Senshiyu ichizoku no botsuraku
-千手一族の没落-
(The Fall of the Senju Clan)
Part 3 : The Hyuga Clan expedition
Three days had passed since the meeting at the Hokage office. Himana Hyuga's team continued to search for the enemy around Konoha's perimeter.
For the moment, they had found absolutely nothing. Yet they had explored almost the entire territory... It would seem that the enemy was in another country, which would be impractical for an attack. What's more, they couldn't detect the intruder's presence anywhere, not even the old ones.
The team led by Himana Hyuga was made up of six other ninjas. In addition to his personal squad of four ninjas, a member of the Yamanaka clan had been added for communication, a member of the Aburame clan for distant scouting, and a member of the Inuzuka clan to sniff out the enemy's trail.
The team was made up of Himana Hyuga, Soichoro Hyuga, Senta Hyuga, Hisho Hyuga, Inokko Yamanaka, Shina Aburame and Kirara Inuzuka.
Today, they were to the north of the village, near the border with the land of the earth, where the great ninja village of Iwa was located. They had to keep a low profile so their enemies wouldn't think they were planning to invade, especially as Iwa was currently the second most powerful of the Big Five countries.
— I still can't detect anything... We're almost finished, I wonder if our opponent is really close to the village...» grumbled Kirara Inuzuka.
— It would be stupid to go anywhere else if they want to hurt us. If we're too far away, we'll just pass them by as soon as they get close. The easiest thing to do would be to create a hiding place near the village and install a chakra-suppressing barrier to prevent us from finding them.» Soichoro Hyuga explained.
— Quite right... But the enemy has mastered space-time ninjutsu, hasn't he?» says Inokko Yamanaka.
— Yes, of course. But I'd be surprised if it had a long range.» interjected Himana «Besides, he'd have to teleport a whole army. If he really wanted to attack, he couldn't do it alone. It's still a remote possibility.»
— If it's an Uchiha, that settles it...» said Hisho Hyuga «It must be someone from the village.»
— We'll see about that later. In any case, Lord Tobirama will take care of it, won't he?» Soichoro replied.
Suddenly, Kirara began sniffing the ground brilliantly.
— Can you feel anything?» exclaimed Inokko.
— Yes... An old trace. Shut up for two seconds, I need to concentrate.»
She pinched her thumb with her teeth, drawing a faint drop of blood, and drew a circle on the ground with it.
«Invocation! Maru-Maru!»
Suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, a dog appeared. It was a bulldog, very big and bulky.
— Waf!» he exclaimed.
— Maru-Maru! Please sniff the ground with me!» Kirara begged him.
It had been her pet since she was a child. All Inuzuka inherited a dog from the age of 6, for their entry into the ninja academy. They drew their faculties from their fusion with them.
After a short delay, Kirara and Maru-Maru finally stood up.
— It's okay, we've analyzed the trace. It's the same as the one I smelled on the roof of Lord First's office. No doubt about it... The trace dates back to 4 days ago, in the afternoon. Presumably, he was here before the night Lord Tobirama saw him. » Kirara announced.
— Do you think you'll be able to follow its trail?» Himana asked.
— Unfortunately, no... His trail stops a few yards ahead. He must have just moved a little, then fled with the space-time ninjutsu, in my opinion.»
— Sounds credible to me. He probably went here... Before he went to Lord First's office. In that case... He could have teleported from here to the office. That's pretty worrying, so he'd have a long teleportation range. Even if we could find traces of him further away, we've already explored all the nooks and crannies closest to the village, so he wouldn't have come any closer, so he'd have teleported straight to the center of the village.» Himana concludes.
— It's worrying... If we accept that... He can easily break into Konoha again, even if we reinforce the perimeter defense.» says Soichoro.
— Yes... That's the problem. I mean... One can only hope that it can't teleport other people. And at the very least... It reduces the chances of it being a village insider, doesn't it?»
— Yes... Well, it could very well be a trap.» replied Hisho.
— It's a possibility that needs to be taken into account. Finally, thanks to the Inuzuka Clan, if this man were an Uchiha from the village, Lord Tobirama could easily find him. Unless he was one of their external allies... But, as Soichoro pointed out, we're still dealing with the unlikely.»
— So... Shall we?» asked Inokko.
