The Hyuga Clan Compound felt as though an invisible weight pressed down upon every mansion.
The usual quiet order remained, yet every clansman who walked the grounds now carried a faint, almost imperceptible crease of worry and vigilance between their brows.
Even the children practicing Gentle Fist in the courtyards sensed the shift; they moved with a silence far deeper than before.
Hyuga Main Family, inner study.
Hyuga Hiashi sat ramrod-straight upon the main seat like an ancient pine; three scrolls lay open before him.
Below him knelt three branch-house Elders in charge of foreign affairs and intelligence, heads bowed, the air thick with tension.
"His last contact was three days ago—C-Rank escort of medicinal herbs at the eastern border of the Land of Fire. Three shinobi in the team, along with two ordinary merchants, all vanished without a trace."
"This one: five days ago, B-Rank clearance of a small bandit gang in the Land of Hot Springs. After completion they disappeared on the return. Two non-Hyuga shinobi confirmed dead, bodies rifled through."
"And him: yesterday he began a C-Rank intel gathering mission. The scheduled check-in passed six hours ago—still no word."
An Elder read from the list, each name dropping like a shard of ice into the room.
All were unremarkable, average-talented youths of the clan.
They had not fallen in fierce battle; they had melted away like drops into the sea, leaving no ripple, no trace.
"Findings at the sites?" Hiashi's voice was low, wrath barely caged.
To lose clansmen one after another on low-risk missions was no longer mere provocation—it was open contempt for the clan's might and for his own authority as Clan Chief.
Another Elder lifted his head, bewilderment and gravity in his eyes.
"Our best have swept the last known locations and surrounding ground repeatedly. Almost no sign of combat, no large-scale residual Chakra, no obvious blood. It was as if… they were subdued in an instant and simply erased from the world."
"And the Anbu?" Hiashi looked to the Elder handling outside contacts.
"A formal request has been filed. The Third Hokage pledged full cooperation…"
Hiashi fell silent, fingers absently tracing the cold rim of his teacup.
Not Kumogakure—they favor frontal assault or kidnapping of main-house heirs. Not ordinary revenge—too clean, too precise, targeting only low-Chakra branch youths… The hidden purpose behind it chilled him.
An image of his daughter Hinata flashed through his mind, and a possibility struck him at once.
Someone meant to study ordinary Hyuga in order to pry into the secrets of the Byakugan—and into Hinata's power.
No blood at the sites; the victims had likely been taken alive. After all, death would trigger the caged bird seal and destroy the eyes.
The thought tightened like a fist around his heart.
"Carry my orders," Hiashi said at last, voice edged with iron.
"First: effective immediately, all clansmen below Chunin Rank suspend any mission requiring departure from Konoha Village. Second: every team that does leave must be assigned escorts. Third: deploy every hidden asset to investigate every mysterious group or suspicious figure active lately in the Land of Fire and its borders—especially those showing interest in Bloodline Limits."
…Konoha, Root headquarters, deepest gloom.
Sunlight never reached here; only cold stone and flickering candles. The air reeked of herbs, preservatives, and the faintest tang of blood.
Shimura Danzo sat alone upon a broad stone chair.
Before him lay detailed profiles of the missing Hyuga: ages, strength assessments, Byakugan purity analyses—even several blurred side-profile images obtained through special means.
"Hyuga… Byakugan…" Danzo murmured, voice hoarse and frigid.
Beside the entry for "Hyuga Hinata" glared red markings: "Strength Unknown," "Threat Level: Extreme."
He refused to believe Hinata was merely gifted.
He suspected that behind her lay secrets of the Hyuga Bloodline Limit—the Byakugan—secrets even the clan itself had never suspected. Did the Byakugan, like the Sharingan, possess an evolutionary path?
Once the idea sprouted it blazed through him like wildfire.
If he could master that power—if he could fuse Byakugan with Sharingan… He glanced at his bandaged right arm.
Then he would wield strength surpassing every Hokage, seize absolute control of Konoha, and crush the entire Ninja World beneath his heel—the true, Root-defined peace!
Since the Third had warned him to leave Hinata alone, he would begin with her clansmen—those overlooked, weak branch members.
He needed a top biologist, a master of Bloodline Limit research and human experimentation.
In all the Ninja World, the perfect candidate was the rogue who once fled Konoha, obsessed with immortality and Forbidden Jutsu—Orochimaru.
Danzo tapped the desk; a Root operative in an animal mask knelt soundlessly, as lifeless as a Puppet.
"Deliver this sealed letter to Orochimaru through the most covert channel."
Danzo handed over a black scroll exuding a cold Chakra pulse.
"Yes, sir!" The Root Ninja accepted the scroll, melted into shadow, and vanished.
Alone in the gloom, Danzo's left eye slipped half-closed as if at rest, yet his mind already sketched the future: use Orochimaru's craft to unlock the Byakugan's secrets, perhaps even leash the increasingly elusive Hinata… Inside Orochimaru's base.
He watched with interest as the reborn Kimimaro underwent adaptive training.
"Hmph-hmph-hmph… looks like the adaptation is nearly perfect."
Orochimaru's serpentine pupils gleamed with satisfaction, his confidence in the "resurrection" technique swelling.
At that moment Yakushi Kabuto entered, carrying the black scroll sealed with Root's distinctive cold Chakra.
"Orochimaru-sama, a letter from Konoha's 'Root,'" Kabuto said calmly, offering the scroll.
Orochimaru raised a brow; he and Danzo had recently burned bridges—he hadn't expected the man to come crawling back.
He accepted the scroll and broke its Seal.
He skimmed the contents, expression shifting from amusement to genuine surprise.
"Oh? That old fossil Danzo… has set his sights on the Byakugan?"
A low, delighted chuckle escaped Orochimaru.
"This grows ever more interesting."
He glanced toward the far end of the lab where Sasuke sat absorbed in Root-provided scrolls on Uchiha and Konoha secrets.
Danzo was Sasuke's mortal enemy, and the Byakugan belonged to Hinata's clan—Danzo was narrowing his own road to ruin.
"Orochimaru-sama, how shall I reply?" Kabuto adjusted his glasses.
Orochimaru licked his lips, cunning glittering in his eyes.
"Tell him cooperation… sounds enticing, but I'm curious about certain details—those hidden players in the Uchiha massacre beyond the agreement between Uchiha Itachi and Konoha's leadership."
He flicked a glance at Sasuke; the youth would devour such news.
"As for Byakugan research… the Hyuga have the caged bird seal. Without a Byakugan sample I can't begin. Let him deliver data or a way around the Seal first."
He had no real intention of aiding Danzo; offending his dear partner was unwise. He would string the man along and see what Hinata had to say.
"Understood. I'll draft the reply at once." Kabuto grasped the intent and withdrew.
Orochimaru turned his gaze back to the bustling lab, curious how Hinata would respond—whether that quiet girl would show another side.
"Hmph-hmph, how entertaining…"
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