On February 2nd, after the commotion in the plaza in front of the Hokage Building concluded, Minato Namikaze immediately went to the Hokage's office to meet with the Third Hokage and requested a thorough investigation into the matter.
The matter quickly began to escalate. Upon learning of the incident, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, also faintly sensed something amiss. He immediately ordered Danzo Shimura to drop what he was doing and assist with the investigation, demanding the disclosure of all internal personnel transfer records within Root, while simultaneously launching a thorough probe into the anomalies surrounding Rin Nohara's transfer orders.
Operating at full capacity, the Hidden Leaf's efficiency was remarkably swift. Within less than half an hour, a realization that shook the Leaf's higher-ups came to light—Rin Nohara's transfer had not been orchestrated by any faction within the village!
According to the recorded transfer files, Rin Nohara's official order was still to return to the Hidden Leaf to report on her duties and join the staff at the Leaf Hospital.
However, the Leaf Chunin tasked with executing and delivering this transfer order to Rin had actually died during a patrol mission before he could ever hand it to her.
Furthermore, following the disbandment of Team Kakashi, the medical unit Rin belonged to eerily received the transfer order delivered by this "dead man," prompting them to depart for the Land of Hot Water.
Soon enough, another related anomaly was uncovered—it wasn't just Rin Nohara's transfer that was problematic; the reassignment of Minato Namikaze's other student, Kakashi Hatake, was riddled with discrepancies as well.
Without passing through any of the Leaf's official administrative systems, both of them had been deployed to the eastern front of the Land of Fire, a battlefield where the war was drawing to a close.
Upon learning this, Minato Namikaze—who was supposed to be "extremely busy" and set to depart for his next mission immediately upon returning to the village—turned down all subsequent assignments scheduled for him.
Shinobi loyal to the Hokage faction were instantly dispatched to the eastern front to conduct a detailed investigation.
A day later, grim news was sent back. On February 3rd, at 2:00 PM, Fugaku Uchiha, the commander of the eastern front, transmitted intelligence to the Hidden Leaf:
On January 28th—the very day the "Heavenly Ninja," Hyuga Yu, was ambushed—the Leaf medical unit passing through the Land of Hot Water was attacked by hidden Mist shinobi. Rin Nohara was captured by the Mist Anbu.
On February 2nd, a Leaf spy embedded in the Hidden Mist transmitted intelligence to the eastern front: The Three-Tails has been sealed inside Rin Nohara. The Mist plans to have their Anbu escort her to the center of the Hidden Leaf and unleash the beast, dealing a devastating blow to the village.
On the same day, a large Mist force launched a counteroffensive, initiating a beach landing assault on the Kusunami Coast. As the only available Jonin left in the camp, Kakashi Hatake accepted the mission to intercept the Mist Anbu and rescue Rin Nohara, and has already set out.
As of the time this intelligence was dispatched, the Mist Anbu had already arrived at the Kusunami Coast with Rin Nohara.
At this moment, inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Kushina Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze, Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado... the prominent figures of the Hokage faction and the Leaf's top brass were all gathered.
After reading the intelligence, Minato Namikaze put down the scroll, took a deep breath, and slowly looked up.
Seated behind his desk, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, puffed on his pipe. A solemn look flashed in his eyes as he asked in a deep voice, "Minato, what do you make of this?"
Minato immediately delivered his conclusion, stating solemnly, "An enemy in the shadows harbors malicious intent toward the Hidden Leaf!"
"Furthermore, we have all misunderstood Root, as well as the 'Heavenly Ninja'!"
"Yu discovered Rin's anomaly far earlier than any of us and took the initiative to investigate and intercept them. However, the enemy lurking in the dark immediately targeted him, causing us to miss our first opportunity to thwart this conspiracy!"
"We also have the Heavenly Ninja to thank. By sending back clues before his disappearance in this manner, he allowed us to realize what was happening in time!"
