"I revived you for Neji's sake. It has nothing to do with the Hyūga Clan." Mizuki said bluntly, "Neji's talent is outstanding. Fushigakure needs someone like him. I'll take him out of Konoha, accept him as my disciple, and teach him to become stronger."
Hizashi let out a breath of relief, then said, "I think I understand your intent now. You can revive the dead. You plan to have Neji die once first. After the Caged Bird becomes ineffective, you'll revive him — so he can escape the branch family's fate."
At that, he fell silent.
After a while, he sighed, "I've already died once. Even though I'm Neji's father, I won't make this decision for him."
Neji said, "Father, we'll do it together."
Hizashi didn't agree right away. Instead, he looked at Mizuki and asked, "Can you protect the Byakugan from being stolen by other countries?"
As he spoke, the veins at the corner of his eyes bulged. He activated the Byakugan and looked into Mizuki's body.
"This… this is…? Such an enormous amount of chakra — how is that possible?"
Hizashi was stunned by the sheer volume of chakra inside Mizuki.
Mizuki saw his expression and wasn't surprised, "I can only guarantee that people from other countries won't barge into my village and steal your Byakugan. If you go out and I'm not nearby, you'll have to rely on yourselves. Of course, if any country dares to take your Byakugan, I'll go there and take it back."
Hizashi's eyes went blank as he murmured, "That's enough! That's enough!"
Someone with chakra like that was unquestionably a supreme powerhouse.
Back then, even Hiashi's Byakugan had almost been handed over by Hiruzen. Near the end of the Third Great Ninja War, Kumogakure sent a delegation of envoys to Konoha to negotiate a ceasefire agreement.
But Kumo's objective wasn't a ceasefire — it was the Byakugan.
At night, a Kumo shinobi infiltrated the Hyūga compound and kidnapped Hinata, only to be killed by Hiashi. After the envoy died, Kumo immediately threatened to refuse signing the ceasefire and demanded that Konoha hand over the killer.
The purpose was to obtain Hiashi's Byakugan.
What was laughable was that Hiruzen actually agreed to Kumo's demand and tried to persuade Hiashi to die voluntarily to appease Kumogakure's anger. He even dressed it up with lofty words: for the war to end sooner, for peace and stability, the Hyūga should put the bigger picture first.
At the critical moment, Hizashi stepped forward and died in his brother's place (they were twins). His body was taken to Kumogakure.
Halfway there, Kumo discovered that the Byakugan had been destroyed by the Caged Bird seal upon death, and in fury, they dumped the corpse.
Hiruzen's weakness created this tragedy.
That was why Hizashi knew Konoha couldn't protect the Byakugan, and why he asked whether Mizuki could.
"In that case, I'm willing to go with you."
For Konoha, for the Hyūga, Hizashi had already died once. Now that he was revived, he didn't owe Konoha or the Hyūga anything anymore.
Leaving the village, leaving the clan — there was no burden in his heart.
"Let's go."
Under the cover of night, the three left the cemetery and headed toward Konoha's main gate.
Mizuki took out a conical hat and had Hizashi put it on to cover his face. As for himself and Neji, they didn't cover themselves at all.
As they walked, Neji told Hizashi what had happened in Konoha over the past few years.
When Hizashi heard that Orochimaru had become the Fifth Hokage, he felt even more certain he had made the right choice.
They swaggered right up to Konoha's gate. Mizuki's gaze turned cold, and the gate guards immediately fell into a genjutsu — frozen in place, terror on their faces, unable to move.
Hizashi gained an even deeper understanding of this man's strength.
The three left openly like that. Only after they had gone far did the gate guards break free of the illusion.
❊❊❊❊❊
"Quick — report to the Fifth Hokage! Missing-nin Mizuki infiltrated Konoha and took Neji Hyūga away. There was also a shinobi wearing a conical hat — identity unknown!"
A shinobi's defection was no small matter. The news quickly reached the Hokage Tower, but Orochimaru wasn't there.
Soon, the Hyūga Clan learned that Neji had defected. Might Guy also received the notice. Before long, the entire village knew.
Everyone was in an uproar. A Hyūga branch family member defecting? That was the funniest joke of the day.
Who didn't know the Hyūga had the Caged Bird seal? Even if a branch member defected to outer space, the main family could activate the seal and kill the defector. So the Hyūga had never had defectors — because defecting meant death.
Now they said Neji had defected; of course, no one believed it at first.
Even Danzō's first reaction upon hearing the news was that his subordinates were messing with him. But soon the news was confirmed. He had no choice but to believe it. He immediately went to the Hyūga compound and found Hiashi.
"Hiashi, Neji Hyūga left the village with missing-nin Mizuki. The news has been confirmed. We can be certain he has defected and chosen to join Fushigakure. A traitor like that cannot be allowed to keep living in the ninja world. I order you: activate the Caged Bird seal immediately and kill Neji."
