Whoosh—
Whoosh, whoosh—
In the forests on the outskirts of Konoha Village, four ANBU ninja leapt swiftly between the trees, moving through the night from different directions before gradually regrouping.
"No sign of the target!" one ANBU ninja reported after coming to a stop on a thick branch. He activated his sensory ability to scan the surroundings, then relayed the result through the communication device hanging by his ear.
The technological tree of the shinobi world was truly bizarre—firearms had barely developed at all, technology was uneven and inconsistent, yet they already possessed wireless communication and even microphone systems.
The other ANBU members also halted one by one, each taking high ground on nearby trees and maintaining vigilance over the area.
"Strange… where did he go?" the sensory ninja muttered, forming seals again as chakra rippled outward like waves. Still, nothing.
Whoosh—
A gust of wind cut through the air as Kakashi, wearing a white cat mask, landed nearby.
As the captain of the ANBU, Kakashi normally wouldn't be deployed so easily. But this time, the incident involved the Hyuga clan—one of Konoha's two great noble families.
The Third Hokage had personally ordered Kakashi to lead an ANBU squad to investigate.
"Captain!" the other ANBU greeted him immediately.
"No one found anything?" Kakashi asked, his single visible eye serious beneath the mask.
After the mysterious intruder disappeared into the night, Kakashi had immediately led his squad in pursuit, spreading them out like a massive net.
Yet they were now almost at the very edge of the village barrier—and still hadn't found a single trace.
"The orphanage area has already been searched. No abnormalities," one ANBU reported. "There are only a few scattered buildings in that region. The director is Yakushi Nonō."
"The Wandering Shrine Maiden…" Kakashi murmured quietly.
He naturally knew of her reputation. After all, Root was technically a subdivision under ANBU. Many of Root's agents and personnel records were reported to ANBU.
Of course, that didn't include the operatives Danzo trained privately.
"Continue the search! You two follow the barrier eastward. The rest of you, come with me west!" Kakashi ordered decisively.
"Yes, sir!"
The ANBU scattered once more.
———
Konoha Hospital, Special Care Ward.
After emergency treatment from medical ninja, Hyuga Hizashi was finally out of danger and placed in a private recovery room.
After all, he wasn't just a jōnin—he was also the head of the Hyuga branch family and the younger brother of the clan head.
Yet despite being heavily injured and in need of rest, Hizashi found himself completely unable to sleep.
Lying on the hospital bed, his Byakugan stared blankly at the ceiling, deep furrows carved between his brows.
The battle replayed again and again in his mind.
No matter how he and Hiashi attacked, the mysterious man had struck precisely at his blind spot—as if he understood the Hyuga clan more deeply than anyone.
Knock knock—
A soft knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," Hizashi said, turning his head.
The door opened, and Hiashi—now dressed in casual clothes—entered the room.
"Brother…" Hizashi tried to sit up in respect, but Hiashi raised a hand to stop him.
"Stay down. Your condition isn't good," Hiashi said, sitting beside the bed with a grim expression.
Though recent events had strained their relationship, Hiashi knew better than anyone that Hizashi's combat strength was almost on par with his own.
Yet even with the two of them attacking together, they had been defeated—one seriously injured, the other lightly wounded.
A ninja of that caliber shouldn't be unknown.
And more importantly…
"I came to confirm something," Hiashi said seriously. "About the techniques that masked man used."
Hizashi nodded weakly.
"That man… he knows our clan—perhaps too well."
"From the very beginning, when my Gentle Fist struck his chakra points, he could release chakra from those exact tenketsu to counteract it. He even reinforced them in advance. Every strike felt like hitting solid iron. I couldn't seal his points or inject chakra into his pathways at all."
Hiashi hadn't fought long enough to notice these details, as he had relied mainly on Eight Trigrams Palm techniques rather than point strikes.
Hearing this, his expression darkened further.
"I tried to use the Byakugan to see through his mask," Hizashi continued, "but all I saw beneath it was an endless abyss of darkness. His chakra… it was overwhelmingly vast."
"And he somehow knew my blind spot…" Hizashi's body trembled slightly as he said this.
The blind spot created by the Caged Bird Seal was different for every branch family member. Even in extended battles, most opponents could never identify it.
Yet that mysterious man had pinpointed it after only a handful of exchanges.
Hiashi crossed his arms and fell silent for a long moment.
Finally, he spoke.
"I was defeated… by his Twin Lion Fists."
"What?!" Hizashi's eyes widened in shock.
He had been half-conscious at the time and hadn't witnessed that part of the battle.
But as the branch family head, Hizashi was intimately familiar with the technique from sparring with his brother.
The Twin Lion Fists—full name Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists—was an advanced technique reserved exclusively for the main family.
It required shaping immense amounts of Gentle Fist chakra into the form of roaring lion heads around the fists, greatly enhancing both power and range.
Its difficulty was comparable to Rotation itself. Even Hizashi, who had developed Rotation on his own, had never been able to master Twin Lion Fists.
Countless possibilities flashed through his mind.
Could there be… a traitor within the Hyuga clan?
———
Late at night, Hyuga Clan Main Residence.
After shaking off the pursuing ANBU, Uzumaki Menma boldly returned for a second visit.
With both Hiashi and Hizashi away at the hospital, Menma casually strolled into Hiashi's personal study.
The tiny Nine-Tails hopped out from his fur collar and jumped onto the desk, immediately starting to rummage through drawers.
"Remind me again—what are we looking for?" she asked, pausing with a drawer halfway open.
"Any clues about the moon… and the Tenseigan," Menma replied as he searched through a bookshelf filled with scrolls.
The descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura on the moon couldn't possibly have had zero contact with the Hyuga clan.
Otherwise, it made no sense that among all the bloodline clans in the shinobi world, only the Hyuga had developed the Caged Bird Seal.
That technique wasn't necessarily meant to guard against other ninja stealing the Byakugan.
After all, ordinary ninja could at most acquire one or two eyes—like Ao.
But the Otsutsuki on the moon were different.
Moreover, in the original timeline, Otsutsuki Toneri had visited the Hyuga compound as a child and later even arranged a meeting with Hiashi as an adult.
Which meant the Hyuga clan likely possessed ancient records regarding the moon.
"Menma," the tiny Nine-Tails suddenly called out, sensing something. She quickly jumped back into his collar.
"That scary big sister is coming."
"Hm?" Menma paused while flipping through a book titled Manual on Byakugan Usage.
Extending his Evil Intent Sensing, he detected a familiar chakra approaching.
And judging by the intensity…
She seemed quite angry.
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