The heavy silence in the room stretched out, thick with tension. Everyone was staring at Kozuki, waiting for him to explain how an enemy could hide from the all-seeing Byakugan.
Kozuki's mouth opened and closed, his face turning from red to a ghostly white. He looked completely trapped.
But before the old man could say a word, Hyuga Hiashi finally broke his silence. He stood up straight, his face completely blank and calm, though his eyes were sharp.
"Hokage-sama, everyone... please excuse my father." Hiashi said, his voice smooth, steady, and perfectly polite.
"No one is dead in the Hyuga clan today. There were indeed three members found out cold in the garden this morning, but they are already awake and recovering. And my twin brother, Hyuga Hizashi, was never a victim. He is currently at home, perfectly fine."
For a second, the room was completely silent. It was so quiet that the ticking of the wall clock felt loud. Then, the entire council blew up.
"Are you kidding me right now?!" Inuzuka Tsume yelled, slamming her fist on the table. She looked absolutely furious. "First we are told people are dead, then an enemy is hiding, and now it's all a mistake? Is this some kind of sick joke to the Hyuga clan?!"
Right next to her, Kurama Murakumo threw his head back and groaned loudly. "Wow. I lost my precious sleep for this? You dragged all of us out of bed at the break of dawn for a false alarm? This is a complete waste of our time!"
The other clan heads started muttering angrily, shaking their heads in disgust.
Hiashi didn't lose his cool. He bowed deeply and respectfully toward the angry council members, though a faint blush of deep shame crept up his neck.
"I deeply apologize to Hokage-sama and to this entire council." Hiashi said, his voice echoing clearly in the loud room.
"The truth is... Chichioya had a bit too much sake last night. He is not in his right mind today. Because of the alcohol, he completely mistook the situation, panicked, and rushed here to demand a meeting before I could even stop him."
From the dark corner of the room, Shimura Danzo let out a sharp, disgusted sound.
"Tchhh!" Danzo scoffed. He silently slammed his fist onto the table, his single visible eye narrowing into a glare as he turned his face away in pure annoyance. He was thoroughly unimpressed by this messy family drama.
Inside his mind, Danzo was furiously cursing Kozuki. 'You useless old fool!' Danzo thought, his blood boiling with anger.
'This was the perfect opportunity. If an outsider had actually attacked the Hyuga compound, I could have easily blamed the Uchiha clan for it! A huge fight between the Hyuga and the Uchiha would have been so easy to create. Now that beautiful plan is completely gone because you cannot control your alcohol!'
Right across from him, Uchiha Fugaku caught Danzo's silent table-slam.
Fugaku's sharp eyes noticed the bitter, disappointed look on the old elder's face. Instantly, Fugaku realized exactly what Danzo had been planning.
A slow, mocking smile crept onto the Uchiha head's face.
'Look at you, Danzo...' Fugaku thought to himself, feeling deeply amused. 'You wanted to use this trouble to throw mud at my clan, didn't you? Too bad for you. Now you can just sit there and choke on your own disappointment.'
Kozuki's jaw dropped so low it almost hit the table. He stared at his son in absolute betrayal and shock. "What the—! Hiashi, you—!"
But before the old man could finish his sentence, the rest of the room completely fell apart.
Kurama Murakumo couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing out loud. Even a few other clan heads started snickering and making fun of the situation, whispering to each other about how the great, proud former head of the Hyuga clan was just a loud, grumpy drunk.
Hiashi kept his head bowed, looking completely ashamed, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole. He had never been this embarrassed in his entire life.
At the head of the table, Namikaze Minato's terrifying, powerful presence completely vanished. He looked like his soul had just left his body. The Yondaime slowly let his head drop, holding his forehead with one hand and covering his eyes, letting out a massive, exhausted sigh.
He couldn't believe he had used his scary Hokage voice just to lecture a drunk old man.
Right next to him, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't control himself. The old former Hokage bit down on his pipe, his shoulders shaking violently as he tried to hide his face.
Finally, a loud, booming laugh burst out of his mouth.
"Bwahaha!" Hiruzen laughed, wiping a tear from his eye as he looked at the completely chaotic table.
