“I don’t have any good ideas either.”
Fugaku’s response was a direct refusal.
Just as Hizashi felt a tinge of disappointment, Fugaku changed his tune.
“However, you can ask Kawasaki. He’s full of ideas.”
“Oh?”
Hizashi looked at Fugaku, his face as impassive as ever.
Hizashi guessed Fugaku might have a solution but couldn’t say it due to his position, so he had to use Kawasaki as a proxy.
“Okay, where is Vice-Clan Leader Kawasaki? I’ll go visit him.”
Fugaku stood up and said, “After all, we’ve cooperated on the battlefield. There’s no need to be so formal. I’ll call him over. You just wait a moment.”
Saying that, Fugaku left the conference room. Soon after, Kawasaki entered.
As expected, seeing Kawasaki arrive so promptly further confirmed Hizashi’s suspicions.
Kawasaki entered with unusual enthusiasm: “Hizashi-sama, right? I’m Uchiha Kawasaki. I’ve heard a lot about you. If you have time in the future, we must chat more.”
He had a good impression of Hyuga Hizashi. Although Hizashi was blindly loyal, he couldn’t escape the constraints of the times.
Being able to sacrifice himself for his brother was something not everyone could do.
Plus, he was Neji’s father. Neji’s talent was rare even among ordinary people.
If there was a chance, it was always good to have more contact.
Furthermore, the Third Shinobi World War had just ended. The incident in the Cloud Hidden Village targeting Hinata hadn’t happened yet.
Kawasaki wanted to help Hizashi. It was a shame for him to die like this.
Hizashi was somewhat surprised by Kawasaki’s enthusiasm, but he wouldn’t refuse a smiling face.
He was happy with Kawasaki’s easy-going attitude.
“Vice-Clan Leader Kawasaki, you’re being too polite. I can’t accept such a title.”
“Haha, let’s not be so formal then. Just call me Kawasaki. I’ll call you Hizashi.”
Hizashi couldn’t help but smile. Kawasaki was truly a remarkable person.
He liked Kawasaki too and agreed.
Then, Hizashi repeated what he’d said to Fugaku to Kawasaki.
Kawasaki had clearly already planned this: “Hizashi, it’s simple. Since the villagers love to compare...”
“Then just find someone who does a worse job than you and make them the scapegoat.”
A worse job than the Hyuga? Hizashi pondered for a moment but couldn’t think of any clan that would be suitable.
“I can’t think of a clan that fits the bill right now.”
Hizashi shook his head.
Kawasaki saw this and said straight out: “You can ask Danzo for someone. He’s always wanted to put his people in the Guard.”
Hizashi was taken aback. Danzo’s people were the “Root,”
weren’t they?
“How can we do that? Those guys from the Root are bloodthirsty killers!”
“Ah, right… Bloodthirsty killers are perfect.”
Kawasaki’s expression was deep: “We need those bloodthirsty killers to handle security, then you can take over the patrol duties.”
“Hmm…”
Hizashi suddenly understood.
Even if the Root
were bloodthirsty killers, they wouldn’t harm civilians, would they?
Someone like Danzo wouldn’t easily relinquish power once he seized it.
Furthermore, whether the Root
could maintain security was something that didn’t need much thought.
Anyway, the Hyuga clan and Danzo were enemies.
Hizashi quickly left the Uchiha territory and went back to the Hyuga clan to discuss it with his older brother, Hyuga Hizashi.
Hizashi also liked the idea.
He patted Hizashi’s shoulder and said, “This Uchiha Kawasaki is interesting. Maybe Fugaku assigned him to talk to you to train him.”
“Kawasaki probably suggested to Fugaku that we get into the Guard.”
“You should spend more time with him in the future. There might be other opportunities for cooperation.”
Hizashi nodded in agreement.
Then, he quickly sent a letter of invitation to Shimura Danzo.
Everyone knew about Danzo’s “Root”, but Danzo never allowed outsiders to go there.
He received guests in the Shimura territory.
When Hizashi went to deliver the invitation, Danzo was a little surprised.
The Hyuga clan had always been closed off and rarely interacted with the outside world.
They didn’t have any personal connections.
However, Hizashi was the head of the Hyuga branch family. Danzo couldn’t afford to ignore him.
So, he soon received Hyuga Hizashi.
Hizashi made small talk for a while before getting to the point: “Elder Danzo, you know our Hyuga clan has recently taken on a lot of the Uchiha Guard duties.”
“Hmm…”
“But yesterday, the patrol team on the outskirts of Konoha was attacked. I found that we Hyuga don’t have enough manpower.”
“I heard the Root has ample manpower. I’d like to borrow some people from you to supplement the Guard. Would that be...”
“Oh?…”
Danzo was secretly delighted. He’d always wanted to get into the Guard, but the Third Hokage had always suppressed him.
Now Hizashi had come to him. He couldn’t blame him.
Humph, a bunch of useless people who can’t even handle patrol duty.
“No problem, Hizashi. The Root has plenty of people. How many do you want to borrow?”
Hizashi thought for a moment: “How about thirty? Elder Danzo, we need to make this clear beforehand…”
“Your people have to follow my command when they’re in the Guard. Otherwise, Fugaku won’t agree.”
Danzo naturally agreed readily: “No problem. Since they are being borrowed from you, they will naturally follow your orders.”
They quickly reached an agreement. Hizashi said his goodbyes and left.
Danzo watched Hizashi’s departing figure and secretly smiled: “Once the Root people are in, it’s out of your hands.”
Hizashi’s Byakugan naturally detected Danzo watching him from behind. Hizashi sneered inwardly: “Danzo, you can’t escape!”
Danzo soon arrived at the Root headquarters and summoned his subordinates.
After selecting his personnel, he told the leader, Nakamura Kazuya: “Kazuya, your mission is to infiltrate the Guard and quickly seize control…”
“Remember, don’t get into any arguments with anyone at the beginning.”
“Especially Uchiha Fugaku. Don’t give him any excuse to send you back. Got it?”
“Understood!”
…
On the Hyuga side.
Hizashi was busy reorganizing his team.
“Tokima, pull everyone from the first to fourth districts. They will join the outer patrol teams.”
“Each team must have two members from our clan, using the Byakugan to monitor each other.”
Hyuga Tokima was a particularly calm and steady Hyuga member. Hizashi often entrusted him with tasks.
“Elder Danzo will send some people tomorrow. You’ll hand over the first to fourth districts to the newcomers. Keep the fifth to seventh districts as they are.”
“Hizashi-sama, why let Elder Danzo’s people get involved? Aren’t they all from the Root?”
Hizashi smiled and patted Tokima’s shoulder: “You’ll understand soon enough.”
…
The next day, at the Guard headquarters, the morning assembly began as usual.
Nakamura Kazuya and his Root members were already there early.
Kazuya was pondering how to handle Hyuga Hizashi.
However, he saw Uchiha Fugaku, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, also present.
Hizashi was standing directly behind Fugaku, clearly allowing Fugaku to make all the arrangements.
Kazuya’s face darkened. He felt that the situation was unfolding in a way he hadn’t anticipated.
Soon, everyone gathered…