Naruto: Fooling the Ninja World, I'm Hailed as a Savior

Click… clack…

Outside the main house of the Hyuga clan head, a dark figure silently landed on the roof. Hearing the restless turning within, the figure raised a hand to form a seal, casting a genjutsu. Illusory white feathers drifted into the room.

The slightly heavy breathing gradually smoothed out. The dark figure, silent as a civet cat, slipped into the room, seeing a girl sleeping peacefully in her futon. Without wasting time, he directly tucked her under his arm and flipped out of the residence.

But before he could run far, at the front gate, a figure emerged from the courtyard.

"..."

Hyuga Hiashi looked at the masked intruder before him and then noticed Hyuga Hinata clutched in the other's arm. His usually stern face instantly darkened, and a boundary-crossing surge of anger flared within him.

Seeking death!

Without hesitation, Hyuga Hiashi activated his Byakugan, veins bulging on either side of his eyes. He raised his hand and charged at the dark figure.

The first strike: the figure dodged, but in Hiashi's eyes, the movement was incredibly clumsy.

Bang!

The second strike, fully imbued with chakra, struck the intruder's abdomen without surprise.

Hiashi felt his palm effortlessly shatter the chakra pathways. The intruder spat out a mouthful of blood and knelt forward. Hiashi smoothly took Hinata, letting the intruder fall forward onto the ground.

"So weak."

Much of his anger dissipated. The now calm Hyuga Hiashi instinctively frowned, suddenly realizing that this intruder was unexpectedly weak, almost as if he had come to die.

Such paltry strength, yet daring to infiltrate the Hyuga clan to kidnap the Main House heiress? Was it some overconfident bounty hunter, greedy for wealth?

But the very next moment, as doubt arose in his mind, he suddenly felt a chill and a stinging pain on his forehead. Warm liquid trickled past his brow bone.

Hiashi instinctively raised a hand to touch his forehead, finding a "line" spanning his brow. He also smelled a familiar yet strange sweet scent and felt a warm, sticky sensation on his fingers…

"This is… blood?"

Hyuga Hiashi looked at the corpse on the ground with a stunned expression. Having spent years in Konoha with almost no real combat experience, he finally noticed the kunai in the corpse's hand.

How could this be?

When did he wound me?

This foolish, overconfident idiot couldn't even withstand two of my strikes.

At this thought, an inexplicably deep unease surged into his heart, and Hyuga Hiashi's brow furrowed. He casually tore off a piece of cloth to simply bandage the wound on his forehead, then bent down to remove the corpse's mask.

The corpse's eyes were wide open in death, but its face wore an unusually calm expression, so calm it gave the corpse an eerie quality. Its eyes seemed to be staring at Hyuga Hiashi.

"..."

Noticing the Hidden Cloud forehead protector on the corpse's forehead, Hyuga Hiashi first froze involuntarily.

Then, as if realizing something, he instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He felt as if ice water had been poured over him, chilling him from his scalp to his toes, the cold creeping up his spine into his brain.

Damn it! How could it be a Hidden Cloud ninja?!

Pitter-patter… pitter-patter…

Autumn weather is fickle. Konoha, which had been clear and sunny yesterday, was now shrouded in dark clouds, and cold, drizzling rain began to fall.

Yesterday, Konoha was filled with joy, for they had finally welcomed peace. In a sense, they had even witnessed the Hidden Cloud Village's "submission," an unprecedented event.

But today, Konoha was as bleak as the sudden change in weather, the once bright sunlight unable to penetrate the heavy clouds.

All of Konoha was experiencing an undercurrent of unrest. Various rumors spread among the villagers, leaving everyone feeling vulnerable and even panicked. 

Because in just a single day, news had spread that the Hidden Cloud Village's envoy group had died in Konoha.

Two Hidden Cloud ninjas were directly blown up in their guest room. The sole survivor escaped after shouting that Konoha had betrayed the alliance, only to eventually die at the hands of the Hyuga clan head.

Anyone could see what the situation was now. Whoever heard this "rumor" would instinctively think of four words: "Killing to silence."

Inside the Hyuga clan's reception hall, a trembling, aged voice softly uttered those four words. In the dim hall, only two standing candles quietly burned, their flickering light casting shadows on Hyuga Hiashi's downcast face.

The white bandage on his forehead still showed seeping blood.

His shadow was not the only one projected in the room. Eight figures swayed in a row on the walls on both sides. Hiashi and six other Main House decision-makers knelt facing each other. As for the last person…

"Hmph."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, kneeling at the head of the central position, took a puff from his pipe. The exhaled smoke gradually settled, casting an ethereal, dim shadow on the ground in the candlelight.

"We have already received the Land of Lightning's demands," he said calmly. "The Land of Lightning believes Konoha has no sincerity whatsoever in forging an alliance, that we unilaterally tore up the agreement and even attacked the Hidden Cloud Village's envoys. It is utterly despicable and intolerable."

"Now, they have issued an ultimatum, demanding that Konoha provide an explanation, otherwise they will formally declare war on the Land of Fire."

Hearing this, Hyuga Hiashi's eyes narrowed slightly. He asked, "Third-sama, what kind of explanation do they demand?"

"Hand over the body of the culprit, 'Hyuga Hiashi'."

Hiruzen Sarutobi repeated each word precisely, adding, "The Hidden Cloud Village has already mobilized ninjas at the Land of Hot Water border. It appears they are ready to launch an attack on the Land of Fire at any moment."

Upon hearing that the Land of Lightning specifically named "Hyuga Hiashi" as the culprit, the aged faces of the six Hyuga clan elders, illuminated by the flickering candlelight, appeared starkly shadowed, looking somewhat terrifyingly grim.

This matter was no longer just between the Hidden Cloud Village and Konoha Hidden Village; it was a diplomatic incident between the two great nations, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire. Yet, the entire affair, from beginning to end, felt utterly bizarre.

Where did those explosive tags in the Hidden Cloud envoy's guest room come from? Why did the surviving Hidden Cloud ninja run to the Hyuga clan, even attempting to kidnap the Main House heiress, Hyuga Hinata? Why did the jōnin, despite his rank, offer no resistance and inexplicably die at the hands of Hyuga Hiashi, the clan head? And why was the Land of Lightning so precise in its targeting, specifically demanding Hyuga Hiashi's corpse?

"This is a conspiracy by the Hidden Cloud Village. Their objective is the Byakugan."

Hyuga Hiigo, a Main House elder and second in rank only to Hyuga Hiashi within the clan, spoke. His voice was hoarse and low, but his aged face was remarkably calm.

"I also believe it's a conspiracy, but it no longer matters."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, then slowly shook his head, stating bluntly, "If no one desires to understand the truth, then even if the truth were scattered on the streets, it would not take root."