The council chamber was silent when Hiashi entered.
The elders were already seated, pale eyes turned toward him as one, their expressions carved from stone and restraint. The air was thick with chakra—suppressed, controlled, but unmistakably present. Fear and anger sat side by side here, bound by tradition.
Hiashi took his place at the head of the low table and did not bow.
That alone drew notice.
"I will not waste time," he said, his voice carrying easily through the chamber. "My daughter was taken from within the compound tonight."
A sharp intake of breath echoed from more than one elder.
"Hinata-sama—?" one began.
"She lives," Hiashi cut in. "She was recovered unharmed."
Relief rippled through the room—brief and incomplete. It died the moment Hiashi continued.
"The kidnapper was a Kumogakure jōnin. The head of their delegation."
That landed like a blade.
Murmurs erupted instantly.
"Kumo—"
"Inside the compound?"
"Impossible—"
"They would never dare—"
"They dared," Hiashi said flatly. "And they succeeded."
Silence snapped back into place.
An elder with deep lines etched into his face leaned forward slowly. "Then… the matter is clear. A foreign shinobi violated our clan grounds and attempted to steal the Byakugan. The punishment—"
"He is already dead," Hiashi said.
That earned him every eye in the room.
"…You killed him?" another elder asked carefully.
Hiashi shook his head once.
"No."
The pause stretched.
"Then who did?" the same elder pressed.
Hiashi reached into his sleeve and placed a folded cloth onto the table. He opened it slowly.
Inside lay a shard of bone—thick, pale, sharpened to a lethal point. It was stained dark at the base.
Several elders recoiled instinctively.
"Shikotsumyaku," one whispered.
"Yes," Hiashi confirmed. "That means that tonight, not only did a Kumo shinobi sneak into the clan—into my very home—and kidnap my daughter, but someone else also sneaked in and killed the kidnapper." The anger in his voice was unmistakable.
And everyone understood it. Shared it.
Because if someone could do that… couldn't they have slipped into their homes while they slept? Kidnapping children. Grandchildren. Killing without warning.
No one liked that line of thinking.
"What were the guards doing? They must be punished for this!" someone snapped, earning a murmur of agreement.
Hiashi shook his head. He, too, was furious—but he knew they couldn't be fully blamed. "I already did a surface-level investigation. They were dismissed or relocated by Root."
That caused a brief pause—then the anger came back sharper.
"Root?" one elder hissed.
"Danzo?" another spat, the name carried like a curse.
"They dare interfere in clan affairs—"
"They dare much more than that," Hiashi said coldly. "They weakened our defenses on the very night a foreign delegation was present."
Silence fell again—this time sharper, more dangerous.
One of the elders rose slowly from his seat, palms pressed flat against the table. "Then this was not merely an insult to the Hyūga. This was an internal betrayal."
"Yes," Hiashi agreed. "And one that nearly cost us our heir."
Several elders' gazes dropped, fists clenched inside their sleeves.
Another spoke, voice tight. "If the Byakugan had been taken—"
"It was not," Hiashi cut in. "Because a third party intervened."
He gestured again to the bone fragment on the table.
"Whoever she was," he continued, "she did not take Hinata. She knew Hinata—or at least someone—had been kidnapped, and she saved her… or did she save her purely by accident?" Hiashi voiced the question that gnawed at him. "Was this an assassination of the Kumo jōnin?"
Silence followed his words.
Not the heavy silence of shock—but the measured, calculating quiet of people who understood exactly how dangerous that question was.
One of the elders spoke at last, voice low. "If it were an assassination," he said carefully, "then the child would have been collateral. Left where she fell. Or taken afterward."
"Yes," another agreed. "No assassin interrupts an operation to gently return a hostage."
"But if it was a rescue," a third countered, "then they must have known about the kidnapping in advance… and rather than take advantage of it, they foiled it. Why? What reason would anyone have to do something like that?"
"Since they used Shikotsumyaku, it must be Kiri behind it…" another elder interjected. "Though that doesn't explain anything."
"Hiashi," Tatsuo said, looking at his son. "You said it was a woman, yes?"
"Correct," Hiashi nodded. "From her chakra network, it was without a doubt a kunoichi—and a powerful one. The amount of chakra she had was more than anyone save a jinchūriki."
That caused another murmur to run through the room. Someone that powerful—and she snuck into the clan unnoticed?
And not just that: into the village?
This was clearly more than a problem with the clan's defenses, something Root's interference could partly explain. But there was no such excuse for how a Kaguya kunoichi slipped into Konoha.
"There is someone outside of Kiri who could match that description…" Tatsuo finally said.
"You mean that Kaguya kunoichi who has been staying in the daimyō's court over the past few years?" one of the elders asked.
"Correct," Tatsuo confirmed. "She and her two Uzumaki followers made quite a stir when they settled in, and she has so far managed to secure the daimyō's protection—making them nearly untouchable."
"Kaguya-hime," Hiashi muttered. He knew about her. Who didn't? It wasn't often that a powerful S-rank shinobi decided to play bodyguard for a daimyō. Even rarer that they were allowed to do so.
But this one used claims of nobility to ease her way into the noble circle, and spent most of her time simply… sitting. Yet that aloofness only made her seem more noble, and led the daimyō to adore her—and the two Uzumaki.
