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Filthy Gamer in Narutoverse: 231
🕑 Added 2023-06-05 15:43:06 +0000 UTCTitle: Darkest Night Hidden in The Leaf (16)
98 Years Ago.
Pleasant chirps and a wide-blue sky greet a merchant carriage led by a portly middle-aged man with thin clumps of facial hair for a mustache and beard, similar to strands of a cat’s whisker. A dozen men and women in various clothing pull several carriages or maintain the distance on their cattle.
“Uncle Neki!” The boy beside the well-off merchant smiles widely, his eyes perpetually alight with excitement as he presents a grin a tooth or two short of being toothy. Lavish cotton kimono drapes on the duo’s body in contrast to other men and women dressed in worn-out tunics and sandals as they work to get by the day.
“What is it?” Neki sighs with a smile, his eyes simultaneously scanning the dirt road traveling between the dense forest ahead. His keen, experienced senses can pick up the sharp sounds of the carriage’s guards unsheathing their swords and the groans of quivers as a few men ready their bows.
“Can you tell me about the Hyuga Clan again?” The boy demands in excitement as Neki hums aloud, feeling others paying more attention to his words. Then again, who wouldn’t be interested in the Chakra-wielding ‘Nobles,’ different from the bloodthirsty mercenaries out there using their superior strength to cut down the masses?
“The Benevolent Hyuga Clan is blessed with chakra and a unique power—Dojutsu. Remember, Kon. Our Kohinata Family are simply merchants whom the Noble Hyugas graced us with the opportunity to trade with. When you meet them, you mustn't point fingers at their members. Their eyes may be different than ours, but they are Rikudo’s blessed children!”
Kon nods earnestly.
“I won’t let you down, Uncle Neki! The Hyuga Lords are so much better than those Sharingan warmongers! I won’t insult the Hyuga Clan!”
Neki nods with a fond smile, patting his nephew’s head.
“I hear the Uchiha Clan is thriving in the Land of Lightning, earning the Late Daimyo’s Wife’s favor in driving away the Chinoike Clan.”
“Che, bloodthirsty mercenaries attacking each other, nothing more. I would have served our Daimyo faithfully if I could wield chakra.”
“You? The Rikudo would cry in his grave if a weak runt like you ever understood the mystery of Chakra.”
Neki hears others whispering to themselves, their voices sometimes traveling to the central carriage.
‘Chakra? Us?’ He smiles bitterly. Who doesn’t crave power? Like money, power alone is useless. But it can be used to achieve many ambitions!
‘Why did Rikudo favor the few and not the rest?’ Neki’s bitterness towards their supposed God grows by another margin. ‘If he exists, why does he not answer our prayers in times of bandit raids and famines? Why must our family bow to the Hyuga every time?’
Neki doesn’t let his thoughts grow out of control. His elder brother, the Head of the Merchant Family, has warned others constantly that the mysterious Hyuga Clan can do amazing things, not limited to peering into others’ minds and thoughts—some claiming to peer into glimpses of the future itself!
Neki cannot risk his thoughts known to the Hyuga Clan, dismissing his bitterness as vain nightmares haunting him occasionally.
The Kohinata Family carriage manages to successfully cover the first leg of the journey without issues, meaning the rest within the Hyuga Clan’s vast and expansive estate will be a journey as safe as it comes. With their power, the Hyuga Clan thrives as one of the strongest clans, their unique ability allowing them to control an extraordinarily vast estate compared to other clans in the time of war.
A small group of white-robed men can be seen in the distance intercepting the path of the carriages as if expecting the Kohinata Family’s merchant group. The demeanor and general image of the white-robed men entrap the carriage’s workers and guards—fair and delicate skin, long and glossy hair ranging from pitch-black to deep brow, pairs of pure pupilless pale lilac eyes, and a disposition so innately elegant—the rest feel a little embarrassed in their mere presence.
Not Neki.
The sight of a gently smiling middle-aged Hyuga member makes Neki’s eyes widen in surprise as he gestures to others to stop the carriage before walking with his nephew toward the group without his guards.
