The wind rustled gently through the night air of Konoha. The streets were quiet, the village dimly lit with patrol lights and the occasional flicker of passing shinobi. Most citizens were asleep. But not all.
At the rear side of the Hyuga clan compound, nestled within high walls and reinforced barriers, three shadowed figures moved silently under the veil of darkness.
These were no ordinary travelers.
They were Cloud Village shinobi, the same men who had arrived earlier that day under the false banner of diplomacy. Their ambassador robes were long gone, replaced by dark infiltration gear. Every step was calculated, every breath controlled. Their goal was simple—infiltrate the compound, and abduct the daughter of the Hyuga clan leader.
But they weren't alone.
From the shadow of a low garden wall, a figure stepped out quietly. His posture was relaxed, but his presence was deliberate. Dressed in the standard robes of the Hyuga clan's branch family, his forehead protector bore the seal of subjugation, a mark forced upon him since childhood.
His pale white eyes gleamed faintly in the dark.
The Cloud ninjas froze for a second as the man approached. The leading operative took a defensive stance.
"You sure you won't betray us?" he asked in a low voice.
The Hyuga man didn't hesitate. His expression was flat, but there was no fear in his eyes—only quiet resentment.
"I have no loyalty to the Hyuga clan head," he said coldly. "Because of the main family, my mother died. She was punished... for showing kindness. Tonight, I avenge her."
He moved aside and pointed toward a narrow passage behind a cluster of storage sheds. The route was hidden behind a wooden gate covered in vines and brush, nearly impossible to detect without prior knowledge.
"Through that way," the Hyuga man continued. "Give a straight path until you reach the garden, then take the left corridor. The clan head's daughter's room is in that wing. She often spends time on the balcony or garden during moonlight hours. You'll find her there."
The Cloud ninja's eyes narrowed, measuring his words. Then, with a subtle nod, he turned to his comrades.
"Let's move."
Without another word, the Hyuga betrayer turned his back on them and disappeared into the darkness, footsteps fading behind the wall. He didn't look back.
The Cloud shinobi darted forward, slipping through the concealed entrance with silent precision. Their movements were fluid, each gesture smooth from years of coordinated mission training. Within moments, they had crossed the threshold of the Hyuga compound.
What they didn't know—what none of them knew—was that they were being watched.
From a nearby rooftop, high above the line of sight, a lone figure crouched in silence.
Indra Uchiha.
His cloak rustled faintly, but he remained unseen. His eyes, cold and calculating, followed the movement of the three intruders and the Hyuga traitor who had aided them. He had arrived just moments earlier, drawn by intuition and suspicion, and he had witnessed the entire exchange.
His expression remained impassive, but inwardly, his thoughts stirred.
So this is how it happened...
In the original timeline, the kidnapping of Hinata Hyuga had remained a mystery in terms of execution. Reports had merely stated that Cloud shinobi had "somehow" infiltrated the compound and attempted to take the girl. It had always been unclear how the elite Hyuga barriers had been bypassed.
But now it made sense.
It wasn't just an outside job. It was an inside betrayal.
A branch member.
Indra narrowed his eyes slightly.
The man wasn't lying. That hatred in his voice, that pain, was real. He wasn't acting for personal gain or greed. It wasn't political. It was personal. His mother had suffered because of the clan's hierarchy, because of the cursed seal and the rules enforced by the main family. This night, to him, wasn't treason—it was justice.
Indra understood that logic. Twisted as it was, it made sense.
"He doesn't think he's betraying them," Indra thought. "To him, this is revenge… a reckoning."
Still, Indra wasn't here to judge motives. He had one goal: stay a step ahead of every key event, reshape destiny, and claim the heroines that mattered to the original plotline.
He stayed crouched, watching from above as the intruders silently slinked deeper into the compound.
Indra didn't follow yet.
He already knew what would happen next. Their path was straight. Their target was already marked.
All he needed was to wait—for the right moment.
The moon had risen higher in the sky now, casting long shadows over the tiled roofs of the Hyuga estate. A soft wind drifted through the garden trees, and the faint sounds of insects hummed in the background.
The night was far from over.
And somewhere deeper in that compound… destiny was about to twist again.
---
The Hyuga compound lay in silence.
Far from the guards, deep in the eastern wing of the estate, a young girl sat quietly on the edge of a wooden platform just outside her room.
She wore a pale lilac kimono, her short dark-blue hair brushing against her cheeks. Her small hands were folded gently in her lap. She looked up at the night sky, her milky-white eyes reflecting the moonlight like glass. She was eight years old, and even at that age, the weight of being the clan leader's daughter was beginning to press into her quiet world.
