"Father, what are your thoughts on this kidnapping attempt?"
Sensing Hiashi's simmering dissatisfaction and anger, Yuki sat respectfully on his futon and posed the question to the Hyuga Clan Head with a serious expression.
Hiashi didn't even need to think. He answered immediately: "The Hidden Cloud's coveting of the Byakugan isn't new. During the Third Shinobi World War, they tried to seize it countless times. Now that the war is drawing to a close and they still haven't succeeded, they've grown desperate."
This wasn't mere deduction; it was an established fact. Everyone knew the Hidden Cloud Village desired the Byakugan bloodline above all else.
The Hidden Cloud is widely recognized as the village with the strongest taijutsu among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Several generations of Raikage have been masters of physical combat. In such a culture, the Byakugan—which can see chakra flow and provides a near 360-degree field of vision—is a bloodline limit practically tailor-made for them.
If the current Hidden Cloud is a tiger, obtaining the Byakugan would be like giving that tiger wings. Their strength wouldn't just increase; it would skyrocket. Both Konoha and the Cloud understood this perfectly.
"Then, Father, if the Cloud's mission had succeeded tonight, what would have happened?"
"That..." Hiashi paused, caught off guard by the weight of the follow-up.
Indeed, Darby's mission was a total failure. But what if he had succeeded?
"If you had been taken, you would likely have been turned into a corpse for research very quickly. If the envoy had died here, they would have demanded we hand over the 'murderer.' Either way, clan members would have been sacrificed."
As he spoke, Hiashi's fists clenched. He knew the incident was far deeper than it appeared on the surface and could have led to catastrophic consequences.
"And in those scenarios, how would Konoha's leadership handle it?"
"Coldly. They would act as if nothing happened."
"Why?"
"Because we are in the middle of peace negotiations. As long as there is no fundamental damage to the village's strength, the lives of one or two people are trivial in the grand scheme of things—even if... those lives belonged to us."
Hiashi was right. The Third Shinobi World War was ending. If the Cloud and Konoha signed a peace treaty, the war would effectively be over. The entire village hierarchy prioritized these negotiations above all else.
It wasn't that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was inherently cruel, or that the leadership ignored the Hyuga's feelings. The reality was simply that a few lives in the Hyuga clan were statistically insignificant compared to the tens of thousands of casualties on the battlefield.
The Konoha leadership had to make these negotiations succeed, regardless of the cost to the Hyuga. You could call them cold-blooded, but from a high-level strategic perspective, their stance was justifiable.
I understand it... the big picture comes first. I shouldn't obsess over these details... but why? Why am I so frustrated? Hiashi thought.
"Father, you don't look well. Are you alright?"
Yuki's voice snapped him back to reality.
"Ahem, I'm fine. But these matters are not for you to worry about. You only need to—"
"It's frustrating, isn't it? Being bullied right to your face by another village, yet not daring to strike back. Even having to return the invader in perfect condition."
"You!" Hiashi's body shuddered. He never expected such a blunt, heart-piercing observation to come from his young son.
Yes, Hiashi knew that if he followed standard procedure, he would have to hand Darby over to the village authorities, only to watch them escort the criminal back to the Cloud with an apology.
Was he satisfied? Of course not. To be humiliated on your own doorstep and forbidden from retaliating, to have your son targeted and be told you cannot be angry—only someone who has lived through it can understand that specific suffocating helplessness.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Hiashi sighed, defeated.
The Hyuga's predicament wasn't something he could change alone. Despite being one of Konoha's "Two Great Clans," everyone knew that Konoha truly belonged to only one family: the Senju.
The First and Second Hokage were Senju. The Third was a student of the Second. The Fourth was a student of the Third's student. In other words, every leader of Konoha had been part of the Senju lineage. Over decades, the village's high-level positions were firmly held by that faction. The "Two Great Clans" title for the Uchiha and Hyuga was largely an empty shell.
Where there are people, there is power; where there is power, there is struggle. Hiashi didn't want to participate in internal politics, but the result of having no political power was clear: he didn't even have the right to seek justice for his own kin.
"Father, our Hyuga clan does not seek conflict, but we are not weak. We cannot allow people to trample on our faces. Give an inch, and they'll take a mile; retreat ten steps, and we're at the edge of the abyss."
"So?"
"So, that Cloud ninja must die. He absolutely cannot walk out of Konoha alive. This must serve as a warning to both the Konoha leadership and the Cloud leadership."
As he spoke, a trace of killing intent flickered in Yuki's usually innocent eyes.
Darby couldn't die in the Hyuga house, but that didn't mean he couldn't die at all. Now that Hiashi was here, Yuki wasn't afraid to reveal his plan. He had no intention of watching Darby swagger away with the envoy delegation.
"Explain."
Hiashi was genuinely intrigued. He knew his son had the occasional whim, but he hadn't realized the boy could think this deeply.
"First, do not hand him over to the village authorities yet. Keep him hidden until tomorrow morning. Then, announce publicly that we caught a Cloud rogue trying to stir up trouble during the negotiations. Spread the news far and wide; make sure everyone in the village knows."
"With the Hyuga intelligence network, that's easy."
"Once the news is out, go to the village leadership. Demand that the Interrogation Force be brought in to question this 'rogue' for information."
A devious look appeared on Yuki's face.
The "Interrogation Force" (Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force) is a specialized department tied closely to the Anbu. Because their work is sensitive, the intelligence they gather isn't shared with other agencies—it goes directly to the Hokage.
If such a request was made during the heat of peace talks, how would the Third Hokage react?
"The Third definitely won't want to interrogate a Cloud ninja right now, even a 'rogue.' He'll likely call the envoy delegation in to discuss it together."
"Exactly. The Cloud will be anxious because their operative failed his mission and failed to die. In our world, a living ninja is a leaking faucet of secrets."
"But the moment the Cloud asks, the Third will definitely make us hand him over."
"Which is why you must do one more thing: declare before the Hokage and the two advisors that this 'rogue' stole highly classified Hyuga secrets."
Hiashi's eyes lit up. He saw where this was going.
First, establish that the Third Hokage wants to minimize the incident to protect the peace treaty. He won't stand up for the Hyuga over a minor scuffle. But what if he has to intervene? What if the whole village knows the Hyuga caught a thief who stole vital clan secrets?