"Hiashi-san.." Minato said, his voice sounding completely drained. "Please take your seat. And if Kozuki-sama is still not in his right mind, he needs to go back to the compound immediately and sleep."
The moment Minato suggested sending the proud former head home like a naughty child, the room exploded into loud laughter all over again.
Kurama Murakumo was practically wiping tears from his eyes, and even some of the more serious leaders were chuckling behind their hands.
Kozuki looked like he was about to explode from pure embarrassment.
"Alright, enough!" Minato suddenly shouted, slamming his fist onto the wooden table.
The loud bang made everyone instantly shut their mouths, though a few people were still hiding their grins.
With the room finally quiet, Minato leaned back in his large chair. While keeping his face completely serious for the council, his mind completely drifted away to his home.
'What an absolute waste of time.' Minato thought to himself, feeling deeply annoyed. 'I woke up before the sun just for this? It would have been so much better if I could have stayed by Kushina's side. She was so severely hurt last night, and I should be there right now making sure she is resting safely. Instead, I am stuck sitting here dealing with a grumpy, drunk elder.'
Before Minato could officially dismiss the meeting and rush back to his wife, Hiashi cleared his throat. He looked around the table, his face still red with shame, but his expression grew serious.
"Hokage-sama!" Hiashi spoke up, his voice firm. "While my father's words were completely mistaken... related to this matter, I actually do have other, official intel to share with this council."
Even though Hiashi was trying to be professional, the council heads just couldn't take the Hyuga clan seriously anymore today.
From the right side of the table, Aburame Shibi snickered loudly, his usual serious face completely cracking. "Oh, really, Hiashi? Official intel? What did you do, pay the compound guards to act out a play for you this morning?"
"Yeah!" Akimichi Choza whispered back, giggling as he elbowed the person next to him. "Did they perform a whole drama just to show you how the 'intruder' escaped your all-seeing eyes?"
The quiet mocking and giggles started up again, leaving Hiashi standing there, trying his absolute best to maintain his dignity while the entire room treated his clan's security report like a giant comedy show.
Minato's eyes snapped open, and the tired, lazy mood in the room instantly vanished. He stood up slowly, but the sheer force of his presence made the entire table go dead silent.
The smiles and giggles froze on the faces of Shibi, Choza, and the other clan leaders.
"Have some respect for a clan head!" Minato shouted, his voice ringing like a clap of thunder through the council room. He looked at the laughing leaders with a sharp, piercing glare.
"Mistakes happen with everyone. This council is supposed to protect Leaf Village, not sit around and bully each other like kids."
Minato crossed his arms, his expression turning cold. "Yesterday, an emergency happened, and all of you immediately jumped to conclusions and blamed the Uchiha clan. I didn't say a word about your behavior then. And today, the exact same thing is happening, except now you are all making a joke out of the Hyuga clan. This needs to stop right now."
The moment Minato put the names Hyuga and Uchiha together in the exact same sentence, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes narrowed into a dangerous scowl, his hands clenching under the table. He hated his noble clan being compared to a messy family drama.
Right across from him, Hyuga Hiashi's jaw tightened, his pride deeply wounded by being lumped into the same category as the Uchiha.
Both clan heads looked completely offended, radiating a silent, bitter anger toward each other and the rest of the room.
Minato let out a quiet breath, the heat leaving his voice as he calmly sat back down in his chair. He adjusted his robes and looked at the current Hyuga head.
"Please continue, Hiashi-san!" Minato said quietly, waving his hand to give him the floor.
Hiashi took a deep breath, trying to steady his shaking nerves. He refused to look at the other leaders as he delivered his next line.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hiashi spoke up, his voice echoing clearly. "Our compound guards did not make a mistake about the intruder. After my father rushed here, our best trackers thoroughly searched the garden where the guards were knocked out. And we have found undeniable traces... that the person who did all this is a child."
The words felt like a sudden slap to everyone in the room.
"A child?!" Inuzuka Tsume gasped, her eyes going wide.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, the two elderly advisors, both leaned forward in complete shock. Their mouths hung open slightly, their wrinkled faces filled with disbelief.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen took the pipe out of his mouth, a deep frown carving into his forehead.
