Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 140: In the Final Moment, He Chose to Die There

"Why did you let the Hokage step into a death trap? Why did you turn a blind eye, even though you knew about those people's jutsu?"

In the grand hall of the Daimyo's palace, Yakumaru stared intently at Hyuga Fuji, waiting for an answer.

But Tsunade stopped the agitated Uchiha Yakumaru and said in a low voice, "Isn't it obvious? Because he 'didn't know' about that intel."

"What are you saying, Lady Tsunade? Based on his methods, how could he not have known…"

Yakumaru gritted his teeth, but suddenly fell silent mid-sentence.

The intel on Xuan Yuanzhong had never been collected by Konoha before. If Hyuga Fuji, in just a few short months of managing the intelligence network, had obtained such information, what would that imply?

That he had his own hidden resources outside Konoha…

Realizing this, Yakumaru froze.

"As the Hokage's assistant, Hyuga Fuji wasn't supposed to know that information. If he had revealed it to the Fourth Hokage, it would have exposed the fact that he had been hiding things from us. Isn't that right?"

Tsunade looked at Hyuga Fuji, recalling their past interactions, her eyes briefly closing to conceal her emotions.

"Or perhaps… from the very beginning, you've felt no attachment to Konoha."

That made more sense.

How could a former member of the Hyuga branch family have any real attachment to Konoha?

Branded with the Caged Bird Seal, and ignored by their so-called comrades, it was nearly impossible for a member of the Hyuga branch to wholeheartedly identify with Konoha.

Those branch members who seemed loyal to Konoha were merely going through the motions because the Hyuga main family had joined Konoha in the past. Their loyalty was to the main family, not the village itself.

But in the end… that was all because of the main family.

"You've grown, I see."

Hyuga Fuji smiled faintly and calmly sat in the Daimyo's seat. "In a way, you're right. If I truly identified as part of Konoha, the Fourth wouldn't have died. Any other questions? I'm happy to answer them now."

"What does your recognition of Konoha have to do with this?"

Yakumaru shouted angrily, "Didn't Lord Minato treat you well? He helped the Hyuga branch remove the Caged Bird Seal and made you the Hokage's assistant. Is this how you respond to his death?"

"When did I ever disappoint him?"

The calm question left Yakumaru speechless.

Had Hyuga Fuji ever failed as Hokage's assistant?

No, he had performed his duties excellently, never letting Lord Minato down.

But…

Before Yakumaru could muster a rebuttal, Hyuga Fuji continued, "Moreover, at the final moment, the Fourth Hokage understood that dying there was the best choice for Konoha. That's why he didn't resist. He made his own decision, so I had no reason to interfere."

Yakumaru's expression turned icy. "What nonsense are you spouting? How could Lord Minato's death possibly benefit Konoha?"

"The Fourth's death bought Konoha some time."

A voice, both unfamiliar and familiar, emerged from the shadows, startling Tsunade. She instinctively turned her gaze and froze at the sight of someone she thought she'd never see again.

Her second grandfather…

Tsunade stared at Tobirama Senju as he stepped out of the shadows. Seeing no signs of Edo Tensei's reanimation technique on him, she realized he was truly alive, and her composure crumbled.

Was this an illusion?

Why was her second grandfather alive, standing behind Hyuga Fuji? Was this a dream?

Had the Second Hokage betrayed Konoha?

Tsunade felt her mind spinning.

Tobirama, for now, ignored Tsunade and approached to stand behind Hyuga Fuji. Crossing his arms, he said:

"If the Fourth hadn't died, Konoha would soon have faced war."

"Hyuga Fuji used various methods to redirect conflicts—first to Konoha's internal strife, then between the Fire Nation and Konoha, and finally to battles with the black market. This delayed the military actions of other nations. But those methods had already reached their limit."

"If Konoha showed no signs of decline, the other great nations would have been the first to launch a war."

It was no different than the dynamic between the Daimyo and the Hokage.

The first to act is often the weaker side.

Uchiha Yakumaru scrutinized Tobirama's face, finding it vaguely familiar but unable to place him. Assuming he was one of Hyuga Fuji's subordinates, Yakumaru said coldly, "So what? Even if the other villages united, they wouldn't be a match for us!"

Tobirama glanced at the naive Yakumaru and thought to himself that this generation of Uchiha wasn't as malicious as before. Turning to Tsunade, he asked, "You wouldn't be so naive, would you?"

Tsunade stared at her relative, her mind in turmoil. She wanted to question him but chose instead to answer his question first. "In direct combat, Konoha wouldn't lose. But that's as far as it goes. No one would be foolish enough to challenge an unbeatable opponent directly. If war broke out, the other villages' target wouldn't be Konoha itself—it would be the Fire Nation."

The combined ninja forces of multiple villages far exceeded Konoha's. If they devoted most of their forces to the frontlines, the rest would infiltrate the Fire Nation's interior, wreaking havoc. What then?

Massacres of civilians.

Destruction of cities.

Not even livestock would be spared.

At the end of such a war, even if Konoha won, could it really be called a victory?

If the war escalated to that level, there would be no winners. Konoha might crush the other villages, but the Fire Nation would be left in ruins.

The gap between civilians and ninjas was too vast. Against slaughter, civilians stood no chance. Even a genin could use basic transformation techniques to sow chaos, forcing an entire town into paranoia and self-destruction.

Without ninjas to stop them, a thousand rogue ninjas scattered across the Fire Nation could turn it into a living hell within weeks, annihilating the entire population.

Would the other villages dare to go that far?

A ninja's moral limits… were never that high.

Abandoning all ethics and restraint in the pursuit of victory for their village required only a single command from their leaders.

Tsunade was certain that if this became the only viable option for survival, the other villages would do it without hesitation.

"Exactly. Facing a powerful enemy, targeting their weaknesses is the most effective strategy. And Konoha's weakness is the Fire Nation."

Tobirama nodded, casting a cold glance at Yakumaru. "The era of ninja villages and the successive great ninja wars were always guided by unspoken rules: wars were fought for profit, not purely for destruction or slaughter."

"But war itself has no morality or limits. Confronted with Konoha's previous strength, the other villages would inevitably take this path."

"Do you think Konoha could handle such a scenario?"

Yakumaru's expression stiffened as images of the Rain Country flashed through his mind.

Hunger, poverty, sorrow—it was a nation enveloped in suffering.

And the great nations had the power to turn the Fire Nation into the next Rain Country.

Defeating them outright might not be possible, but mutual destruction was well within their grasp.

If the situation devolved into that, both Konoha and the great nations would find themselves in a deadlock. The other nations couldn't afford to back down; they couldn't lose, or their very existence would be threatened.

From the moment they targeted the Fourth Hokage, they had prepared for such a scenario.

But would Konoha's ninjas retreat either?

No, they wouldn't. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here at the Daimyo's palace.

And so, it would become a war without resolution…

"The Fourth foresaw this outcome, and when he realized there was no escape, he chose not to resist."

Tobirama fixed his gaze on Tsunade and Yakumaru. "In the final moment, he chose to die there."

And in doing so, he created plenty of complications for Hyuga Fuji to handle.

(End of Chapter)

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