— Not at the moment. We'll finish our inspection first, in case there's another trace. Then we'll go back to the village.» Himana ordered.
*****
In the end, Himana's squad found nothing more. But at least they had one piece of information, and that was something.
Once home, everyone returned to their homes, except Himana and Kirara, who headed for the Hokage office to report back.
Himana reached the entrance to the office and knocked on the door.
— Come in.» said Tobirama.
Himana opened the door and the two women entered the building, nodding to their superior.
— Greetings, Lord Tobirama.» Himana announced.
Tobirama greeted them in turn with a nod.
— What's up? What are the results?» he asked Himana.
She walked over to the desk to explain the situation. She then told him about their adventure, what Kirara had detected and their suspicions.
— I see... If this guy can use long-range space-time ninjutsu... That's not good... I at least hope he can't teleport other people.»
— What about you? Find anything?» asked Himana.
— To tell the truth... Not really. Well, at least I know there's little chance of the Uchiha Clan being guilty. I asked the Inuzuka clan to trace this Uchiha within the village walls, but nothing. He's only been around my brother's office.»
— So what do we do? Normally, we'd take care of the Uchiha clan if there weren't too many results...»
— We'll discuss it again. Ideally, we'd like to go on expeditions to other lands. But I don't want to upset our neighbors, it would be too dangerous. Besides, we don't yet know whether this man is a real threat to Konoha or not, so we can't mobilize too many troops for that.»
— Very good. I'll join you this evening so we can see. In the meantime, I'm going to take a nice bath and get some rest!» Himana exclaimed.
She stretched, yawned, relaxed. She felt no embarrassment despite the fact that she was facing the village chief. Kirara blushed slightly, embarrassed by her superior's behavior.
Tobirama noticed the young woman's reaction and smiled, amused.
— Don't worry... She's always like that with me.» he laughs.
This relaxed Kirara a little, but now a certain curiosity had filled him.
— Lord...with all due respect, you get along well... Well, both of you...»
Tobirama laughed in amusement.
— Oh, don't get any ideas! I'm already 49, you know... I've outgrown this sort of thing. And I'm not going to bother a lively young girl, am I, Himana?»
— Love has no age.» she replied.
— You're still in your early twenties... And a long future ahead of you. You're already the strongest girl in the village. In the end, finding a husband your own age shouldn't be too difficult...»
— You, however, have never found anyone.»
— That's what you think. After all, in all my years of war, I've never worried about that sort of thing. And today, I'm running the village, I've got other things to do.»
— Busy. Always busy. That's all you ever talk about. Hashirama, on the other hand, has the time to maintain his relationship with his wife and family while fulfilling his responsibilities as Hokage.»
Himana's last sentence was no longer in a tone of amusement. She turned her back on Himana and left the room.
— Ah... Women... Always worrying about that sort of thing...» mumbled Tobirama.
— With all due respect, we may not be wrong.» Kirara told him, in spite of herself.
These words left Tobirama on edge. For once, he didn't know what to say. In any case, he knew that Himana's stories were just her youthful crisis. She couldn't spend her life with an old man like him, and he didn't have all that to worry about.
«Well... I'll give this report to Hashirama. We'll see tonight.» he thought.
At last, he was a little annoyed to see Himana so upset. He thought he might be able to console her a little. After all, he had time, he'd already done most of his work.
«I wonder what she could possibly see in me...» he wondered.
*****
— I sensed a squad of ninja approaching our lair.»
— How many and who were they?»
— There must have been seven of them, I think. Four Hyuga, an Aburame, a Yamanaka and an Inuzuka.»
— I see... Clever! You shouldn't have stayed so long in Konoha for your scouting...»
— I'm really sorry... Master...»
— They'll never find us anyway. Our force field totally erases our presence. It's so powerful that we can't even be seen, and even if someone were to enter, they wouldn't even realize they were in our force field, and would pass right through us without seeing us. It's an unstoppable defense.»
— Yes, master... Our victory is assured, in any case.»
— And now... All we have to do now is find the right moment to keep the Hokage and his brother away... To strike.»
— But... How do you expect to keep them away?»
— This... It's a mystery. For the moment, observe... You'll find out as you go along... I can't see the future myself.»
A thunderous storm accompanied by lightning bolts zipping across the sky rumbled. The mere word of this man made the sky crack.
📖To be Continued...📖