27th December, 55 AE.
A Hyūga messenger rushed into the Uzumaki Forest, carrying the Entrance Seal with him, and as soon as he reached the gate of the Uzumaki District, two red-haired shinobi appeared in front of him, blocking his way.
"I carry a message for Kazuma-sama from Hiashi-sama." The messenger announced his purpose and one of the guards accepted the scroll from his hand and flickered away.
A while later, much to the Hyūga's relief, Kazuma appeared before him and then followed him towards the Hyūga Compound.
A few hours ago, the head shinobi of the Kumo delegation, who was in the village to sign a peace treaty with Konoha, tried to kidnap the heiress of the Hyūga Clan on her fifth birthday and escape with her.
The village was on high alert, and Hyūga Hiashi had managed to trace the Kumo-nin and chased him. In order to protect his child, he ended up killing the shinobi.
However, that was not the end of the matter.
Kumo had now denied all responsibility for the incident, and they demanded Hyūga Hiashi's life in return. They had even threatened to wage war, which Konoha could not afford right now.
The peace treaty was far more important to the Hidden Leaf than it was to the Hidden Cloud.
As soon as Kazuma arrived at the Hyūga Compound, Hiashi came out and immediately bowed to him in greeting.
The Uzumaki asked his two bodyguards to stay out as he followed the Hyūga Patriarch inside his house.
There, Hiashi's twin brother, Hizashi, and their father, Hisaichi, were present.
"What has the Hokage decided?" Kazuma straightforwardly asked.
"The Hokage has left the decision to us, and has meaningfully stressed that the village cannot afford the war and that this treaty is very important." The Hyūga Patriarch lightly said, but his voice held a lot of pain and grievances.
"And your options?"
"Either Hiashi dies or we replace him with Hizashi and make Kumo believe that they got what they wanted," Hisaichi spoke. "Yet, my son insisted on seeking your counsel on this matter. Do you have any other option in your mind?"
"Kumo only wants the Byakugan to study its secrets. It does not matter to them whose body they get as long as they receive the eyes..."
"Never." Hisaichi and Hizashi immediately shook their heads, and Kazuma frowned.
"Not even if I plant a seal on the eyes? The eyes would work, but not like Byakugan, and Kumo would never figure out the truth and its secrets."
At those words, all three of them became thoughtful.
"The shinobi from Kumo are cut-throat. They would not rest until they see my dead body..." Hiashi clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
As for his father and Hizashi, they were more concerned about whether they could trust Kazuma's words that the eyes would not work.
"And where are we going to get those eyes from?"
"A guard who died."
"His eyes are sealed away." Hiashi frowned, and the Uzumaki smiled.
"I am aware, and it's not an issue. I can rework the Cursed Cage Bird Seal."
At those words, all three of them looked at him in shock.
"Rest assured, I have no intentions of meddling in your clan's affairs, and your secrets are safe. We Uzumaki are quite familiar with seals. Where do you think the Cursed Seal that you use came from?"
The four men then remained silent as they thought hard about what Kazuma had suggested.
"How would we convince them that they are Hiashi's eyes, and to just take the eyes? The Hokage will not accept us giving away the secrets of our clan..."
"I will talk to the Kumo delegation. The Cloud Village owes me a debt, and I will try to convince them to accept the terms. As for Hiashi's eyes, they will be extracted, and he will remain blind for as long as the Kumo delegation stays in the village..."
Kazuma shared the plan with them and then sent out his bodyguards to contact the Kumo delegation and invite them to meet him.
The Hyūga, on the other hand, left to talk to the Third Hokage about their plan.
On the central Naka Bridge, around midnight, the Kumo delegation arrived to meet Lord Uzumaki, and Kazuma smiled when he saw a few familiar faces.
"Dodai."
"Uzumaki Kazuma." The man greeted him and was visibly very tense.
"You owe your life to me."
And sure enough, as soon as his words fell, the Kumo shinobi reached for their weapons.
"As much as I am happy that you spared my life back then, it was your decision. We do not owe you anything." The wise man could guess what Kazuma wanted to negotiate about and shook his head.
"So, you will not let Hiashi go?"
"No. He must pay for killing my friend."
"Is that so?" Kazuma smiled, but his smile chilled their hearts. "I will make sure that the debts you owe me are paid one way or another, so listen to me and think wisely before you give me an answer again."
Dodai frowned at his words and nodded his head.
"Please speak."
"What you want is the Byakugan from the main line of Hyūga. Correct?"
At his words, the man's only eye widened in surprise.
"Spare Hiashi's life, and in return, his eyes will be given to Kumo, extracted, and stored with you and your trusted as witnesses."
The Kumo shinobi were surprised at what he was offering them, and there were a lot of doubts in their minds.
But if his words were true, they could easily complete their objective.
However, just when Dodai was about to agree, an ANBU landed behind Kazuma and handed him a letter.
As soon as the Uzumaki read it, his brows furrowed, and he let out a sad sigh.
"Very well. It seems like Hyūga Hiashi will not live past today. Congratulations." He glanced at the Kumo shinobi, and then his body flickered and he left together with his two bodyguards.
