Chapter 37 — No More Branch House

Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed one hand to the ground, and chakra spilled out along his arm.

"Summoning Jutsu! Monkey King: Enma!"

Boom!

Amid swirling white smoke, a hulking, upright-walking monkey appeared at his side.

"Yo! Sarutobi, long time no see."

It spoke in the human tongue, and behaved toward the Third Hokage with great familiarity.

The Third's expression was somewhat gloomy, and his tone was subdued: "Yeah... let's fight side by side!"

Enma glanced left and right for a while, its expression somewhat grave.

"Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade... they're all enemies this time? Your skill at teaching disciples is a bit lacking..."

Stung on a sore point, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a cold snort and attacked at once.

He let his hands hang slightly before him, forming seals with flying fingers, so fast it made the eyes blur and the mind reel.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

In an instant, a sky-covering torrent of shuriken screamed toward Tsunade's side.

The dense shuriken were like a plague of locusts, enough to make one's scalp crawl and palms sweat.

The name of this ninjutsu might not sound imposing, but it was a genuine A-rank technique, an extremely difficult ninjutsu invented by Hiruzen Sarutobi himself.

It used chakra to multiply the number of shuriken, forming a net-like formation of blades that covered the heavens and earth—a combined art of tools and ninjutsu.

"The old man's moves are still nimble enough; he hasn't gone completely rusty." Orochimaru's lips curled slightly, and a sinister, unsettling smile appeared on his face.

This kind of physical shadow clone was harder to produce than an ordinary shadow clone; and precisely because of that, no preparation was needed beforehand, and every shuriken carried lethal force.

Here Hiruzen Sarutobi unleashed a broad area-of-effect technique to clear the field; dust rose, making it impossible to tell how the battle was going.

"Well? How many did you take out?" Koharu Utatane asked urgently.

Homura Mitokado shook his head and sighed. "Not one... The ones they brought this time are all experts."

At first, seeing how many there were on the other side, and how young they all looked, he had taken them for small fry brought along to fill the ranks; he had never expected them all to be elites.

That white-haired youth with the expressionless face used no weapon at all; he merely swatted casually a few times and precisely shattered every shuriken that could have reached him.

The purple-haired young woman who protected herself with crimson crystals.

The powerfully built youth whose face was wreathed in black markings...

The more clearly Homura Mitokado saw the enemy's strength, the more his heart pounded with dread.

"Damn it!"

Koharu Utatane's face was full of fury. "It's all because of those traitors! The Hyuga, the Ino-Shika-Cho... at the crucial moment they all turned into fence-sitters! This is outright defection! After this is over, we'll make them pay!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was much calmer than the two of them. He had long since seen that the enemy's strength was no ordinary thing; this attack had only been a test.

"You—are you still not going to act?"

His gaze passed over Tsunade and her group and settled on the buildings not far away.

"Hahaha... as expected of the Third!"

A crowd of ninja with pure white eyes walked out slowly. The one who spoke at their head was none other than Hiashi Hyuga. "Lady Koharu Utatane, you said one thing wrong. Perhaps the other clans are being fence-sitters. But our Hyuga clan has thrown in its lot with the Three Sannin completely!"

At this sight, Koharu Utatane's face turned hideous and twisted. "Damn you! Your Hyuga clan is already the foremost clan in the Leaf, and you still want to climb higher? Just wait! Sooner or later you'll be wiped out completely, just like the Uchiha!"

Hiashi gave a cold laugh and said mockingly, "Climb higher? I have never had any such thought. So long as I can preserve my clan, I don't mind bearing the blame. If Danzo hadn't been stupid enough to move against my Hyuga clan, do you think I would have turned so quickly?"

At those words, Koharu Utatane was left speechless.

After all, she had some idea of just what kind of bastard her teammate was.

Shimura Danzo.

That bastard again, carrying out his little schemes behind their backs!

No one realized that this was in fact Hiashi deliberately throwing mud at Danzo.

But then again, if Danzo didn't take the blame, what meaning would his existence have?

"Where is Shimura Danzo! Didn't he say he'd bring Root to reinforce us in a quarter of an hour? It's been half an hour now!"

Koharu Utatane ground her teeth in hatred.

"Forget it. He's always been like this. Haven't we gotten used to it long ago?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled bitterly.

Back then, after Minato Namikaze died, Danzo had been displeased that he had retaken power, and so sent Yamato of the Wood Release and many Root elites to assassinate him.

After the attempt failed, he had let it go for the sake of old ties and meted out no punishment at all. He had never imagined he would indulge the man to such a degree.

Homura Mitokado clenched his fists and shouted across the distance at the Hyuga group: "You of the Hyuga branch house! If you are willing to turn from darkness to light, I have a way to break the Caged Bird Seal! From this day on, you will never again be bound by the Caged Bird!"

Having said that, he looked at the white-eyed youth not far away, whose face was young but whose expression was steady and stern. "You are Neji Hyuga, correct? Your father, Hizashi Hyuga, died in place of your uncle back then! And now you still listen to them?"

It was all that bastard Danzo's fault for running off with his Root; otherwise, why would an old man like him have to stand here playing the orator?

Neji Hyuga looked at Homura Mitokado without expression, his tone cold: "My uncle has already spoken with me seriously about the truth of what happened back then. I don't need you to waste words. Besides, there is no longer any concept of branch house and main house in the Hyuga clan. I advise you not to waste your effort."

At those words, the hearts of the Hokage faction turned cold in an instant.

The Caged Bird Seal existed first to protect the purity of the Byakugan so that it would not degrade, and second to prevent the Byakugan from leaking out.

For Hiashi, the head of the clan, to have such audacity as to directly remove the Caged Bird Seal from every branch house member? Did he not understand what that meant? Was he not worried about the consequences such an act would bring?

"Something feels off somewhere. Sarutobi, don't be rash yet..."

Homura Mitokado rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling that he had overlooked something.

These past days, many things had felt wrong.

Could someone have used a mind-stealing genjutsu on Hiashi Hyuga, making him do something so outrageous?

"Fight! Why all this useless talk! Old monkey! Let's go!"

The arrow was on the string and had to fly. In peacetime the Third Hokage would have listened to his two advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, but this was war!

He called to Enma at his side, and at once the two launched their attack side by side.

That action also became the spark that sent the conflict escalating in full.

Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Genma Shiranui, Aoba Yamashiro, Raido Namiashi, Ibiki Morino, Ebisu, Hayate Gekko...

Everyone loyal to them charged forward.

Except...

There was no Kakashi.