“It is an honor to meet you, Lord Ekisha Hyuga!” Neki bows deeply as Kon mimics his uncle while suppressing his curiosity to perform a similar bow instead of giving in to his curiosity to observe the men some more.
“You must be Neki Kohinata,” Ekisha smiles. “You may raise your head, both of you.”
As they raise their heads, Ekisha glances at the small rock hanging around Kon’s neck. This mineral is slate grey in color with a luminous glow and a slightly sweet scent that would attract a curious child in any location.
Ekisha Hyuga, the current Hyuga Patriarch, leads the Clan through an array of diplomacy and relationships with other sources of power, including the current Daimyo of the Land of Fire. He is known as one of the wisest and fairest lords in the Land of Fire, promoting fair trade. Unlike Ekisha, Kon realizes the other Hyuga Clansmen have a mark similar to a green cross on their foreheads.
‘It looks so pretty,’ Kon chimes internally, failing to see Ekisha nods his head at others.
*Srrrk*
Kon blinks in surprise, his vision tilting leftward until his entire sight seems to turn upside down. Even in death, the boy’s brown eyes keep gazing at one of the caged seals, his head landing on the ground with the detached portion facing up and squirting slight blood.
“Huh?” Neki frowns, not understanding anything, dizzy and sluggish. The wind screeches around him, accompanied by the muffled grunts of his workers and the guards. Neki looks back, seeing palm-sized holes torn through his men, women, and cattle.
*Chjk*
A kunai embeds into his chest, making Neki snap out of the strangely calm force as blood starts trickling out from the corner of his lips. His eyes widen in despair, all the externally suppressed emotions coursing through his veins until he stares at the ‘Fair and Beloved’ Hyuga Patriarch, whispering, “Curse… you.”
The man falls on his knees.
“Curses do not exist. Only chakra does.’ Ekisha educates the man in death before waiting for one of the members to snatch the stone from Kon’s corpse and bring it to Ekisha.
“Here, Ekisha-Sama.”
“Hmm.”
Ekisha picks the stone and activates his Byakugan. One of the branch family members speaks at this time.
“Did you have a divine insight, Ekisha-Sama? Is this stone relevant? I cannot look past it using the Byakugan!”
Everyone in the Hyuga Clan is aware of Ekisha’s gifts. This man is said to have seen glimpses into the future using his Byakugan, becoming one of the most notable Patriarchs in the Clan’s history!
“Indeed,” Ekisha sighs. “This stone will possibly be used to hurt the Hyuga Clan in the future. Its information must not be leaked to anyone else.”
The Branch members nod as he continues.
“Only my successor and other Patriarchs of the Clan can ever know about this item.”
“Huh?!”
“Guh!”
All four branch family members fall on the ground. The cage seals on their forehead activate as veins appear around the seal until they pop open, bringing a painful death to the four men as their eyes redden until they start bleeding out from the sockets of the corpses.
“There is a reason I brought you four with me,” Ekisha looks at the four corpses coldly. “How dare you conspire with the Daimyo?” He scoffs and looks at the bloodied rock in his hands.
“Only when the Hyuga Clan controls this will it fail to harm us.”
He cannot control what he looks into the future and when, but he can sometimes change the outcome by interjecting.
The man then looks at Kon.
‘But that life needs to be repaid. The Kohinata Family can have one of our most untalented branch family orphans in the later years after things settle. Any such candidate should easily be worth a hundred times more than a mere civilian child.’
---
“The Hyuga Clan is rebelling!”
“How could they?”
“First, they don’t help in this invasion, and now they have the galls to rebel?!”
‘Oh, look, if it isn’t one of Sensei’s schemes at play. And they think I’m worse.’ Orochimaru smiles to herself, standing upside-down in the dark corner of the top layer of the evacuation center built within Mount Kage as she controls her flow of blood through chakra to not feel nauseous.
“We are supposed to watch this happen?” A rough snarl introduces itself. “How did the civilians on the top layer find out about those white-eyed assholes taking over the archives?”