"A child? Hiashi... how is that even possible? To slip past the Byakugan and knock out three trained guards? No ordinary child possesses that kind of power or stamina."
From his dark corner, Shimura Danzo's single eye locked onto Hiashi like a hawk. He didn't believe a single word. "A child? Do not tell us stories to hide your clan's bad security, Hiashi. If you want us to believe such a ridiculous claim, you must show us the proof."
While the council erupted into an argument about this mystery kid, Minato's mind completely split away from the conversation.
'A child... a child...' Minato thought to himself, his blue eyes staring blankly at the wooden table. The word was ringing like a loud bell inside his head. It felt so familiar.
'Wait. Kakashi... Kakashi told me something about kids last night after the attack.'
Minato tightly closed his eyes, desperately trying to remember the reports from the previous evening. His mind raced back to when they stood high above the village, the cool night wind blowing against them at the top of his Hokage statue.
'What else did he tell me yesterday? Think, Minato, think...'
Suddenly, a specific memory flashed into his brain. He remembered Kakashi's tired, serious voice mentioning a name under the starlight.
'HIKARU'
The name hit Minato like a bolt of lightning.
Without warning, Minato stood straight up from his chair. The sudden, loud movement made his chair slide back against the floor with a sharp screech.
Everyone in the room instantly stopped talking. They all turned their heads to look at the young Hokage in complete surprise.
Hiashi was cut off right in the middle of his sentence. "...and we found small shadows and footsteps—" He trailed off, blinking at Minato.
The council of ministers and the clan heads looked at each other, feeling a sudden chill in the air. The heavy tension in the room was deeply unsettling. Minato wasn't looking irritated anymore. He looked completely pale, his eyes wide with a sudden, terrifying realization.
"Hokage-sama?" Homura asked, his voice laced with deep concern. "What is the matter? What did you just realize?"
Minato felt every single eye in the room locking onto him. His heart was pounding loudly against his ribs, but he forced his expression to completely freeze.
He could not tell them the truth. He couldn't just blurt out that Kakashi had warned him last night on top of the Hokage monument about Hikaru.
The name alone sent a shiver through Minato's chest. Hikaru was supposed to be dead. He was a man of Minato's own age, a legendary figure from the past with terrifying strength.
Yet, somehow, he was alive, he had successfully entered the village alongside Kakashi, and Minato knew deep down that this man would turn out to be one of the greatest, most dangerous foes he and Konoha would ever have to face.
If the council knew a legendary ghost like Hikaru was breathing Konoha's air, absolute panic would rip this room apart.
Slowly, Minato took a deep, steadying breath and let his shoulders drop, making himself look exhausted rather than completely shaken.
"It is nothing to worry about, Homura-sama." Minato lied smoothly, his voice calm and perfectly controlled.
"I merely realized that the intruder's infiltration pattern matches a specific security loophole near the eastern wall that we discussed fixing last month. For a moment, I feared our entire main barrier had failed, but it seems to be a localized issue."
The explanation was simple and reasonable enough. A collective sigh of relief passed through the council of ministers, and the heavy tension in the air loosened just a fraction.
Before Minato could sit back down, Uchiha Fugaku cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. His arms were crossed over his chest, his face completely serious.
"While the Hokage reviews the wall security, we must look at the bigger picture..." Fugaku stated firmly.
"Yesterday evening, the Uchiha Police Force successfully caught that four-to-five-year-old child I mentioned earlier. He is currently locked up and under heavy guard back at our Police Headquarters."
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⚡ NEXT CHAPTER ⚡
One mysterious child becomes three.
The Hyuga, the Yamanaka, and the Uchiha are suddenly connected by an impossible trail.
As suspicion spreads across the council chamber, old grudges resurface and accusations begin to fly.
But the greatest danger isn't outside the room...
It's the secret that should never have been spoken aloud.
When blame starts passing from one leader to another, the fragile trust holding Konoha together begins to crack.
And by the end of the meeting, one elder's pride will force the Hokage to make a decision that will shake the entire village.
👉 Next Chapter: The Chain Of Blame
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
"Watch your tongue, Homura!"
"....we will have to arrest every single person sitting at this table—including you."
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