Chapter 222: One Tail is Caught
"It turns out that jonin really are the elite combat force in this world. Seems the intel from the Saki family was spot on."
Sitting alone on a bench in Konoha Park, Shanks watched the children in front of him play ninja games, a faint smile on his lips. "Hyuga Ryosuke may be young, but with that unique talent of his… his strength is terrifying."
"He's probably at the top tier of this ninja world."
After spending some time in Konoha and gathering extensive intel on the ninja system—learning about rank classifications and the corresponding power levels—Shanks no longer felt the same pressure he did when he first arrived. The ninja profession wasn't as fearsome as he'd imagined.
There were only a handful like Hyuga Ryosuke. Even in today's Konoha, there likely weren't any ninja who surpassed him.
At that moment, using his Observation Haki, Shanks sensed a chakra signature.
Right behind him, hidden in a tree at some distance, a ninja was watching.
The surveillance was crude. The observer had no idea he'd already been discovered. He believed himself well-concealed, which made him seem rather naive.
His level of caution was far inferior to the members of the Hyuga clan Shanks had encountered.
"He's probably… a Chunin. And he doesn't have any bloodline limit."
Still watching the children, Shanks silently evaluated the spy. "These bloodline limit clans are such a cheat—it's like they all ate devil fruits. They're suddenly miles ahead of ordinary ninja. Especially the Hyuga."
"Those eyes, plus their sheer numbers… they're definitely a force worth watching closely."
At last, Shanks was no longer the clueless "mountain savage." He'd built a rough understanding of this world's military structure and could now judge a person's strength more accurately. After all, he wasn't lacking in power or battlefield experience himself.
The surveillance didn't surprise him. In fact, he could guess why he was being monitored—because of his association with Hyuga.
And it wasn't just him. Even Nozomi Saki, an ordinary civilian, had fallen under Konoha's watch.
Hidden in the dark, the Anbu—acting on orders from Konoha's upper brass—had been assigned to monitor anyone with ties to the Hyuga clan. They believed the target to be an ordinary man, possibly a noble official from the Land of Fire. That assumption was exactly why a lower-ranked agent had been sent.
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"Hyuga... you're stirring up a lot lately."
For the fourth time, Mitokado Homura knocked on the Hokage's office door with a report. For the fourth time, he received the same reply.
"So what bright ideas do you have this time?" Jiraiya muttered, poking his head out from a mountain of paperwork, his tone lifeless.
"…"
Mitokado Homura opened his mouth but no words came. A breath caught in his chest, and he had nowhere to release it.
"The first time," Jiraiya began with clear irritation, "you told me the Hyuga had ulterior motives—that they were secretly building their own ninja force."
Without waiting for Homura to speak, Jiraiya cut him off coldly. "I told you then that I already knew. The Hyuga aren't hiding anything. They're training openly. They're buying weapons and medical supplies. They're just rebuilding their clan's strength."
"You didn't need to report any of it. I already knew. In fact, I know more than you do."
"And after all that, I asked you—what do you want me to do? You had no answer. So what do you expect me to do? Wage war on the Hyuga?"
His voice rose without him realizing it.
"The second time, you came in here with a letter from Koharu. Said the Hyuga squad was disobeying orders during a mission—slowing things down, acting like bodyguards, caretakers, and manual labor."
"But what? Didn't you persuade me to hand them full command of their team before they even left? That was your idea."
"So here's the deal. If Koharu thinks they're holding the mission back, she can go on ahead to the Land of Rain. But let's be real—would she dare? They need the Hyuga's perception skills."
Jiraiya stood up, clearly annoyed now.
"The third time, one of the Hyuga left the village without permission. You didn't even report it. You sent people after him in secret, and they lost him. Then you came running back to complain to me."
"To be honest, it's a miracle your people even came back alive. What if they hadn't? What were you planning to tell the Hyuga then? That we were spying on them? Expel them from the village? Start a civil war?"
He slammed his palms on the desk. His expression turned grim.
"Wake up, Homura. This isn't the old Konoha anymore. And the Hyuga… they aren't the old Hyuga either."
"They're flexing their power right in the open. That should tell you everything. They're not like the Uchiha—lurking in the shadows, acting like wolves in sheep's clothing."
"Besides… I'm the Hokage now. You keep throwing your seniority around and acting behind my back like I'm not here. Don't you think that's a bit much?"
Jiraiya wasn't just angry about Hinata. What truly frustrated him was how Homura and Koharu had been scheming without his knowledge.
They were the ones who'd pushed him into this role. But now that he held it, they treated him like a placeholder—still issuing orders behind the curtain.
He'd warned them more than once. But all that did was make them more secretive. Sometimes he felt like throwing it all away—saying, "If you want to be Hokage so badly, go ahead," and walking out.
"…But can we really let it slide like this?"
Homura clenched his fists. He knew everything Jiraiya said was true. But it didn't sit right. It felt like a betrayal of the village's roots.
"This is Konoha. It was founded and built by the First and Second Hokage!"
"To protect everyone… the Senju even vanished into the crowd. They gave up their name. Their pride."
"But now, just a few generations later, we're handing the village over to the Hyuga?"
He paused, his voice rising with conviction. "The Hyuga are diehard traditionalists. They center everything around the clan. That kind of thinking belongs to the Warring States era."
"The First Hokage dreamed of peace—first uniting the clans into a village, then uniting the villages into a nation. Only through that would true peace come."
Homura's voice grew more impassioned, like a disciple reciting the teachings of a lost era.
