Chapter 182: Akatsuki's Formidable Foe!
Meanwhile.
At the Hokage Tower.
A ninja dog rushed in it was clearly Kakashi's ninken, Pakkun. He slipped straight into the Hokage's office.
"Hmm?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised an eyebrow upon seeing a dog run in, but realizing it was Pakkun, he understood why the surrounding ANBU guards hadn't stopped him.
"Hokage-sama, Kakashi sent me to tell you that something has happened at the Hyūga Clan."
Pakkun's immediate statement made Hiruzen pause.
"The Hyūga Clan..."
His aged expression grew slightly more serious. He exchanged a glance with Mitokado Homura next to him, then turned back to Pakkun. "Is it Ikeizumi? What major event happened at the Hyūga compound?"
"I don't know." Pakkun drooped his eyes and shook his head. "Kakashi just told me to run over and report the situation to you."
He paused, then added, "When I was summoned, I smelled a strong scent of blood at the Hyūga Clan compound."
Kakashi was clearly uneasy about the escalating tension at the Hyūga compound and had dispatched Pakkun to call the Hokage over.
"Scent of blood..."
Homura, hearing this, told Hiruzen, "Hiruzen, it's probably that Hyūga Main House Elder, Hyūga Jinsuke, was caught by Uchiha Ikeizumi before he could leave Konoha."
"In Ikeizumi's eyes, activating the Caged Bird to kill a Branch Family member makes him a murderer. A murderer in Ikeizumi's hands usually only has one fate."
"Kakashi likely thinks something will happen at the Hyūga compound because Ikeizumi killed Jinsuke. Hmm... it was probably done in front of many Hyūga members."
"Uchiha Ikeizumi likes to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."
Hiruzen, who bore the nickname 'The Monkey' (Saru), felt his expression become awkward at the last phrase.
"Cough."
He quickly shook off the random thought and spoke in a deep voice: "Kakashi is likely overthinking it. Since Ikeizumi has a justified reason standing on moral high ground to execute Jinsuke, Hiashi isn't likely to clash with him. Hiashi is one of the few reasonable people there."
"Even if some hot-blooded youth in the Main House are unhappy with Ikeizumi's actions, Hiashi should be able to stop them."
Hiruzen felt it unnecessary to go.
Because he also believed the Hyūga Clan needed to make some changes.
While the Hyūga Clan's strict adherence to their rigid rules made him, the Hokage, feel secure as he never worried about them coveting the village's leadership
The problem was...
...those same rigid rules prevented the Hyūga Clan's overall strength from ever measuring up to the Uchiha Clan in its prime.
Konoha had lost too many shinobi, and Hiruzen needed a clan to step up and fill that void, ideally one that was obedient. The Hyūga Clan fit his requirements perfectly.
'This time... I've managed to utilize Ikeizumi, too,' Hiruzen thought fleetingly.
Just then, Pakkun suddenly added, "The blood I smelled wasn't from just one person; it was at least the blood of two or three people."
Hiruzen froze.
Two or three people...
"Hiruzen, the situation does seem a bit off." Homura frowned. "Could Ikeizumi be engaging in some kind of 'excessive correction' inside the Hyūga Clan? It wouldn't be the first time he's done that, after all."
Hiruzen took a deep breath.
"Homura, I'll give you five ANBU squads. Go check on them."
Five ANBU squads...
Homura's heart tightened. This was preparing for the possibility of a conflict with either Ikeizumi or the Hyūga Clan.
"Understood."
He nodded.
...Elsewhere in the Ninja World.
In the Land of Rain.
"The Rain shinobi in Konoha sent back intelligence Jūzō Biwa left Konoha without a word, abandoning them."
Konan took a deep breath, the rain pouring down on her head, though it was shielded by sheets of paper hovering above her.
Konan looked down, surveying the perpetually rainy Amegakure.
She glanced at Nagato, who sat next to her in his wheelchair, and said, "Jūzō Biwa must have retrieved the information I wanted. He should be on his way back now."
Nagato looked up, meeting Konan's eyes, and asked, "Why are you so certain?"
Konan explained, "Because he didn't use long-distance communication equipment in Konoha to contact Amegakure. This means he's worried the information he might speak over the comms could be intercepted."
"And the consequence of interception is instant death, because some people don't want him to know these secrets, and certainly don't want him passing them to me."
"The only way he can relay the information is to return physically."
Nagato nodded thoughtfully. "He is indeed cautious."
"But I have one more question."
Nagato paused before adding dispassionately, "If you confirm that 'Uchiha Madara' has significant problems, what do you plan to do?"
Before Konan could answer, Nagato added, "I agree with the plan he proposed to us. Whatever you do, you must not undermine that plan."
Konan was silent for a few seconds.
