The Kumogakure delegation had arrived?
With hurried footsteps, two Kumogakure ninja—one dark-skinned, one pale, strikingly different in complexion—appeared before the assembled crowd.
Before anyone could say a word, the dark-skinned Kumo ninja spotted the ninja head lying on the ground.
His expression changed abruptly, and he barked in a harsh voice, “So Konoha dares to lay hands on the leader of our envoy delegation!
Is this how you treat your guests!?”
The pale Kumo ninja chimed in as well, “Konoha has openly plotted the murder of our nation’s envoy.
If you don’t give Kumogakure an explanation today, then let the war continue.” Clearly they had worked this out before arriving.
Having flipped the blame onto their opponents, the two Kumo ninja stared fixedly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, waiting for him to explain.
The moment Hiruzen’s tone softened even half a degree, they could climb the pole he offered and turn around to demand compensation—perhaps even pin the whole thing on Konoha.
At that moment Genshin, still cradling little Hinata, was the first to speak.
“You want an explanation from our Lord Hokage?
I’d rather ask you first—your ninja head snuck into the Hyuga compound in the dead of night, kidnapped the Hyuga Clan’s heiress, and tried to carry me off too.
How do you explain that?”
“Does a child have any right to speak in a setting like this?”
The Kumogakure ninja didn’t take Genshin seriously in the slightest.
“He is a victim of tonight’s kidnapping that Kumogakure plotted against the Uzumaki and Hyuga bloodlines.
Is that qualification enough for you?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped in front of Genshin, defining the night’s events with a single sentence.
The Uzumaki Clan?
Damn it—no wonder the ninja head had gone after him too.
Snatching one Hyūga might have been survivable, but the Uzumaki Clan had long since been wiped out.
This boy might well be the only one left in Konoha.
Now they were in deep trouble!
The two Kumo ninja paled at once.
The pale one immediately snapped back, “Utter nonsense!
It was clearly you who framed our leader!
Since when do the words of a mere child count for anything!”
Genshin stared at him.
“You’re a sensor-type ninja, aren’t you?”
The pale Kumo ninja didn’t answer.
Genshin paid it no mind and laughed softly.
“Your ninja head’s residual Chakra trails all the way out from inside the Hyuga compound.
Even a child like me can sense it.
So do you still want to keep splitting hairs?
Or was your ninja head simply drunk, and happened to wander on his stroll straight into the Hyuga Clan’s compound?”
That damnable Uzumaki Clan sensory talent!
“You—”
Genshin cut the Kumo ninja off directly.
“Silence!
Shameless Kumogakure—coming to our Konoha under the pretense of peace talks, only to kidnap the bloodlines of the Hyuga Clan and the Uzumaki Clan.
Is this the negotiating etiquette of your Kumogakure?
We Konoha ninja and our Will of Fire will never bow to such threats!”
Genshin’s words rang out firm and unyielding.
Watching that tiny red figure standing in the wind and snow, Hiashi Hyuga nodded to himself, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes carried a hint of approval.
The higher-ups had originally intended to leave a little room for face, but now that Genshin had laid it all bare, it suited Konoha’s intentions perfectly—they seized the moral high ground outright.
Koharu Utatane gave a cold sneer.
“What a fine Kumogakure, so eager for peace—coming to our Konoha to kidnap the heirs and heiresses of ninja clans, and now still shameless enough to turn around and demand an explanation?”
With things having come this far, the two Kumo ninja could no longer feign ignorance.
Gritting his teeth, the dark-skinned Kumo ninja could only steel himself and throw down harsh words.
“Even if our leader acted on a momentary impulse, that was his own personal doing, and has nothing to do with our Kumogakure delegation.
Today you must release our leader, or else—”
“Or else what?
War?” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s gloomy gaze swept over the two Kumo ninja.
Then he suddenly bellowed in fury!
“Shisui!”
“Yes, Lord Hokage.”
A ninja Body Flickered before the ninja head lying on the ground, seized his head with one hand, and stared into his eyes with a pair of crimson Sharingan—it was Uchiha Shisui, the strongest Genjutsu ninja in Konoha at present.
With his Chakra suppressed by Hamon, the ninja head was unable to use Chakra, and was brought under control almost instantly.
“Little Genshin, undo your ninjutsu.
I’ve already got him under my Genjutsu.”
Genshin walked up and gave the ninja head a kick.
“There, undone.”
“…Mm.” Shisui’s eye twitched, then he made the ninja head rise to its feet and said to the Genjutsu-controlled ninja head, “Now I ask, you answer.
What was your purpose in coming to Konoha?”
“Recently there has been frequent activity along the Iwagakure border.
Lord Raikage fears Iwagakure’s Earth Release ninja, and wants Konoha’s Byakugan to counter the Earth Release ninja,” the ninja head answered.
“Besides, it’s currently the period of peace talks.
Even if the deed were exposed, Konoha would most likely bury it.
Worst case, I trade my life for gain—perhaps we could even extort another sum out of them.”
Once these words were spoken in front of everyone present, killing intent erupted in an instant.
