175 Chapter – 172 Watanabe's True Intentions

For the Genjutsu of Cat, Eagle is quite confident, even if one doesn't count the ultimate Genjutsu Koto Amatsukami, Cat's Genjutsu Skills are undoubtedly unmatched in the Shinobi World.

However, what surprised both Cat and Eagle was that the Genjutsu cast by Cat didn't affect Watanabe, who lifted the Kunai in his hand and directed it to pierce the heart of unconscious Hinata in his grip.

Hyuga Hiashi was panicked and almost subconsciously rushed towards Watanabe and hit him with the Gentle fist strike.

At the moment when the Kunai was only an inch away from piercing Hyuga Hinata's heart, he stopped midway and grinned fanatically as the Hyuga Patriarch's Gentle Fist Strike landed on his chest.

Bang…

Watanabe made no attempt to counter or dodge the Gentle fist strike.

Puff…

With a muffled sound, Watanabe fell on the ground, and the Kunai he held in his hand was like a bell that shocked everyone.

Looking at Watanabe's corpse that lay on the ground lifelessly, the Hyuga Patriarch's face was gloomy, he has long understood that he was caught in a trap… but what could he have done when his daughter's life was at stake?

Cat frowned in confusion, "Why did my Genjutsu not work on him!?"

Eagle answered after a bit of thinking, "I did notice that his chakra flow was strange, initially, I thought he was going to use some ninjutsu, but it seems like that wasn't the case, most likely he has cast some sealing technique in his brain that negated the chakra disruption!"

Using sealing technique on the brain can of course prevent him from being controlled by Genjutsu and protect intelligence to be spied by anyone, but there is obviously a disadvantage in this as it damages the brain cells, so only the shinobi that are going on a mission where their deaths are all but assured with no chance of survival would opt this method to protect the intelligence from their brain.

And considering that Watanabe dared to do such a thing, it means that he didn't intend to leave out of here alive.

While the Hyuga Patriarch picked up his daughter from the ground, loud noises started to come from the other side of the village.

The harsh noise was like a drop of a metal pin in a silent hall and resounded throughout the quiet village in the night.

Cat looked in the direction of the noise and said solemnly, "The noise is coming from the Kumo mansion where the Kumo delegation is staying!"

Eagle wasn't surprised by this and nodded, "They should have been prepared to cause a fiasco, so it's only natural!"

Watanabe deliberately 'Touched the Porcelain' this time, so it is only natural that the Kumo delegation cooperates, otherwise, wouldn't his death be meaningless?

Eagle now walked towards the Hyuga patriarch.

Hyuga Hiashi anxiously said, "This time, I am afraid the situation has gotten so troublesome!"

Eagle nodded.

From the beginning, Watanabe's purpose has been very clear, to die in the Hyuga Compound, and it is best to die in the hands of the Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan, so Kumo can use his death and excuse to attack Konoha.

In the face of this situation, Konoha only has two options, either hand over the body of the Hyuga Patriarch as compensation for the death of Kumo's Head Ninja or choose an all-out war.

If Konoha chooses the former and surrenders the body of the Hyuga Patriarch, then it would be equal to the Hokage betraying and offending Hyuga.

That on a larger scale would mean that the senior management of Konoha would offend both Hyuga and Uchiha Clan at the same time.

If such a thing happens, then Kumo only needs to sit on their thunder mountain and watch the internal struggle and chaos of Konoha to look for a better opportunity to land a perfect blow.

And if Konoha chooses the latter, goes for an all-out war, and refuses to hand over the body of the Hyuga Patriarch, then the radicals of Kumo can use this excuse to persuade the conservatives of Kumogakure to start a full-scale war that would not only involve Konoha but also the other Shinobi Villages who wouldn't hesitate to dirty their hands in the muddy water.

Therefore, no matter the option, Konoha choose, the radicals of Kumogakure would always be in a win-win situation as their objective would be accomplished.

Understanding this, Eagle was more doubtful.

Such a comprehensive plan is not something just anyone could make, and the person must have a comprehensive understanding of Konoha's current situation.

The person must understand the conflict between the Village and the Uchiha Clan, at the same time, he/she must also understand that Uchiha alone isn't enough to fight Konoha.

Therefore, dragging the Hyuga into this matter at such a sensitive time is definitely a smart move to induce infighting in Konoha.

This also cleared another one of Eagle's doubts about how the Hyuga Patriarch easily killed Watanabe in the original story?

