Unexpectedly, it came to such an extreme method to pressure Konoha and the Hyuga Clan.
"Hyuga Ayane... Speaking of which, in recent years, there's been no news about those people, as if they vanished from the Ninja Realm."
Mitokado Homura gave a bitter smile.
Originally, they planned to secretly eliminate those dangerous renegade ninjas early on, erasing the Uchiha and Hyuga bloodlines outside. Yet, ever since the Third Ninja War began, the situation around Konoha has never stabilized.
With the death of the Fourth Hokage, Konoha's military power was weakened further.
Trying to deal with three powerful S-Class renegade ninjas... It's likely the entire Anbu would be wiped out.
Years have passed, and no one knows how much those three have grown. Especially since they have many Uchiha and Hyuga ninjas by their side, their power is indeed considerable.
Even if this time they successfully signed a peace agreement with the Hidden Cloud, in the coming years, they still can't focus their efforts on those renegade ninjas.
After all, there's also Orochimaru who escaped.
Orochimaru's departure cost Konoha not just a high-level combat power but also a lot of important intelligence and data.
With this in mind, Mitokado Homura glanced at Hiruzen, who was silently contemplating.
If, after the Fourth Hokage's death, Orochimaru immediately took over as the Fifth Hokage, instead of Hiruzen stepping up to lead Konoha again, would the situation have improved slightly?
But then he thought, if Orochimaru took the position, with his and Danzo's hardline attitude, it's likely they two advisors would be thoroughly marginalized, losing their positions they rightfully deserved.
"Let's not talk about this for now. I plan to personally go to the Hyuga Clan and discuss this matter with the Main Family to see how it should be handled and hear their perspective. I'll leave things here to you."
Hiruzen understood that the Byakugan cannot afford any mistakes. But first, he needs to know the Main Family of the Hyuga Clan's attitude before determining the next course of action.
His intention was also to resolve it peacefully, but definitely not by compensating with the Byakugan.
Because Konoha cannot afford the loss of the Byakugan, especially if it falls into a ninja village as ambitious as the Hidden Cloud, it's absolutely impossible.
Maybe handing over the Byakugan could bring temporary peace, but it would harm Konoha's future, and such a thing must be prevented.
"Alright... However, before that, we should increase the troops deployed to the Land of Fire's border to prevent any Hidden Cloud ninja raids."
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had no objections.
Hiruzen nodded and then glanced at the ever-silent Danzo, unsure of what he was thinking, then stood up and walked out of the meeting room.
◎
"Mabui, will Konoha agree to hand over Hyuga Hiashi's body?"
Far away in the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning, the Fourth Raikage, A, sat in his office and asked his secretary Mabui.
It's no wonder he was so eager, as the strategic significance of the Byakugan is immense. If the Hidden Cloud also possessed such a Kekkeigenkai, facing off against Konoha in the future would be much less pressuring.
Faced with the Fourth Raikage's question, Mabui shook her head rationally and said, "Generally speaking, this won't happen unless Konoha wishes to force the Hyuga Clan into rebellion."
After all, it involved the leader of the Hyuga Clan. No matter how much Konoha might misstep in its decisions, it's impossible to hand over such an important figure's body to the Hidden Cloud for disposal.
When it comes to a strategic-level Kekkeigenkai like the Byakugan, Konoha will undoubtedly consider very carefully.
Although the answer was already known, the Fourth Raikage couldn't help but feel disappointed.
The Byakugan, this Kekkeigenkai, has added many troubles for the Hidden Cloud on the battlefield.
He himself has experienced defeat by the hands of Hyuga Clan ninjas.
It is precisely because of this that he understands the terrifying power of the Byakugan.
Compared to the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, it causes him even more apprehension.
"Moreover, our true intention isn't to obtain the Byakugan... While it would be great to have, frankly speaking, abducting someone from the heart of the Hyuga Clan's territory is nearly impossible."
Even if, by any lapse, the Hidden Cloud ninjas succeed, they would certainly be chased down afterwards.
Currently, things are roughly moving according to their plan.
Their goal this time is to use the incident to create conflict between the conservative and radical factions within Konoha, causing internal opposition in their policy, and depleting Konoha's active forces through this internal conflict, so that even in peacetime, Konoha won't be able to restore its power quickly, and instead will further diminish its strength due to such internal conflict.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Cloud can take this opportunity to continue heavily developing its military. Amidst this balance of power, the Hidden Cloud's military strength will inevitably surpass Konoha's in the next few years.
As a ninja village, one shouldn't just be fixated on immediate petty gains but also pay attention to the village's future path of development, as well as obstructing other ninja villages.
Since the death of the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, Konoha has been riddled with internal strife.
The conservative Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, resumed his position, while the martial faction's Shimura Danzo openly and secretly vied with the Third Hokage, with their political views being significantly incompatible.
The Sannin, Orochimaru, defected, and it's said that Tsunade and Jiraiya also left Konoha temporarily due to some reasons and are whereabouts unknown.
It's fair to say, Konoha's military strength at this moment has been weakened to its historical lowest point.
But even so, presently, Konoha should still possess slightly stronger overall power than the Hidden Cloud.