Outside the Hyuga compound.
Hyuga Hiashi stood half a step behind the Grand Elder, fingers absently rubbing the hidden stitching on his sleeve like he was trying to erase it. Watching the old fossil shake like a leaf in a hurricane, Hiashi's eyes got darker. Dude was doing mental math, and the numbers weren't adding up.
No way in hell the Elder actually saved Hinata last night. Too many red flags. Too much sketchy bullshit.
Hiashi and this old prick had been oil and water for years. Right now he wasn't wasting breath on small talk. One wrong question and this massive black pot gets superglued to his back. Hard pass.
Hyuga Hizashi lurked in the back of the crowd, spine so straight it could snap. Dude was sweating bullets, scared to even swallow. One tiny link to this mess and he's a dead man walking.
Far off in the distance, Makoto Uchiha lounged with his legs crossed, watching Azuki (the Cloud chick) lead her posse away. He clicked his tongue, impressed.
"Kid doesn't even look thirty and she's got a silver tongue almost as sharp as mine. Respect."
The Hyuga just got welded to this scandal. And judging by the Elder's deer-in-headlights vibe? This shit's about to explode. Good. No twin brother to blame it on this time.
Makoto stretched like a cat in the sun. With the Hyuga eating all the heat, the Uchiha could chill for a minute. Finally didn't have to worry about dipping out for a few months and coming home to a smoking crater where his clan used to be. Last thing he needed was to be a clan leader with no clan. Talk about awkward.
…
On the road from the Hyuga compound to the Hokage Tower, Azuki and the Cloud delegation were hauling ass.
Morning light slid down her braids, skin glowing like polished obsidian, eyes sharp and feral. She looked like a silk-wrapped katana—pretty, but you already knew she'd cut you.
The second she stepped into the Hokage's office she skipped the pleasantries and went straight for the jugular.
"I already reported to the Raikage."
Her voice could freeze gasoline. "He said if Konoha doesn't give us answers by noon, Cloud shinobi are marching straight into the Land of Fire."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a slow drag, wrinkles swallowing the smoke. "Please remain calm. Konoha will give Cloud a satisfactory explanation."
Azuki snorted—zero respect for the old man—and spun on her heel. Cloud wasn't scared of Konoha anymore.
Her sleeve flicked the desk, scattering ash like gray snow. "You know the Raikage's temper, Lord Hokage. War or peace—choose fast."
Door slammed. Heels clicking like a countdown.
Sunshine poured through the window, painting grid shadows on the floor, but the room still stank of smoke and doom.
Hiruzen knocked his pipe against the desk. "Bring the Hyuga clan leader."
An ANBU melted out of the shadows and vanished without a sound.
Minutes later Hiashi walked in, sunlight slicing across his shoulder like a blade. He stopped exactly three steps from the desk, back straight as a snapped bamboo stalk—looked strong, felt like surrender.
"What the hell is going on?" Hiruzen's eyes cut through the smoke, sharp for once.
Hiashi's face went corpse-blue. "Lord Hokage… I don't know the full details."
"Don't know?" Hiruzen slammed the pipe down, sparks flying. "Cloud shows up at your doorstep screaming bloody murder and you don't know?"
Hiashi's jaw clenched so hard it could crack walnuts. Fists balled under his sleeves, knuckles white. He knew the Elder was hiding something, but he wasn't about to snitch and paint an even bigger target on himself.
Hiruzen read him like a children's book. Hiashi knows something and he's keeping his mouth shut. The Cloud VIP is definitely in the Hyuga compound, and it's almost certainly the main-branch elders' mess, not Hiashi's.
Hiruzen waved him off, annoyed. "Fine. Go."
Hiashi bowed and left like he was dragging a boulder behind him.
Room went quiet again except for the pipe crackling.
Then the door got kicked open hard enough to rattle papers.
Danzo Shimura strode in, black cloak swallowing the light, one eye glinting like a shark. Behind him: Koharu and Homura, the other two old fossils on the council. They already knew.
Koharu opened her mouth; Homura yanked her sleeve—shut up.
Hiruzen's pipe was burning angry, ash piled like a tiny grave. Everyone looked at Danzo.
Danzo just stared out the window at the Hokage Monument like he was counting cracks in the stone. Fingers circling his cane. Silent.
Dude was doing calculus. If Cloud was gunning for anyone else—some random shinobi or small clan—he'd already be volunteering Root to "handle it." He hated the peace treaty anyway; thought it was toilet paper for weaklings.
But this was the Hyuga—the clan that's been acting even more arrogant than the Uchiha lately. Perfect chance to smash them down a peg.
Thank fuck it wasn't the Uchiha. He'd have brought the whole damn Root if it was.
Finally Hiruzen slammed his pipe down, ash avalanche.
He wanted to march over to the Hyuga compound himself and scream at those elders, but nah. They'd gone too far—throwing parties while the village signed peace treaties, now "kidnapping" the Cloud delegation leader for no reason? Worse than Danzo on a bad day.
Time to clip their wings before they actually started a war.
He looked at Danzo. Old friends—no words needed.
Danzo opened his mouth first, voice like gravel. "I'll go to the Hyuga compound and… assess the situation."
Hiruzen nodded, took a drag, smoke leaking between teeth. "Fast. Cloud's already massing troops at the border."
Danzo's cane tapped the floor like gunshots.
"Move all border units toward the Land of Hot Water," Hiruzen ordered the shadows. ANBU vanished.
"Koharu, Homura—supplies. Now. We can't get caught with our pants down."
Danzo was already gone.
Outside, the sky turned ugly fast—heavy clouds like a wet rag.
Danzo lifted his chin at the shadows. "Call every on-duty Root member."
Black figures appeared out of nowhere, silent as ghosts, breath fogging in the cold.
At the Hyuga's red-lacquered gates, Danzo planted his cane in the frozen dirt.
"Lock down the entire compound." He pointed at five Root. "You five—with me."
The rest fanned out, surrounding the place like ants on a corpse. Looked less like an investigation and more like they were about to paint the walls red.
Word spread fast. The other clans watched with scowls—nobody liked this vibe.
Danzo stepped over the threshold thinking: Only the Hyuga would I walk into with just five guys.
Uchiha? I'd bring the whole damn army and still sleep with one eye open. Those evil-eyed psychos get stronger and crazier every year—one wrong word and they'd start swinging.
In the shadows, Azuki watched the whole thing, skin gleaming like black chrome. Seeing Konoha's war hawk surround the Hyuga like they're about to exterminate them?
She smiled—slow, sharp, and sweet like candy-coated murder.
"Typical Konoha," she muttered. "Too busy eating each other to notice the knife at their throat."
Raikage's mission was gonna be easier than she thought.
Way off in the distance, Shisui and Itachi stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the circus.
Both of them looked like they'd aged ten years overnight.
That dead Cloud body? Shisui had personally delivered it to the Hyuga last night.
Neither of them thought it'd blow up this big.
Shisui's respect for Makoto just hit god-tier.
Itachi stared at the locked-down compound, eyes unreadable, mind clearly running a thousand scenarios.
This was gonna get messy.