Orochimaru looks sideways, seeing a bodacious woman little over her prime with shaggy, spiky brown hair and red-fang marks on her cheeks. Her thin eyelashes look even less visible due to her poor choice of brownish eyeshadow, not that others can observe such details in this darkness. Orochi can—one of the curses of such a perfect transition—be attentive to details about unnecessary things.
“Inuzuka Okami,” Orochimaru regards Tsume’s mother with a smile. “Cut the act.”
“Hngh?” Okami looks at the snake sannin before scoffing and shrugging. “Fine, fine. It’s all about the implied stuff, right? We see it but don’t speak of it.”
It’s as she says. The political aim behind Hiruzen’s actions is easy to perceive. While Hiashi and Hizashi focus on their objective of reforming the Hyuga Clan’s structure, Hiruzen wants to admit the Hyuga Clan’s shinobi under the Village Administration beyond war days alone. Konoha’s efficiency in completing missions will skyrocket once this happens, meaning: the Village will attract more missions and funding.
Orochimaru is already aware of the hidden Anbu member spreading the information about the raids outside and Hyuga Clan’s actions. This tactic increases the Administration’s favorability in the eyes of the civilians and forces the Hyuga Clan into a spot where even if Hiashi and Hizashi succeed, they’ll need to regain the public’s trust with service instead of ancient glory.
Lone Shinobi or Nuke-nin care little for concepts like public opinion and trust, but the Hyuga Clan needs to exist in a favorable society for a favorable outcome.
But all this is vain in Orochimaru’s eyes as Okami captures their current emotion perfectly with a drawling groan.
“This sure is boring! Say, you became a woman. Does that mean I can become a man? I sure want to feel what it’s like to have a dick and a bitch bent over!”
Orochimaru narrows her eyes. Even if Okami found out about her gender, she cared little about it after her initial curiosity.
“I didn’t have these thoughts at the time my body changed.”
“That’s well and fine,” Okami hums to herself. “But I’m talking about actual transformation. We see a difference in strength between men and women amongst civilians, but Shinobi-kind have no extreme outcomes like this, not based on gender, at least. I’m just wondering if I’d get stronger than I am right now if I became a man. Breeding would be easier, too.”
“Shouldn’t you focus on Cerberus and how to protect your ninken bred from that chakra beast?”
“Oh, Yata found a great seal,” Okami sniffs, explaining the situation without care. That seal will eventually fall in everyone’s hands the second the war starts, so it’s fine. Her words cause Orochimaru to look thoughtful and nod to herself.
A Sealing master close to Yata who can develop this seal sure sounds like someone who’s evading her for a while.
“Oh,” Orochimaru lets out a curious noise. “It’s about to start.”
“It is?” Okami straightens her back while standing upside-down from the ceiling. “Nice chat, I guess. Now that you’re a woman—cut the adoption crap and carry one for real. You’ll like the process with a good enough man.”
“I don’t remember asking.”
“Hey, I don’t remember you telling me you’re a chick. It’s just as I tell my daughter—bang the guy you like before others can, pee on him a bit to mark the territory, and have a kid.”
“I’m not Inuzuka Tsume.”
Okami snorts in derision, “Damn right, you aren’t. She’s gonna land that genius of ours. I can smell it! You’ll be lucky to land someone from my Clan, or worse, the Hyuga!”
Orochimaru ignores the obvious bait of an argument, understanding Okami’s popularity for finding confrontation where there isn’t any.
‘It’s probably due to extreme competition in her clan. You either rise through with mediocre talent using extreme aggression and luck. Or you dream of becoming more talented magically.’ Again, Orochimaru keeps her thoughts close to her. She and Okami are merely peers. She has no reason to poke the woman’s kennel for enjoyment. Tsunade alone should suffice for that role.
‘Tsume, huh? I wonder if she made good use of the [Chimera Seal] of Cerberus implanted on her ninken. Hmm, I remember teasing her a little too much about it.’
—Leading Kai to shake her bottom with a unit of smack, leaving her pale cheek red for hours.
