"You... you will pay for your current arrogance."
Seeing Uchiha Xuan’s contemptuous expression, Hyuga Hiashi’s veins bulged at the corners of his eyes as he spoke in a low voice.
"Arrogance? How could that be? I’m quite friendly. After all... who would show a bad temper toward entertainment delivered right to their doorstep? Are you ready? I’m about to make my move."
Watching Hyuga Hiashi, whose forehead veins were bulging, Uchiha Xuan knew he had activated his Byakugan. But no matter how he looked at it, those eyes were just ordinary.
Seeing Hyuga Hiashi still spouting nonsense, Uchiha Xuan raised his hand and spoke as a warning to him.
"Hmph, let me show you what the Eight— So fast!"
Hyuga Hiashi immediately assumed the Gentle Fist starting stance, but just as he was about to deploy the Eight Trigrams Formation to lock onto Uchiha Xuan, he found that Uchiha Xuan’s figure had instantly vanished from in front of him. When he reappeared, he was already right in front of him.
Without any concealment, he had charged straight toward him. That terrifying speed was impossible to react to in time, even with the Byakugan’s vision.
Before Hyuga Hiashi could raise his palm to strike Uchiha Xuan, he felt an intense pain surge from his abdomen.
In that instant, Hyuga Hiashi finally understood what Hyuga Hizashi had meant.
Pain! Excruciating pain!
Even a body tempered since childhood with precious medicinal baths and trained in the Gentle Fist could not withstand the terrifying force erupting from his abdomen.
At the same time, Hyuga Hiashi’s body was sent flying backward from the force of the punch, crashing heavily into Hyuga Hizashi, who had rushed over to face Uchiha Xuan alongside him.
"Tsk."
As he was sent flying, a soft sound echoed in Hyuga Hiashi’s ears.
[Defeated D-rank target. Obtained D-rank Card Draw chance: 1]
"Brother?!"
Catching Hyuga Hiashi and seeing the pain on his face, Hyuga Hizashi couldn’t help but cry out in concern.
As Hyuga Hizashi spoke, five figures instantly appeared around him, surrounding him. One of them, after checking Hyuga Hiashi’s condition, abruptly turned and lunged toward Uchiha Xuan with a palm strike.
The man wore white robes, with a headband identical to Hyuga Hizashi’s covering his forehead. His speed was astonishing—in the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Uchiha Xuan.
Facing the sudden attack from the Hyuga ninja, Uchiha Xuan’s expression remained unchanged as he calmly watched.
Swish!
Just as the Hyuga ninja’s palm strike was about to hit Uchiha Xuan, a hand suddenly grabbed the ninja’s wrist, preventing it from advancing even an inch.
"What? Are the Hyuga trash unable to accept defeat?"
The Hyuga ninja looked up sharply to see a pair of crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan glaring fiercely at him.
In the next moment, a surge of immense Ocular Power crashed into his mind, clashing with the Ocular Power of his Byakugan.
A sharp pain exploded in his mind. The Hyuga ninja forcefully broke free from the Uchiha ninja’s grip and swiftly retreated. Seeing this, the other Hyuga ninja immediately stepped forward, standing together with the one who had just acted.
"Outnumbering us? Hah, everyone come out. Let’s not make Xuan-sama look down on us."
Faced with the Hyuga ninja’s encirclement, the Uchiha ninja’s expression remained unchanged, still carrying a look of disdain.
In the next moment, several more figures appeared on the Ninja Academy’s training ground. The Uchiha clan emblem was strikingly visible on their clothing.
"Stop! By order of the Hokage, private conflicts are forbidden within the village. Let the children settle their own matters. Furthermore, what happened today must not occur again."
Just as both sides were on the verge of clashing, a white-haired Anbu ninja wearing a mask appeared between them. With his arrival, the postures of both sides’ ninja stiffened.
"Stand down. As Uchiha, there’s no need to stoop to the level of trash. It would only lower our standards."
Looking at the suddenly appearing Anbu ninja and sensing the terrifyingly sharp aura emanating from him, Uchiha Xuan narrowed his eyes and spoke softly.
Such sharpness, paired with that white hair... It must be you...
"Yes, did you all hear what Xuan-sama said? Withdraw."
Upon hearing this, the Uchiha ninja curled his lips into a smirk, his figure flickering as he vanished from Uchiha Xuan’s sight first. The other Uchiha ninja quickly followed suit.
In an instant, only the Hyuga ninja remained on the field.
Hyuga Hiashi, who had just caught his breath, heard Uchiha Xuan’s words, and his somewhat pale face instantly flushed bright red.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw the white-haired Anbu ninja now staring intently at them.
"Who gave you permission to act? Stand down!"
After straightening up from Hyuga Hizashi’s arms, Hyuga Hiashi angrily shouted at the Hyuga ninja beside him.
Upon hearing this, the Hyuga ninja remained silent, using Body Flicker to leave.
"Uchiha Xuan, I will remember what happened today."
Clutching his chest and stepping past the white-haired Anbu ninja, Hyuga Hiashi fixed his gaze on Uchiha Xuan and spoke in a low voice.
"Idiot."
In response to Hyuga Hiashi’s utterly unconvincing threat, Uchiha Xuan merely tossed out two words before turning and leaving.
Seeing this, the white-haired Anbu ninja flickered and disappeared from the scene.
His mission was complete; now he needed to report back.
The farce at the Ninja Academy ended like this.
But a new commotion was unfolding elsewhere.
....
Inside the Hokage’s office, smoke still swirled as usual.
Due to the matters concerning the Land of Whirlpools, Sarutobi Hiruzen had recently become even more addicted to smoking. Smoking brought him calm, allowing him ample clarity to consider subsequent arrangements.
"Hiruzen, I’ve told you long ago that the Uchiha clan must be dealt with sooner! Agreeing to release that traitorous ninja, Uchiha Setsuna, back then was an extremely foolish decision.
A traitorous ninja who attempted to assassinate his teacher should have been executed outright! And the Hyuga—a ninja clan with such a system shouldn’t exist either!
Do those Hyuga ninja listen to the orders of those weaklings from the Main Family, or do they listen to your orders as Hokage? Now they dare to confront each other directly at the Ninja Academy; soon they’ll dare to confront you at the Hokage’s building!"
"Hiruzen! Hand them over to me to deal with! As long as you give me sufficient manpower, I can eliminate these two unstable factors overnight."
Beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo Shimura spoke angrily.
"Calm down, Danzo. This is merely an accident caused by a conflict between two children. Remember the First Hokage’s teachings!
Konohagakure absolutely forbids turning against our own people. As for Uchiha Setsuna, the teacher spared him before, naturally intending to give him another chance. There’s no need to bring this matter up again.
Moreover, the situation in the Land of Whirlpools is definitely not a good sign. The scent of war... is already beginning to spread. At this time, Konohagakure absolutely cannot afford any internal strife."
Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen merely glanced quietly at Danzo Shimura before lowering his head again to take a puff of his cigarette. He understood his old friend’s thoughts all too well.
But... this was absolutely impossible.