She replied, "I just want to strip away that mysterious and dangerous aura around him. That way, if he ever acts suspiciously, we'll have a way to counteract him immediately."
She then added, "Under the premise of not undermining the plan."
Konan then changed the subject: "We recently succeeded in instigating a border conflict between the Land of Birds and the Land of Bears. Over a hundred samurai died in the fighting, and several shinobi were killed, too. For small nations, that's an unacceptable loss."
"Akatsuki can use these opportunities to market our 'War Mercenary System' to them, having them hire us to fight their wars. We can send a small number of people to both sides, perform a little theater, and extort a large sum of money from their daimyō."
"After all, collecting the Tailed Beasts is a massive undertaking. We need to recruit many powerful new members, and the expenses will be enormous."
"Leave it to you," Nagato conceded. "You're more skilled in these matters than I am."
"Oh, and one more thing," Nagato added.
"List the strong enemies we will face when collecting each Tailed Beast. Compile the names, gather their intelligence, and prepare early."
"For example..."
"If we are to collect the Nine-Tails in the future, we will inevitably clash with that fellow named Uchiha Ikeizumi. He is certainly no ordinary ninja; we need to pay him closer attention."
"If even Uchiha Madara is so wary of him, it means he could be one of our greatest enemies in the future."
Konan nodded.
"Understood."
...Inside the Hyūga Clan Compound.
Clatter! A severed arm dropped to the ground. Following Ikeizumi's frigid pronouncement, a scream so painful it sent shivers down spines immediately followed.
Under the gaze of many Hyūga shinobi, the Main House prodigy, now missing an arm, frantically stumbled backward, clutching his wound.
His young face was slick with cold sweat and filled with terror. He stared at Uchiha Ikeizumi in disbelief.
"You..."
But Ikeizumi ignored him. His voice, cold enough to chill one's blood, rang out again: "Hyūga Sakitsu, for repeatedly using the Caged Bird Seal on Branch Family members without principal cause, ten years imprisonment."
That sentence caused another Main House shinobi's face to instantly go pale.
Hiashi couldn't help but look at the man.
He was the personal Main House guard of Hiashi, the Clan Head!
"Hyūga Katsuya, five years imprisonment."
"Hyūga Hitomi, seven months imprisonment."
"Hyūga Shakusoku, nine years imprisonment."
"Hyūga..."
One name after another poured from Ikeizumi's mouth. At the mention of each name, a Main House shinobi either changed expression or swallowed hard, hastily retreating backward.
Hiashi was starting to feel lost. If this continued, virtually the entire Hyūga Main House would be included!
If the Hyūga Main House shinobi truly complied with Uchiha Ikeizumi's intentions and were locked away some for months, some for years, some for decades...
When those Main House shinobi finally emerged from Konoha Prison, who would be running the Hyūga Clan?
The Branch Family would have probably replaced the Main House, or rather...
...there might not be Main House or Branch Family distinctions anymore.
Because the Main House would have fallen from grace into the mud.
"Hyūga Mei." When Ikeizumi spoke this name, he fixed his gaze on the grim-faced Main House Elder before him, then continued, "Twenty years imprisonment."
The Elder's mind exploded with a boom!
Unheard of...
Utterly unheard of!
This Uchiha junior was really going to rely on his strength to wreak havoc in the Hyūga Clan! This was exactly the same arrogant self-serving behavior as his ancestor, Uchiha Madara!
Uchiha shinobi truly were a bunch of lunatics!
And this Uchiha Ikeizumi was the maddest of them all!
"Enough! Uchiha Ikeizumi!!!"
"You are acting too presumptuously!"
The Elder, Hyūga Mei, finally lost control of his emotions. His aged face was flushed crimson with anger, and he heavily pounded his wooden staff on the ground several times.
"The Hyūga Clan is not the Uchiha Clan! You can run roughshod over the Uchiha, but here in the Hyūga Clan, you are just an outsider! If you, with your unreasonable Justice that you 'believe' is for the Branch Family's good, cause our clan's standing to collapse can you bear that responsibility!?"
"Are you going to throw the entire Hyūga Main House into the Konoha Prison? Do you know the chaos this will bring to the Hyūga Clan, and even all of Konoha?"
"You... you..."
Hyūga Mei's next words caught in his throat.
Because a blood-stained ninja sword was already pressed against his neck.
The sharp blade had already sliced the skin on his throat.
"Those who defy Justice,"
"Will be executed without mercy."
Uchiha Ikeizumi said coldly, "If this causes greater chaos, it only proves that the deterrent power of Justice is not absolute enough, and that not enough villains have been killed in the Hyūga Clan."
Hyūga Mei opened his mouth.
Until a voice rang out, like a saving grace for the Main House.
"Ikeizumi, wait!"
Mitokado Homura, with five ANBU squads, had finally arrived.
...
(End of Chapter)
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