Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 126: Hyuga Fuji is the Moon, Naturally Opposed to the Sun!

"Where is the Fourth Hokage?"

In the conference hall, Yagura coldly observed the calm expressions of the three Kage. "Do you know anything?"

"I saw the Fourth leave, perhaps something happened in Konoha," the Tsuchikage floated in the air, his tone playful. "Yagura, are you too concerned about the Hokage?"

"You wouldn't understand, and right now, I'm the one asking the questions!"

Yagura's voice turned icy. "You didn't do anything unnecessary, did you?"

"Do you think we wanted to kill the Hokage?" Rasa lowered his gaze.

"You'd better not!"

Yagura took a deep breath, stood up, and left the scene with two guards.

"Where are you going?" the Raikage asked in a deep voice.

Something about Yagura's reaction seemed off.

"To prepare for what's to come," Yagura replied without looking back.

No matter what mindset Hyuga Fuji had while playing the role of Hokage's assistant, after the Fourth Hokage's death, he wouldn't be able to maintain it.

At sixteen, Hyuga Fuji had earned the position of Hokage's assistant through merit, trust, and status, but he could never become Hokage.

After all, there were plenty of Konoha ninjas with more seniority and suitable backgrounds than him.

A group of fools—killing the Fourth Hokage, do they want to unleash that monster?

"Since the Mizukage has left, I'll take my leave as well."

Rasa nodded lightly to the Tsuchikage and Raikage, leaving in good spirits.

As Konoha's "ally," it was only natural for him to leave once another ally, Kirigakure, had done so.

The Hokage was dead, and the Five Kage Summit was naturally over.

Returning to Sunagakure to observe the changes was Rasa's plan as he headed back with two guards. On the way, he encountered a woman he had met a few times before.

"A Konoha ninja?"

Rasa squinted at Pakura and three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, focusing on Pakura's face. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed, and a growing unease spread through him, though he suppressed it.

"Why are you stopping me?"

Pakura's lips curved into a mocking smile. "Don't recognize me yet, Rasa?"

"Show some respect to Lord Kazekage!" A guard angrily scolded her for addressing Rasa so casually. "Don't push your luck just because we're allies with Konoha!"

Pakura glanced at them, chuckled softly, and stopped speaking. Her voice turned cold. "Kill them!"

The three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen revealed crimson patterns on their bodies. A fiery red cloak appeared around them as they advanced with chilling smiles.

Rasa instinctively sensed danger, but before he could stop them, a familiar orange-red fireball appeared behind Ye Cang.

"Scorch Release… You're Pakura?!"

Rasa finally realized why she seemed familiar.

The same chakra nature, a strikingly similar appearance, and now Scorch Release—standing before him was Sunagakure's former hero, Pakura of the Scorch Release!

"You finally remembered."

Pakura's figure was enveloped in a cloak of Scorch Release chakra, walking toward Rasa.

It wasn't like the Tailed Beast cloaks of the three Swordsmen, but rather a cloak formed entirely of high-temperature Scorch Release chakra!

"Feel honored. This is the Scorch Release Chakra Mode I achieved with my master's help. You'll be the first to experience its power."

The perpetually damp soil of the Land of Rain began to crack underfoot.

Wherever she passed, the falling rain evaporated instantly.

Everything was reduced to nothing under the intense heat!

Alarms rang in Rasa's mind.

Danger!

The sight before him screamed that a single touch from that cloak would dehydrate his body in an instant!

The Pakura before him was several times more dangerous than she had ever been.

A dead person appearing alive would normally be a cause for deep thought, but Rasa had no time to consider such matters.

He needed to distance himself from Pakura, then kill her, if he hoped to escape safely.

Pakura watched Rasa's tense expression. Her once-beautiful face twisted with fury as she dashed forward like lightning.

"Feel my wrath and hatred, Fourth Kazekage Rasa!"

…

"Hatake Sakumo, step aside!"

Kato Dan glared furiously at the man blocking his path. "What is Hyuga Fuji doing? Doesn't he want control of Konoha? Why did he let the Fourth die? Is he so eager to take over? I need answers!"

Standing in front of Hyuga Fuji's residence, Hatake Sakumo's expression remained indifferent. He didn't move an inch.