Hinata Hyuga gazed at the moon above, her legs dangling just a few inches off the ground. She liked the silence. It was peaceful here.
The soft chirping of insects accompanied the breeze that gently touched the edges of her sleeves. For a brief moment, it felt like the world was still.
But that peace shattered in an instant.
A shadow moved silently behind her. Swift, efficient, and ruthless. A hand wrapped tightly around her mouth, and an arm pinned her arms to her sides before she could even draw breath to scream.
Her eyes widened in terror.
She let out a muffled cry, struggling weakly in the arms of her attacker.
The Cloud ninja didn't speak. He turned swiftly, bolting across the garden with Hinata held tightly against him. His chakra flared faintly as he moved, enhancing his speed while keeping his body low to avoid detection.
Seconds passed.
Then, behind him, from the roof of one of the inner quarters, a Hyuga guard caught a glimpse of movement. The shinobi's instincts kicked in. He narrowed his eyes—and then saw her.
"The clan head's daughter—she's being taken!" he shouted.
The alarm spread instantly.
Shouts erupted across the compound. In less than a minute, torches lit, shadows began moving at lightning speed, and multiple Hyuga guards surged out of their quarters.
Inside the main hall, Hiashi Hyuga, the clan head, was in the middle of reviewing correspondence when a guard burst through the door.
"Hiashi-sama! Lady Hinata has been kidnapped!"
Hiashi stood up in a heartbeat, eyes blazing. "What? How!?"
"No time to explain—witnesses saw three figures fleeing toward the outer woods, possibly from the guest wing."
Without waiting for further details, Hiashi barked out sharp orders.
"Mobilize all available guards. Seal the perimeter. Begin search patterns in the forest immediately. I want her found—now."
Within seconds, the Hyuga compound erupted into controlled chaos. Members of the main and branch family poured into the night, darting across rooftops and tree lines, their Byakugan activated, scanning for even the faintest trace of chakra.
From above, Indra watched the entire sequence unfold with calculating calm.
He had predicted this outcome.
As he stood on the branch of a high tree overlooking the village perimeter, he saw multiple Hyuga shinobi racing into the nearby woods. Their desperation was obvious. The kidnapping of the clan heir was no small matter. It was a disgrace. It was a crisis.
Indra activated his Sharingan briefly, scanning through the trees.
He could already sense where the kidnappers were headed.
There was a hidden exit through the lower ridgeline of the village—one few ever used. It was disguised as an old water route but had long since dried out. Only those familiar with underground paths or with precise escape strategies could navigate it.
He moved fast, his body flickering through the tree canopy with perfect stealth.
Within moments, he arrived at a small clearing at the outer edge of the forest. The tree roots here were thicker, and the path dipped into an old drainage tunnel.
And there—just at the mouth of the tunnel—was Hinata.
She had been dropped for a moment by one of the ninjas as they prepared their escape.
She sat on the ground, her knees trembling, her tiny hands clutching the edge of her kimono.
Her eyes were wide with fear, tears silently falling down her cheeks. She didn't cry loudly—just quiet sobs, the kind a child makes when she doesn't understand what's happening but knows something is very wrong.
Indra stood on a high branch, looking down at her.
He didn't move yet.
Instead, he watched.
And he grinned.
Not out of cruelty, but calculation.
In his mind, her image overlapped with the one he had seen years later in the original timeline—a beautiful young woman with a kind heart, soft features, and a body that could rival even Tsunade's in maturity and grace.
That Hinata had once stood beside Naruto with quiet loyalty. She had loved him since childhood, ever since the day he had stood up to bullies to protect her. A single moment had been enough. One small act of bravery had lived in her heart forever.
It seemed absurd on the surface—how a girl could fall in love just like that.
But emotions weren't always logical. They were powerful.
And Indra understood how to use them.
He crouched low, narrowing his eyes as he studied her.
"This is it. That moment. In the original timeline, Naruto saved her from some bullies and she worshipped him ever since. A pathetic memory shaped her entire future."
He tilted his head slightly, still hidden by leaves.
"But I… I'll do more than just save her. I'll give her hope. I'll give her safety. And she'll remember me for life. That's how you make a heroine fall for you."
He didn't need to fight just yet.
He just needed to time it right—strike in a way that made her the witness.
Indra stayed perfectly still, listening to the footsteps of the Hyuga guards closing in from behind and the whispers of Cloud shinobi preparing their final move.
He didn't feel tension.
He felt anticipation.
"Today, I begin investing in her. And soon, she'll belong to me—not Naruto."
As he watched Hinata trembling softly under the pale moonlight, waiting for the final act of this stage to unfold, Indra remained calm—his Sharingan slowly spinning as his plan came to life.
---
✅ End of Chapter 22
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