That's right. Given where both villages stood, Darbi had to be a "rogue ninja." Regardless of what he'd actually been before, right now and forevermore, he was a rogue.
Only as a rogue could his story end without tearing open wounds that had barely started to heal. Only as a rogue could both villages maintain the fiction of peace.
The Sandaime understood exactly what Hiashi was saying. He gave a slow nod. "Well then, if that's the case, let's hand this rogue over to the Kumo delegation to deal with. We can put this whole matter to..."
"Hold on, Hiruzen. The entire village knows we've captured a rogue who infiltrated Konoha. You're really going to just hand him back?"
The voice came from the old woman who'd been silent until now. Utatane Koharu.
Compared to the dovish Sandaime, Koharu was sharper. Harder. In many ways more ruthless than Hiruzen ever was, and far more concerned with how things looked.
The whole village knew an intruder had been caught. If this "rogue" had invaded Konoha and been captured, on what grounds would they hand him over to Kumogakure's people for disposal? It would look pathetically weak. That was clearly what she meant.
"Furthermore, Sandaime-sama, while the rogue failed to kidnap my son, he did manage to steal classified Hyuuga intelligence during his infiltration. We cannot simply let him walk."
The room went still. Hiruzen, Homura, Koharu. All three faces shifted at once.
If this had been a straightforward kidnapping attempt that failed, quietly returning the prisoner to Kumo during negotiations would have been embarrassing but manageable. A little lost face, nothing catastrophic. But if the operative had stolen classified intelligence?
In the shinobi world, intelligence was treated as equivalent to human life. The loss of even one or two pieces of critical information could result in casualties beyond counting. That was why every major village guarded its secrets with a ferocity that bordered on paranoia.
This just got complicated. The Sandaime bit down on his pipe and sighed. "If that's the situation, then I'll speak with the Kumo delegation. We'll figure out how to resolve this."
"What's there to figure out? Execute the rogue. Destroy the body on site. Problem solved."
The other advisor, Mitokado Homura, had heard enough. His approach was blunt. Direct. The kind of cold pragmatism that came naturally to people who'd spent decades making decisions that cost lives.
For shinobi, this was standard procedure. Even a dead body could yield intelligence. So not only did Darbi have to die, the corpse couldn't be allowed to leave Konoha either. Total elimination was the only way to close every door.
Hiruzen looked at his two advisors, then back at Hiashi. He exhaled. "Send the rogue to us. We'll handle it."
"Thank you, Sandaime-sama. I won't take up any more of your time."
Hiashi rose, offered a slight bow, and pushed open the office door without looking back.
The instant he stepped into the hallway, the corner of his mouth curved upward. Just barely. The expression of a man who had gotten exactly what he came for.
At nine in the morning, the Kumogakure "rogue ninja" Darbi was transferred to Konoha's ANBU.
At eleven in the morning, the Kumogakure "rogue ninja" Darbi was publicly executed by Kumo's own delegation in cooperation with Konoha's ANBU. The body was destroyed immediately.
With Darbi's death, the "Heir Kidnapping Incident" was officially over.
And at that same hour, deep inside the Hyuuga compound, in an elegant old courtyard, a father and son sat facing each other.
The courtyard was classical. Dignified. The kind of place where those two words came to mind before anything else. A grove of green bamboo surrounded a clear pond, its surface covered with clusters of pink water lilies. A narrow brick path wound through the trees and flowers, leading deeper into quiet seclusion. Whoever lived here had taste.
But the conversation happening inside that tasteful setting was considerably less refined.
"Darbi's death is confirmed. I'd say this incident is wrapped up for now."
Miyuki took a sip of juice and gazed out at the pond. His expression carried a hint of something heavy.
No matter how you looked at it, he'd been the one who engineered Darbi's death. Forced the man to die wearing the label of "rogue ninja," stripped of his real identity, his real loyalty. For a shinobi, that was a profound disgrace.
"For now, yes. But the bad blood between us and Kumogakure isn't going anywhere."
Hiashi, as always, saw further. His perspective was broader than his young son's.
After investigating from last night into this morning, Hiashi had identified the person behind the attack on the Hyuuga.
It hadn't been hard. All you needed to know was who actually held power in Kumogakure right now.
The Sandaime Raikage, Ay, had only recently died in battle against Iwagakure. The newly appointed Yondaime Raikage was clearly still grieving his father and hadn't moved to consolidate authority yet. Which meant the real decision-maker in Kumogakure at the moment wasn't the Raikage at all. It was the senior advisory elder, a man named Rasetsu.
This made sense when you thought about it. From what Miyuki could tell, every Raikage, the Sandaime and Yondaime both, had been the type to charge headfirst into a fight. Big men with bigger fists. If they wanted the Byakugan, they'd try to take it on the battlefield, face to face. It was hard to imagine either of them cooking up something as underhanded as a fake-diplomat kidnapping scheme.
Just like in Konoha, the position of senior advisory elder carried enormous influence. In certain circumstances, the advisors could even sway the selection of the next Kage. So Rasetsu being able to pull strings in Kumogakure was no surprise.
"Is this Rasetsu really that obsessed with our Byakugan? Enough to pull something this shameless?"
Since the original story hadn't gone into much detail about Kumogakure's internal politics during this period, Miyuki couldn't read Rasetsu's motivations with any certainty.
"It's not just about the Byakugan. I asked some of our clan elders earlier. The name Rasetsu rang a bell for a few of them. He's apparently a veteran from the First Great Ninja War. Fought against Konoha on the front lines. And from what they remember, the Hyuuga gave him a very bad time."
The First Great Ninja War felt like ancient history, but in reality it had only been a few decades ago. Before even Hiashi's time, but not so long ago that living memory had faded entirely.
Just like the current Third War, the First War had seen fierce clashes between Kumogakure and Konoha. Back then, Konoha had fought under the command of the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and won decisively.
The Hyuuga had been instrumental in that victory. The Byakugan and Juuken were practically designed to counter Kumo's strengths. Kumo specialized in Lightning Release and physical combat techniques. Speed was their weapon. But it didn't matter how fast you were when the Byakugan could track every movement. It didn't matter how powerful your Lightning Release was when Juuken could deflect it at close range. The Hyuuga hadn't just beaten Kumo's fighters during that war. They'd humiliated them.
"That explains it. If Rasetsu is a veteran from the First War, then his grudge against the Hyuuga makes a lot more sense."
Miyuki knew even less about the First War than Hiashi did. He was in no position to offer analysis on that front.
"In any case, remember his name. If the opportunity comes up later, we'll... Though with the Third War about to end, Kumo and Konoha will be entering a period of peace. That opportunity probably won't come for a long time."
"Oh? The ceasefire is confirmed?"
Miyuki already knew the war would end around this time, but hearing it officially still felt good. Nobody liked war.
"Negotiations are nearly finalized. Full ceasefire should be in effect next month. Which frees up quite a bit of my time."
As he said this, Hiashi turned to look at his son. Something strange flickered in his pale eyes.
"Frees up your time... to do what, exactly?"
"To mold you into a shinobi worthy of leading the Hyuuga."
"Just 'worthy'? Because that look on your face suggests you're planning something closer to hell on earth."
"Hell on earth? No, no. First, think of the most grueling training regimen you can possibly imagine."
"Okay. Got it. Absolutely horrifying. Hard pass."
"Now multiply that by a few dozen. That's what you're in for."
Can I get a do-over on the whole reincarnation thing? Staring at his father's increasingly enthusiastic expression, Hyuuga Miyuki cursed his own existence for the first time since arriving in this world. But it was far, far too late for regrets.