"However... from what I can see, the enemy's target isn't just Rin and Kakashi, nor is it as simple as detonating the Three-Tails in the heart of the Leaf!"
"This mastermind clearly harbors far deeper malice and a grander scheme!"
Hearing this, Jiraiya, who had already grasped the full picture of the situation, couldn't help but marvel, "Looking at it this way, that Hyuga kid's caliber isn't limited to Root. Just like you, Minato, his heart encompasses the entire village!"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this point. "Tch, I really didn't expect that. It seems I underestimated him."
"Root isn't entirely filled with useless fools after all..."
Hearing this, Danzo Shimura, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window of the Hokage's office, turned his head. With a cold snort, he reprimanded, "Princess Tsunade, I cannot simply ignore such words!"
Tsunade promptly turned her head away, huffing, "So tedious. If I had known earlier, I would have taken that kid as my disciple. Now... you old man got lucky."
Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but nod. This incident had actually given him a favorable impression of Hyuga Yu, and he finally understood why Danzo had chosen this child as his successor.
In the future, if Minato Namikaze succeeded as the Fourth Hokage in the light, and the Heavenly Ninja succeeded Root to assist from the shadows—allowing these two children to support one another from the light and the dark—it would surely bring greater prosperity to the Hidden Leaf!
It was just that...
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up with a tinge of worry toward Orochimaru, who stood behind everyone.
"Heh heh..." Orochimaru let out a raspy laugh, seemingly completely indifferent to the matter, giving Hiruzen a reassuring glance.
His disciple's understanding nature instantly made Hiruzen feel even more guilty toward Orochimaru. However, it lasted only a brief moment before Hiruzen quickly refocused on the matter at hand. Turning to Danzo with a serious expression, he asked, "The Heavenly Ninja has been missing for days, Danzo. Why didn't you report this to me? And have you found the boy now?"
"Hmph, Hiruzen, there's no need for you to worry. He has already arrived in the Land of Rain and has begun his mission."
Hiruzen knit his brows. "The peace talks with the Hidden Stone—you're just handing something that important over to a fourteen-year-old child?"
In front of everyone present, Hiruzen placed heavy emphasis on the phrase "fourteen-year-old child."
Danzo immediately narrowed his eyes slightly, replying coldly, "The Heavenly Ninja naturally has his own considerations regarding what needs to be done!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen's brow furrowed slightly. In his mind, between Rin Nohara's capture by the Mist and the peace talks with the Stone, the latter clearly held a higher priority, as it directly impacted the upcoming election for the Fourth Hokage.
Minato Namikaze was indeed the hero who brought an end to the Third Shinobi World War. Yet right now, his rival, the Heavenly Ninja, was working on a crucial task that would establish the Hidden Leaf's geopolitical landscape for the next decade.
Originally, assigning this mission to Danzo wouldn't have been an issue. However, Danzo had bypassed Orochimaru and intended to hand this achievement over to his own disciple and Hokage candidate, the "Heavenly Ninja" Hyuga Yu. Coupled with Danzo's frequent efforts lately to generate momentum for Yu's Hokage campaign, Hiruzen couldn't truly turn a blind eye.
Yesterday's welcoming ceremony for Minato Namikaze had been Hiruzen's doing, but unfortunately, Danzo had still managed to outmaneuver him...
Nevertheless, when it came to the election for the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze still maintained a commanding lead. Furthermore, considering Hyuga Yu's relatively young age, Hiruzen felt somewhat relieved.
At this point, after careful consideration, Hiruzen turned back to Minato Namikaze and said in a deep voice, "I had originally intended to send you to the Land of Rain to cooperate with the Heavenly Ninja in advancing the negotiations with the Hidden Stone. But since this involves a Tailed Beast, you are indeed the most suitable choice, Minato."
"Therefore, you are to set out immediately to rescue Rin Nohara, retrieve the Three-Tails, and ensure that the mastermind behind this incident is thoroughly uncovered!"
