Chapter 96: A Scheme, Just as Expected
"The main thing is, Uncle, your state is completely off. You look like you're planning something huge."
Naruto slowly sat up.
Luckily, he reacted quickly and ducked, otherwise, Hiashi would have sprayed tea all over his face.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Hiashi coughed violently, frantically wiping the tea stains from his clothes with a handkerchief, all while glaring at Naruto with intense dissatisfaction and disbelief.
"How could I possibly assassinate Hokage-sama?"
He could feel his blood pressure skyrocketing.
Assassinate the Hokage?
Leaving aside the fact that Hyuga Hiashi is fiercely loyal to Konoha and the Third Hokage, even if he had ten thousand guts, he would never do something that would cut himself off from Konoha and his own clan.
The shocking fate of the Uchiha Clan instantly flashed through his mind.
That once prominent and glorious noble clan now only had the rogue Ninja Uchiha Itachi, who bore a bad name, and Young Sasuke, who had yet to mature.
And that was under the premise that the Uchiha hadn't even rebelled!
If Hyuga Hiashi dared to assassinate the Hokage... Hiashi could practically imagine the terrible consequences: the Hyuga Clan would probably be flattened instantly by the Anbu and Root, and their compound's foundations would be dug up by Ninjutsu and plowed three times over!
This would be dragging the entire Hyuga Clan into an abyss of eternal damnation!
Seeing Hiashi so agitated he was nearly losing control, Naruto scratched his head and asked awkwardly, "Well... you looked really scary just now. What is this all about?"
Hiashi coughed heavily twice more, finally getting his breathing under control.
He straightened his robes, sat up again, and his face returned to its usual solemnity, but a persistent heaviness and worry lingered deep in his eyes.
"I received an invitation and need to leave the Village for a period of time."
Hiashi's voice dropped low.
"I need to make a trip to the Ancestral Lands of the Kaguya Clan, or rather, to confirm if any of their bloodline still survives."
"The Kaguya Clan?"
Naruto tilted his head, finding the name both familiar and strange.
"Is that the one... that supposedly revolted in the Hidden Mist Village and was wiped out?"
Naruto remembered that only Kimimaro was left of that clan, so how could there be anyone else?
"Precisely."
Hiashi nodded, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes—regret, mixed with a nearly impossible hope.
"The relationship between the Hyuga Clan and the Kaguya Clan is like that between the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan; we are profound allies passed down through generations. When I learned that the Kaguya Clan had been nearly wiped out under the Hidden Mist's 'Bloody Mist Regime' policy, I thought the clan was completely extinct..."
Hiashi paused, then carefully pulled a scroll from his wide sleeve.
The scroll's spindle material was neither bamboo nor wood, bearing a strange bone texture.
"However, just a few days ago, the Third Elder of the clan personally handed this to me."
Hiashi's fingers lightly brushed the cold surface of the scroll, his tone solemn.
"This is a letter from the Kaguya Clan, personally written by their last remaining, confirmed Clan Chief.
The letter's tone was sincere, stating that some clan members had survived in a secret location outside the Hidden Mist Village. They are in difficult circumstances and desperately seek aid and protection from their old friends.
They had reached a dead end and contacted us at great risk."
Hiashi looked up, his gaze passing over Naruto, seemingly piercing the walls of the room and looking toward the distant and dangerous direction of the Hidden Mist: "As the Clan Chief of the Hyuga Clan, I bear the responsibility of maintaining ancient alliances. Facing such a perilous request from the Clan Chief of our ally, I... cannot refuse to go.
This concerns not only the integrity of the Hyuga Clan but also the friendship between our two clans that has lasted for thousands of years without interruption.
Even if the road ahead is unpredictable and dangerous, and the Hidden Mist Village is a den of thieves, I must go this time."
He looked at Naruto, his eyes firm: "I have formally submitted an application and a detailed report to the Third Hokage, explaining the situation. Although the Third Hokage expressed concern, he understands the moral weight involved and has approved my journey. He also assigned me a mission to undertake concurrently. I will depart for the Hidden Mist Village in a few days."
Naruto was somewhat stunned by what he heard.
He hadn't expected the place Hiashi was going to be so dangerous, nor had he expected Hiashi to risk himself merely because of a letter from a clan that "might no longer exist."
"If it's so dangerous, and didn't the Kaguya Clan... all die?"
Naruto couldn't help but press further, his face full of confusion.
"Just based on one letter? Why must you go personally? Couldn't you send a powerful Ninja to confirm it? You are the Clan Chief! What if something happens? What about Hinata and the others? What about the Hyuga Clan?"
Instinctively, he felt the risk was too great and completely inconsistent with the operational logic of a major clan's Clan Chief.
And this matter is highly suspicious!
Just this morning, Hiashi said he was having friction with the Three Elders, and in the afternoon, he claims the Third Elder gave him a letter of appeal from the Kaguya Clan.
Hiashi looked at Naruto's purely worried expression, and a rare hint of a smile appeared on his serious face.
He understood Naruto's concern, but the boy couldn't fully grasp the gravity of certain bonds rooted in bloodline and history.
"Naruto."
Hiashi's voice was not loud, but it carried the weight of bedrock.
"Precisely because I am the Clan Chief of the Hyuga Clan, I must go personally. That alliance was signed in the name of successive Clan Heads; that friendship was forged by the blood and vows of the two clans' ancestors.
If the Kaguya Clan Head personally invited me, sending someone else would be a slight to our ally, a desecration of this ancient friendship, and an evasion of my own responsibility as Clan Chief."
I know better than anyone that this journey is extremely perilous.
But some matters concern the dignity and trustworthiness of the clan, and even facing a thousand difficulties and ten thousand dangers, the Clan Chief must attend personally.
This is not only for the Kaguya Clan's possible survivors but also for the foundation upon which the Hyuga Clan stands in the world—'Trust' and 'Righteousness.'"
"Could this be a trap? How about I go with you?"
Naruto remembered that the manga said Kimimaro was the last surviving member of the Kaguya Clan, and the anime later mentioned Hiashi taking Hanabi to the Kaguya Clan after Pain's Invasion.
Plus, he didn't remember this part of the storyline!
Hiashi nodded slightly.
Then he pointed to the sword in Naruto's hand.
"You stay in the Village. The Third Elder is my senior; how could he possibly harm me?
Examine this sword carefully when you get back. This blade and mine haven't been used in a long time.
If there are any issues, you can come find me, and I'll find someone to repair it for you, especially the Scabbard. Look closely. Remember, look closely, don't wait until after I've left to find a problem."
Naruto understood Hiashi's meaning.
It seems the letter from the Kaguya Clan was indeed forged.
Hiashi must have hidden something inside the Scabbard, but he couldn't speak freely here at the Hyuga Clan compound due to eavesdroppers.
"Alright, then I'll head home first."
Naruto hung the eighty days calamity cutter on his waist and stood up, preparing to leave.
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