As one of the Hyuga Clan's elders who had lived through both the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, Hyuga Shin's trust in the Second Hokage's disciples was not something a few words from Satoru could shake.
In Satoru's eyes, Danzo was the sort of man who would do anything—no matter how vile—for the sake of power.
But in the eyes of most Konoha shinobi, Danzo was something entirely different: a member of the village's advisory council, a direct disciple of the Second Hokage, the most trusted comrade of the Third Hokage, and a man who bore Konoha's darkest burdens in silence—a comrade willing to sacrifice everything for the village.
Shin would sooner believe that the Kirigakure ninja who attacked Hyuga Satoru had somehow slipped through all of Konoha's defenses and infiltrated the Hyuga compound on his own, than that Danzo could have orchestrated the attack.
That enormous information gap led to Shin and Satoru viewing the same event through completely different lenses.
Seeing the disbelief written across his great-uncle's face, Satoru knew there was no convincing him.
People are bound by their own experiences and judgments—even Hyuga Shin couldn't escape the cage of his preconceptions.
"Great-uncle, I'm tired. I'll go rest for now," Satoru said quietly.
"As for this matter… please help me cover it up. Say it was the Branch Family's elite who killed the intruder—not me."
He didn't intend to linger any longer. Since he already had his answer, the only thing left was to remain vigilant.
To be honest, if the enemy truly was Danzo, then the Hyuga Clan was in for a great deal of trouble.
Danzo and Orochimaru were currently in the honeymoon phase of their collaboration—crossing one meant crossing both.
They were, after all, two Kage-level powerhouses. With the Hyuga Clan's current strength… things could get ugly.
Still, there was some reassurance to be had. At this stage, neither Danzo nor Orochimaru would act personally. They might try to exert pressure, but they wouldn't dare make open moves under the noses of the Third and Fourth Hokage.
Tonight's "assassination attempt" was, at best, a test probe. Nothing more.
What truly concerned Satoru was not the explosion itself, but the Root operatives drawn to it—their probing was the real danger.
Fortunately, the Hyuga elites had proved their strength; none of the Root shinobi managed to breach the compound.
In the end, the incident had become an unintentional display of the Hyuga Clan's power.
Whatever Danzo planned next, he would have to think twice.
If nothing unexpected happened, Satoru could at least enjoy a brief period of peace.
With a clear grasp of the current situation and the path ahead, his focus now shouldn't be on worrying—but on training, on strengthening himself.
As he grew older, Satoru had noticed that his control over chakra was becoming sharper and more refined. Years of hard work had borne fruit—both his chakra nature transformation and form transformation had reached a high level.
The chakra sphere he had used earlier in battle was one such fruit of his labor.
It represented one of the ultimate forms of chakra shape manipulation—a technique Satoru dubbed the Mini Tailed Beast Bomb.
When released, the hyper-compressed chakra could unleash destructive power surpassing hundreds of explosive tags detonating together.
And the best part? The chakra cost was roughly the same as a single Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.
A true "bang for the buck."
Satoru had developed this long-range strike precisely to complement the Hyuga's Byakugan.
Hyuga Shin watched his great-nephew feign exhaustion and simply nodded in understanding.
As for the request to conceal the truth of the fight—he completely understood.
"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down." Satoru understood that, and so did Shin. Whether or not the enemy had really come from the Hidden Mist, the fact remained: someone wanted to harm the Hyuga Main Family. Hiding Satoru's true power and techniques was therefore essential.
In the end, battles between shinobi were battles of information.
Those who mastered intelligence always held the advantage.
Otherwise, "Jiraiya the Information Sage" wouldn't have been hailed by fans as a god of intelligence gathering.
By keeping Satoru's abilities secret, they could deliver a devastating surprise when the time came.
Even without Satoru saying it outright, Shin had already thought the same. The reason he had the Branch Family intercept all Konoha shinobi who came to investigate was largely for this very reason.
Hyuga Shin was one of the few elders Satoru could truly trust.
After receiving his nod, Satoru returned to his room to rest.
Satoru slept peacefully that night—but the Hyuga Branch Family shinobi were anything but idle.
Not long after the explosion, Namikaze Minato arrived at the Hyuga compound.
But under orders from the Main Family, the Branch Family ninja had no choice but to bar his entry.
Though they immediately reported Minato's arrival to Hyuga Shin, the Fourth Hokage was still made to wait outside like everyone else.
Even Minato, mild-tempered as he was, couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the Hyuga Clan's stubborn pride.
At the same time, he gained a deeper understanding of just how fiercely bloodline clans guarded their kekkei genkai.
When he was finally permitted inside to meet with Shin, Minato was given a neatly fabricated "truth."
A Hidden Mist ninja had infiltrated the compound but was blown to bits by Branch Family guards using explosive tags—no remains, no evidence, nothing left behind.
With that, the matter could go no further.
Minato knew perfectly well that Shin was lying—but he didn't expose him.
Instead, he accepted the false report and dismissed the Konoha shinobi who had come to provide backup.
With his intellect, Minato could easily guess what the Hyuga were trying to do.
Still, worried for Satoru's safety, he quietly ordered the ANBU to sweep the village for any trace of suspicious activity.
The next day, rumors of the Hyuga Clan being attacked by Kirigakure spread like wildfire through Konoha.
The villagers cursed the Hidden Mist's treachery while marveling at the Hyuga Clan's might—able to repel the enemy so swiftly and decisively.
Only those familiar with the Hyuga knew that things weren't nearly as simple as they seemed.
That morning, shortly after arriving at his office, Minato received his first visitor of the day.
Danzo Shimura.
Leaning on his cane, his face set in grim determination, Danzo entered the Hokage's office—and the first thing out of his mouth was a proposal to assign ANBU guards to protect the Hyuga Clan.
"Fourth Hokage," Danzo said gravely, "I heard the Hyuga Clan was attacked by a Hidden Mist shinobi last night!"
"This is something we absolutely cannot ignore!"
"Hiashi had barely left the village with his forces before this happened. It's our failure to protect them!"
"I suggest dispatching ANBU to safeguard the Hyuga Clan immediately!"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/Nova5tudios