The friendly atmosphere at the banquet shattered in an instant.
One side: the Hyuga clan.
The other: Cloud Village.
The Hyuga were furious.
"Your ninja broke into our compound and tried to steal a main family child. We had every right to kill him. That's justice anywhere in the ninja world. And now you have the nerve to demand blood?"
Xi's face had gone cold the second he heard his teammate was dead, but he recovered fast.
"Our people would never do something like that. This is clearly a Leaf setup. One of our jonin is dead in your village, so we only have one demand—blood for blood. Hand over the killer."
He turned to the Cloud ninja beside him.
"You saw the killer's face clearly?"
The man nodded.
The Hyuga exploded.
"You Cloud bastards try to kidnap our child and now you want us to pay with our lives? Not happening!"
Xi's voice turned to ice.
"Murder demands justice. Killer B, you agree, right? Cloud Village will not back down."
Killer B gave a single sharp nod. The easygoing jinchuriki was gone. A crushing aura rolled off him, freezing the entire room.
The first round of talks ended with everyone storming out.
Back in their quarters, Xi sat across from Killer B, expression grim.
"The plan failed. Ibisu's dead. What a waste. But we still have a shot at the Byakugan. We just deny everything. The Leaf has no proof we tried to steal the girl. None. But they can't deny one of ours is dead. We use that. Demand the killer's head. Once we get Hiashi Hyuga's body, we get the eyes. Simple."
Killer B frowned.
"What if the Leaf refuses to hand anyone over?"
"They won't," Xi said confidently. "The Leaf is already clashing with Sand. They can't afford to piss us off too. Not with Rock Village waiting for any excuse to jump in. We're strong, we lost a man, and we're only asking for blood for blood. Hiruzen won't go to war over one Hyuga. And the Hyuga? They're weak. They lost their eyes to Mist and did nothing. They even broke ties with the Taketori when that rumor came out. The second the Leaf pressures them, they'll fold."
The next morning, Hiruzen kept the Hyuga elder, Sōchō, behind after the Cloud delegation left.
Sōchō was seething. Cloud had gone after his own granddaughter, Hinata. The clan had already lost a Byakugan once. They weren't losing another.
"Lord Hokage, you have to give our clan justice!"
Hiruzen looked at him, voice heavy.
"I know how unfair this is, Sōchō. Cloud went too far. They came here pretending to talk cooperation, but they were after your eyes the whole time. They've wanted the Byakugan for years."
He paused.
"But the village is in a terrible position right now. Sand is pushing us hard. Rock is still bitter about losing the last war. If we make an enemy of Cloud too, we'll be fighting three great villages at once. We can't handle that. Hiashi acted too fast. He should've just taken the girl back instead of killing their man."
Sōchō's face darkened with every word.
Hiruzen sighed.
"Cloud lost someone. We can't prove they tried to kidnap Hinata. We have no evidence. But they did lose a jonin. I'll try to settle this with money. The village will cover half. You won't have to pay it all yourself."
Sōchō was quiet for a long moment.
"…The money is fine. My clan will cover it. But blood for blood? That's too much. They started this."
He refused to hand over his son—the future clan head.
Koharu Utatane was sent to negotiate.
Cloud's answer was cold and final.
"Only blood will satisfy us. Nothing else. If the Leaf won't deliver the killer, I'll report straight to the Raikage. He won't be as patient as I am."
Koharu returned and gave Hiruzen the message.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
"Cloud won't stop until they get a Byakugan. But we can't just hand one over…"
Koharu spoke quietly.
"Hiashi has a twin brother—Hizashi. He's branch family. They look identical. If we give Hizashi instead… Cloud will never know the difference. They won't get the Byakugan they want."