"Jiraiya… are you, the Fifth Hokage, really going to betray the will of your predecessors? Let the Hyuga grow unchecked and drag this village backward into history?"
His cloudy eyes locked onto Jiraiya, desperate to ignite a response.
But unfortunately, Jiraiya still looked half-dead. "So... do you have any good ideas?" His tone dripped with mockery.
Homura opened his mouth, but no words came out. His momentum had completely vanished.
"You talk about plans and outcomes, but you can't offer real solutions. Maybe it's time you stepped down as an advisor. Let Shikaku take your place."
Jiraiya had reached his limit with Homura grandiose talk and empty promises. This method of pacifying people with vague optimism had long worn thin.
"As for what you said... I'm not going to act on it." Jiraiya sneered. "Tell me—what power does Konoha even have left that can stand against the Hyuga with any real presence?"
"The Mitokado clan that clings to you? The Utane? Or maybe... the Shimura and Sarutobi clans?"
He slammed the table, scattering documents into the air.
"Hatake Sakumo, Uchiha Shisui, Namikaze Minato... These were once names that shook the battlefield. Pillars of Konoha."
He stared, voice rising with fury.
"But what happened? They survived the bloodiest wars, carved their legacies into history—and then? They all died in so-called peacetime. Can you explain that to me?"
Homura's expression hardened. "...They all had their reasons."
"Of course they did. If they hadn't, I would've left this godforsaken village myself."
Jiraiya's eyes bore into him like daggers.
"Hatake Sakumo—shamed into suicide because he delayed a mission to save comrades. Minato—sacrificed himself using a forbidden jutsu to seal the Nine-Tails. Shisui—caught up in his clan's coup and paid with his life. They all had reasons... but were those ends truly inevitable? Are you telling me none of you—none of the elders—bear any responsibility?"
His voice dropped, seething.
"No. You all sat on your hands while disaster brewed. You had the power to change things, but you failed. You let these heroes die pointlessly. That's dereliction of duty. That's your legacy."
He pointed at the elders with shaking fingers.
"This is the Konoha you old bastards left for me."
Jiraiya's face flushed red with rage. He couldn't remember a Hokage more aggrieved than himself.
Barely after taking the mantle, Shimura Danzo had vanished—along with Root.
Then came the Hidden Mist's invasion, bleeding the village of its remaining strength.
Inside, the Hyuga clan rose unchecked. Outside, foreign powers watched like wolves.
His forces were thin—just a handful of capable ninja—and Jiraiya felt like he needed to turn one man into three just to survive.
If not for Tsunade lending aid from time to time, he would've collapsed already. And she had her hands full running the hospital.
Sometimes, he wondered: if those people hadn't died... would Konoha have ended up like this? Would the Hyuga still dominate the way they did?
Homura clenched his fists but said nothing. His silence spoke volumes.
They had underestimated the growing dissatisfaction within the village. Had they known how deep the resentment ran, perhaps they wouldn't have supported the Uchiha extermination so readily.
Perhaps they would've preserved a portion of the Uchiha to counterbalance the Hyuga's rise.
Jiraiya let out a long breath. "From today on, you are no longer an advisor. All duties go to Shikaku."
He didn't care about Homura status or history. He was done.
"You—"
Homura face twisted, but before he could speak, the office doors burst open.
"Hokage-sama! A message from the Sand Village—they're requesting immediate support!"
...
"The One-Tail's Jinchuriki has been captured?"
Word reached the Hokage's office—and simultaneously, the Hyuga clan.
In the clan courtyard,
Ryosuke sat calmly, playing chess with Nozomi Saki.
The Hyuga messenger hesitated when he saw Saki nearby.
"No need to hide it. Master Saki is one of our allies."
Ryosuke smiled, gesturing casually.
"Yes."
The Hyuga ninja bowed slightly, then spoke. "Gaara, the One-Tail's Jinchuriki from the Sand, was taken by the Akatsuki three days ago."
"The letter didn't reveal the Kazekage's current status. It only mentioned that after the Rain Country incident, the Sand has no strength left to respond. As allies, they're asking Konoha to send reinforcements."
"The message arrived ten minutes ago. We intercepted, verified, and passed it to the Hokage Building three minutes ago."
He paused. "The clan head has called a meeting to discuss this. He sent me to ask if you wish to attend."
"No."
Ryosuke shook his head. "Let them handle it."
"Understood. I'll report it to the clan head."
The Hyuga agent bowed respectfully before retreating.
Nozomi Saki, seated opposite Ryosuke and pretending to ponder the board, felt unease ripple through her heart.
So even Konoha's highest intelligence reports were now intercepted by the Hyuga first—screened, read, then passed to the Hokage?
What was left for the Saki clan to do?
If Hyuga truly aimed to control Konoha, did they even need his family?
"Master Saki, you've taken quite some time on that move."
Ryosuke's gentle voice pulled him from his thoughts.
He looked up and locked eyes with him—those clear, intelligent eyes that saw far more than he let on.
Flustered, he stammered, "Young Master Ryosuke is... very good at chess. Let me think. Just a bit longer..."
He lowered her gaze again, focusing on the board.
Ryosuke remained calm. None of this surprised him.
He already knew the Akatsuki were ahead of schedule. After all, he'd whispered to Black Zetsu himself.
"I wonder when he'll awaken Uchiha Madara... Hopefully sooner than later. If he waits too long, I may miss the fun."
Compared to the One-Tail's capture, Ryosuke was more interested in Madara's grand return.
Because if that came too late—after Ryosuke had fully mastered the otherworldly powers—then even Madara might not be enough to amuse him.
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