"You beat my Hyūga Setsuna that badly, and you think you can just walk away?"The man's tone was full of arrogance. As a scion of Konoha's top family, he had every reason to be proud — but pride only worked on those who bowed to it. Natsume Yō wasn't one of them.
"If you've got a problem, take it up with the Hokage. I'm sure he'll judge this fairly. For now, step aside."If this guy were a real enemy, Yō could've ended him in three moves. He wasn't bluffing.
"You—!" The Hyūga guard's hair rose on end at that glance. It felt like a predator had locked onto him; the pressure was suffocating. He didn't dare move until Yō had walked out of sight and his body felt his own again.
—Outside on the street—
"You really poked the Hyūga clan just now. You sure that's safe?"Wada Chiba's voice trembled. Her shopping mood had evaporated; worry had moved in.
"Relax. Setsuna started it. The ANBU aren't pushovers, and the Hokage knows exactly what happened—he won't play favorites."Yō shrugged it off. He'd already proven his worth; Sarutobi wouldn't be a fool and punish someone he could use.
"Alright… I hope you're right." Chiba tried to believe him, though unease lingered.
In truth, Sarutobi did see it Yō's way: split the blame, and move on. Setsuna had provoked and tried to do real harm; Yō had only struck back—albeit hard. The Hyūga head bristled, but the Third had already ruled. If the clan pushed back, Sarutobi wouldn't hesitate to act.
What Yō didn't know was that while the Hyūga matter was smoothed over by the Hokage, the Uchiha weren't so forgiving. The control curse Yō used on Uchiha Yūsuke had been discovered — and the one on Uchiha Jun'etsu had been found too. Prideful, the Uchiha could not let that stand; they came looking for Yō. He didn't know it yet.
The bright bustle of the street slowly eased Chiba's worry; the day's delights pulled her back in. Two hours later—
"You must be Natsume Yō."A man stepped out of the crowd and blocked their path. Dark-faced, authoritative, about thirty-five, his features were almost a carbon copy of Uchiha Jun'etsu. Even without looking at the trembling Jun'etsu at his side, Yō recognized him.
"You must be Jun'etsu's father. Nice to meet you—I'm Natsume Yō." Yō offered his hand with a friendly smile. He wasn't worried—there was a binding curse on Jun'etsu, after all.
"I'm Uchiha Tairen." The man's voice was cold. "Kid, be smart: lift the curse from my son, and I'll pretend nothing happened. We'll wipe it clean.""You should know your place. To the Uchiha, you're nothing but a commoner. We could snuff you out as easily as swatting an ant."Uchiha Tairen lived up to the clan's reputation: arrogant, imperial, and convinced of his own supremacy.