Unless they deploy enough ninjas to encircle, it's very difficult to eliminate an enemy with the Byakugan.
During previous ninja wars, the death rate among Hyuga Clan ninjas was far lower than that of other ninja clans.
◎
"Lady Ayane, you've had your fun; it's better for you to return to the Land of Demons as soon as possible. It's too dangerous here."
In the forest, the person meeting Ayane in secret was the Insect Man.
Like Ayane, he was currently employed by Hidden Rock, working for them.
Because Hidden Rock had to fight both Konoha and Hidden Cloud, and the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, still seemed to suffer from a lingering back injury, they had no choice but to increase spending and search the Underground Black Market for powerful bounty hunters to fight against Hidden Cloud and Konoha.
The Insect Squad's area of operations was also here in the Land of Grass, fighting against Konoha.
Occasionally, when needed, they'd head to the northern border of the Land of Earth to fight against Hidden Cloud.
It all depended on the Third Tsuchikage's wishes and mood; as long as the money was right, the Insect Man didn't care who he fought.
But Ayane was different from him.
As a renegade ninja not even listed on Konoha's books, Ayane's name wasn't mentioned at all during the previous defection event, yet now she was openly taking a stand against Konoha, leading to a series of very bad consequences.
It was as if she had slapped Konoha and the Hyuga Clan hard across the face.
It's likely the Konoha leadership and the Hyuga side can't wait to have Ayane killed.
"Don't worry, I know my limits."
It's precisely because you don't know your limits that you need to go back quickly… the Insect Man sighed inwardly.
Of course, this kind of thing could never be said out loud.
At that moment, a shadow darted out from the grass and flashed like lightning across the ground, disappearing into Ayane's own shadow.
Ayane was a little surprised, then quickly understood what was happening, smiling at the Insect Man: "See? I told you it's fine. With this, you don't have to worry about my safety anymore. The Shadow Dancer's Immortal Technique mode is very powerful."
"..."
The Insect Man sighed again.
Shouldn't someone have been sent directly to forcibly escort this lady back?
Why send even more people here to help her?
Isn't it a problem to be spoiling her this much?
"Even with the Shadow Dancer here, Lady Ayane, you should still be careful; your Byakugan is a real headache, after all."
Knowing he couldn't persuade Ayane to leave, the Insect Man could only offer this one piece of advice.
Hidden Rock was better about it, since they were in a cooperative relationship now.
Unless Hidden Rock wanted to cut off all contact with the Underground Black Market, they would never tear up their agreement without dire necessity; otherwise, they'd be breaking the code of the Underground Black Market.
Without credit, Hidden Rock wouldn't have bounty hunters from the Underground Black Market supporting their business anymore.
This time, many bounty hunters joined Hidden Rock in the war because of the goodwill the Third Tsuchikage had accumulated over the years.
If that goodwill was lost, all those years of effort would go down the drain.
But the other villages weren't necessarily so trustworthy.
Especially Hidden Cloud.
With Ayane assisting Hidden Rock, and Hidden Cloud holding a deep grudge against them, there was no telling what Hidden Cloud might try in secret.
And it wasn't just Hidden Cloud eyeing the Byakugan—Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist might also make their moves in the shadows.
To them, the Byakugan as a strategic-level Kekkeigenkai outweighed most other bloodline limits in importance.
◎
"Hyuga... Hyuga..."
The defection incident that had finally calmed down was now once again almost back in the headlines.
As Konoha's Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt he was suffering more headaches this year than in all the years before combined.
Regarding Hyuga Ayane, Hiruzen only knew what was on the surface.
But now, with the defection, even those public facts had to be re-examined.
Of course, some things, even after defection, couldn't possibly be false.
For example, her prodigious ability as a ninja.
A genius girl who became a Jonin at sixteen—no one could see her as an ordinary ninja. What's more, she possessed an incomparably powerful Kekkeigenkai.
In Konoha, anyone who became a Jonin in their teens was, without exception, destined to become a village pillar in the future.
For example, his own three disciples—the Sannin, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya—each became Jonin before they were twenty.
Unfortunately, that's all Hiruzen knew about Ayane.
The rest was all under question.
For example, her loyalty to the Will of Fire—which now drew a giant question mark, and, like Hakushi, she might also be "good at pretending."
The Third Hokage wasn't worried about Ayane causing instability within Konoha, since covering up her renegade status wasn't his own intention, but rather the Hyuga Clan's as well—they demanded to keep Ayane's betrayal as hidden as possible.
That is, even if her status as a renegade was made public, the blame could be pinned on the Hyuga Clan alone.
Given the current state of the Hyuga Clan, things couldn't get much worse anyway.
Recent Anbu investigations had found the relationship between the Hyuga Main Family and Branch Family even more strained.
This was within Hiruzen's expectations.
Not long after, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Shimura Danzo walked in.
They had learned of the situation as well, and wanted to see what could be done about it.
Naturally, their primary concern wasn't the aftermath, but rather the strategic layout of the front lines.