Those two had caused waves as well. After the fall of the Land of Whirlpools and Uzushiogakure, there weren't many Uzumaki left. One of the only known survivors had been Kushina—and now she was dead.
So when the news spread of someone from the Kaguya clan attacking Kusagakure and taking Uzumaki with her, people had been on the lookout. But with no real confirmation outside of the black market—and with the Kyūbi's rampage—people forgot.
Until they turned up at court.
And by then they were impossible to reach: defended by an S-rank kunoichi with a powerful kekkei genkai, and politically under the daimyō's aegis.
Yes, they had caused a stir—but whether or not Kaguya-hime was responsible… that was harder to say.
It came down to motive.
"She has no reason to aid the Hyūga clan," one elder said after a moment. "We have had no contact with her at all. Nor does she seem to gain anything from it."
"Nor," another added, "does she gain anything by antagonizing Kumo."
Tatsuo folded his hands. "Which makes her involvement… unsettling. Powerful actors do not act without purpose."
Hiashi inclined his head slightly. "If Kaguya-hime wished to harm us, she could have done far worse than this."
A few elders grimaced at the implication.
"She did not take Hinata," Hiashi continued. "She did not approach her afterward. She did not leave a message, demand payment, or reveal herself."
"And yet she left evidence," an elder countered, gesturing to the bone. "Deliberately."
"Yes," Hiashi agreed. "Which means she wanted the method known—not her identity."
"To whom?" another elder asked.
"The village," Tatsuo answered quietly. "And Kumogakure."
Several eyes turned to him.
"A Kumo shinobi dies by Shikotsumyaku inside Konoha after attempting to steal the Byakugan," Tatsuo continued. "That points blame away from us. And toward Kiri—or at least toward someone Kumo cannot openly retaliate against without escalating the conflict."
"That assumes she cared about our position," an elder said.
"Again," someone sighed, "there appears to be no apparent reason for any of this—at least from her side."
"Worse still is the question of why she was here," one elder added. "Tonight of all nights, just as Root apparently aided Kumo in kidnapping Hinata… that can't be random. But neither could someone have known in advance."
And his words sent everyone into deeper thought.
Because he was right.
Kaguya-hime was the biggest suspect, but she hadn't left the daimyō's court for years. She seemed like a rogue from Kiri, and yet there was no proof—she was absent from all files and appeared fully separated from Kirigakure.
It was also well known that Kiri had tried to hunt her down, so there seemed to be no love between them.
She had no connection to any of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
No information network. And no reason to be in Konoha tonight—much less inside the Hyūga compound.
There were no clean answers for how or why.
So they turned back to what they did know.
The kidnapping.
"The facts are these," Hiashi said at last, voice steady and authoritative. "A Kumogakure jōnin infiltrated the Hyūga compound and attempted to abduct my daughter. That much is undeniable."
Several elders nodded grimly.
"He succeeded only because our defenses were deliberately weakened," Hiashi continued. "By Root. Under the guise of protocol."
Low murmurs of anger rose again, but Hiashi pressed on before they could spiral.
"And the kidnapper is dead," he said. "Killed not by the Hyūga, but by an unknown third party using Shikotsumyaku."
He folded his hands atop the table.
"Everything beyond that is speculation."
The elders exchanged glances.
"We cannot prove Kaguya-hime's involvement," Tatsuo said slowly. "Nor can we disprove it."
"Nor should we try," Hiashi replied. "Pursuing an S-rank kunoichi under the protection of the daimyō on suspicion alone would be folly."
"And dangerous," one elder added.
"And thankfully, we don't have to concern ourselves overmuch," another said. "No doubt the Hokage will be even more eager to find answers. We can let him—and ANBU—handle the investigation."
"More importantly," Hiashi continued, "we cannot allow Kumogakure to get away with this. We must present a united front." His voice hardened. "The worst was spared, but it was too close. We must take something back."
Knock knock.
Frantic knocking interrupted them.
"Who dares? Don't they know we are busy?" one of the elders snapped.
Hiashi didn't bother with him. He suspected what it was, and when he activated his Byakugan, he confirmed it.
"Come in."
A branch member stepped inside, pale and sweating. "Lord Clan Head, Lord Elders, I apologize for disturbing you, but Lord Hokage is here—with the Kumo delegation."
Hiashi did not rise.
Neither did any of the elders.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then one elder let out a quiet, humorless breath.
"How timely," he said dryly. "He did not come when our compound was breached. Nor when our heir was taken. Nor when a foreign shinobi ran through our grounds."
Another elder's lip curled. "But now that a delegate is dead… now he comes."
"With Kumogakure in tow," Tatsuo added. "To explain. Or to demand."
Hiashi's eyes narrowed, pale irises hard as stone.
"So be it," he said. "Let him speak."
He finally rose from his seat, straightening his robes with deliberate calm.
"But understand this," he continued, voice low and iron-bound. "Tonight, the Hyūga were left to defend themselves. Twice."
Several elders inclined their heads in grim agreement.
"If the Hokage wishes to smooth this over," Hiashi finished, "then he will do so knowing that we remember exactly when he chose to arrive."
He turned toward the door.
"Send them in."
The branch member swallowed and bowed deeply before backing away.
(End of chapter)
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