Hyuga Hiashi's strength as the Hyuga Patriarch is naturally very high, but she shouldn't be strong enough to Kill, Watanabe who is also a Head Ninja with just a single strike who should have been defensive, now this is explainable if Watanabe intended to die from the beginning!

But one thing confused him, the Kumo spy could have an understanding of the situation of Konohagakure, but how could he know the layout of the Hyuga Patriarch's mansion?

However, there was no time to consider this, as the distant noise was gradually getting closer and closer as the seconds passed, so withdrawing all his thoughts, Eagle solemnly said to Hyuga Patriarch who held his daughter, "The other party came intending to die here, the purpose was not the Byakugan but to induce internal conflict!"

Hiashi nodded in silence.

Now Hiashi understood that the other party's death was impossible to prevent because even if Hiashi didn't personally kill him, he would have just committed suicide at the right opportunity to put the blame on the Hyuga Patriarch.

Stopping his death was close to impossible as Watanabe was just a ticking time bomb who needed the best opportunity to explode to cause the maximum damage, unfortunately enough, his actions movements couldn't be restricted because of being the head of the peace delegation sent by Kumogakure.

At this time, Cat who jumped on the eaves, looking into the distance spoke, "A lot of people are coming here!"

Hiashi's face was gloomy and he said with a sigh, "Both of you go, I will be responsible for resolving things here!"

"I am sorry but that isn't going to happen. Hyuga Patriarch, please forgive me for overstepping my bounds, but considering the seriousness of the matter, as an Anbu under Hokage-Sama, I order you to make sure that all of the Hyuga Clansmen who witnessed anything here will not disclose it to anyone, no matter the case!" – said Eagle while he brought out a storage scroll and stored Watanabe's corpse.

Hiashi nodded and then asked worriedly, "What are you going to do!?"

After making sure that the seal was completed, Eagle spoke seriously, "Hyuga Patriarch, you needn't know anything from here on, you haven't seen anything, didn't witness anyone's death, if anyone asks anything, just tell them that since your daughter was feeling a bit restless, so you were out on a walk with her; to help her calm down, and since she fell asleep midway, so you were only bringing her back, is that understood?"

Hiashi nodded and didn't speak anything more.

With Hyuga Patriarch's nod, Eagle and Cat nodded towards each other and disappeared leaving no trace of either their or Watanabe's presence in the surroundings.

With the disappearance of the three, the Hyuga Patriarch breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly instructed everyone around him, "Restore everything as the original state, the patrol teams will be back to their designated spots, and as mentioned by the Anbu, nobody is allowed to talk anything they witnessed here, is that clear!"

"Yes, Hiashi-Sama!" – with that said, all the Hyuga dispersed.

Not long after, the Kumo ninja under the escort of Konoha Anbu rushed to the Hyuga Clan.

Another Jonin who was part of the team said with anger, "I saw the ninja wearing the crest of your Hyuga Clan kidnap our leader Watanabe-San!"

Hyuga Hiashi frowned and after handing over Hinata to the maid, he asked, "What do you mean!?"

"Don't try to act innocent, your Hyuga Clan ninja kidnapped our leader, tell us, where is he?" – said the Jonin impatiently.

Hiashi face turned cold but he still said calmly, "I haven't seen your leader, and why do you think the Hyuga would do something so ridiculous as to kidnap the leader of the peace envoys?"

The Kumo Jonin sneered, "Don't speak nonsense, I personally witnessed that it was a Hyuga, are you trying to protect the criminal!?"

The Konoha Anbu who followed the Kumo ninjas looked back and forth between the two parties and silently asked if Hiashi-Sama really ordered the kidnapping of Watanabe?

In the original story, Hyuga Hiashi regarded it as an act of self-defense so he didn't dispose of Watanabe's body in time as a result he suffered at the hands of Kumo's shamelessness by being caught in a dilemma.

But now that Watanabe's body has been taken away by Eagle and Cat, so there was no panic, and he calmly spoke, "I suggest that you pay attention to your wordings and remember who you are speaking to! The ninja of the Hyuga Clan has no reason to partake in such a meaningless and shameful action of kidnapping or harming the leader of the peace delegation, it would be better that you reprocess your memory and try to remember whether it was really a Hyuga!"

Seeing that the Hyuga Patriarch didn't intend to budge, Kumo Jonin's face turned dark and he stated coldly, "I want to search your Hyuga Clan territory!"

..........................

Read up to Chapter - 368 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations