32

Third Hokage regrets it now. It is not a regret to persuade Hyuga Seiji to die. It's a regret that he even listened to Danzo's talk...

Is it difficult to defeat Cloud? Not really, just send Ghost; that guy never ever failed a mission, no matter the task or difficulty. If they let Ghost roam free he might very well destroy the five elemental nations from the very face of the earth itself, all the while taking no damage whatsoever.

His assassination unit although weaker than Ghost by a huge margin is no weakling either. Anyone from the unit is capable of fighting an elite on their own.

No one can even hope to survive against that monster or his squad. Konoha will not even take the chip damage. Does that matter though? No, the problem is not Cloud but Hyuga clan instead.

What should he say now? That the village will not start a war because of Hyūga Hinata? Even if that little soul was tortured for the rest of her life?

If he actually says that, Konoha will actually see a civil war given that many major patriarchs of the clans have kids near that age. But if the answer would be to start a war for Hinata; it would contradict his words and deeds today! This is ridiculous!

"You brat", Sarutobi Shinnosuke; the patriarch of the Sarutobi clan suddenly speaks.

"You speak such big words, but in fact, you just don't dare to dedicate yourself to the village. Everything else is just an excuse!"

"Do you?", Hyuga Seiji asked blankly.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke sneered, "If the decision of the village is to use me in exchange for peace, then I will accept this decision."

"That's perfect. I mean cloud shinobis do not know that it was a Hyuga clan member who did it, right? why don't we just sacrifice him instead?", Hyuga Seiji spoke with a giggle.

When the voice fell, everyone's expression changed.

"STOP MESSING AROUND" Sarutobi Shinnosuke yelled

Hyuga Seiji shrugged, "Did I say something wrong? They dare not admit that it was a Hyuga clan member because they weren't supposed to be there. There is no possible way for them to know their shinobi died in the Hyuga clan compound either. The killer could be anyone. Even you"

Hokage narrowed his eyes. Sacrificing his own clan's patriarch. What a joke. Uchiha Fugaku chuckled a bit. Hyuga Seiji's words just now fit the aesthetics of their Uchiha clan!

This is the peace they won by their own hands. By making sacrifice after sacrifice they defeated four great nations in not just one but three world shinobi wars. Even now, when they are nearly half-crippled, Konoha is still mighty enough to banish Kumo into oblivion...

But what's ridiculous is that even after being so mighty they are being asked to bow down and face humiliation instead. why...?!

Furthermore! The Uchiha clan has never been afraid of blood! Even Uchiha Fugaku, who has always bowed down for his clan's peace has the pride of a shinobi in his bones.

Not only Uchiha Fugaku, but the patriarchs of other major clans also showed signs of being moved.

If the village will not move for a 2-year-old Hinata Hyuga. Then the village will not move for their children either. Yamanaka Inoichi was the one who was affected by this the most. He has a daughter, just the same age as Hyuga Hinata. If Ino was in Hinata's place... he shivered at the thought. He would rather die than see his little Ino being tortured like that.

"Ino", Inoichi muttered with complex emotions

The patriarch of the Nara clan; Nara Shikaku looked at Inoichi and sighed. If Inoichi agrees to go to war, then he would most definitely join his friend. Choza has the same look as Shikaku.

Third Hokage looked around helplessly; the thing is getting out of hand, if he actually says anything out of proportion now, it would result in chaos, "We will discuss this matter later. Dismiss"

Soon only the third Hokage and three advisory elders remained in the conference room. After confirming that everyone outside has gone far.

Snapped! Mitokado Homura punched the table angrily!

"Damn him...! This Hyuga Seiji is simply too arrogant!"

"Yes!" Utatane Koharu echoed, "He has no respect for you Hiruzen"

Mitokado Homura: "How dare he question Hokage in public, this person..."

"Enough... Someone get me his information", Third Hokage said grimly. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu nodded repeatedly.

"Fortunately you ended the meeting in time. Otherwise, I'm afraid the patriarchs would have taken the initiative to declare war on Cloud", Danzo said coldly.

Mitokado Homura pondered for a while, then said, "This thing can't be forgiven!"

Third Hokage did not answer, but he agreed with Mitokado Homura. If his orders are not accepted, where is the majesty of Hokage then?

"But we can't find any reason to punish him", Utatane Koharu hesitated.

