Chapter 12: Staging the Play Together

“Bastard, Kawaki Aoba, where are your Byakugan eyes?”

As Kawaki Aoba pushed open the door and entered, the three people inside all turned to look at him. Among them, the most agitated was Elder Hinata Nijo.

The Byakugan is the forbidden treasure and bloodline limit of the Hinata clan. How could Elder Hinata Nijo not be furious when he saw that a pair of activated Byakugan eyes had disappeared without a trace?

Facing Elder Hinata Nijo’s fierce rebuke, Kawaki Aoba remained expressionless and spoke calmly, “Byakugan? What Byakugan? I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Also, this is the Hokage’s office. Please don’t shout loudly here. If you ask why, it’s because making a scene here is disrespectful to the Hokage.”

Feigning ignorance, Kawaki Aoba silently apologized in his heart to the unborn Shino Aburame, noting that he had already stolen her speech habit in advance.

“You damned brat, I am the second elder of the Hinata clan! I’m asking you—where have your Byakugan eyes gone?” Perhaps realizing the situation was inappropriate, Elder Hinata Nijo’s arrogance slightly subsided, but he still pressed Kawaki Aoba with a question.

Kawaki Aoba shook his head. “So you’re the second elder of the Hinata clan. But even if you ask me some strange questions, I don’t know the answers. Besides, as far as I know, the Byakugan is the bloodline limit of your Hinata clan. What does it have to do with me, an outsider? I am just an ordinary Konoha ninja.”

Although Danzo Shimura harbored no good intentions, Kawaki Aoba had to admit that the method he suggested was extremely effective.

As long as there is no evidence, I can deny it. And as long as I deny it, the fact that the Hinata clan injured and blinded a fellow village ninja without cause becomes an ironclad truth.

Indeed, Kawaki Aoba’s eyes had been blinded by two Hinata clan ninjas before, and he and his two companions firmly believed this.

With that in mind, anger crept into Kawaki Aoba’s words. “But Elder Hinata Nijo, you came just in time. I have something related to your Hinata clan as well. Hokage-sama, as a member of Konoha, I ask you to help me seek justice from the Hinata clan.”

When Kawaki Aoba finished speaking, even Elder Hinata Nijo’s face froze for a moment.

Seek justice? What justice could a brat like you seek? Retrieving our clan’s own Byakugan eyes is only right; even the Hokage cannot stop it.

If only Kawaki Aoba could hear the elder’s thoughts, he would surely marvel at how naïve the old thief was.

---

“Hokage-sama, here’s what happened...” Kawaki Aoba proceeded to vividly recount how he was ambushed and blinded by two despicable Hinata ninjas.

Of course, his account was artistically exaggerated. In Kawaki Aoba’s telling, those two Hinata ninjas were utterly lawless, completely disregarding Konoha’s rules.

His two companions twitched their mouths in disbelief. They had privately discussed the matter before coming here, but hearing Kawaki Aoba’s embellished version, they felt it was a bit too much, having experienced so little themselves.

On the other hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura listened intently, as if Kawaki Aoba’s story were true.

Especially Danzo, whose face darkened increasingly as Kawaki Aoba spoke.

“You bastards, openly attacking comrades within the village! Do you have no regard for the village? What do you take the Will of Fire to be?” Danzo slammed his cane on the ground with a muffled thud.

Kawaki Aoba: ...

Although he knew Danzo was merely acting, why did hearing the words “Will of Fire” from Danzo’s mouth feel so awkward?

It just didn’t seem like his line.

But Danzo’s performance wasn’t over. He turned his remaining eye to glare fiercely at Elder Hinata Nijo.

“Well, the Hinata clan. A noble family with a thousand-year heritage. Attacking comrades without cause—is this your clan’s tradition? If you’re this rampant inside the village, who would dare entrust their back and life to a Hinata ninja on a mission outside the village?

Elder Hinata Nijo, as the Hokage’s advisor, I demand an explanation from your clan.”

Elder Hinata Nijo: ...

What just happened?

If he remembered correctly, he had been the one furious over the lost Byakugan and was demanding an explanation from the Hokage.

---

But who could explain how, in just a few sentences, he had gone from the one demanding a response to the one being questioned by the Hokage’s advisor with such tone?

According to Elder Danzo, this was no longer a matter involving just a few individuals or a single family, but a matter of trust between the Hinata clan and the village.

Wasn’t family-village discord supposed to be the Uchiha clan’s script next door? Why was it now knocking on the Hinata clan’s door?

The sudden turn left Elder Hinata Nijo utterly bewildered.

Before he could figure out what to do next, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, seized the moment and stood up to support him.

“Enough, Danzo. Don’t speak recklessly without evidence. The Hinata clan is a venerable family with a thousand years of heritage. Their strict clan rules are well known—I’m sure you know this. As the Hokage’s advisor, how can you rashly draw conclusions based on mere hearsay?”

Sarutobi’s words eased Elder Hinata Nijo’s tension, and his intention to speak further faded away.

At the same time, in his heart, he grew somewhat fond of this Hokage.

It seemed that Sarutobi was quite sensible as Hokage—at least he knew whom to side with between the Hinata clan and a brat like Kawaki Aoba.

However, before Elder Hinata Nijo could rejoice for long, Sarutobi’s next words made him realize how impartial the Hokage truly was.

“However, although there is no evidence, Kawaki Aoba’s injuries are undeniable and cannot be faked. Kawaki Aoba, do you have any proof that your eye injuries were caused by the Hinata clan ninjas?”