บท 191: Chapter 190: The Crimson Night (Part 3)

Yuto walked down the street, his kimono a deep crimson, and the scroll he carried as black as ink.

Suddenly, he stopped. The effects of the God's Mask mode ended abruptly, and the Caged Bird Seal reappeared. A searing pain erupted in his right eye, as if his head would split apart.

No matter how many times he tried to replace his eyes, he couldn't stop the curse mark on his forehead from corroding his mind, and the agony it caused grew more unbearable each day. It was only a matter of time before it would kill him.

"The eyes are more important than the lives of the branch family"—this was the unspoken rule that the Hyuga clan had always lived by.

Taking a deep breath, Yuto pressed another God's Mask onto his forehead.

Then, he gouged out the transplanted right eye and threw it to the ground, smashing it into a pulp.

Foreign objects could never compare to what was naturally born.

"Ah—"

A faint scream was carried on the night wind.

Yuto glanced back—he could only truly glance with "one eye" now.

"That came from the direction of the hospital... It seems the incident in Ward Yin Two has been exposed."

Despite this realization, he continued to walk unhurriedly.

About ten minutes earlier, he had dealt with the Hyuga clan member from the Anbu. The black scroll was now filled with fresh flesh and blood. Just a little more, and he would have everything he needed.

Pausing once more, the branch family youth stopped in his tracks.

He had reached his destination.

The Hyuga compound stood before him.

After becoming Tsunade's disciple, Yuto rarely returned here, but now he suddenly realized how familiar everything still was.

There was a small hole in the corner of the wall to the right of the main gate, where Hyuga children used to hide their toys.

The largest tree in the compound was the place where they practiced the Gentle Fist.

The small square near the northwest corner of the compound was the nightmare of the branch family; it was there that countless young children were branded with the Caged Bird Seal.

This was the place of his birth, where his parents had died, the home that had nurtured countless Hyuga children... and the cage that imprisoned all the Byakugan.

Yuto placed his hand on the ground and summoned a scroll. This scroll was larger than usual, standing as tall as his leg.

He lifted his foot but hesitated before bringing it down.

After a moment of hesitation, Yuto sighed and tossed the newly summoned scroll aside, summoning an even larger one.

...

"Lord Third, we found Lord Fourth!"

A ninja dog appeared beside Hiruzen Sarutobi. It was Kakashi Hatake's summoned Ninken. Although it wasn't particularly strong in combat, it was excellent at search and tracking.

Hiruzen paused and then followed the Ninken to a certain location.

Before long, he saw a dazed Kakashi kneeling on the ground and a family of three who had met with disaster.

"Kakashi, you... Minato?"

Hiruzen's face changed dramatically as he took in the scene before him, the horrific reality nearly shattering the old shinobi's mental defenses.

The scorched earth, the Eight Trigrams Seal on the infant's belly, the white-haired Kushina Uzumaki, and... the lifeless body of Minato Namikaze.

The Third Hokage stood by Minato's corpse, staring blankly at the large hole in his chest.

Minato, your statue was only completed half a year ago...

As Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts raced, something suddenly grabbed his ankle.

"It was Yuto..." Kushina Uzumaki, who had been unconscious, suddenly awoke, her teeth clenched, and blood seeping from her lips.

"It was Yuto, it was him! He betrayed the village and killed Minato... cough!"

Overcome with hatred, Kushina spat out another mouthful of blood.

Hiruzen and Kakashi were stunned, unable to believe it at first.

But the Third Hokage knew well that in times of crisis, one must act decisively.

"We must return to the village immediately!" Hiruzen ordered, instructing Kakashi to stay and guard the area while he led the other subordinates back to the village.

Kakashi nodded blankly, guarding his sensei's body, lost in thought.

After expelling the blood that had been clogging her throat, Kushina looked much better. She held little Naruto in her arms, her voice filled with unshakable hatred.

"Naruto, never forget that the man who killed your father is named Yuto Hyuga..."

...

"Lord Third, bad news! There's been a report from the hospital—every Hyuga in Ward Yin Two has gone missing, and the room is filled with severed limbs and blood..."

"The Anbu stationed in the village reported that Yuto Hyuga, the head of the Anbu, has been confirmed as a traitor. He killed all the Hyuga shinobi in the Anbu!"

"Yuto Hyuga is the Moon God!"

"A fierce battle has broken out at the Hyuga compound..."

The closer they got to the village, the more bad news they received. Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart sank lower and lower, and he was now almost entirely convinced that Yuto had indeed betrayed them.

A few minutes later, the Third Hokage gathered a large number of shinobi and led them to the Hyuga compound.

The sprawling complex was engulfed in flames, burning furiously.

In front of the compound sat a middle-aged man with his head bowed, a large pool of blood spreading across his body.

It was Hiashi Hyuga.

"Hiashi, what the..." Hiruzen's heart pounded as he took a step forward.

Thud.

Before he could finish speaking, Hiashi Hyuga collapsed to the ground.

It was only then that the shinobi noticed that the leader of the Hyuga clan had been dead for some time.

From the fire emerged a young man.

He wore a deep crimson kimono soaked in blood, a Konoha forehead protector with a slash through it on his head, and he carried two scrolls on his back. His right eye was tightly shut, and his expression was devoid of emotion.

Under the moonlight, there was a deathly silence.

As the gathered shinobi stared at him, Yuto tossed a scroll over to them.

"Any brat shorter than this scroll, and any pregnant woman, I've locked them in a secret chamber. Oh, it's under the clan leader's mansion," Yuto paused before continuing, "Aside from those brats and women, the only living Hyuga in this world is me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Anbu members, the regular shinobi... everyone's faces turned deathly pale.

"Yuto!" The Third Hokage's voice trembled.

"You really killed all your clansmen..."

"At this point, there's no use in discussing it, Third."

"Bastard! What's your purpose in doing this? With your position, is there anything the village wouldn't give you if you asked? You..."

"Can you remove the Caged Bird Seal? Can you do that?"

Hiruzen was stunned.

The night before his inauguration ceremony, he and Minato had talked for a long time, discussing matters that could never be spoken aloud.

One of them was about Yuto.

"We can give Yuto power and prestige, but as for removing the Caged Bird Seal, he must not even dream of it."

Yuto was strong, extremely talented, and loyal. But by shinobi standards, he would maintain Kage-level strength for at most another forty years.

A Kage-level shinobi for forty years versus a kekkei genkai that would continue to be passed down—this wasn't a difficult choice.

A good leader dares to sacrifice himself in times of crisis, and naturally, he can also sacrifice others for the greater good.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze were good leaders.

"On March 19th, the 56th year of Konoha, you personally issued a secret order banning me from learning any high-level fuinjutsu... Don't bother looking elsewhere, I found this out after becoming the head of the Anbu myself," Yuto said softly.

"What you refused to give me, I will take myself."

"So... will you come?" He extended a hand towards his former comrades.

"On this night, anyone who stands in my way will die."

(End of Chapter)