"Go...go tell the person His Majesty the Emperor sent."
"Just say...Hyuga Hiashi understands His Majesty's intentions."
"The Hyuga Clan...knows what to do next."
What to do?
What else can they do?
The Hyuga Clan can't afford to offend anyone.
Since they can't resist, they can only...look out for themselves.
The so-called "looking out for themselves"...
Under these circumstances, it actually meant tacitly agreeing to Di Yan's demands.
Remain neutral, helping neither side.
And in necessary situations, they might even need to secretly provide some "convenience."
This might not be the most glorious choice.
But for Hyuga Hiashi, as the clan head,
it was the most prudent survival strategy he could secure for his clan in a desperate situation.
As for the future of his two daughters...he no longer dared to think about it in detail.
Di Yan didn't even need the Hyuga Clan to explicitly take a side.
He only needed them not to cause trouble, not to side with Konoha, and his objective would already be achieved.
And Hyuga Hiashi,
in this game of power,
had lost all his chips from the very beginning.
Hyuga Hiashi's face was filled with worry, his thoughts racing.
The great tree of Konoha seemed to be truly...in a precarious state.
And the Hyuga family could only carefully,
distance themselves from this tree...In the hidden shadows surrounding the Hyuga estate,
two figures, as if blending into the environment, lurked silently.
They were Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy, who had been ordered to secretly monitor Di Yan's movements.
They watched as Di Yan calmly walked out of the Hyuga Clan's gate.
Escorted by a group of black-clad Ninja,
he unhurriedly walked towards the inn where he was staying.
Di Yan even had a faint smile on his face,
as if he had just concluded a pleasant visit,
rather than a political probe full of hidden agendas.
In fact...Kakashi didn't know if it was his imagination, but he kept feeling that Di Yan seemed to glance in his direction a few times.
Could he have been discovered?
How could that be?
His disguise was flawless.
Kakashi's only exposed right eye narrowed slightly, his gaze extremely solemn.
He lowered his voice and said to his companion beside him:
"I completely don't understand...What exactly does this Di Yan want to do?"
First, he made a high-profile accusation, arriving with a hostage.
Then he visited Hyuga, holding a private discussion.
His actions completely defied logic.
It made it impossible to discern his true intentions and direction of attack.
This kind of unknown often made people more uneasy than a clear threat.
After speaking, Kakashi noticed that Might Guy beside him seemed a bit distracted.
One could even say he looked dispirited.
He was completely unlike the usual hot-blooded "Blue Beast."
"Might Guy, what's wrong with you?" Kakashi asked, puzzled. "Are you feeling unwell? This isn't like you."
Might Guy seemed to snap back to attention when his friend asked him.
He forced out a characteristic, yet somewhat strained, smile, revealing his sparkling teeth:
"Yo! Kakashi! I'm fine! It's just..."
"It's just that I haven't been sleeping very well these past few nights!"
"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Having nightmares?"
Might Guy scratched his iconic bowl cut, his expression becoming a bit strange, and he stammered:
"It's not really a nightmare...it's just...it's very strange."
"For several nights in a row...I've dreamt of Di Yan, even though I haven't seen him since graduating from the Ninja Academy..."
Might Guy himself found it absurd.
Out of all people to dream about, why a big man?
Upon hearing this, a hint of speechlessness flashed in Kakashi's dead-fish eyes:
"Dreamt of him? You're not just too stressed lately and haven't rested well, are you?"
He truly couldn't comprehend what it felt like to dream of Di Yan.
"Probably...yeah."
Might Guy responded vaguely.
He didn't continue speaking.
What he didn't tell Kakashi was that...
in those blurry and eerie dreams,
the Di Yan he saw...had a pair of scarlet eyes, like a blood moon!
The patterns in those eyes were strange and complex.
Emitting an ominous aura, they actually...actually bore a chilling resemblance to his friend Kakashi's Sharingan!
But this thought was too preposterous.
How could Di Yan have a Sharingan?
That was the Uchiha Clan's Bloodline Limit.
Might Guy shook his head, casting this absurd idea to the back of his mind.
He was naturally optimistic and thick-skinned.
He just took it as his waking thoughts manifesting in his dreams.
Perhaps it was because he had been paying too much attention to this dangerous Emperor lately that he was having these strange dreams.
"Alright, alright, no more thinking about it! Youth shouldn't be troubled by nightmares!"
Might Guy cheered up again, slapping his cheeks vigorously, trying to regain his vitality. "Let's continue the mission, Kakashi!"
"Let us use our fiery youth to see through the enemy's schemes!"
Kakashi looked at the "re-ignited" Might Guy.
Although he felt Might Guy's state just now was a bit strange,
he didn't delve deeper.
After all, Might Guy's way of thinking had always been unusual.
His attention returned to the distant Di Yan.
The doubts in his heart, however, grew deeper...Di Yan returned to the inn where he was staying.
As soon as he stepped into the lobby,
a somewhat unexpected sight met his eyes.
Hyuga Hanabi was not crying or hiding behind her sister in fear, as he had expected.
Instead, she was huddled with Uchiha Hikari.
The two little lolis of similar age were actually squatting in a corner,
pointing and whispering at a small beetle they had found somewhere on the ground.
They even seemed...quite compatible?
Uchiha Hikari seemed very interested in Hanabi's pure Byakugan.
And Hanabi was also curious about the unique aura around Hikari, which was both innocent and ethereal.
Friendships between little girls...
sometimes just started so inexplicably.
Di Yan's lips curled into an almost imperceptible arc.
Indeed...the bonds between women,
regardless of age,
always held a certain strangeness and elusiveness.
Seeing Di Yan return, everyone in the lobby—Kurenai Yuhi, Hinata, Ino, Inuzuka Hana, and Uchiha Izumi and Mikoto who stood by—all bowed respectfully:
"Your Majesty."
Only Hanabi, seeing everyone bow to this suddenly appearing, very handsome big brother,
showed clear confusion on her small face.
She tilted her head, observing Di Yan, and asked in a clear voice:
"Who are you? Why is everyone bowing to you?"
Hinata was startled and quickly pulled her sister, scolding her in a low voice, her face slightly red:
"Hanabi! Don't be rude! This is His Majesty!"
"His Majesty?"