Chapter 294: Subduing the Enemy Without Fighting

Strangely enough, in the shinobi world, a language called English actually existed.

Not only English—Chinese characters were also widely used throughout the ninja world.

English was mixed into everyday conversation, while Chinese characters were commonly used in important documents and formal settings.

For example, in the original story, the text recorded in the Heaven and Earth Scrolls of the Chūnin Exams was written in Chinese characters.

Therefore, when Uchiha Ren said "Look my eyes!", Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru could all understand him. Naturally, they looked into his eyes.

The next moment—

Their vision blurred.

When their sight cleared again, they found themselves standing inside a dimly lit room.

The room wasn't large, but it was crowded with people.

Aside from Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane, everyone else present belonged to the Hyūga Clan, their pale Byakugan eyes clearly visible.

"The investigation has been completed," Homura Mitokado said calmly.

"The man killed by the Hyūga clan head was the leader of the Kumogakure diplomatic delegation. The Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) is now demanding an explanation from Konoha."

The Great Elder of the Hyūga Main Family spoke immediately.

"What explanation do they want? We haven't even demanded one from them yet!"

"Their envoy tried to kidnap the heir of the Hyūga Clan, and now they have the nerve to accuse us?"

Koharu Utatane spoke coldly.

"But the fact remains—the one who died was the leader of Kumogakure's envoy, and the Hyūga Clan suffered no actual losses."

"They're clinging to that fact and insisting that the Hyūga Clan murdered their envoy."

"They're demanding that you hand over the killer."

"Otherwise—"

"They'll declare war."

"That's absurd!"

"Do the people of Kumogakure have no shame?!"

"Exactly! They attacked us first, and now they're acting like the victims!"

"The one who killed the Cloud envoy was the Hyūga Clan Head. Are they expecting us to hand over our clan leader?!"

The Hyūga clan members erupted in anger, arguing all at once.

"Silence!"

Homura Mitokado's expression darkened as he shouted.

The room gradually fell quiet, though the Hyūga clan members still looked deeply resentful.

Homura ignored their glares and continued speaking calmly.

"We all know the truth of what happened."

"And Kumogakure knows it as well."

"But that isn't what matters."

"What matters is that this is merely an excuse for Kumogakure to provoke conflict."

"They're looking for a chance to start another war."

"And your Hyūga Clan has given them that opportunity."

The Hyūga clan members' expressions immediately changed.

What did he mean by that?

Was he saying the Hyūga Clan was at fault?

But what had they done wrong?

Were they supposed to simply allow the Cloud envoy to abduct the Hyūga heir?

Hiashi Hyūga  turned to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been quietly smoking without speaking.

"Hokage-sama, the Hyūga Clan is also a victim in this matter. Kumogakure deliberately targeted us."

"How does the village intend to handle this?"

Everyone present turned toward Hiruzen, waiting for his answer.

Hiruzen slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Instead of answering immediately, he spoke calmly.

"On the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, Konoha suffered devastating losses."

"The Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki both sacrificed their lives."

"The new jinchūriki has yet to grow strong."

"Since then, the other villages have been constantly testing Konoha—creating friction and provoking conflict."

"Even now, we have yet to fully recover."

"We simply cannot afford another war."

After a pause, he looked at Hiashi.

"Hiashi… you are someone who understands the bigger picture."

"You know the current situation of the village."

"None of the clans in Konoha want to suffer another unnecessary disaster."

"What we need right now is time."

"And this time… you truly acted too rashly."

"Your attack was too heavy."

"If you had captured him alive, there might still have been room for negotiation."

Hiashi's face darkened.

Hiruzen's words sounded as though he had said nothing—

Yet they said everything.

Hiashi replied stiffly:

"Hokage-sama, I merely struck him with a single palm strike. He clearly came prepared to die."

"That's irrelevant," Homura interjected.

"What matters is that he died."

"And he died by your hand."

...

The scene accelerated rapidly after that.

Under repeated pressure—while Hiruzen and the others continuously emphasized how difficult Konoha's situation was—Hiashi Hyūga eventually accepted his fate, prepared to sacrifice his life to remove Kumogakure's excuse for war.

But at that moment—

Hizashi Hyūga stepped forward.

He volunteered to die in place of his brother.

And thus, the infamous Hyūga sacrifice incident was born.

"See?" Uchiha Ren said as he looked at the silent trio.

"The Hyūga Clan may be powerful, but Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado placed them directly over the fire."

"If the Hyūga Clan didn't want to become the target of everyone's anger—the clan responsible for starting a war—"

"They had no choice but to compromise."

"This is what they call…"

"Subduing the enemy without fighting."

"The strategy itself was brilliant."

"But it was used against their own comrades."

Ren's voice grew colder with every word, his tone filled with contempt.

Tsunade and Jiraiya remained silent.

Orochimaru, however, chuckled softly.

"That really does sound like the old man's style."

Jiraiya glanced at Orochimaru before turning back to Ren.

He asked about something else instead.

"The Nine-Tails attack the old man mentioned earlier… what exactly happened?"

"The Fourth Hokage and his wife who died… that wouldn't happen to be—"

Ren nodded.

"That's right. Exactly what you're thinking."

"When Kushina Uzumaki gave birth, the seal of the Nine-Tails weakened."

"Someone took advantage of that opportunity and released the Nine-Tails."

"Minato fought a mysterious enemy alone and defeated him."

"Then he fought the Nine-Tails alone as well."

"In the end, he sealed the Nine-Tails at the cost of his own life."

"He died young—"

"Having served as Hokage for less than a year."

Ren briefly summarized the Nine-Tails Incident.

Although he omitted certain details, he didn't lie.

Jiraiya frowned.

"Why did things turn out like that?"

"Didn't anyone help Minato?"

"And what about the Uchiha Clan?"

"Your Sharingan has a natural suppressive effect on tailed beasts."

"Don't tell me that at that time the Uchiha Clan had already been—"

Ren shook his head.

"No."

"The Uchiha Clan still existed back then."

"But it's true that we didn't participate."

"And it wasn't just us."

"Even the village's elite Root and ANBU forces didn't participate."

Jiraiya's eyes widened.

He demanded angrily:

"Why?!"

"Isn't the Konoha Military Police Force responsible for protecting the village?!"

Ren smiled faintly.

"You'll have to ask Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō about that."

"At the time, the Uchiha Clan tried to rush out to provide reinforcements immediately."

"But we were stopped."

"Root and ANBU ninja, acting under the 'Hokage's orders,' blocked us inside the Uchiha Clan Compound."

"And they were so worried that we might disobey…"

"They practically deployed their entire force—"

"Surrounding the Uchiha compound completely."

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