"Kazuma-sama..."
"The Third Hokage has made his decision, Kenji. It's not appropriate for us to interfere in the matter." He lightly said, and his two bodyguards both nodded to him and rushed back to the Uzumaki District.
Even though he did not show it, Kazuma was sad at the decision. Hiashi would have to live with the burden that his twin lost his life to protect him, especially when there was a way out.
Hours later, Hyūga Hiashi entered his nephew's room, who was fast asleep, and he kowtowed to him, asking for forgiveness for the sin he felt he had committed today.
Even though he had not shown it, and neither did he dare to show it, he was mad, extremely mad at the Third Hokage, who had refused Kazuma's plan and instead told them to give up Hizashi.
To make it worse, he learned from his close aide that Dodai of the Cloud mocked their decision and openly acknowledged that he was ready to accept the offer that Lord Uzumaki was making to him.
His brother had died for nothing...
"Forgive me, Neji..." he did not hold back his tears and after staying in the room for a while, he walked out.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his daughter, Hinata, looking at him from behind the wall, and when he glanced her way, she froze and quickly hid her small frame.
Distraught and broken, he went to see his wife in his room, who was carrying their second child in her womb, another girl, and now, he felt relieved that it was a girl.
He stared at his love, and seeing the sadness in his wife's eyes, he felt ashamed to even face her.
Hiashi quietly left the bedroom and sat down in his meditation room, closing his eyes and recalling all the memories he shared with his twin.
He recalled the day Neji was branded with the Cage Bird Seal on Hinata's third birthday. No one saw it or noticed it, but he had seen that Hizashi was not happy.
Would he be happy if Hanabi, his unborn, was branded in the future?
When he asked himself the question, the answer was very clear to him.
He knew his twin deeply cared for him, and he knew that his twin was willing to sacrifice his life because he loved him. However, he also knew that there was more to it all.
Hizashi was tired, and he was unwilling to see his son suffer the same fate as he did. And there was nothing he could do to save him...
Neji was far more talented than Hinata, and in all rights, he deserved to be the heir of the clan instead of her. However, he could not be the heir because Hizashi had come to this world a few minutes too late.
The boy now bore the same seal his father had borne, the same fate, and Hiashi was too ashamed to even meet his nephew's eyes in the future.
"I promise you, Hizashi. Your son will not have the same fate as you." He made a vow in his heart.
At the same time, in the main compound of the Uzumaki District, Kazuma was narrating a story to his three children.
Enma, as silent as ever, listened to the story with a smile on his face, and Karin, who was holding her twenty-month-old little brother, Arashi, was trying her hardest to keep her voice and excitement low, fearing that she would wake up the toddler, who loved crying just as much as she used to.
Kazuma had just finished his story when he noticed something in his eldest son's eyes.
There was a faint image of a dark spiral extending from his pupils and reaching to the ends of his violet irises. Kazuma also noticed his pupils taking the shape of an octagram.
"Enma, come with me." He gently ruffled his boy's head, and when Karin was about to get up as well, he tapped her head, making her wince a little. "Not you."
"Why, Otou-san?"
"It's time for you to sleep." He gently said and kissed her head before leading Enma out of the room.
The two walked down the hallway in silence, and when they arrived at the door of the Hall of Sealings, the boy curiously looked at his father.
Inside, Kushina was busy working on something, and she immediately raised her head and looked their way before throwing them a bright smile.
When they approached her, her eyes suddenly quivered, and then she shot up on her feet. Faster than Enma could blink, his aunt soon had her hands on his shoulders, and her face was very close to his face as she stared into his eyes.
"We have to hide his eyes, Onii-sama."
"I know, Kushina." Kazuma chuckled and then picked up his son in his arms and sat him down on the stone platform.
He then went to the corner of the hall and opened a small chest, taking out a crimson blindfold from it.
The Uzumaki heiress curiously looked at all the seals that lit up when Kazuma put the blindfold on his son's eyes after drawing some seals on his eyelids as well, sealing them for a long time.
"You will not be taking off this blindfold for years to come, Enma. Learn to see without your eyes, and you will know when the time is right to take it off and remove these seals. Understood?"
"Yes, Otou-san." The boy nodded his head, obedient as ever, and Kushina smiled at him when she did not sense even a hint of panic.
She giggled when the boy jumped off the stone, and laughed when he used their clan's hidden jutsu, the Mind's Eye of Kagura, and raised his head to look her way.
"You will be joining the Shinobi Academy when the new session starts next year on 1st September, and Karin will be attending it with you and helping you with reading and writing."
"Onii-sama..." Kushina worriedly looked at her brother, who gently smiled at her.
"They will be fine."
The jinchūriki of Kyūbi did not feel relaxed at all at her brother's confidence.
She realised very well that Enma and Karin were being thrown into the hands of the Hokage.
"When the time comes, you will make sure that Enma and Karin end up in the same cell. Understood?"
Kushina lowered her head, feeling immensely sad when she realised that her brother would be leaving them in a few years.
"I promise, Onii-sama."