"HEY!"
With a vigilant shout, a man with lavender eyes and a perpetually stern expression walked out of the gate.
"Father!"
The little girl, who had been jogging around the street, immediately ran over.
She hid behind her father's leg, peeking out at Makoto with a puzzled expression.
'Alright.'
'So the parent was inside, keeping watch over the child with his Byakugan activated like a supernatural CCTV camera.'
Seeing Makoto staring at someone else's daughter and muttering "why is no one here," it definitely looked like a kidnapping attempt.
The reaction was normal.
But this made Makoto even more confused.
If the Clan Head was this protective, how the hell did Hinata get bullied so much? How did kids chase the Hyuga heiress calling her a "Byakugan Monster" without getting vaporized?
It seemed harder to bully a Hyuga than it was to sneak into their house and sleep in their wardrobe.
As for this little girl? Makoto recognized her instantly.
Not by her chakra.
But by the classic anime method: Hairstyle Identification.
This was Hanabi Hyuga.
The "backup" heiress.
"You're an outside ninja here for the Exams, right?" Hiashi Hyuga stared at Makoto with his veins bulging.
"This is the Hyuga compound. You're not welcome here. Get lost."
"Why so unfriendly?" Makoto raised an eyebrow.
"Clan Leader Hyuga, don't be in such a hurry. I'll leave after asking you one simple question."
Makoto smiled.
It was a polite smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"...Speak."
Although Hiashi's tone was hostile, he didn't attack. Makoto wasn't wearing a forehead protector.
He didn't know who this guy was.
If he accidentally killed a diplomat or a noble's son, it could cause another "Hizashi Incident." Hiashi wasn't eager to sacrifice another brother.
"What would you do if you saw someone outside the village possessing the Byakugan?"
"Retrieve the Byakugan," Hiashi answered instantly, his voice cold as ice. "And defend the Hyuga clan's dignity. By any means necessary."
It was a textbook answer. Whether he could actually back it up was another story.
"What if they were born with it?" Makoto asked his second question.
"Born with it?" Hiashi frowned. "Then we would mark them with the Caged Bird Seal and have them join the Branch House. Our clan isn't unreasonable. We take care of our own."
"..."
Makoto stared at him.
'Unreasonable? You literally enslave your own family members with a magical brain-bomb. you fucker!'
"Alright, understood," Makoto nodded. "See you later."
He turned and walked away.
Hiashi breathed a slight sigh of relief. But as he watched Makoto's retreating back, he felt a faint chill crawl up his spine.
...
Makoto returned to the VIP suite.
The two questions he asked Hiashi weren't random.
He wanted to check if the Hyuga clan's toxic "Main House vs. Branch House" system had improved.
In the Boruto era, Hiashi became a doting grandpa who handed out candy and the Caged Bird system seemingly vanished.
But clearly, that era hadn't arrived yet.
According to Hiashi's logic, if Kaguya Otsutsuki herself showed up at his door, he'd probably say: "Excuse me, ma'am, please close your Rinne-Sharingan, accept this slave seal, and join the Branch House. We aren't unreasonable."
Since that was the situation... Makoto felt zero guilt about his plan.
"We might as well recruit some strength," Makoto told Konan.
"This saves the Hyuga from embarrassing themselves later. They brag about being the 'Strongest Clan in Konoha' all the way to the future, but their biggest achievement is Neji dying to a stick."
Makoto and Konan discussed the plan in low voices.
Karin, sitting in the corner, spontaneously activated her Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
She scouted the surroundings, ensuring no ANBU or insects were eavesdropping.
"Is this what you call a 'rescue mission'?" Konan teased him after they finished. "Kidnapping children? Aren't you afraid Karin will realize you're a bad influence and run away?"
"Huh? No, no!" Karin panicked, waving her hands frantically. "I'm not running! I'll help kidnap whoever you want!"
"See?" Makoto grinned. "We're helping gifted children escape their feudal, patriarchal families while pushing for social reform."
"How noble," Konan rolled her eyes.
"..."
After all that talk, this was essentially the "reward" for saving the Third Hokage.
Makoto had explained it to the others: By keeping Hiruzen alive, they kept Konoha weak and compromising.
Only by keeping Hiruzen alive could he continuously make compromises with them.
Even Itachi was aware of this matter.
Regardless of the various reasons Makoto had given, the outcome was "good."
The Third Hokage could live on, continue to take care of Sasuke for him, and he wouldn't have to go back and intimidate Danzo again.
That was what mattered.
...
The Next Day. Hyuga Compound.
The Forest of Death exam was still ongoing and the exciting 1v1 battles were days away.
The village was quiet.
"Father," Hanabi asked, wiping sweat from her forehead.
She had just finished her morning forms.
"Do you think Hinata-neesan can pass the Exams?"
Hiashi's face darkened.
"Pass? It would be enough if she didn't embarrass the clan," he scoffed. "Hanabi, don't waste time worrying about her. Focus on your training. Don't disappoint me like she did."
"Yes, Father!" Hanabi stood up straighter.
"Also, don't go out," Hiashi warned. "There are too many foreigners around. People covet our eyes. It's dangerous. Remember that man yesterday?"
"Understood," Hanabi nodded.
Hiashi left the backyard.
Hanabi sighed, looking at her small hands. She walked over to a wooden training post.
CRACK.
She struck the wood with a Gentle Fist palm, the trunk snapped cleanly.
"Phew."
Hanabi wiped her brow, her cheeks flushed.
"Destroying the environment isn't very nice."
Suddenly, a white head wearing a generic forehead protector popped out of the broken tree stump like a flower.
"AH!"
Hanabi was startled and instinctively struck it with her palm.
SMACK.
"Agh—"
The White Zetsu let out a miserable cry, flew backward, and hit the ground.
It stopped breathing instantly.
"Huh?" Hanabi stared at her hand.
Since when had she become so powerful?
"How dare you! Give me back my brother life!"
Another White Zetsu burst from the ground, looking grief-stricken.
It charged at her.
"These must be the outsiders Father mentioned!"
Hanabi calmed herself, assuming a Gentle Fist stance as she prepared to face the enemy.
SMACK.
She hit the Zetsu in the waist and it snapped in half like a dry twig and collapsed.
"No—! He promised to marry me after this mission! NOOO!"
A third White Zetsu emerged, weeping dramatically.
It threw itself onto the corpse of the second one.
"Huh?" Hanabi was confused by the soap opera dialogue.
But she hit it anyway.
THWACK.
The third Zetsu flew into the wall and died.
"Just kill me," a fourth Zetsu popped up, but this time it didn't attack.
Instead, it knelt directly before Hanabi.
"I can't live without them."
Hanabi hesitated, 'Is this a trap?'
WHOOSH.
An invisible force slammed into the Zetsu from behind, shattering it into white paste.
Hanabi turned around.
Hiashi stood there, his hand extended in the Eight Trigrams Air Palm stance.
He looked furious!
"Father! This..."
"Hanabi, step back," Hiashi barked, moving in front of her. "Leave this to me!"
"No—! It hurts, it hurts so much..." Another Zetsu crawled out.
SPLAT.
Hiashi vaporized it.
"Everyone, charge! Fight to the last breath! For glory!"
SPLAT.
"Death isn't frightening... death is like a cool summer night..."
SPLAT.
Hiashi went from "Hyper-Vigilant Clan Head" to "Mildly Confused Middle age man."
With each palm strike, another Zetsu died. Including the three Hanabi killed, there were now seven corpses littering the pristine Hyuga garden.
Hiashi frowned.
'Why are they so... squishy?'