Chapter 173: Kumogakure’s True Objective

Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Kumogakure’s True Objective

Hyuga Kagami had complete confidence in Shisui’s genjutsu.

Even without counting his Mangekyō Sharingan dōjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, Shisui’s skill in genjutsu was still among the absolute best in the entire shinobi world.

And yet, Gloya had somehow resisted Shisui’s genjutsu.

He viciously raised the kunai in his hand and stabbed toward the unconscious Hinata in his arms.

Hiashi’s expression changed drastically. Almost entirely on instinct, he lunged forward, both palms surging with chakra as he struck fiercely at Gloya.

But just as the kunai was about to pierce Hinata—

The corner of Gloya’s mouth curled upward into an eerie smile.

The razor-sharp edge of the kunai stopped right in front of Hinata’s neck.

Bang!

Hiashi’s chakra-filled palms slammed squarely into Gloya, who made absolutely no attempt to dodge!

Thud...

With a dull impact, Gloya slowly collapsed to the ground.

Staring at Gloya’s lifeless body, Hiashi’s face turned terrifyingly grim.

He had already realized it.

He had fallen straight into Gloya’s trap.

Shisui’s brows knitted tightly together.

"Why did my genjutsu fail?"

Hyuga Kagami said, "He probably had some kind of sealing formula inscribed into his brain!"

Inscribing a sealing formula directly into the brain could grant a certain degree of immunity to genjutsu. At the same time, it could also protect the information stored within the brain from being read or pried into by others.

The drawback, however, was that an overly forceful sealing formula could damage the brain tissue itself.

Because of that, shinobi who dared to have sealing formulas inscribed into their brains were almost always suicide operatives sent on missions from which they were never expected to return.

Gloya was clearly one of the hardliners’ suicide operatives within Kumogakure. In all likelihood, he had already had the sealing formula inscribed into his brain before he ever left the village.

Just then, a burst of commotion came from the distance.

In the dead silence of the village at night, the noise sounded particularly jarring.

Shisui turned toward the direction of the disturbance and said solemnly, "It’s coming from the Kumogakure delegation’s residence!"

Kagami wasn’t surprised.

"Mm. It’s about time they started making a scene."

Gloya had obviously staged this entire incident deliberately, setting himself up to be the victim. Naturally, the Kumogakure delegation would have to play along.

Otherwise, wouldn’t Gloya have died for nothing?

Hiashi walked over with Hinata in his arms, anxiety evident in his expression.

"This incident is probably going to become very troublesome!"

Kagami nodded.

Gloya’s objective was perfectly clear.

He wanted to die inside the Hyuga Clan compound—and preferably at the hands of the Hyuga Clan Head himself.

That way, Kumogakure would have the perfect excuse to pressure Konoha.

And Konoha would be left with only two choices.

Either hand over the head of the Hyuga Clan...

Or choose war.

If Konoha chose the former and handed over the Hyuga Clan Head, then Konoha’s leadership would effectively be antagonizing both of its great dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai clans—the Uchiha and the Hyuga—at the same time.

When that happened, Kumogakure would only need to sit back and watch as Konoha tore itself apart from within.

On the other hand, if Konoha chose the latter and adamantly refused to hand over the Hyuga Clan Head, then Kumogakure’s hardliners could use the incident as justification to persuade the conservatives within the village to launch an all-out war against Konoha.

Therefore, no matter which choice Konoha made, it was a deal in which Kumogakure’s hardliners simply couldn’t lose.

After figuring out Gloya’s objective, Kagami narrowed his eyes.

There was no doubt about it.

The person who had devised this plan possessed an extremely thorough understanding of Konoha’s current situation. They knew perfectly well that the Uchiha and the village were already standing on the brink of a complete rupture.

At the same time, they also understood that the Uchiha Clan alone wasn’t enough to contend against the entirety of Konoha.

That was why, at this particularly sensitive moment, they had resorted to such a despicable scheme to drag the Hyuga Clan—another of Konoha’s great dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai clans—into the conflict.

By forcing the Hyuga toward the Uchiha’s side, the two great dōjutsu clans would be pushed into opposing Konoha together, further intensifying the village’s internal strife.

"This Kumogakure spy not only understands the situation inside the village, but even knows the layout of the Hyuga Main Family’s residence. Just who the hell is he?"

As Kagami pondered the matter, he was certain of one thing.

Gloya could only have infiltrated the Main Family residence so smoothly and abducted the sleeping Hinata with the assistance of this spy.

Previously, Kagami had always found one particular detail from the original timeline rather strange.

Hiashi had somehow managed to kill Kumogakure’s chief envoy with a single strike, despite the two confronting each other face-to-face while both sides were on guard.

As the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi’s strength naturally wasn’t something to question.

But he wasn’t so overwhelmingly powerful that he could instantly kill Kumogakure’s chief envoy with a single blow while the man was fully on guard.

Now that Kagami thought about it...

Everything made perfect sense!

The commotion in the distance was drawing closer and closer.

Kagami immediately pulled himself out of his thoughts and said to Hiashi, "They deliberately came here looking to die. Their objective was never the Byakugan in the first place."

Hiashi fell silent upon hearing this.

There was virtually no way to guard against such a despicable scheme.

Even if Hiashi had restrained himself and refused to attack, Gloya would simply have chosen an appropriate moment to commit suicide.

And because Gloya was the leader of the delegation, Konoha couldn’t exactly restrict his movements.

If he was determined to stage his own death and frame someone for it, there was simply no way to stop him.

Leaping onto the roof and looking into the distance for a moment, Shisui said, "A lot of people are heading this way!"

Hiashi’s expression darkened. He let out a quiet sigh.

"You two should leave. I’ll take responsibility for everything here."

"I’ll handle it instead."

Kagami smiled, then instructed Hiashi, "Clan Head, tell everyone in the clan who knows what happened not to let word get out that Gloya entered the clan compound!"

With that, Kagami picked up Gloya’s corpse.

Hiashi asked curiously, "What are you planning to do?"

Kagami chuckled softly.

"Clan Head, there’s nothing you need to know."

He paused before adding,

"And tonight... you didn’t see anyone at all."

With Gloya’s corpse in hand, Kagami motioned for Shisui to follow him.

The two of them swiftly vanished into the darkness of the night.

Hiashi finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered the clansmen around him, "Put everything back exactly as it was. The patrol teams will continue their rounds as usual. And no one is permitted to mention what just happened to anyone!"

Before long, the members of the Kumogakure delegation arrived at the Hyuga Clan compound, accompanied by a large contingent of Konoha ANBU.

Another jōnin from the Kumogakure delegation stepped forward and declared, "I saw a shinobi wearing clothing bearing your Hyuga Clan crest abduct our chief, Lord Gloya!"

Having already settled Hinata somewhere safe, Hiashi replied calmly, "I haven’t seen your chief."

The Kumogakure jōnin sneered.

"Is the Hyuga Clan trying to harbor a criminal?"

The Konoha ANBU captain who had accompanied them glanced meaningfully at Hiashi, silently asking whether he had truly abducted Gloya.

In the original timeline, Hiashi had regarded the incident as nothing more than an act of self-defense, so he hadn’t disposed of Gloya’s corpse in time.

In the end, Kumogakure had turned the situation against him, leaving Konoha trapped in an impossible dilemma.

But now, Gloya’s corpse had already been taken away by Kagami.

So Hiashi remained completely unruffled.

"Watch your words."

Seeing how utterly confident Hiashi appeared, the Kumogakure jōnin’s expression darkened.

He immediately demanded,

"I want to search your clan compound!"