Her hips throb with phantom sensations as she huffs under her breath, forming a few shadow clones to take over her duty and leaving with Okami to view the conclusion of the Hyuga Affair with her eyes.
---
“Hibi-san, we have made preparations as you asked.”
Sealed boxes and scrolls fill rows of shelves in the deepest level of Mount Kage, and a lingering scent of damp paper and ink saturates the floor. A group of civilians settles themselves near the center of the floor. Other genin, chunin, and Jonins of the clan patrol the pathways between the shelves, the middle ring of the floor, and the outer defensives, respectively.
Hibi Hyuga nods at the elder’s words, claiming somberly.
“The Third Hokage’s actions are nothing short of roguish banditry! He imprisoned the Clan’s Patriarch with his wife a few levels above us. We all can use our Byakugan to see them. My unfilial son, Hizashi, is with them, too. And this is Hiruzen’s demand!”
Hibi unfurls the scroll an Anbu member provided a while back.
The group of Elders and two Jonins of the Clan read the scroll with stern expressions.
—Hiashi Hyuga’s attempt at assaulting an advisor to the Kage cannot go unpunished. He is in safe captivity for now, but I advise the wise elders of the Hyuga Clan to accept the changes in the world. Slavery of any Konoha member, no matter the clan, will not be tolerated under any guise of traditions!—
“Slavery?” Scoffs an elder. “Is it slavery or protection? Hiruzen always envied our clan!”
The two Jonins from the Branch Family remain silent until Hibi glances in their direction, questioning, “What do the two of you think?”
“The Hyuga Clan can survive any tribulation as long as we stand together,” speaks one of them calmly despite the blank look in his eyes. The other Jonin chews his bottom lip from the inside, eyes twitching as he can feel his seal warming up under their FREE gazes.
“I think the Clan Elders have the Clan’s best interest in their hearts.”
The clan elders nod approvingly as the two Jonin retreat.
“Anyway, with the archives as our hostage and our Byakugan scouting every move of the Anbu members, we can bend Hiruzen to our demands, making him renew our cooperation within Konoha.”
“And the Hyuga Clan is too important to be lost by Konoha,” nods Hibi, “The Village will have the Clan’s support during the war, which should happen soon enough after this raid. Hiruzen will have to lower his head.”
“Are you truly planning to destroy the last bit of our clan’s name?”
A voice interrupts the musings of the elders near the central location not far from the civilians.
All the Elders activate their Byakugan instantly, their heads whipping around as they don’t see anyone through their Kekkei Genkai!
But Hibi’s eyes widen when he deactivates his Byakugan, noticing three Anbu members standing ahead!
“I asked you something—” The figure removes the cat porcelain mask, revealing a fair face, pupilless white eyes, and a sad smile. “—Father.”
“H-Hiashi?!” Hibi exclaims in shock!
“Hiashi?” Questions one of the elders, still using Byakugan. “Where?!”
“Everyone, stop using your Byakugan!” Hibi hisses softly and smiles widely, “Great! You managed to escape, son! Where is Hon? And,” he uses his Byakugan, looking at one of the higher floors. “That is a nice trick! It must be a shadow clone in that chamber, right?”
“Answer him,” whispers the second Anbu member with the mask of a dog, taking off his mask to reveal a face familiar to Hiashi. “Is your heart so corroded that you equate slavery of your blood with protection?”
“Hizashi!”
“How dare you show your face here?!”
“You are shameless! Answer for your crimes!”
But the twins stare at their father, not giving a second of their time to their elders. Hibi stays rooted in place, gazing at his sons unflinchingly. A hurt look surfaces on his face as he sighs softly. “Hiashi, do you think the same way as Hizashi?”
The question silences others as Hiashi takes a deep breath.
“I have a loving wife because of you, a devoting clan, a large estate, this body, this face, my brother—I owe all of it to you and Mother,” Hiashi shudders slightly as he admits. “But the Hyuga Clan has fallen.”
