He did not want only the seat of Hokage. He wanted to turn these Otsutsuki Clan Main Family souls into "Crimson giant". He wanted to use Caged Bird Seal to control the Branch Family Members and Ryoma.
Night wrapped the Uchiha Clan Grounds tight. Unlike the usual close patrol steps, the silence tonight felt deep and pressing, like a pause before a storm. Only an occasional wind brushed the eaves and let out a thin, faint whine.
Swish, swish. Several black shapes blended perfectly with the night, moving like ghosts through lanes and courtyards. They avoided every light source and used each shadow as cover, their steps light like cats and soundless, not even their clothes stirring any clear air.
The figures split into pairs and slipped into different residences. Two of them entered a mid sized Main Family Residence. One was wrapped head to toe in a black robe with a mask, while the other wore the same robe without a mask, his face pale in the dark. It was Neji Hyuga Ryoma.
They took positions on both sides of the gate, and almost at the same time veins bulged around their eyes as Pure Byakugan activated. The inside of the house lay open to them at a glance. There was one bedroom and one toilet, a woman and a child. There was also a study, which held one of the two targets.
"Why is one target missing?" Neji Hyuga Ryoma fixed his gaze on the bright cluster of Chakra on the second floor and frowned, his eyes turning colder. He recognized that aura at once. It belonged to one of the two Otsutsuki Clan Main Family who had placed the Caged Bird curse mark on Takao Hyuga Ryoma and Iroha Hyuga Ryoma back in the infirmary.
But one Otsutsuki Clan Main Family elder was absent. The two exchanged a look and nodded without words. In the next moment, they drifted like thin smoke into the night, one slipping into the first floor study and the other into the second floor bedroom.
The study was brightly lit. A middle aged man sat behind the desk, brows drawn as he read a scroll. He set the scroll down and exhaled, leaning back and closing his sore eyes from the long reading. He raised a hand and pressed hard between his brows.
After a moment, he stood and walked to the door. With his hand on the handle and no guard at all, he twisted it open and pulled. At the instant the door cracked, a cold flash cut across his view, carrying a faint smell of blood and slashing straight for his unprotected throat.
Danger surged and his scalp prickled. By instinct, he threw up the arm he had not yet lowered. A wet slice sounded as the blade cut flesh, leaving a deep gash along his forearm as blood spilled out.
"You…" He only managed a single word, shock and anger mixed. The Shadow gave him no chance at all, closing in as he spoke. A palm packed with sharp Chakra slammed into his undefended abdomen like a fired shell.
The blow landed with a dull boom. The force of Gentle Fist flooded his body, twisting his insides and stealing his strength and voice at once. His legs gave way and he dropped to his knees, curling from the pain.
As he knelt there and his mouth opened from pain and fear, a cold Kunai drove in at a cruel, exact angle. The blade scraped past his tongue, pierced the hard and soft palate, and cut through his windpipe, bursting out the back of his neck with warm blood and flesh. The strike sealed every word, scream, and plea inside his throat.
"Ghk…" The man trembled and lifted his head, bloodshot eyes staring at a familiar yet icy face. Neji Hyuga Ryoma? How could it be. Shock and disbelief filled his eyes, then fear and pleading.
He knew that any sound would bring the blade back out and end him at once. He begged with his eyes, trying to ask for mercy. But Neji Hyuga Ryoma was colder and more decisive than he imagined.
With a sharp motion, Neji Hyuga Ryoma yanked the Kunai free and reached out to take the Pure Byakugan. A vivid splash of blood bloomed as the man fell back, soaking the carpet by the study door. At that very moment, a soft kacha came from the far end of the hall.
Neji Hyuga Ryoma snapped his head up. A boy of three or four rubbed his sleepy eyes and stepped out of the toilet. Drawn by the noise, he looked over and froze in place.
He saw his father lying in a pool of blood, the body still twitching. He saw the liquid pouring from his father's neck. He saw the man standing by the corpse, holding a pair of bloody eyes.
The shock emptied his mind, and he forgot to cry out. He only stared, wide eyed, like a statue. Neji Hyuga Ryoma did not panic at all, and instead showed a faint look of release, as if something bound to happen had finally come.
"Daddy…" The boy opened his mouth and let out a dreamlike whisper. In the next instant, a black Shadow appeared behind him and a precise chop struck the side of his neck. His eyes closed and he fell back, caught gently by the masked Branch Family Members and laid on the floor.
"I did not find the other target," the masked Branch Family Members said in a low, rough voice. "Only a woman in the bedroom. I knocked her out. What now, do we clear the child?"
Neji Hyuga Ryoma slowly shook his head as he looked at the unconscious boy. "It is fine. We never hoped to hide everything tonight." His voice was soft but steady. "Follow the plan."
"Let him live as a witness," he added after a pause, his eyes passing over the boy. "Even if he hates, he will only hate me."
The masked Branch Family Members fell silent for a moment, the eyes behind the mask complex. Then a terrified woman's scream tore through the night from another direction. It ripped apart the false calm at once.
Neji Hyuga Ryoma and the masked Branch Family Members vanished from the bloody doorway in a blink. They moved so fast that only blurred traces remained, and in the next breath they stood hidden in the courtyard shadows. They scanned the area at once, and their hearts sank slightly.
Many Otsutsuki Clan Main Family residences that had been dark now lit up one after another, stirred by the scream. On the glowing windows, dark red liquid splashed and smeared under the yellow light, like sudden rough paintings. Short, dull sounds followed, like bodies dropping or throats being crushed or cut.
It was clear the other Branch Family Members teams were acting at the same time. Some resistance or accidents had broken the silence. "Things are moving already, earlier than planned," the masked Branch Family Members said heavily, looking to Neji Hyuga Ryoma.
Neji Hyuga Ryoma secured the taken Pure Byakugan and swept his gaze over the windows where fresh blood kept appearing. His eyes stayed cold and calm as he drew a breath that already carried a faint smell of blood. "Split up," he said without hesitation. "You go to Fugaku Uchiha's residence and make sure the target is cleared. I will go to Fugaku Uchiha's."
The masked Branch Family Members nodded and raised a hand to the cold mask, pulling it off. Dim moonlight revealed the face beneath. It was identical to Neji Hyuga Ryoma.