Minato Namikaze nodded and dropped to one knee to accept the command.
"Yes, sir!"
As soon as the words left his mouth—shuck!
Having finally awaited this command, Minato Namikaze vanished instantly, impatiently activating the Flying Raijin Technique.
He understood the Third Hokage's concerns and had witnessed the methods of his rival, the "Heavenly Ninja." However, compared to the power struggle for the position of Fourth Hokage, Minato valued the village and his comrades far more!
And this time, he would not be late!
"Rin, Kakashi—wait for me!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, in the Seventh Zone of the Land of Rain.
Much like Minato Namikaze, Hyuga Yu harbored no deep obsession with the position of Hokage. To him, becoming Hokage was merely a means to an end. If he could secure benefits equivalent to those of a Hokage through other methods, then it didn't truly matter whether he held the title or not. Compared to vying for power and profit, Yu placed far greater importance on accelerating the development of his abilities to make himself stronger.
This held true for his joining Root, his destabilization of the Hidden Mist, his involvement in the Hidden Stone peace talks, and even more so for prompting Minato Namikaze to rescue Rin Nohara to prevent Obito Uchiha's descent into darkness.
Find the fastest, shortest path, and then achieve his goals with the utmost speed!
That was Hyuga Yu's code of conduct.
He knew full well that in this world, where absolute power could reside within a single individual, only the strongest could enforce their will upon the entire world!
Yet sometimes, even if you don't go looking for trouble, trouble... will find you.
Just like right now—
At the frog-themed wooden cabin in the suburbs of the Seventh Zone near the Land of Rain's border, Hyuga Yu slowly looked up. He coldly swept his gaze across the densely packed Hidden Rain shinobi standing atop the collapsed roof, his brows knitting slightly.
"Oh no! We're surrounded!"
"Yahiko, what should we do?"
"We have no choice but to force our way out! Nagato, Konan, cover me!"
"Right!"
The rapid exchanges of Yahiko and his two companions echoed in his ears. Following that, Yu saw Yahiko draw his long sword and charge out of the house, taking the lead under the cover of Konan and Nagato's ninjutsu!
However, the attacking enemies were no pushovers. The offensive orchestrated by Yahiko was quickly intercepted. The moment they rushed out a short distance and threw open the door, they found that what lay outside was not an endless wasteland, but a massive stone wall.
The entire frog house was enclosed by sixteen stone walls created via Earth Style: Mud Wall. No sooner had Yahiko swung his blade to cleave through one Mud Wall than a brand-new stone barrier was instantly erected.
Compounded by the crowd of Rain shinobi overhead continuously raining down senbon and shuriken upon them, the trio was swiftly forced back inside, using a blind spot within the house to evade the relentless storm of projectiles from above.
"Damn it, all our escape routes are blocked..."
Yahiko gritted his teeth, punching the wall, before looking up to scan their surroundings continuously, searching for a way to break the deadlock.
The space above the house was besieged by the Rain shinobi, while the subterranean passage below was blocked by Kakuzu, who was hunting Hyuga Yu. Furthermore, the enemies were highly cunning; whenever Yahiko attempted to lead a leap toward the roof to engage them in close-quarters combat, he was met with several rounds of Earth Style: Rock Lodging Destruction. Multi-ton boulders plummeted from the sky. No matter how exquisite Yahiko's taijutsu or how sharp his swordsmanship, he had to weigh whether his stamina was sufficient to break through the confinement of ninjutsu and then take on multiple high-level enemies.
This was a highly elite unit specialized in mid-to-close-range combat.
They excelled at pinning enemies down within mid-to-close ranges using ninjutsu operations, and the squad boasted several Jonin.
What determined the strength of a shinobi was the jutsu they mastered.
Under the circumstances of a pre-planned ambush, where the enemy possessed intel and deliberately countered them, even Yahiko's trio—who possessed the strength of elite Jonin—found it difficult to break out for the moment.