Being ordered to kill his own nephew, Hiashi was of course unwilling. Even if their relationship wasn't good, Neji was still family.
"Lord Danzō, Neji did leave Konoha, but whether it's truly defection still needs confirmation. Besides, he is young. Even if it is defection, he was likely bewitched by Mizuki. We should give young people a chance to reform. So I think the most important thing right now is to send a shinobi squad to bring him back."
Danzō snorted, "What — are you refusing to obey my order?"
Hiashi said, "It's not that I refuse. Executing a shinobi requires the Hokage's personal approval. If we kill Neji rashly and the Hokage returns, none of us can bear that responsibility."
Danzō shouted, "All traitors deserve death. Do it. I'll explain it to the Fifth."
Hiashi said, "I can't. If Lord Danzō believes Neji must die, then dispatch Root shinobi to hunt him down yourselves. Until the Fifth Hokage gives the order, I won't act."
"You — " Danzō's breath caught.
To hell with that — telling me to send Root after him? And you can say that with a straight face!
With Mizuki there, sending anyone would be handing over heads. Do you think I'm stupid?
"The Fifth is out of the village carrying out a secret plan. Right now, Konoha is under my command. My order is the highest order. You will carry it out." Danzō pressed down with sheer authority.
Hiashi didn't yield, "The Fifth isn't here, but there are still two advisors in the village, and Jiraiya-sama as well."
The meaning was obvious: you say you're in charge — who do you think you are?
The Hyūga were still Konoha's number one noble clan. Even in the face of power, they could resist. The fact that Root had no Byakugan showed the Hyūga had never feared Danzō.
Danzō's face darkened. He turned and left in anger.
Hiashi kept his Byakugan on Danzō until the latter had completely left Hyūga territory.
"Hmph. That old dog only bullies the weak. He still wants to shit and piss on the Hyūga's head? He should look at what kind of trash he is. Back then, people gave you face for the Third's sake. Now that he is dead, you're nothing."
Danzō stormed away from Hyūga territory, cursing as he went.
"Damn Orochimaru — running off to Kusagakure to cause trouble. Why hasn't he come back yet? And damn Hyūga Clan — sooner or later I'll make you end up just like the Uchiha."
❊❊❊❊❊
Mizuki's group left Konoha and headed west.
In the dead of night, walking along a forest path, everything around them was quiet.
Suddenly, a shrill cat's scream rang out. Hizashi immediately activated the Byakugan and looked toward the sound.
Having just been revived, he was brimming with curiosity. At the slightest movement, he wanted to look, and after looking, he couldn't help but exclaim.
"What an amazing cat!"
In his vision, a fat orange tabby wearing a bow was fighting a python as thick as a bowl. By all logic, a snake that big should have left the cat with no chance.
But the result stunned Hizashi. The cat was unbelievably agile, and its movements were lightning-fast. Each time the snake attacked, the cat dodged with ease. When the cat attacked, the snake couldn't dodge at all.
It leapt into the air, flashed past the front of the snake's head, adjusted its posture, and in a single second slapped out more than a dozen strikes — left and right — making the snake's head crackle with loud smack smack sounds.
By the time the cat landed, the python had been beaten so dazed it looked stupid.
"This isn't an ordinary cat. It's a ninja cat." Hizashi could see chakra inside it.
Seeing Hizashi watching with such interest, Neji also activated the Byakugan and looked over.
"Huh? Isn't that the Daimyō's wife's pet cat? After she died, it should've been taken back to the Daimyō's residence. Why is it here? It didn't have chakra before. Now it does. What happened?"
Mizuki was interested too.
The Daimyō's wife's cat — if memory served — was named Tora.
'A ninja cat with chakra? Hmm. I remember the Uchiha clan had fairly deep ties to the ninja cat clan. Why not take this cat back and give it to Sasuke? Maybe it'll trigger the system to return something useful — like a decent summoning beast.'
In the ninja world, only three summoning lineages were truly powerful, but Mizuki looked down on them.
In fact, one of the Rinnegan's Six Paths — the Animal Path — could summon Rinnegan-exclusive creatures, such as the Giant Snake-Tailed Chameleon, Giant Multi-Headed Dog, Giant Rhino, and so on.
But Mizuki wasn't interested in those summons. They weren't strong — still not as good as the toads of Mount Myōboku. To obtain powerful summons, you either had to go through the three great sage regions or get them through the system's returns.
Compared with the three sage regions, the system's returns were uncertain, but the upper limit was definitely higher.
"Sasuke should like this cat." Mizuki raised a hand and shouted.
Banshō Ten'in ▻ Universal Pull
As his words fell, the fat orange tabby wearing a bow flew out of the forest. It looked completely bewildered, not understanding why it was suddenly flying through the air.
In the next moment, it landed in Mizuki's hand.
"Meow!"
With a shrill howl, the cat's claws were already swiping at his handsome face.
"Behave yourself!"
❊❊❊❊❊
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
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