Chapter 273: Saori on the Offensive
"Itachi, Mom and Dad have to go out. Can you take care of your brother?" Uchiha Mikoto said gently to her eldest son, who had just returned from school.
"Don't worry. Leave it to me," Itachi replied, eagerly slipping off his shoes and running into the house to see his baby brother.
"He's all yours, then." Mikoto watched as Itachi cooed at the giggling Sasuke, then took Fugaku's hand and they left.
"Sasuke loves his big brother so much," she mused. "Sometimes he cries when I hold him, but the moment Itachi takes him, he stops. It's really..."
Fugaku chuckled. "They're brothers, after all..."
After his parents had left, Itachi took his brother out into the courtyard. For some reason, he felt a strange sense of unease. A sudden gust of wind blew through, and he quickly wrapped the blanket tighter around Sasuke, murmuring soft words of comfort as he looked up at the darkening sky.
"It seems there will be no moonlight tonight."
Meanwhile, Hyuga Hiashi, after a long day of work, had gone not to his own home, but to the clan's main meeting hall.
"Clan leader," a trusted subordinate said, standing and bowing respectfully.
"Sigh." Hiashi let out a long breath and looked up at the sky. "Have you found anything?"
"Yes, sir. The traitors are planning to make their move tonight. Shall we...?" The subordinate made a slitting motion across his throat.
"No. We wait. Too many of our clansmen are involved. We cannot simply execute them all," Hiashi said, his gaze fixed on the all-consuming darkness outside the meeting hall. "We will wait for their leader to reveal himself. With enough evidence, we can deal with him, and the rest can be let off with a simple warning."
"Yes, sir. I'll make the arrangements."
"Sigh." After his subordinate had left, Hiashi let out another long, weary sigh.
"Hizashi... did Neji's branding really affect you this much? If you are truly a part of this, what am I to do...?"
Though he had given his brother control of the branch family, he had not been completely oblivious to the currents of dissent that were flowing through the clan. But he had been overconfident. With the Caged Bird seal at his disposal, he had not seen the need to intervene, or to ask for the village's help. He had planned to let the rebellion fester, to round up the traitors all at once.
He had no idea that this was all part of the mastermind's plan, that the information about Hizashi being the leader had been deliberately leaked to him, to play on his brotherly affection and buy them more time.
He had no idea of the true scale of the "farce" that was about to unfold.
Knock, knock, knock.
A series of hurried knocks came at the door. Hizashi took a deep breath and motioned for one of his men to open it.
Several clansmen, all loyal to Hiashi, stood outside, their expressions cold. "Lord Hizashi, the clan leader requests your presence," the one in the lead said.
"My apologies, but I am not feeling well today. Please, give my brother my regrets," Hizashi replied, his voice calm.
"Heh. I'm afraid you don't have a choice," the man sneered, and was about to step inside when one of Hizashi's men blocked his path.
"Lord Hizashi has said that he cannot come today," the man said, his gaze defiant. "Are you deaf? Or are you just a dog of the main family?"
"Insolence! Say that again!" the man roared, his face contorted with rage. Just then, several more of Hizashi's men appeared in the courtyard, surrounding them.
"You... you're committing treason!"
"Heh. You're only just now figuring that out? Too late."
With that, Hizashi's men swarmed them, and the sounds of battle erupted throughout the entire Hyuga compound.
"Go," Hizashi said to his men. "Fight for your freedom."
The coup had begun.
Hearing the sounds of battle from outside, Saori calmly got dressed and made her way toward the main family's compound. With Hizashi as the public face of the rebellion, her own involvement had remained a secret. Her path was clear.
She found the man who had been her fiancé, the man she had despised for so many years, in the main courtyard, his face a mask of panic.
"You're here! Good! I order you to take your men and crush this rebellion! Kill them all! Kill them all!" he screamed.
The marriage had been called off, of course. Her own accomplishments on the battlefield, and her well-known relationship with Kyosuke, had forced their hand. They could not afford to make an enemy of one of the "strongest shinobi in the world."
But that did not extinguish the hatred in her heart. And now, seeing him, hearing him still trying to order her around... she found it hilarious.
And so, she laughed.
"Hahahaha!!!"
Her sudden, wild laughter stunned the panicked main family members into silence. A sense of dread began to creep into their hearts.
"Hyuga Saori... don't tell me..." the man stammered, his face pale with terror.
"It's hilarious, isn't it?" she said, her voice dripping with scorn. "I was the one who started this, and you're ordering me to stop it? Hahahaha! Don't you think that's funny?"
His fear was replaced by a surge of rage, but before he could speak, her hand shot out, her fingers clamping around his throat. She lifted him into the air, his feet dangling uselessly.
"What's wrong? Still trying to play the part of the untouchable main family?"
"I've had enough of your disgusting faces!!!"
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