The faces of the Konoha people darkened, and some of the ANBU already had their hands on the ninja tool pouches behind their waists, waiting only for the Hokage’s command to lop off the dog heads of these two Kumogakure ninja.
“And there’s that little brat.
As long as we take him away and raise him properly, we could have an extra branch of the Uzumaki Clan in our village—we might even scheme to seize the tailed beasts of other villages.”
Boss, stop twisting the knife, aaahhh!
The two Kumogakure ninja turned deathly pale.
The ninja head was still alive, the mission had been exposed, and there was no chance to spin it to their advantage.
With things blown up to this point, there was no way the Hokage would back down.
It seemed they most likely wouldn’t be walking out of here alive today.
“Heh…
very good…
very good!” Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn’t been this enraged in a long time.
Kidnapping the Hyuga Clan had already crossed the line, and now they wanted to carry off little Genshin—the boy he had placed such high hopes in, who might one day become the next God of Shinobi.
This was intolerable, utterly intolerable!
If they wanted a fight, then a fight they would get!
“Zō!
Contact Jiraiya and have him return!
Wait…
tell Jiraiya to find Tsunade, and bring her back for me too.
This old man wants to see whether or not she’ll bother with the only remaining heir of Lady Mito’s house!”
“Yes!
Lord Hokage.”
“You two, get lost back home and tell your Raikage: if he wants war, we Konoha will take him on!”
Hm?
We don’t have to die?
The two Kumo ninja looked at the unyielding Hiruzen Sarutobi, then at the grim-faced Konoha higher-ups, and knew they’d get nothing good out of today.
They could only grit their teeth and agree to go back and report to the Raikage.
The dark-skinned Kumo ninja glanced at the ninja head on the ground and wanted to say something more, but the pale one tugged him back.
Under the malicious stares of the ANBU lining their path, the two of them slunk out of Konoha in disgrace.
Keeping them alive to carry the message let Konoha hold the moral high ground far more than simply killing them would have.
And not delivering a fatal blow proved there was still room to ease into negotiations.
Now that Konoha knew of the Raikage’s conflict with Iwagakure, if he wanted to avoid war, he’d have to cough up some concessions no matter what.
After some thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi called over another ANBU ninja and had him spread word of tonight’s events to all the nations of the Shinobi World.
He wanted to leave Kumogakure with no moral ground to stand on either.
And with Iwagakure making frequent moves along the Land of Lightning’s border…
it seemed a bit of contact could be arranged there as well.
Hiashi Hyuga, holding little Hinata who had finally been willing to let go and be carried away, spoke solemnly to Hiruzen Sarutobi, “Lord Hokage, the Hyuga Clan is willing to marshal its forces for war, and stands ready to be deployed by the village at any time.”
“Mm.” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, then let his gaze fall upon Genshin.
Looking at the red hair dusted with snowflakes, his tone softened.
“Little Genshin, you did very well tonight.
The matter of the war is not something a child need meddle in for now.
Leave the rest to us.”
With something this big happening tonight, little Genshin hadn’t flinched—instead he’d thought first of seizing the initiative.
Such composure truly made him worthy of being the descendant of Uzumaki Mito.
“Yes, Lord Hokage.”
“Master Genshin, thank you for tonight.” Hiashi Hyuga, cradling little Hinata who was still gazing reluctantly at Genshin, spoke with earnest sincerity.
“Had you not stepped in to subdue the ninja head, the Hyuga Clan would have fallen into Kumogakure’s trap, with consequences too dreadful to imagine.
I’ll remember this favor.
Come visit the Hyūga when you have the time.”
Genshin’s fierce tongue-lashing of the Kumogakure ninja had truly been satisfying for Hiashi Hyuga to watch.
As the head of the Hyūga clan, he always had to weigh his every word with care—and even if he had been in that same situation, he might not have had the courage to say such things.
Genshin waved his little hand and looked up at him with a smile.
“Uncle Hiashi, there’s no need to be so formal.
We’re all comrades of Konoha.
When Kumogakure sets its sights on Konoha’s bloodlines, I could hardly just stand by and watch, could I?”
Watching this scene, Hiruzen Sarutobi patted the top of Genshin’s head and instructed the ANBU, “Escort little Genshin back to his residence.
Stay alert along the way—don’t let any more slip-ups happen.”
The ANBU bowed to receive the order and gestured for him to lead the way.
Genshin bid the others farewell and followed the ANBU, treading over the accumulated snow toward his home.
Behind him, the Konoha higher-ups were still discussing how to deal with Kumogakure.
The wind and snow carried the murmur of their debate over to him.
Genshin shrank his neck, tucked his little hands—red with cold—into his sleeves, and felt that tonight’s upheaval had, at least for now, come to a temporary close.
Konoha hadn’t cravenly handed anyone over.
With Hizashi Hyuga not dead, Neji Hyuga wouldn’t have to fall to darkness, right?
The whole business of a scapegoat’s child still ending up a scapegoat—better to just do away with that.
Genshin hated tragedies like that most of all.
A few days later, as news of this incident spread and stirred things up, the various factions of the Shinobi World reacted in different ways.