After Hyuga Yamatsubaki returned to the Hyuga compound, he kept sighing.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude seemed considerate toward the Hyuga clan, but when stripped down to its essence, there was only one meaning—
The village was in a poor state right now. He hoped the Hyuga clan would consider the village and make concessions.
But how were they supposed to make concessions?
The solution Koharu Utatane proposed was to have Hyuga Hizashi sacrifice himself in Hyuga Hiashi's place. That way, the Hyuga clan could resolve the problem without losing the Byakugan.
It was only the price of one branch family member.
Everyone knew that, in the Hyuga clan, the branch family did not count as people.
But Hyuga Hizashi… no matter what, he was still Yamatsubaki's son.
Even if there was a difference between the main family and the branch family.
Even if, on ordinary days, he had never favored this son.
In the end, he was still his son.
"But what else can I do?"
Hyuga Yamatsubaki raised his head.
High above, white clouds crossed the sky in quiet stillness.
Yet at that moment, Yamatsubaki's heart could not calm down no matter what he did. It was as though it had been tangled into a knot.
A long time passed.
Only then did Hyuga Yamatsubaki lower his gaze. A trace of unbearable guilt appeared in his eyes.
"Hizashi… I'm sorry. I have no other choice."
"Everything is for the Hyuga clan."
When Konoha delivered Hyuga Hizashi's corpse to the Kumogakure shinobi, Xi's expression shifted from initial excitement, to gloom after sensing something was wrong, and finally into fury.
"Why is there a Caged Bird Seal?"
"Did they add it at the last minute?"
"So he can die, but the Byakugan cannot be lost?"
Hyuga Hizashi and Hyuga Hiashi had identical appearances. Combined with the clothing Hiashi had worn that night, the Kumogakure shinobi did not recognize this man's true identity.
They merely regarded it as the Hyuga clan's method.
Not only had they directly sent over a corpse, they had even deliberately engraved the Caged Bird Seal onto Hyuga Hiashi.
"Xi, what do we do now?"
Killer B asked.
But Xi did not know either.
Refusing to admit Ibis's act of infiltrating the Hyuga compound, then forcefully demanding that Konoha repay blood with blood—strictly speaking, Kumogakure already had no moral ground.
It was only because Konoha's current situation was terrible that Kumogakure had taken the chance to bully them.
But now, Konoha had already handed over the culprit.
What more could Kumogakure demand?
And yet Xi was unwilling to accept this.
Did Kumogakure care about one corpse?
Not at all.
What Kumogakure cared about was the Byakugan.
If they left like this, then this operation would undoubtedly be a failure.
Not only had they failed to obtain the Byakugan, they had also offended both Konoha and the Hyuga clan.
"We can't let it end like this. We can't…"
Xi took a deep breath.
"Killer B, let me think."
After the first wave of hesitation and grief passed, Hyuga Yamatsubaki comforted himself with the fact that the Byakugan had been protected.
By comparison, Hyuga Hiashi was far more sorrowful.
It had been his mistake.
Yet the one who died was Hyuga Hizashi.
They were brothers to begin with. Merely because he had been born first, Hiashi had obtained the status of the main family. From childhood to adulthood, whether in treatment or position, he had always received far more than Hizashi.
Now he had made a mistake, and Hizashi had to die in his place.
He owed him too much.
"No… that isn't right. It wasn't truly my fault."
"A Kumogakure shinobi infiltrated the Hyuga clan, abducted Hinata, and harbored malicious intentions. How did that become my fault?"
"The one at fault is Kumogakure."
"But the village… and Father… both chose to retreat and bow their heads before Kumogakure."
"Hizashi… I have wronged you."
More sorrowful than Hyuga Hiashi was Hyuga Neji.
From birth, he had been a member of the branch family. But Hyuga Hizashi had given him a great deal of love, so Neji had never cared much about the distinction between the branch family and the main family.
Until this moment.
Hyuga Hiashi of the main family had made a mistake.
His father, Hyuga Hizashi of the branch family, had died in his place.
For the first time, Hyuga Neji directly felt the difference between the main family and the branch family.
The main family stood high above.
The branch family was as lowly as servants.
A miserable smile appeared on young Hyuga Neji's face.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was fairly satisfied with this result.
Kumogakure had not been offended. Kumogakure could find no excuse to target them. Only one Hyuga branch family member had died. It was harmless to the greater picture, and even the Byakugan had not been lost.
"This matter should more or less end here."
That was what Hiruzen Sarutobi thought.
But he was wrong.
A new issue of Ninja World Weekly was sent out from Sunagakure and spread throughout the entire shinobi world.
The previous interview with Kakashi had plunged Konoha deep into the whirlpool of public opinion.
It had greatly damaged Hiruzen Sarutobi's reputation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had barely managed to calm the matter down by using a fake Kakashi.
But this time, Ninja World Weekly continued to make a major issue out of it.
And it directly questioned Hiruzen Sarutobi's methods.
First, the real Kakashi must be able to use Chidori.
Second, the real Kakashi must be able to use the Sharingan to copy others' ninjutsu.
Third, the real Kakashi must be able to summon the Eight Ninja Hounds.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened.
"This Rasa really is endless!"
"He refuses to let go of Kakashi's matter?"
"So… is the real Kakashi actually in Sunagakure now?"
"Danzo, Danzo… you make mistakes again and again. And every time you do, I'm the one who has to clean up after you."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked toward the crystal ball before him.
Just as he expected, many people had begun discussing the matter because of Ninja World Weekly.
"Is Sunagakure questioning whether our Konoha's Kakashi is fake?"
"For them to be this certain, do they have some kind of confidence?"
"Does Sunagakure have evidence?"
"Or maybe Sunagakure has seen the real Kakashi?"
"Then is the Kakashi in our village real or fake?"
"Hokage-sama should have Kakashi demonstrate it, right? After all, if he doesn't, that means he's guilty."
An ANBU ninja quickly arrived at the Hokage's office, somewhat panicked.
"Hokage-sama, what should I do?"
The previous fake Kakashi had been this very ANBU ninja using the Transformation Technique.
But this ANBU ninja did not know Chidori, did not possess a Sharingan, and could not summon the Eight Ninja Hounds.
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell into thought.
"Wait for now. There's no need to respond immediately."
There was a way to handle the Eight Ninja Hounds. They were the Hatake clan's summoned beasts. As long as they obtained the summoning scroll and wrote a name upon it, someone else could summon them as well.
As for Chidori, they needed to find a ninja with Lightning Release and have him learn it.
And as for the Sharingan…
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that he could start with the Uchiha clan.
"I remember that Danzo previously killed quite a few members of the Uchiha clan. He should have plenty of Sharingan in his possession."
"The problem can be solved."
"But Konoha cannot keep being led around by the nose by Sunagakure—by Rasa."
"A large-scale war is not suitable for Konoha right now. But I can have Jiraiya lead a team and ambush Sunagakure ninja, teach Sunagakure a lesson, and inflict real losses on them."
"And ideally, he can defeat Rasa and blunt his arrogance."