Konoha: The Absolute Justice of the Uchiha.

Chapter 157 Xiao Nan: "Has Pipa Zang betrayed us?"

Chapter 158 Konan: "Has Hibiki Juzo betrayed us?"

evening.

Hinata Hyuga returned to the Hyuga clan with a mix of nervousness and unease.

As she entered the clan's territory, she dared not utter a sound, nor did she dare to raise her head.

She could clearly feel the strange looks from many of the branch family members, which made Hinata Hyuga extremely uneasy, to the point that she wished she could bury her head in the ground.

"The eldest daughter of the main family, huh..."

A member of the Hyuga branch clan who brushed past Hinata sneered. He glanced back at Hinata's increasingly hurried figure and said disdainfully, "The moment the main clan fell from grace, no one was willing to call her 'Hinata-sama' anymore!"

Not far away, another branch family ninja stared at Hinata's back and said, "All of us in the branch family have the Caged Bird Seal engraved on our foreheads, but her forehead is clean and there's nothing there."

"How about..."

A meaningful glint flashed in his eyes: "Find an opportunity to carve a Caged Bird Seal on her forehead! And her sister, the same Caged Bird Seal must be carved on her! And it must be the kind modified by the main family, so that once activated, she will experience endless, extreme pain, as if her head is about to split open."

It seems he was recalling the experience of being tortured by the clan's caged bird curse.

This branch family ninja already seemed eager to try.

"The two sisters aren't the only members of the main family who weren't imprisoned in Konoha. We should also have the other members of the main family marked with caged birds. That would demonstrate fairness between the main family and the branch families," someone else said.

"Speaking of which, if a successor to the main family is chosen, will one of their two offspring need to have the Caged Bird Seal carved on their body? Or will both of them have the Caged Bird Seal carved on their bodies?"

Behind her, there were whispers and murmurs, many of which were directed at Hinata Hyuga.

Hinata was so frightened that her palms were soaked with cold sweat.

She finally understood why that terrifying man had asked her to leave the Hyuga clan with Hanabi and the main branch members who hadn't been imprisoned.

If they continue to stay in the Hyuga clan, they don't know what terrible fate awaits them.

Hinata, who was jogging briskly, suddenly paused for a moment.

"Those things they said about me behind my back... were they things they went through? Does that mean Neji and Hizashi also experienced this kind of pain? That's why Neji has so much resentment towards Father and so much dislike for the Hyuga main clan members..."

This question was murmured from Hinata Hyuga's mouth.

She stopped in her tracks silently and pursed her pale lips.

Hinata, who was only seven years old, was the last to realize the truth, which outsiders understood immediately. As one of the "parties involved," she was the last to wake up.

Just then.

Hinata Hyuga bumped into a weary and worried young man from the main branch of the Hyuga clan. He was none other than the last remaining special Jonin of the Hyuga main branch. Upon seeing Hinata, he immediately perked up, forcing a smile to appear less exhausted.

"Hinata-sama, I was just about to prepare dinner for Hanabi-sama. She's only two years old, and I only just realized that there are some things adults can eat that she can't..."

"Uncle Keizuka, let's leave the Hyuga clan's territory!" Hinata Hyuga mustered her courage and looked up at Keizuka Hyuga.

uncle……

I'm only twenty years old...

Hyuga Keizuka remained silent for a moment, then asked with some confusion, "Why leave the Hyuga clan's territory?"

"Yes...yes..."

Hinata Hyuga said weakly, "It was that man named Uchiha Ikezumi who told me. He said—bring my sister along, and bring the others along too, and then meet him at Ichiraku Ramen at 8 pm."

Uchiha Izumi!!!

Hyuga Keizuka's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt a dryness in his mouth, unable to utter any strong words of refusal. This was because most of the elders of the main branch of the family had been sent to Konoha prison by the other party!

In Hyuga Keizuka's eyes, the other party was the most terrifying person in Konoha!

Disobeying the other party's "orders" could have extremely serious consequences.

Take a deep breath.

Sweating profusely from the fear of that name, Hyuga Keizuka forced a smile and said, "Since that man said so, he must have his reasons. Moreover, he believes in absolute justice, so he shouldn't have any intention of harming others. In that case, our main family should do as he says, and there shouldn't be any problem."

"Eight o'clock tonight, right?" Hyuga Keizuka couldn't hide his nervousness. He muttered to himself, "Although there are still two hours, we can't let that man wait for our main family. That would make the Hyuga main family seem too impolite."

"So we have to go there in advance and wait for him, so that it can show that the Hyuga main family is very sincere and has no dissatisfaction with absolute justice, nor any resentment."

"Yes! That's how it should be!"

Hyuga Keizuka hurriedly said, "Hinata-sama, please help me to notify the main clan members separately, and try to gather outside the gate of the Hyuga clan's residence in ten minutes."

