Samui struggled to pull the senbon embedded in her lower abdomen, her expression tense as she watched the ANBU shinobi nearby who was barely clinging to life.
Before dawn, when Troy failed to appear, she had no choice but to leave with the Kumogakure ninja sent to rendezvous with her, attempting to escape back to the Land of Lightning.
Instead, they were intercepted by ANBU at the border.
Every Kumogakure ninja who came to meet her had died in battle. Samui herself was riddled with injuries, no longer capable of fighting.
"Cough… cough…"
The ANBU squad leader coughed twice, a thin line of blood seeping from beneath his mask.
His condition wasn't much better than Samui's.
Fortunately, this was still the border of the Land of Fire—reinforcements would arrive soon.
Rustle!
Suddenly, a sound came from the bushes.
Both Samui and the ANBU squad leader tensed instantly, turning their heads at the same time.
A small figure emerged from the undergrowth.
It was Hyuga Neji.
Looking flustered and panicked, he ran straight toward the ANBU squad leader.
The squad leader let out a long sigh of relief.
His mission was to retrieve—or, if necessary, eliminate—Hyuga Neji.
Under no circumstances could Kumogakure be allowed to obtain a living Byakugan bloodline.
Of course, bringing Neji back alive would be the ideal outcome.
Neji's young face was tinged with anxiety as he looked at the ANBU squad leader.
"You… how… are you?"
"I'm not dying yet," the squad leader replied hoarsely. "There are soldier pills and bandages in my ninja pouch. Help me take them out."
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed slightly, his muscles subtly tightening.
"Okay!"
Neji squatted down in front of him and reached into the ninja pouch.
Whoosh!
A flash of cold light burst forth.
Almost simultaneously, the ANBU squad leader struck back, a shuriken flying from between his fingers at an impossible angle, straight toward Neji's chest.
The next moment, Neji tumbled awkwardly across the ground, clutching his bloodied chest and gasping for breath.
Meanwhile, a tiny senbon was embedded deep in the ANBU squad leader's throat.
A wound exchanged for a life.
"That was close," Neji said, lingering fear in his voice.
ANBU were all elites.
And this squad leader was clearly an elite among elites.
Even while gravely injured, he had nearly managed a counterkill during the ambush.
Samui sat on the ground in a daze, her mind in chaos.
She had never expected Neji to suddenly attack, ambushing the ANBU squad leader—and actually succeeding.
"Kid," she said slowly, "do you even know what you're doing?"
Neji didn't answer.
Instead, he walked over to the ANBU squad leader, raised his fair hand, and gathered a small amount of chakra in his palm.
A Gentle Fist strike landed squarely on the man's chest.
Samui was even more confused.
Neji turned to her and explained seriously, "Big sister, I used Gentle Fist to shatter his heart. From now on, we're on the same side."
Surprise flickered across Samui's pretty face, then she burst into laughter.
"Good. Good, good. We're on the same side."
Neji's actions had completely exceeded her expectations.
But since he was willing to return to Kumogakure of his own accord, that was far better than dragging him back by force.
This place couldn't be lingered in.
ANBU could arrive at any moment.
After hastily bandaging her wounds, Samui quickly formed hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang!
White smoke erupted, and a massive sea turtle appeared before them.
Samui picked Neji up and leapt straight onto the turtle's back.
"Neji, let's go. We're going home," she said softly. "When we get to Kumogakure, I'll still be your big sister."
The sea turtle turned and swam straight into the ocean, heading toward the Land of Lightning.
Neji rested his head against Samui's shoulder, watching the Land of Fire fade farther and farther into the distance, then slowly closed his eyes.
This departure was like a bird escaping into the sky, like a fish returning to the sea—no longer bound by anything.
---
Konoha publicly condemned Kumogakure for its despicable act of stealing the Byakugan under the guise of peace negotiations.
At first, it was assumed that Kumogakure, being clearly in the wrong, would not dare respond.
Instead, Kumogakure flatly denied that their envoy had ever contacted Hyuga Neji or attempted to kidnap Hinata.
They then turned around and accused Konoha of lacking any sincerity toward peace talks, of brutally murdering the Kumogakure envoy Troy, and shamelessly demanded that Konoha hand over the body of the "murderer," Hyuga Hiashi, or face war.
Such an outrageous counteraccusation enraged countless Konoha shinobi who still possessed even a shred of pride.
At the same time, public opinion within the village pushed the Hyuga Clan directly into the eye of the storm.
"Are we really going to war again?"
"We've been fighting for eight years—when will it ever end?!"
"This is all the Hyuga Clan's fault. Wouldn't it have been enough just to capture him? Why kill him?"
"Peace was hard-won. We can't go to war with Kumogakure over the Hyuga!"
Public sentiment surged like a tidal wave, swallowing the Hyuga Clan whole.
At the center of it all, Hyuga Hiashi went days without sleep, barely able to eat or drink.
He suddenly realized just how similar this situation was to what Konoha's White Fang had faced back then.
That day, Hiruzen Sarutobi convened a meeting to discuss countermeasures.
As soon as the meeting began, Hyuga Hiashi took a deep breath.
"Hokage-sama, this entire affair has been a conspiracy by Kumogakure from the very beginning. Their goal isn't just the Byakugan bloodline—it's war."
"Hiashi," Hiruzen replied, removing his pipe and shaking his head slowly, "I know it's a conspiracy. Everyone here knows it's a conspiracy. But from the moment Troy died, whether it's a conspiracy or not stopped mattering."
Resentment flickered in his heart.
Resentment toward the Fourth Raikage for lacking a Kage's magnanimity and resorting to such despicable methods.
And resentment toward Hyuga Hiashi for striking without full consideration, tearing a hole in the sky.
After a pause, Hiruzen continued, "We've already made the truth of Troy's death public. We've also confirmed that Hyuga Neji is now in Kumogakure. But tell me—who actually cares?"
The conference room fell silent.
Everyone understood that trying to reason with Kumogakure's strength-worshipping bandits was utterly pointless.
"Sigh…"
Homura Mitokado sighed. "If Hiashi hadn't killed Troy, there might still have been room to maneuver."
Hyuga Hiashi's expression stiffened.
Was it really his fault?
Under those circumstances, what father wouldn't have fought with everything he had?
Nara Shikaku, seated nearby, listened impassively and said nothing.
Homura was thinking far too simply.
Who was Troy?
A famous Magnet Release ninja who had killed multiple elite jōnin during the Third Great Ninja War. In terms of strength, he was absolutely not inferior to Hyuga Hiashi.
If Troy hadn't wanted to die, Hiashi would never have been able to kill him.
And if Troy had truly wanted to die by Hiashi's hands, there was nothing Hiashi could have done to stop it.
There was no avoiding it—this time, Konoha had been thoroughly played.
Even Shikaku hadn't expected Kumogakure, a village known for valuing strength above all else, to resort to tactics this underhanded.
At that moment, Danzo Shimura, seated at Hiruzen Sarutobi's far left, tapped his cane sharply against the floor.
"Hiruzen, what are you hesitating for?"
"If Kumogakure wants war, then fine—we'll fight to the end!"
"Do those bandits really think Konoha is weak and easy to bully?!"
Hiruzen glanced at Danzo, puffed on his pipe, and remained silent—his expression carrying not anger, but faint disdain.