Jiraiya was heartbroken!
As a political idiot, he simply didn't understand the true implication of Hiruzen Sarutobi having the Anbu inform the Hyuga Clan about the Kumogakure Delegation's demands.
It was precisely for this reason that he was becoming increasingly pained now.
After all, from his perspective, although the Kumogakure Delegation's demands were outrageous, the Village indeed didn't want to go to war, so they were just discussing it among themselves.
But he hadn't expected that this single action would lead to the Hyuga Clan's defection.
It shouldn't be like this!
When he had previously expressed fear about the Hyuga Clan defecting, hadn't Hiruzen Sarutobi said that the Hyuga Clan wouldn't defect?
Thinking of this, he subconsciously glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He saw that Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was gloomy, and a flicker of anger and resentment flashed in his eyes.
There was no helping it!
He was also dazed!
His methods were actually much gentler than before, and plus, this whole mess was caused by the Hyuga Clan, so was there any problem with him letting the Hyuga Clan resolve it?
When he had targeted the Uchiha in the past, he had been far more ruthless than he was with the Hyuga Clan.
Back then, weren't the Uchiha enduring it as much as possible?
Now that it was the Hyuga Clan's turn, why couldn't they handle even this little bit of grievance?
"Hiashi, turn back!"
"While there's still room to salvage the situation, I can give the word to act as if nothing happened tonight."
"Take my advice, defecting to the Uchiha will do the Hyuga no good!"
"As for the matter with Kumogakure, we can still discuss it."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone was as gentle as possible; he was doing his best to persuade Hyuga Hiashi to change his mind.
There was no choice!
Today's Konoha was too weak, and the Hyuga Clan was one of its pillars.
If even the Hyuga Clan chose to defect to Uchiha Jin, then Old Konoha would truly be nothing more than an empty shell, and it would be hard to say who represented the Konoha orthodoxy then.
But, unfortunately.
Hyuga Hiashi's face remained quite calm; he still didn't tell his clansmen to stop, and he didn't even acknowledge Jiraiya and the others, instead continuing to urge his clansmen to run as fast as possible.
After all, the two Villages weren't far apart; every extra minute gained meant one more clansman might survive!
Therefore.
In the pitch-black night, the Hyuga Clan sprinted madly toward New Konoha, while Jiraiya, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the others chased from behind, making the scene look quite comical.
"Hiashi, don't run!"
"If you have conditions, just say them! Can't we still talk about it?"
"I really don't want to fight you, so please don't force me, okay?"
Jiraiya tried to persuade Hyuga Hiashi while chasing from behind.
But, unfortunately.
At this moment, Hyuga Hiashi kept his head down and ran, having no interest in bickering with Jiraiya, only thinking about stalling for as much time as possible; he even began to pray silently in his heart that Jiraiya would talk more, giving the Hyuga Clan more time to escape.
Even if it was just one more minute!
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
Jiraiya wasn't stupid; seeing the situation, he knew he couldn't wait any longer.
Therefore.
Seeing that Hyuga Hiashi wasn't speaking and was only focused on rushing ahead, he knew the other had made up his mind.
He acted.
The long hair behind him grew like crazy, reaching its limit in speed as it sought to directly restrain Hyuga Hiashi.
'Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm!'
Seeing this, Hyuga Hiashi turned back and struck with a palm.
His Byakugan widened, and Jiraiya's Chakra flow was revealed in minute detail before him.
With one palm, he struck Jiraiya's Chakra circulation node, causing Jiraiya's Ninjutsu to fail instantly; clearly, when Jiraiya wasn't using Sage Mode, he still had the ability to trade a few blows with him.
'Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!'
Hiruzen Sarutobi acted as well.
After casually throwing a Shuriken, accompanied by his rapid hand seals, it instantly transformed into hundreds and thousands of Shuriken, flying densely toward the Hyuga Clan.
Out of necessity.
Hyuga Hiashi and many Jonin had no choice but to stop their escape and use Eight Trigrams Palms to face the enemy.
'Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!'
'Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!'
'Lightning Release: Roaring Thunder!'
'Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!'
'Combination Ninjutsu: Earth Dragon Flame Stream!'
'Combination Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!'
'...'
Unlike Jiraiya, who was still trying to persuade them, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already seen from Hyuga Hiashi's eyes how resolute the Hyuga Clan's conviction was, so at this moment, he no longer held back.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi displayed the powerful side of the Professor of Ninjutsu.
His hand seal speed was incredibly fast, and his body's Chakra was abundant; standing in the distance, he was like a great artillery battery, unleashing Ninjutsu after Ninjutsu with ease... Under this series of Ninjutsu bombardments, several Hyuga Jonin were instantly killed, and many wounded, both light and severe, instantly collapsed on the ground.
It had to be said.
Facing those weaker than himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi's advantage in group combat was immense.
Facing this scene, Hyuga Hiashi was also infuriated.
'Eight Trigrams Palms: Revolving Heaven!'
Hyuga Hiashi roared.
A spherical Chakra shield formed, instantly blocking the sky full of Ninjutsu and even reflecting countless techniques back.
Almost simultaneously.
Even the many Anbu who were charging in were instantly blown away, suffering many casualties.
"Don't underestimate the Hyuga Clan!"
'Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!'
Hyuga Hizashi acted as well.
A massive laser-like beam of Chakra blasted out in a straight line; the Anbu who took the direct hit were instantly killed. In contrast, the primary target, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was as agile as an ape, dodging in the blink of an eye before immediately using the Summoning Jutsu—Enma!
"Hiruzen, this time the opponent is..."
"No time for that, transform into the nyūdō!"
"I see, alright!"
Enma, who had just appeared, hadn't even grasped the situation before he transformed into the nyūdō and was gripped by Hiruzen Sarutobi, who then fiercely charged directly at Hyuga Hiashi.
And to this.
Hyuga Hiashi faced him with the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms; although fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, he could still barely hold his ground with the help of the Byakugan.
"Damn it, why?"
"Why did it turn out like this? We were clearly comrades!"
"But, whatever!"
"Since we've become enemies, I can't hold back either."
'Summoning Jutsu!'
With a poof, a giant toad appeared.
"Bunta, buy me some time!"
Bunta, with a large pipe in his mouth, drew the great blade from his waist and began to battle Hyuga Hizashi.
As for—Jiraiya!
He now began to clasp his hands together, looking as if he were preparing to enter Sage Mode.
There was no choice.
Since the Hyuga Clan could no longer be kept, as the Hokage of Konoha, he had to eliminate them.