"……OK."

Hinata nodded.

……

"Orochimaru never considered human life to be anything precious; he only valued his own life. He processed my memories, and I can't recall much of the confidential information about him. I can only vaguely remember that he had many life-saving techniques."

Inside a confectionery shop in Konoha, Mitarashi Anko ate a three-colored dumpling and said with a serious expression, "In other words, killing him will be extremely difficult. We never know how many tricks he has up his sleeve."

"Was he able to leave Konoha unscathed despite being surrounded by the Third Hokage, the Anbu, and others back then?"

Quan asked out of curiosity.

Red Bean nodded heavily, the sweet dumplings in her mouth now seeming rather bland: "I didn't even know about this at the time. By the time I realized Orochimaru had defected, it was too late."

"For a period of time afterward, I underwent rigorous interrogation by the Anbu. They discovered that I had indeed been 'abandoned' by Orochimaru, and the interrogation ended. But there were still people secretly observing my every move."

"Even when I'm taking a shower... there's probably a female ANBU ninja watching me from a corner I can't see."

Red Bean's expression was somewhat gloomy: "It was only in the last year or two that the Hokage lifted this kind of surveillance."

She chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Perhaps it's because the Anbu is short-handed. After all, Izumi has killed quite a few Anbu ninjas who have committed evil deeds and obstructed absolute justice recently."

Izumi hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you a little resentful about being abandoned by Orochimaru? Do you feel that Orochimaru looks down on you?"

Mitarashi Azuko remained silent for half a second.

She nodded and frankly admitted, "I did have those thoughts before, and they lasted for several years. There was always some resentment and some blame towards him. But since choosing to follow Chi Quan's absolute justice, I've come to understand many things."

"There's no need to feel confused or resentful that Orochimaru abandoned me. On the contrary, I should be grateful that he didn't take me with him. Otherwise, I would have fallen into an abyss from which I could never climb out."

Quan Xiaolian said earnestly, "Senior Chi Quan will not let you down in your belief in absolute justice!"

"Hmm." Hongdou smiled and said, "It's precisely because I trust Chi Quan's absolute sense of justice that I chose to follow him!"

"Orochimaru is such a villain..."

Hongdou snapped the stick holding the meatball skewer in half, a murderous glint in her eyes.

"They must be eliminated!!!"

"...I think I heard something incredible." In an inconspicuous corner of the Konoha dessert shop, an Anbu ninja on leave calmly took a bite of dessert.

He recognized Mitarashi Anko and Uchiha Izumi, who were now Konoha's acknowledged subordinates of Uchiha Izumi.

Many people with guilty consciences see them as if they've encountered a plague god in broad daylight.

Although they didn't kill as frantically as Uchiha Izumi.

But in this short period of time, they also crammed countless people into Konoha Prison. Even spitting on the street, if caught by them, would force them to clean up the spit and pay a hefty fine!

Suppressing his shock, the ANBU ninja paid the bill expressionlessly, then pretended to be an ordinary Konoha civilian and walked out of the Konoha dessert shop.

Then, without hesitation, he vanished in an instant.

He obviously went to inform the Third Hokage.

……

"Huff...huff..." Hinata Hyuga held her younger sister Hanabi's small hand and followed closely behind Kyozuka Hyuga, panting heavily. Behind her were several women and children from the Hyuga main family.

"We've arrived at Ichiraku Ramen."

Hyuga Keizuka looked up at the ramen shop sign in front of him, swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and said to the people behind him, "I'll go in first. If I can come out, you can follow me. If I can't..."

He paused, then continued, "Leave as soon as possible."

It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous!

Hyuga Keizuka mustered his courage and entered Ichiraku Ramen. The extremely terrifying Uchiha Izumi he had expected was not there. There were only a few customers eating ramen and a busy hawker.

He turned back and said to the crowd, "Come in!"

Hinata Hyuga cautiously entered, led Hanabi to an empty seat, and whispered to her, "If you see that man later, whatever you do, don't talk to him."

She was afraid that her younger sister, who was still young and didn't know any better, would anger Uchiha Ikezumi.

Even though she herself isn't that much older.

Hinata Hanabi blinked her big, bright eyes in confusion twice.

The entire Hyuga clan was filled with unease, making the atmosphere at Ichiraku Ramen very strange. This caused the manager's daughter, Ayame, to wear a conflicted expression, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

In the end, it was Hyuga Keizuka who realized what was happening.

We've been reserving seats at Ichiraku Ramen, but we haven't ordered anything... Sigh! That's really not very nice...

Hyuga Keizuka said to everyone, "You can order any amount of ramen you like, no matter how expensive. It's on me tonight."

"Really?!" Hinata Hyuga immediately looked up.

"Really," Hinata Keizuka said confidently.

