Swish—
Swish, swish—
Deep within the forests bordering Konoha, four Anbu operatives leaped through the canopy, converging from different directions.
"Target not found!" One Anbu came to a halt on a thick branch. He activated his sensory abilities, scanning the perimeter before reporting through the wireless communicator clipped to his ear.
The technology tree of the shinobi world was a strange one; while heavy weaponry had stagnated, they possessed advanced radio communications and microphones.
The other operatives stopped at their respective vantage points, maintaining a high-alert stance.
"Strange... where did he go?" The sensor ninja wove a hand seal again. His chakra rippled outward like a wave, yet it returned with nothing.
Whoosh—
The sound of breaking wind signaled the arrival of a figure in a white cat mask. Kakashi Hatake landed nearby. As an Anbu Captain, he wouldn't normally be deployed for a simple chase, but the target was the Hyuga clan—one of Konoha's two great noble houses. The Third Hokage had personally ordered Kakashi to lead a squad to investigate.
"Captain!" The others turned to him.
"Nothing on your end either?" Behind the cat mask, Kakashi's visible eye grew heavy with concern.
The moment the mysterious figure had vanished into the night, Kakashi had split his team into a wide net. They were already approaching the village's barrier perimeter, yet there wasn't a single trace of the intruder.
"Orphanage area cleared. No abnormalities," one Anbu added. "The only structures in this sector are scattered outbuildings. The Matron is Nonō Yakushi."
"The Wandering Miko?" Kakashi muttered.
He knew the name. Root was technically a sub-division of Anbu, and while Danzo kept his private army off the books, many of his veteran spies were registered in the master files.
"Continue the search! You two head east along the barrier. The rest follow me west!" Kakashi ordered.
"Sir!" The shadows flickered as they moved out.
——————
Konoha Hospital: Intensive Care Unit
After emergency surgery, Hizashi Hyuga was out of danger. He had been moved to a private room to recover. As a Jōnin and the head of the Branch House, not to mention the Patriarch's twin brother, his care was a top priority.
However, Hizashi could not sleep. He lay on the bed, his Byakugan staring blankly at the ceiling, the furrow in his brow deep enough to be carved by a blade.
The battle played on a loop in his mind.
The stranger had struck his single-degree blind spot with surgical precision. It was as if the man knew the Hyuga clan's secrets better than the Hyuga themselves.
Knock, knock—
"Come in," Hizashi said, turning toward the door.
Hiashi walked in, having already changed into civilian clothes.
"Brother..." Hizashi struggled to sit up, but Hiashi raised a hand to stop him.
"Stay down. You aren't in any condition to move." Hiashi sat on a stool by the bed, his expression somber as he looked at his brother's wounds.
Despite their recent internal friction, Hiashi knew that Hizashi's combat strength was nearly equal to his own. Yet, the two of them—pincer-attacking a single intruder—had been left with one critically injured and one battered. Such a powerful ninja couldn't be a nobody. His name should have been known across the nations.
And there was something else.
"I'm here to confirm the techniques the stranger used," Hiashi said, his face hardening into a mask of seriousness.
"He..." Hizashi began, his voice faint as he recalled the fight. "He knows us. He knows the Hyuga."
"When we first engaged, every time my Gentle Fist targeted his tenketsu, he countered by erupting chakra from those exact points. He protected his nodes with a layer of chakra so dense it felt like striking solid iron. I couldn't shut down his flow, let alone inject my own chakra into his meridians."
Hiashi's own exchange had been brief, ending with Eight Trigrams Palms rather than point-striking, so he listened with increasing dread.
"I tried to use my Byakugan to see beneath his mask," Hizashi continued, "but it was like staring into an endless abyss. His chakra reserves were... indescribable. And he knew my blind spot."
Hizashi's body gave a slight shiver.
The blind spot granted by the Caged Bird seal was unique to every individual. It was nearly impossible for an enemy to find it during a single encounter. For a Jōnin like Hizashi, who had survived countless wars, having his blind spot found after only a dozen moves was a nightmare.
Hiashi remained silent for a moment, his arms crossed over his chest.
"He defeated me using the Twin Lion Fists," he said finally.
"What?!" Hizashi gasped, nearly bolting upright.
He had been semi-conscious when the final blow landed. He hadn't seen his brother fall.
The Twin Lion Fists was a high-level secret technique reserved strictly for the Main House. It required massive chakra control and a specific form of shape transformation. It was a technique as difficult to master as the Revolving Heaven. Even Hizashi, who had managed to teach himself the Revolving Heaven through sheer genius, had never been able to replicate the Twin Lion Fists.
In that instant, a horrific thought crossed Hizashi's mind.
Does the Hyuga clan... have a traitor among the elites?
——————
Late Night: Hyuga Main Estate
After shaking off the Anbu pursuit, Uzumaki Menma had doubled back.
With Hiashi and Hizashi both at the hospital, Menma strolled into Hiashi's private study as if he owned the place.
The Little Nine-Tails hopped out from his fur collar and onto the mahogany desk, immediately beginning to rummage through the drawers.
"What were we looking for again?" She paused, a drawer halfway open.
"Clues regarding the Moon and the Tenseigan," Menma replied.
He stood before a massive bookshelf, his fingers trailing across the spines of ancient scrolls.
The descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki on the Moon couldn't be entirely disconnected from the Hyuga of the ninja world. It was the only way to explain why out of all the bloodline clans, only the Hyuga possessed a seal as specific as the "Caged Bird." They weren't just protecting the Byakugan from other ninjas; they were hiding from something else.
In his memories of the future, Toneri Otsutsuki and his father had visited the world to observe Hinata from afar. Toneri had even met with Hiashi later in life. It stood to reason that Hiashi might know something from the family's secret archives.
"Menma."
The Little Nine-Tails suddenly sensed something. She scrambled back into his fur collar.
"The Big Sister is here," she whispered, retreating into their mental space.
"Hmm?"
Menma paused, his hand resting on a copy of the Byakugan User Manual.
He expanded his 'Negative Emotion Sensing.' A familiar chakra signature was approaching fast.
And judging by the intensity, she was absolutely furious.