Witnessing this, Hyuga Yu sidestepped a few flying kunai and deactivated his Byakugan, his eyes narrowing slightly. A formation of this scale naturally couldn't trap him. Whether it was Wind Style or the power derived from his Tenseigan, unleashing either could easily generate a massive area-of-effect ninjutsu to clear the field.
However, Yu did not want to use chakra at this moment, as it would interfere with the current stage of his physical conditioning. Relying solely on taijutsu presented thorny issues, whether it was the inefficiency of stacking reaction forces to open the "Wind Style: Flowing Astral Twelve Meridians" without Wind Style Chakra Mode, or the side effects of using the Eight Inner Gates.
Therefore, Yu looked toward Yahiko and asked, "Got a plan?"
Yahiko pondered for a moment, furrowing his brows as he answered, "Our only choice is to breach the doorway, quickly smash through the Earth Style stone walls outside, and make a swift breakout."
Yu reminded him, "You're overlooking a problem."
"What?"
"Right now, in the secret passage beneath your feet, there is an S-rank rogue ninja from the Hidden Waterfall. He isn't dead; he's just waiting for us to exhaust our stamina."
"This..." Yahiko's brow furrowed as he gritted his teeth slightly. "Then what should we do?"
Yu looked at him seriously. "I'll teach you a method."
"Oh? What other method do you have?"
Yu said calmly, "Give me your hand."
Yahiko locked eyes with Yu, discerning the seriousness in his gaze. After a few seconds of hesitation, he extended his palm to Yu.
In the next split second, Yu grabbed Yahiko's hand with one hand, slid his grip all the way down to firmly lock onto the lower side of his shoulder, raised his other palm, stepped out, and kicked the back of Yahiko's knee!
Yahiko instantly lost his balance, a look of utter astonishment flashing in his eyes. Meanwhile, Yu remained perfectly composed. Dropping into a firm horse stance, one of his palms clamped onto Yahiko's forearm while the other gripped his armpit. Swinging Yahiko like a giant windmill, he lifted him up and hurled him directly toward the crowd of Rain shinobi overhead!
"You—"
"!!?"
This scene instantly dumbfounded Konan and Nagato on the side!
Yahiko was obviously stunned as well, his eyes widening as he saw himself about to be turned into a pincushion by the sky full of concealed weapons and ninja tools!
Below, Nagato's expression changed drastically. No longer caring about concealing the power of the Rinnegan, his eyes widened slightly as he raised his palm upward, spreading his fingers wide!
Beside him, Konan instinctively wanted to stop him upon seeing this, but realizing Yahiko was about to meet disaster, she hesitated, biting her red lip and remaining silent.
"Almighty Push!"
In the next instant, an invisible, absolute power enveloped Yahiko's body, pushing outward indiscriminately in all directions with his body as the epicenter!
"—BOOM!!!"
With just that single strike, a violent gale converged into a massive tidal wave, crushing downward!
With a thunderous crash, the frog house collapsed, and the sixteen stone walls surrounding it were instantaneously blasted into fine powder!
Even Nagato, who cast the jutsu, and Konan by his side were instantly pushed back by the immense inertia. However, both were clearly prepared, so they suffered no injuries!
On the field, the only person who remained absolutely motionless was Hyuga Yu, standing right in the center of the wooden house.
He swung his arm to block the oncoming, heavy high pressure. Upon his arms, acupoints illuminated one after another under the reaction force. After a long moment, he lowered his arm. Looking at the path ahead, which had instantly become perfectly clear and devoid of obstacles, Yu nodded in satisfaction. He cast a sidelong glance at Yahiko, who was still somewhat dazed beside him, and then at Nagato and Konan behind him, both of whom were glaring at him in fury.
"Let's go."
With that, entirely disregarding whatever thoughts the trio might have, Hyuga Yu stepped forward and walked straight ahead.
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)