The moonlight lingered, circling the clear pond all night.
"Let's go home."
"Okay." Hearing Neiki's voice, Hanabi's anxious heart finally settled. She ran over and slipped her small hand into his palm.
"I thought you already went back…" she sniffled.
It was almost dawn. She was dressed too lightly and shivering in the chill.
"No. But do you want to see your sister Hinata? She just woke up."
"No, I want to go home now…"
The "home" Hanabi meant wasn't the eerie Hyuga clan mansion they were in, but Neiki's cramped little house.
Neiki stroked his chin, glancing sideways at the girl clinging to him.
Weird. Did Abyss of Deception mess with a kid's mind that badly?Or… what exactly did she see in the illusion?
Why would she latch onto me, a complete stranger?
He touched his own face.
Or is she just a hardcore face-lover…?
Remembering Hiashi's earlier request—that he take Hanabi away—Neiki nodded to himself. If he could handle Konoha's pursuit teams, bringing Hanabi along when he defected wouldn't be difficult.
After all, Hanabi had high-purity Byakugan. As someone from the same clan, she would be easy to train—whether as a future subordinate, an experimental subject, or a walking Byakugan reserve.
"Do you think I'm handsome?" he suddenly asked.
"Handsome!" Hanabi yelled without hesitation.
The next day, Hanabi came down with a high fever. Neiki had his younger brother, Neji, stay home to take care of her while he headed out to carry on his daily Root mission: monitoring the Uchiha.
A bird cut across the sky and landed lightly on the stone edge of the mountain, its orange claws kicking up a faint puff of dust. It perched atop the massive Hokage Rock.
From Hokage Rock, one could overlook all of Konoha: streets crossing like a net, shops on either side bustling with business, sunlight shattered into fragments by the leaves, people strolling peacefully in the shade.
At the base of the mountain stood a tall, cylindrical, dark-red building, like a giant drum—that was the Hokage Tower, Konoha's peak of authority, the place countless ninja dreamed of reaching.
Yet even the Hokage often couldn't act entirely on his own. When confronted with problems inside the village he couldn't fully control, he felt a heavy helplessness.
Like right now, in the sealed Hokage's office.
No clan heads, no ANBU guards at the door, no scribes. Only the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, his two senior advisors Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, and the Hokage's "advisor"—but true leader of Root—Shimura Danzo. The four highest powers in Konoha had gathered.
This was a meeting to decide the ultimate fate of the Uchiha clan, who were plotting rebellion.
Of course, because these four frequently clashed over the matter, similar meetings had already been held at Danzo's urging more than ten times, without ever reaching a final agreement. Fortunately for them, each time the Uchiha's movements grew more obvious, and each meeting crept a bit closer to a conclusion.
"I think it's time we make a decision," Homura said calmly.
"What decision?" the Third Hokage asked. He took a long drag from his pipe and lifted his eyelids. The suggested "pre-emptive strike" against the Uchiha had been delayed all this time for one reason: he, as Konoha's highest authority, had not approved it.
"We strike first. Cut off the Uchiha rebellion at the root," Koharu said quickly. "ANBU Takizawa is dead—that's a signal. He must have discovered the Uchiha's plot and been silenced."
"We have no direct evidence the Uchiha killed him," the Third replied. "And I sent him to investigate the Tokuma case. How would he stumble upon the Uchiha's plan? It doesn't add up."
"You're too stubborn, Sarutobi. The autopsy report is clear. Do you need us to drag his corpse in here before you'll admit it?" Danzo frowned.
On this issue, it was always three against one.
"Forging an autopsy isn't exactly difficult," the Third said flatly. "I suspect someone is deliberately trying to force a rift between us and the Uchiha."
"True or not, we can use it to pressure the Uchiha into handing over the culprit," Homura suggested after a moment's thought. "Treat it as a probe. If they refuse, we strike immediately."
"You're deliberately escalating tensions. Even if they weren't planning to rebel, you'd push them into it," the Third said.
"If they weren't already planning it, how could we 'push' them into rebellion?" Homura countered.
Smoke curled from the Third's nostrils as he considered, then slowly shook his head.
"War will only bring mutual destruction. This isn't a decision we can make lightly. We need to wait and see."
"Decisive action reduces casualties," Koharu said coldly. "And we didn't choose war—the Uchiha did."
"From Madara onward, the Uchiha clan has never known peace," Homura added. "It's their inherent defect. If it doesn't erupt today, it will erupt tomorrow. We might as well seize this chance to remove a hidden danger to Konoha."
"They've made great contributions in past ninja wars," the Third insisted, still wanting to give the Uchiha a chance.
"Wait and see… what exactly are you waiting for?" Danzo snapped, not even bothering to hide his impatience.
"For the result," the Third answered slowly. "I've ordered Itachi to try to stop the Uchiha's internal coup. Even if he fails, he'll be the first to know the clan's final decision. Then we can react accordingly."
"The informant?" Danzo's expression twisted. "He's the reason you're hesitating to wipe out the Uchiha?"
Uchiha Itachi, eldest son of the clan head, had volunteered to become a spy for Konoha and reveal the Uchiha's rebellion.
"I have to say it, Sarutobi—you really are getting old."
"You're gambling the safety of all of Konoha on a single person. What if he's just putting on an act? Do you understand what it will cost us if we're wrong?"
"If he's pretending, it changes nothing—we still keep our preparations ready," the Third said earnestly. "But if he succeeds, we can avoid mutual destruction."
"Mutual destruction? Are the Uchiha really that important?" Koharu cut in. "Are they so irreplaceable?"
"We have the Hyuga, the Sarutobi, the Nara, Yamanaka, Inuzuka—so many clans," she continued. "Do we really need to take such a risk for the Uchiha?"
"You know the other clans are watching," Sarutobi replied. "If we move too rashly against the Uchiha, won't we make those clans wary of Konoha itself?"
He shook his head again.
"Let's wait a little longer."
The argument stalled once more. The three elders and Sarutobi held fundamentally different positions. But there was nothing they could do about it. As Hokage, Sarutobi had the final say. Without his approval, nothing could move forward.
Danzo was the first to leave, followed by Homura and Koharu. Left alone in the Hokage's chair, the Third felt an aching fatigue.
"Have Itachi brought to me," he ordered ANBU.
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