"When someone's actions exceed your understanding, you resort to your own assumptions. Kato Dan, I don't recall you being this kind of person."

"He just stood by and watched the Fourth die! Doesn't that mean he wants to seize control of Konoha?"

"If watching the Fourth's death in silence means wishing for his demise, then aren't we guilty of the same? Don't forget, we both have access to covert intel. We've seen the movements of the other villages and the underground black markets."

Hatake Sakumo let out a cold snort, his words leaving Kato Dan stunned.

"He never stopped us from taking action. Since you saw it happening and didn't intervene, what right do you have to blame him? You're just as culpable."

"…Being around Hyuga Fuji has made you quite eloquent," Kato Dan muttered, taking a deep breath as his expression softened. "I've never understood why you defend Hyuga Fuji so much."

"He saved my son."

"And?"

"Isn't that enough?" Hatake Sakumo calmly retorted. "Unlike you, I only have Kakashi. In the past, I thought my death would unite the clans and higher-ups, so they'd stop these political power plays."

"But the one who changed that wasn't the clans or the leadership—it was Hyuga Fuji! My death was a joke. Do you expect me to support that version of Konoha?"

"…"

Kato Dan looked at the slightly aged man before him and found himself unable to argue.

The so-called "Will of Fire," the spirit of teamwork—Konoha had caused an uproar over a single ninja failing a mission. To believe the leadership hadn't sanctioned it would be naive.

"Unlike you, I have no reason to resent him."

As a father and a civilian, Hatake Sakumo only wanted Kakashi to grow up safely and for most people to live in peace.

He had no interest in worrying about whether the Hokage's assistant held too much power or whether he was secretly harming Konoha.

After all, wasn't ANBU and ROOT doing things in the shadows? No one ever raised a fuss about that.

Seeing Kato Dan remain silent, Hatake Sakumo waved dismissively. "If you consider yourself a Konoha ninja, doubting a capable Hokage assistant isn't appropriate behavior."

Kato Dan dropped all pretense, speaking bluntly: "But this peace is built on lies and deceit!"

"If a lie lasts a lifetime, it becomes the truth. Besides, he's the Hokage's assistant. If you identify as a Konoha ninja, following his orders is your duty. Or do you want to become like Danzo?"

"What…?"

Kato Dan's eyes widened.

Danzo's name had been thoroughly tarnished in Konoha, and now Hatake Sakumo was accusing him of being like Danzo?

Hatake Sakumo's voice grew sharp:

"Isn't it the same? A jonin meddling in Hokage-level affairs, speculating about the assistant's intentions, suspecting them of something terrible, and then secretly plotting resistance. How is that different from Danzo's 'I'm doing this for Konoha, so I must become Hokage'?"

Kato Dan was rendered speechless.

For Konoha?

That phrase had often been used by the Third Hokage and Danzo.

And the result of such words? Sakumo's death had been one example.

So would he now use that same excuse to target the Hokage's assistant?

If everyone thought this way, Konoha would fall into chaos.

Only now did Kato Dan realize how differently he and Hatake Sakumo approached things.

The other man always viewed matters from the perspective of an ordinary ninja—follow orders, don't overthink.

But Kato Dan had done the opposite…

"You've grown wiser since dying once," Kato Dan muttered, his earlier fervor fading into calmness. "But the Hokage's assistant couldn't just let the Hokage be killed. I want to know what he's planning!"

Hearing this, Hatake Sakumo lightly brushed the hilt of his blade.

"Many people compare Minato to the sun. What do you think Hyuga Fuji is?"

Kato Dan furrowed his brow in confusion but eventually replied, "The moon?"

Not like Danzo's pure darkness, but the moon—that seemed to align with how most people who knew Hyuga Fuji's actions saw him.

"On that, we agree."

Hatake Sakumo nodded.

And between the sun and the moon, he preferred the moon.

The moon may lie—it doesn't emit its own light but merely reflects the sun's. Yet it's more trustworthy, for you can look directly at it!

Kato Dan frowned. "The sun and the moon… What does that have to do with this?"

"Don't you get it? The sun and moon may coexist briefly, shining together, like these past six months."

Hatake Sakumo's quiet words stirred something in Kato Dan. "But sunrise follows moonset, and sunset follows moonrise. That's the natural order—they're inherently in conflict!"

***

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