Chapter 21 — The Last Remnants of the Main House
Land of Fire — Eastern Coastline.
The Konoha forward command base stretched for miles across the windswept shore. Over a thousand shinobi were stationed there, locked in a bitter stalemate with Kirigakure's forces.
At the center of it all stood the command tent of one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru — the cold, serpentine strategist in charge of Konoha's eastern front.
In one corner of the massive encampment lay a distinct section — quieter, cleaner, and notably uniform. Dozens of Konoha shinobi with pale, milky-white eyes and snow-colored robes moved about in ordered precision.
This was the area Orochimaru had allocated specifically for the Hyūga clan delegation.
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The Hyūga had not come as reinforcements. They were not under Orochimaru's command.
Their purpose here was singular: to investigate the theft of a Byakugan, and to discipline the Branch member held responsible — Hyūga Ritsu.
Recovering the stolen eye, however, would be a longer and far more delicate process.
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"Damn that Orochimaru bastard! He's infuriating!"
With a violent sweep of his arm, Hyūga Hishō, one of the Main House elders, threw open the tent flap and stormed inside, his face twisted with anger.
"Watch your tongue, Hishō," said the man seated at the head of the table — Hyūga Hiashi, the clan head himself. His brows knitted in displeasure. "You forget where you are."
"Indeed," another elder, Hyūga Daichi, added sternly. "The clan head is right. Orochimaru is Lord Hokage's personal student — and one of the strongest shinobi alive. He may very well become the next Hokage. You'd better think twice before letting that mouth of yours bring disaster upon the clan."
Hishō scowled, waving a hand irritably. "Alright, alright! I get it — my words were reckless. But still, that snake Orochimaru… tch. He's the same as ever! I just came from his tent, and guess what? He still claims he has no idea when Hyūga Ritsu will return!"
He dropped heavily onto a seat, glaring toward Hiashi. "Clan Head, are we just going to keep waiting like this? It's already the third day, and that little brat Ritsu still hasn't shown his face! I'm starting to think he's defected!"
Hiashi's expression darkened. Little brat, was it? And yet, if Ritsu — a Branch member of the Hyūga — was a "little bastard," what did that make them, who bore responsibility for him?
He shot Hishō a cold glare.
After a moment of silence, Hiashi spoke, his tone calm but weighted. "No. Ritsu wouldn't defect. Not unless he intends to vanish from the world entirely. Where could he run? His parents are still within the clan — and I know that boy. He's not someone who would abandon his family."
Hishō snorted. "Hmph. You're giving him too much credit."
Hiashi was about to reply when hurried footsteps echoed outside.
"Clan Head," came a voice from beyond the tent. A Branch jōnin knelt at the entrance, his tone formal and tense. "Lord Orochimaru and Jōnin Namikaze Minato request an audience. They say it's urgent."
Hiashi blinked, taken aback.
"Minato Namikaze? The Yellow Flash? Wasn't he stationed up north dealing with Iwagakure? Has he been reassigned to the Mist front?"
He rose slowly to his feet, a faint sense of unease stirring in his chest.
If Orochimaru and Minato were coming together with "urgent news"…
Then whatever awaited him next was unlikely to be good.
The question vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Hyūga Hiashi pushed the stray thoughts aside, glanced at the elders flanking him and said, "Elder Daichi, Elder Hishō—since Lord Orochimaru and Jōnin Minato Namikaze are here, let us go greet them together."
Orochimaru and Minato were the two men most talked about as candidates for the Fourth Hokage. Even the Hyūga, proud and insular as they were, treated such visitors with solemnity.
Daichi and Hishō nodded without objection. The three of them stepped out together, and at the tent entrance they found Orochimaru and Minato standing side by side.
"Lord Orochimaru, Jōnin Namikaze—pardon our poor welcome," Hiashi said politely.
Before Hiashi could finish the formalities, Minato cut straight to the point. "Hiashi-senpai, I've come with urgent business. There isn't time for pleasantries. Please—take us somewhere secure where we can speak plainly."
He looked meaningfully around; there were too many Hyūga present here for delicate conversation. Hiashi's face tightened—Minato's tone had unsettled him—but he swallowed his unease and led the two visitors to a tent he used as a study, a small space reinforced with a privacy barrier.
Once the flap was drawn and the curtain closed, Hiashi asked, tense, "Minato-jōnin—what has happened in the village? Is something wrong?"
Minato hesitated. Facing the three Main-house elders—the clan head and two senior elders—he felt the weight of what he had to say. He took a breath and delivered the news as clearly and calmly as he could. "This will be a shock. Please steel yourselves for the worst."
Hiashi's face drained of color. Daichi and Hishō exchanged a grim look and pressed their lips together.
Orochimaru, however, only smiled—curiosity bright in his eyes. He had been told Minato came at the Hokage's behest, but had not been given any details. That ignorance made the scene all the more delicious to him.
Minato went on: "Earlier today, Branch house jōnin Hyūga Ritsu secretly returned to the village. He slaughtered the Main-house elders who remained in the clan compound, then gathered the Branch families and voted to depose you, Hiashi-senpai. Ritsu proclaimed himself clan head and selected six elders from the Branch jōnin. Hiashi-senpai… are you well?"
Minato watched Hiashi closely, worried he might faint at the blow. Fortunately, Hiashi managed to stay upright. Elder Daichi did not. His eyes rolled back and with a soft thud he collapsed to the floor.
"Elder Daichi!" Hiashi cried. "Someone—call the medical ninja!"
The tent erupted into activity. Hiashi and Hishō rushed to Daichi's side and Minato barked for medics. Only Orochimaru stood back, a gleeful glint in his face; the information Minato had brought fascinated him.
To be honest, Orochimaru admitted to himself, a few days earlier when Hiruko had come asking a favor—requesting a simple assignment for his prized pupil—he'd assumed Hiruko was arranging a cover for Ritsu to slip away. Out of friendship he'd signed the papers without a second thought. For the last few days Hishō had come to bother him, and Minato had impatiently sent him away, assuming Ritsu had gone off somewhere far afield.
Now, seeing how things had unfolded,
Orochimaru's assumptions were wrong: Ritsu had come back to Konoha — and he hadn't just come back, he'd done something enormous. Faced with the prospect of being blamed for the Main House's failures, he'd simply turned the tables and struck the Main House down. The audacity of it made Orochimaru's skin tingle with a strange mix of shock and grim amusement.
It was utterly fascinating.
If the eastern front weren't keeping him pinned down, he would have raced straight back to the village to see with his own eyes how that brat pulled off such a brazen, world-shaking move...