"No reason is needed"

Danzo resolutely said, "If Hyuga Seiji dies, the patriarchs of the Ninja clan will naturally not argue for a dead person"

Sarutobi Hiruzen understood in seconds, adding, "Hyuga Seiji killed the leader of the Cloud Shinobi mission, so it is possible that Cloud Shinobi Village spies will retaliate against him"

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu also understood, "Let Ghost deal with this then"

Danzo shook his head, "You can't move him...!"

"What do you mean by that...?! Are you saying that as elders we can't even move Ghost now? We don't even have such little authority now?.."

"Enough", Hokage yelled, "Koharu, come to your senses, Ghost is no ordinary shinobi, not he nor his assassination squad can be moved around like a piece of toy"

The two advisors looked at each other, but eventually, they both nodded. The fact was that the Hokage had a point — Ghost and his squad are too powerful and are thus only tasked with certain missions which can never be shifted to anyone else. Just like Jiraiya...

"Danzo, you deal with this, do whatever you want"

Danzo nodded, "Understood"

Once outside, Hyuga Hiashi was at loss. They survived. Today was supposed to be their clan's death sentence, yet they survived. He looked at the side towards today's protagonist. Hyuga Seiji. But only saw the people coming out from the Kage tower.

Hyuga Seiji just disappeared. They left together, and now he is not here anymore.

Even with his Byakugan, he couldn't find him. Feeling confused he frowned, "Hyuga Seiji... who are you?", Hiashi muttered and hurriedly went towards the Hyuga compound.

Standing at the top of Hokage's mountain. Hyuga Seiji stares at the group of Konoha shinobis coming out of the Kage tower, especially Hyuga Hiashi.

"Leader"

With a blur, a dark-clothed shadow appeared and knelt beside him.

"Kill them", Hyuga Seiji softly as he blurred out of sight...

"It shall be done", A moment later, the shadow vanished.

...

Meanwhile, the four cloud shinobis were laughing while eating the meat and drinking in the best hotel Konoha could provide.

"Fushige sama. That was great; Those old fools don't even dare to go against us. The intelligent report was just too accurate. What a trash village Hahaha. Fighting between themselves. I don't know how they won three wars back to back"

The man named Fushige chuckled and lay down on the king-sized bed.

"I don't get it. Why are we asking for the Hyuga clan? Wouldn't it be better to just ask for Ghost? Without him Konoha does not have fighting power anymore", Someone else asked

Fushige, the cloud envoy shook his head, "It's not that Raikage sama didn't want to, but we simply can't. We can only push Konoha to a certain point, they won't hand over a powerhouse like Ghost, besides, it's not like we can find him, remember, he doesn't exist. Anyone can simply wear a mask and become Ghost, and they can just hand us a simple useless civilian if they would want to..."

Another cloud shinobi laid down, "Hahaha. What's the problem with getting those eyes? Heh. Think how strong we will get after that. This is life man. Hahaha. We are the kings of this...

He couldn't finish his sentence when the window was suddenly broken and a smoke bomb came from the broken window and rolled inside.

The Cloud's envoys got startled by the shock. And get ready to take their weapons out. But it was too late already. They were caught off guard.

The smoke bomb exploded with white smoke that covered every inch of the room.

With a quick reflex, Kumo Shinobis managed to blow away the smoke using a basic wind Jutsu, only to find a single black-clothed mask figure sticking on the room's upper wall like a bat. Kumo Shinobis didn't even get to make a move before the masked figure jumped on them.

...

While at the same time, Hyuga Seiji, the center of attention stood in the Hyuga compound, waiting for the assassination attack that Hokage would surely order.

And soon, his senses picked three more people nearby.

"..."

The Root shinobis took their place, waiting for the Hyuga to make a move around and get careless. But he never did. He just stood there with his eyes closed.

They kept in the stalemate position for 30 or so minutes with neither side moving an inch; Before the ninja hiding in the dark could not take it anymore.

Sensing the change of emotions in his assassin, Hyuga Seiji opened his eyes, "Now"

Hokage and the elders were watching it at Hokage's office from the crystal ball. Which soon glitched with the distorted image. This startled the Hokage and the elders.

Meanwhile, the assassin attacked Hyuga Seiji without knowing anything, "Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

"..."