The Kaguya Clan's public declaration spread across the entire shinobi world at astonishing speed.
To begin with, the rumor concerning the Hyuga Clan had already spread far and wide.
Both Iwagakure and Sunagakure were helping push it.
The enemy of an enemy was not necessarily a friend. After all, the relationship between Sunagakure and Iwagakure had once been so bad that no Suna shinobi could forget the days when Iwa crushed them.
Too many Suna ninja had died at Iwagakure's hands.
But at the very least, for now, their goals aligned when it came to targeting a common enemy.
In the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind, people everywhere were discussing it.
And this concerned the Hyuga Clan.
The Hyuga Clan's fame throughout the shinobi world was not much less than the Uchiha's.
The Byakugan was something every ninja village coveted.
That was why Ao had been so confident after obtaining a Byakugan.
Because once he possessed it, Kirigakure would inevitably value him highly. He would not rank below any genius—perhaps not even below the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
When the Hyuga Clan and Konoha were involved, most people were bound to take interest.
Some stood firmly on Konoha's side.
"It's all nonsense. No matter how shameless Konoha might be, it wouldn't sell out its own people like this. Offer the Byakugan to Kirigakure just to stop a war? Even Sunagakure wouldn't do that. How could Konoha?"
"Konoha is at least a hundred times better than Sunagakure."
"The Akayama Clan was practically wiped out, wasn't it?"
"At least the Uchiha are still alive."
At once, someone else retorted.
"The Uchiha are still alive because Konoha couldn't wipe them out—not because it didn't want to. The Uchiha are far stronger than the Akayama Clan ever was."
"And besides, what kind of situation are the Uchiha in? And what kind of situation was Akayama in?"
"The Uchiha were persecuted by Konoha without betraying it. The Akayama Clan betrayed Sunagakure first, then tried to kill Rasa and seize the Kazekage position. Only then were they killed in return."
The other side gave a cold snort.
"So they say something and you believe it? Neither of us knows the truth. All I know is that if I were a ninja, I'd definitely rather live in Konoha."
The other man refused to yield an inch.
"Then I hope you're born in Konoha in your next life—so you can get suppressed even when you've done nothing wrong."
In truth, everyone was waiting to see how the Hyuga Clan would react.
Because this rumor was not like the one surrounding the Uchiha.
The Uchiha rumor concerned events from long ago. Too much of it was difficult to verify.
But the Hyuga rumor concerned something recent.
It was specific. Detailed. Too vivid to ignore.
So what would the Hyuga Clan do?
But nothing happened.
Aside from a few Hyuga ninja becoming somewhat more withdrawn, there was no reaction at all.
Not even something like the Uchiha's strike. Not even an attempt to seek the truth.
That left many people bitterly disappointed.
"The Hyuga Clan is far too soft."
"They don't even dare investigate?"
"I've never seen anything this spineless. What a waste of their Bloodline Limit. What a waste of such a clan."
"They're not worth a single hair on the Uchiha's head."
An Iwa shinobi looked at the Hyuga ninja opposite him and mocked him without restraint.
"So this is what the Hyuga Clan amounts to. You're not ninja at all—you're Konoha's dogs."
"Oh, right. The Hyuga Clan really are dogs."
"The branch house are the main house's dogs. The Caged Bird Seal is your leash."
"And the main house are Hiruzen Sarutobi's dogs. You don't even dare bark loudly."
The Hyuga ninja opposite him clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Even his Byakugan looked bloodshot.
He glared at the Iwa shinobi with naked fury.
"You insult the Hyuga Clan. You deserve to die!"
The Iwa shinobi showed no fear at all in the face of his anger.
"So what? I'm only speaking the truth."
"With so many Hyuga in your clan, is there even one who dared investigate what happened to that Byakugan?"
"Kirigakure stole your Byakugan, and you still go on doing work for them. How laughable."
That final sentence did not come from the Iwa shinobi.
It came from a Suna shinobi.
More precisely—
Baki.
When it came to hatred for Kirigakure ninja, very few felt it more deeply than Baki.
After all, last time, he had nearly died.
One young shinobi—
suddenly surrounded by three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
What kind of situation was that?
In Baki's eyes, it was shameless beyond belief.
Three elite jonin. Three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Bullying a ninja his age, and all three attacking together.
They really thought highly of him.
Unless one had experienced it firsthand, it was impossible to understand that kind of terror. That kind of pressure.
And it hadn't even stopped at three.
Later, Hozuki Kumokiri had appeared as well.
He had only survived because he had been rescued in time.
"If Teacher hadn't arrived so quickly, I'd already be dead."
"Teacher really treats me well. The moment he got word, he must have rushed over immediately—without even bringing anyone else."
"I'm afraid I won't be able to repay that debt even in this lifetime."
The Hyuga ninja opposite him glared at Baki, the rage and hatred in his eyes so intense they were almost tangible.
"Die!"
At that moment, the Kiri shinobi at the side made their move.
They knew that if they did not intervene and interrupt Baki now, there was no telling how far the Hyuga ninja's fury might be pushed.
"Wind Release: Blade of Wind!"
A blade formed of wind chakra shot from Baki's fingertips toward the Kirigakure ninja ahead.
Puchi!
An invisible blade—difficult to see.
Even Konoha's elite shinobi Gekkō Hayate had fallen to this technique in the original timeline.
Baki was not yet at his full strength—
but the Kiri ninja before him were not strong enough either.
No matter what, Baki was still a genius with the potential ceiling of an elite jonin.
Before long, two Kiri shinobi had already fallen at his hands.
But at that moment, more than a dozen figures suddenly appeared, as though they had been hiding nearby all along.
In an instant, Baki was surrounded.
"Brat! It's because of you that Lord Tongcao Yebairen and the others died! I'll kill you here and offer your life in apology to the lords!"
Yet those Kiri shinobi quickly sensed that something was wrong.
Clearly surrounded—
and yet the fear on Baki's face looked fake.
"What's going on?"
"Has the little beast gone stupid from fright?"
But soon enough, they found out.
A figure appeared behind them.
"Hiramekarei—Release!"
A massive sphere of light erupted forward.
In an instant, the dozen or so Kiri shinobi who had just arrived were engulfed by the explosion.
The Kiri ninja first showed shock—
then all of them turned to stare at that Hyuga branch-house ninja.
"You sold us out?"
But they would never receive an answer.
Because the sphere of light had already crashed down on them.
The terrifying impact struck their bodies—
and along with the impact, they felt another kind of force.
Their eyes widened in disbelief.
"What…?"