A special Jonin can earn a lot of money for completing missions.

The main family now has only a few people left.

Treating people to meals is not a problem for him.

however.

An hour later, Hyuga Keizuka suddenly felt a little regretful. The other main family members were fine; they would eat two medium-sized bowls of ramen and be full. But what was wrong with that Hinata?

How many bowls of ramen has she already eaten? And each bowl is a large portion! There are already eleven bowls of ramen piled up next to her!

And this Hinata is still eating her twelfth bowl of Ichiraku Ramen!

"Hinata... Lady Hinata?" Hyuga Keizuka broke out in a cold sweat, fearing that Hinata might have something wrong with what she ate, and he wouldn't be able to explain it to Lord Hiashi.

"Are you full?" Hinata Keizuka wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I'm... I'm about 80% full..." Hinata said, embarrassed.

She felt that today was the day she had eaten her most.

The key point is that two people each treated themselves to ramen.

"Eighty percent..." Hyuga Keizuka was stunned. He really wanted to ask a question—did Hiashi-sama not let Hinata eat on a regular basis? Otherwise, why would Hinata be starving like a ghost reincarnated?

of course.

He didn't say these words directly. Although Hiashi Hyuga had already entered Konoha Prison, his authority as the clan leader still remained, so he naturally dared not openly criticize Hiashi Hyuga.

only……

Now there's another big problem.

Hinata Keizuka touched his waist pouch, feeling that he didn't seem to have enough money.

Oops.

……

"Orochimaru's whereabouts?" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned after learning of this from the ANBU ninja. "Ikezumi didn't tell me. It seems he doesn't want me to get involved. Perhaps he thinks I'll show Orochimaru mercy..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt he had guessed Izumi's thoughts.

He shook his head and said helplessly, "Chi Quan always assumes I am acting out of malice. He thinks I am colluding with Orochimaru. He doesn't trust me at all."

"Oh!"

Koharu Utatane's voice reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's ears: "Uchiha Ikezumi doesn't just harbor malicious suspicions about you; he might even think you're the same kind of person as Orochimaru!"

Koharu Utatane also heard the report from the Anbu ninja. She narrowed her eyes and said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Hiruzen, Orochimaru has a lot of research data that even Danzo coveted during his lifetime. These are all very valuable things."

"But since Orochimaru conducted human experiments using extreme methods, if Uchiha Izumi really found Orochimaru's hiding place, he would definitely destroy all the research data without hesitation."

"That property originally belonged to Konoha and could be used by Konoha. I will never allow Konoha's precious property to be reduced to ashes."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "You want to find Orochimaru before Izumi and take him and all his research data?"

Koharu, who was turning over a new bed, said, "That's right."

"But... sirs."

An ANBU ninja interjected, "I didn't learn Orochimaru's exact location from Mitarashi Anko or Uchiha Izumi."

Koharu Tsurugi said, "I will send someone to find out."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and reminded Koharu Utatane, "Koharu, don't act recklessly, don't take any extreme measures."

Turning to the next room, Xiaochun took a deep breath: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

……

In the Land of Rain, at a secluded rendezvous point.

Pipa Juzo shook off the rainwater from his clothes and stood on the edge of a cliff, stepping on the muddy ground.

After a moment's hesitation, he coughed lightly and said to Uchiha Ikezumi's wood clone, "This is the rendezvous point she mentioned, but... I'm not sure if that woman will still show up to meet me after seeing you. She seems very suspicious."

The subconscious thought is—you are very likely to get in the way.

of course.

A strong will to survive prevented Juzo Biwa from saying it directly, and instead he expressed it in this indirect way.

Even if what he was facing was just a clone of Uchiha Ikezumi.

One second, five seconds, ten seconds... Seeing that Uchiha Izumi's wood clone remained motionless, Biwa Juzo began to doubt whether his "hint" was a bit too subtle.

Perhaps one of the other party's clones wouldn't understand?

"Um...why don't you...?"

"No need." The wooden clone coldly interrupted him, its indifferent expression already fixed on a spot atop a cliff on the opposite side of the precipice—a spot where two pairs of cliffs faced each other across the distance.

"She has arrived."

Wooden Clone Path.

Pipa Juzo was startled. He immediately followed the gaze of his wooden clone and saw a slender, aloof figure standing on the cliff above them, like a flower on a high mountain, with a pair of amber eyes filled with icy coldness.

"After seeing the true form without any disguise, she didn't choose to leave. Either she's confident in her strength and has nothing to fear, or she's not the true form coming to see you either. Just as you said, she's a very suspicious person."

The wooden clone said indifferently.

……

"Uchiha Ikezumi..." Konan stared at the unfamiliar figure.

She gazed intently at his young, aloof face.

"Loquat Juzo betrayed Akatsuki?"

……

……

(End of this chapter)