“How can you say that? We produce one of the most powerful shinobi!” Claims an elder with a frown.
“A shinobi that will be enslaved to do your bidding and beaten like a dog when he barks,” Hizashi smiles deprecatively. “Isn’t that right, Father? I remember our training. It is as Hiashi says. I owe so many things to you and the clan. My envy, hatred, distrust, enslavement, hearing one of you insult my wife, and the accompanying shooting pain in my head and eyes when I stepped in front—all of it! Was that protection?”
“A man like you will never understand!” Hibi grits his teeth.
“I suppose a man like you who sent me to have my forehead carved with a seal will say something like this,” Hizashi lowers his head slightly. “That was the day you decided to stop being my Father, right, Hibi Hyuga?”
Hibi takes a rage-filled breath, snarling, “You bit the hand that fed you! Father? I’m no Father of yours! You lusted after Hiashi’s position from a young age! All I did, all those lessons were meant to teach you to let go of your envy!”
“Hiashi,” Hibi turns to look at his eldest, “I expected nothing less from someone like Hizashi! But you? Why do you look away? Why do you turn your back on the clan? You swore to protect the clan!”
“I am protecting the clan!” Hiashi hisses in reply. “From you! From the main family! You still have a choice, Father. Let me ease you into these reforms.”
Hibi stills before looking at the third member, “You must be Mukai Kohinata, right?”
Returning to look at Hiashi, the Old Elder demands with a cold sneer, “Can you do it, Son? Can you be the traitor? You must have used that mineral in our custody, right? We never found something like that again, but that’s probably because our Byakugan cannot detect it. You are already prepared to end us if we deny! I’m asking can you do it?!”
Hiashi clenches his fist when Hizashi activates his Byakugan.
“I will do it and leave Konoha.”
“Of course,” Hibi sneers. “See? I told you. I expect nothing less from the venom inside of you.”
“No!” Hiashi snarls. “He isn’t poisonous! Even now, he is thinking of me! The poisonous one are you!” The man clenches his fist, activating his Byakugan. “I’m sorry. It’s a sin that I can never wash away—”
*Thuck*
*Thuck*
Mukai reveals speed unlike anything before, quick and efficient beyond the norms of a general Hyuga Jonin or the more experienced ones like Hiashi and Hizashi—an elite! His index and middle finger press into Hiashi’s and Hizashi’s bodies from behind, paralyzing them even if he cannot see their tenketsu!
“Whatever that liquid we injected to inhibit Byakugan will not remain in our system forever. It might take a few hours, but the effects will disappear. When you regain the ability to see your Tenketsu, you can free yourself.”
Mukai looks at the trembling twins, his eyes falling on Hiashi’s Byakugan for a moment.
‘I wonder why I think I don’t need Hiashi’s eyes but the Elders’ eyes. What’s the difference? If I wanted to sell them, I’d take his, too. And just a few hours ago, I was thinking of killing everyone from the Hyuga Clan, but I don’t have the urge anymore. How curious.’
Mukai looks at the dazed elder.
*Shiing*
The moment he draws his blade, his sword cleaves Hibi’s neck off, making Hiashi and Hizashi’s eyes go wide!
“To think you would waste so much time reacting to an expected turn of an event,” Mukai mutters, disappearing from the spot as he crouches, letting his chakra seep into his surroundings.
[Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms]
Instead of using his fingers to seal the tenketsu of the elders, Mukai’s tanto jabs forward, blowing holes through the elders as they fall despite the struggling defense they can raise! And to Hiashi and Hizashi’s chilling shock, Mukai is silent. He is unlike anything they have ever seen before—a true genius in the making.
*Clang*
“The weight of the tanto doesn’t suit this modified skill. A kunai, perhaps a needle, will work better to puncture Tenketsu instead of sealing them.”
He muses without taking off his mask, but his voice is undoubtedly monotone—bored, even.
“Wh-wh!” Hiashi struggles to speak, his tongue barely working. Hizashi snorts roughly constantly when he sees Mukai bending over to pluck Hibi’s eyes out of sockets and unsealing a fluid-filled plastic packet to store the eyes.
