reason. They could only swallow their fury for now.
But the fire in their eyes burned fiercely… this debt was etched into their minds. Once this affair was over, they would settle accounts with Danzo thoroughly!
If they hadn't been caught red-handed, with both the body and a 'confession', the Hyuga Clan would never have endured such humiliation so passively.
The Hyuga Clan's dignity was not to be insulted!
"Shall we attend to the actual matter at hand now?" Danzo's tone was flat. Without waiting for their reply, he leaned on his cane, walked to a chair, and sat down.
He then began to discuss with them how this situation should be resolved.
Not once did Danzo's words explicitly mention the Byakugan, yet the implication behind every sentence pointed directly toward it.
Hiashi, the Hyuga Clan's elders, and even Hizashi, however, stood firm as iron. On any issue touching the Byakugan, they refused to yield an inch, their postures even hinting at readiness for a fight.
Danzo's single eye grew bloodshot with frustration.
'These stubborn old relics were a blight upon Konoha. Root had members from other Kekkei Genkai Clans too. When they had been requisitioned, their respective clans' reactions hadn't been nearly this vehement.'
Danzo took a step back, suggesting that if they wouldn't part with the Byakugan, they could send Hyuga Clan's geniuses to Root for 'training'. But this was also unanimously rejected.
Even with his practiced eloquence, Danzo found he couldn't out-argue the whole group. At this moment, he couldn't help but think:
'If only Root had someone with talent like that brat.'
A long time passed, and the two sides remained locked in a fierce stalemate.
The entire Hyuga Clan's compound, save for this one room, was deathly quiet. The Great Elder was carried away for treatment by two Branch Family's members, dragged like a dead dog.
A long trail of blood stained the bluestone path behind them.
Time crawled past noon.
Danzo was still stubbornly locked in debate with the Hyuga Clan's elders, his words repeating the same refrain: "For Konoha."
He had even adopted Hiruzen's favorite tactic, peppering his speech with the Will of Fire... until the Hyuga Clan's representatives were sick of hearing it, but he clung to this line relentlessly.
Seeing the designated deadline arrive, Danzo remained unmoved, continuing to pressure the Hyuga Clan and demand concessions for Root.
He merely dispatched someone to deliver the interrogation record to the Hokage Tower.
He ran his fingers over the carvings on his cane. His internal mantra of self-justification began its familiar loop, like a broken record.
'I am the Root of Konoha, silently safeguarding the village…' Danzo believed this with all his heart.
Right at noon, the door to the Hokage's Office was thrust open with a bang.
Mabui strode in, her long legs covering the distance quickly. The waist exposed by her short tunic shifted with a sharp, defined curve as she moved, her abdominal muscles standing out like carved lines in the light.
"Hokage-sama, it is time to give Kumogakure an explanation."
Mabui stood in the center of the Hokage's Office. Her chocolate-like skin gleamed under the light. The sharp look in her eyes was keener than the short sword at her hip.
'She was here to cause trouble again...'
Hiruzen had just finished reading the interrogation record sent by Danzo. The sheer nonsense of it made his temples pound.
But the message relayed by Root from Danzo left Hiruzen unable to stay seated… the Kumogakure's leader was indeed dead, found in the Hyuga Clan's compound, and the body had long been cold.
Seeing Mabui burst in, Hiruzen tapped out his pipe. Ash drifted down onto the desk. The smoke wreathed his face, blurring his features. "The Hyuga Clan acted improperly. Konoha is willing…"
Mabui, having no patience for empty platitudes, cut him off sharply, "Raikage-sama's position is clear… either the murderer pays with his life, or..."
She paused, lifting her gaze. The sharpness in her eyes was like ice, "Or it means war."
Hiruzen sighed, a headache pressing behind his eyes. He spun his pipe stem on the desk a couple of times and launched into a protracted, circular negotiation with Mabui.
Kumogakure itself had no real desire for immediate war with Konoha, and they simply hoped to extract the maximum possible concessions through these 'talks'. Only if they failed to gain anything would they seriously consider conflict.
After all, Kumogakure had also suffered heavy losses in the Third Shinobi World War. Like Konoha, they desperately needed time to recover and rebuild.
The sun seemed to be dragged behind the clouds. Konoha's sky darkened abruptly.
By nightfall, sleet first pattered against the windows, then began to fall in thick clumps, sheathing the roofs and treetops in a blanket of white.
The very air grew stiff with cold, heavy with a palpable tension.
The negotiations between Kumogakure and the Hokage Tower, which had begun at noon, dragged on through the night, with no end in sight.