“Oh, right.”
Mukai turns around, his left eye behind the mask returning to normal. “I am leaving the village. Send Lord Third my regards. And tell him to just consider freeing the Hyuga Clan as the last contribution to Konoha and maybe reward me a life without others chasing me.”
The twins tremble with apparent rage, their eyes falling over their father’s corpse again as they start tearing up despite themselves.
“The eyes, you ask? Well, they’re the funding.”
Mukai seals the eyes in two different scrolls, one of them only sealing one Byakugan, and the other one seals the rest.
*Poof*
*Poof*
The two scrolls disappear with the use of reverse summoning as Mukai looks at the twins again.
“A word of advice. You two can use a bit more training instead of administrative politics. Your bodily reaction is laughable.”
“Hmm. It’s at times like this that a summon is convenient. I could have reverse summoned out of here,” Mukai sighs, calmly leaving as blood continues to flow from the warm corpses of the Hyuga elders, reaching the trembling hands of the twins as they lay on the floor with despair and unwillingness.
“Follow after him,” they hear a rough snarl as a figure, and her ninken arrive next to the twins, hearing her mumble: “Shit, the bastard is faster than others, too. If it wasn’t for Orochi, we wouldn’t have known Mukai acted out against us!”
“Hey, get a grip!” Okami pats the twins, pulling them away as she looks at the shocked chunins. “Stop gawking and protect civilians! He could have left a few traps to slow us down!”
“Y-yes!”
“Stop!” A loud order stops the anbu members.
“Hey!” Okami growls as Orochimaru flickers on top of one of the shelves near the matriarch. “Easy now. Mukai has a shadow clone in the same chamber as Umi and Hon Hyuga.”
Hizashi and Hiashi tremble uncontrollably. They knew their shadow clones were dispensed, but they didn’t even think about their wives, given their father’s corpse was next to them!
Orochimaru thins her lips, “He and his clone may already have some kind of signal. If we bother him now, he may kill the two women. But the chances of him needing the clump of chakra used to form the shadow clone are high. My clone is arranging a silent chase. You know, to not end things on a bloodier note.”
“Can it get any bloodier?” Okami scoffs. “Already feels like the damn darkest night under Hiruzen’s regime—raids, deaths, and traitors! Can you take care of them?”
Orochimaru smiles at the woman instinctively taking charge, half-shrugging as she flickers away without a reply.
“Tch!” Okami clicks her tongue and looks at the twins again.
“Well, I know it’s not the time. But sorry for all the bad stuff I said about you, Hiashi. Didn’t know you were in on with the Hokage.”
Of course, officially, it is Hiashi and Hizashi’s doing alone. If it wasn’t for Mukai’s betrayal, everyone else would think the same since others wouldn’t need to interfere. But things aren’t the same anymore.
***
Alternate Title: What Goes Around Comes Around; One Oftens Meet Destiny on The Path Chosen to Avoid It; The Past Hyuga Are Equally Snobbish; The Ever-Cruel World; A Father’s Death; Curses Are Real… But May Take a Century to Complete; The Glimpse of Warring Era; Archive as Hostage?; What the Byakugan Cannot See; For The Clan With Such Eyes to Not See The Simplest Aspect of Life is… Ironic; A Blind Father; Mukai Verbally Abusing Recent Orphans; Unplugging Visual Hardware; Dividing the Loot; Using Sword in a Fist Fight; Mukai, Ignorantly Aware; The True Hostage; Mukai Bids His Farewell; An Elite is World’s Apart; Masterful Display of Strength and Speed; The Darkest Nighs Concludes; Okami Just Wanna Breed Irresponsibly; Okami’s Advice—Get Pregnant; Orochimaru Can’t Land a Kai?; Nothing Like a Good Breeding Challenge!
Comments
Darkanlan
Better for them to let Mukai take the blame. Now they won't have to act as if one of their family is a traitor. It's the Kohinata family that are the enemy. Especially after he harvested their eyes.
