Chapter 179 - 177: Hisashi: I Have A Dream

"Yo, Kaidou, long time no see." Genzou greeted his gossip friend, genuinely happy to see him after a full month while the latter was off on a mission.

Kaidou smiled back before giving him a bro fist. "No way, it really wasn't easy this time, but I guess from now on, missions might actually become a little bit easier."

"Oh, not easier?" Genzou raised an eyebrow. "How come I heard a rumor that a certain bald, eyebrowless man with a burn scar on his right cheek was making a name for himself in the Land of Lightning's brothels? They're calling him the Eyebrowless Hero now."

Kaidou, who had been planning to play it cool, felt his face twitch before he quickly acted as if nothing had happened. "Oh? Then he must have a very big weapon in his pants to earn such a reputation."

"Or," Genzou smiled teasingly, "it might simply be because those courtesans felt sorry for him. Spending all that money, yet unable to fully enjoy the service due to... performance issues."

Kaidou stiffened before offering a forced smile, clearly wanting to move past this subject as quickly as humanly possible. Genzou, having secured his small victory, decided to let it slide. Consider yourself lucky you just got back.

They settled into their familiar spot, a rooftop where they could feel the early morning breeze and watch the village slowly wake up below them.

For a while, neither of them spoke. They just enjoyed the cool air and that deep sense of security that was impossible to feel once you stepped outside the village gates. It was good to be home.

"You know," Kaidou said eventually, breaking the comfortable silence, "the route from the Land of Rivers used to be crawling with highwaymen. Every other kilometer, some idiot with a rusty sword would jump out thinking he could rob a shinobi. But almost nothing this time, barely even a pickpocket, people saying it was due to the Hokage, what the hell happened while I was gone?"

Genzou chuckled. "You missed a lot, my friend. The Hokage went to some big summit in Ame. Signed agreements with Kumo, Kiri, Suna, the whole lot. Mutual cooperation, open trade routes, shared patrols. Highwaymen can't operate when three different villages are hunting them at the same time."

Kaidou turned his head, genuinely surprised recalling something. "Three villages? Working together? Since when?"

"Since about a week ago. Things have been moving fast." Genzou was practically glowing as his urge to gossip was finally about to be vented after a month of holding it in.

"I crossed into Wind Country last week and the border guard just waved me through, didn't even check my papers properly. Said something about new trade agreements making things easier. You remember how border crossings used to be, right? Three hours of interrogation just to go twenty kilometers?"

"I remember wanting to punch every border guard I ever met, I also saw the strangeness on the way back." Kaidou muttered.

"Well, now they're practically friendly. It's unsettling."

Kaidou shook his head in disbelief. "I saw a squad from Kumo near the border, just walking through like they owned the place. I nearly attacked them out of reflex."

"Don't," Genzou said flatly. "They're officially allies now. There's also some kind of student exchange program happening. Kumo and Kiri kids are going to study at our Academy."

"Our Academy? I've heard about that rumor?"

"No, the one in Suna. Yes, our Academy." Genzou rolled his eyes so hard they nearly disappeared into his skull. "They're expanding it. I heard they're going to accept students from all the allied villages eventually. Can you imagine? Little Kumo brats running around Konoha, learning our techniques."

Kaidou tried to picture it and genuinely failed. "That sounds like the start of a bad joke."

"Maybe. But the Hokage seems serious about it." Genzou shrugged. "It's not just the Academy, either. The hospital's completely different now. Tsunade-sama restructured the whole thing, you need an actual license to be a medic now, with exams and everything. My cousin's wife is a medic, and she's been studying for a while. She says it's harder than the Chunin Exams."

"Harder than the Chunin exams for healing?"

"Apparently healing someone without killing them requires more paperwork than killing someone on purpose. Who knew."

"Oh, and mission pay increased," Genzou added casually, like he was mentioning the weather. "The client said something about Konoha's new rates being 'competitive.' I didn't ask questions. I just took the money."

"That part I did notice," Kaidou admitted. "My payout was higher than usual. I thought it was a mistake."

"Not a mistake. Just the Hokage doing things while the rest of us just kind of... adapt." Genzou stretched his arms above his head, cracking his neck. "Most things are changing for the better, honestly. Fewer bandits, better pay, easier travel. It's like the village took a deep breath and decided to actually function for once."

Kaidou nodded slowly, processing all of this. Then he caught something in Genzou's tone, a slight hesitation that hadn't been there before. "But?"

"But what?"

"You said 'most things.' What hasn't changed?"

Genzou's expression flickered, the teasing grin fading just a little. "You know the Hyuga."

"What about them?"

"They're still the same. Worse, maybe. I heard the elders are digging in hard. The Hokage wants to abolish that Caged Bird thing they do to their branch family, and the old guard is throwing a fit about it, saying it's tradition and that the village has no right to interfere in clan affairs."

Kaidou frowned. "The Hokage isn't going to let that slide, is she?"

"That's what everyone's saying." Genzou lowered his voice slightly, even though there was no one around to hear them. "People are waiting to see who blinks first. My money's on the Hokage. You know how she is, doesn't like useless talk. She just acts. Like, you wake up one morning and suddenly Kumo is your ally and medics need licenses."

"So the Hyuga elders are about to learn it the hard way," Kaidou said quietly.

Genzou smiled, but it wasn't his usual teasing grin. "Yup. And I, for one, am very glad I'm not a Hyuga elder right now."

Kaidou smiled back, recalling the days when they used to be so envious of those with bloodline limits, the ones whose worst-case scenario was still better than the upper limit of ordinary shinobi like them. Funny how things changed. Funny how the mighty kept finding ways to trip over their own feet.

•••

•••

Hisashi didn't know about the two shinobi on an ordinary rooftop casually mocking his entire existence, but he did know one thing with absolute certainty: he was running out of time before a decisive showdown with Azula.

He was waiting underground, and the wait was eating him alive. The meeting time had come and gone, and Danzō still hadn't appeared. Hisashi's mind, already fragile from days of sleepless paranoia, began spiraling into darker and darker places.

'Did he choose to betray me?' The thought hit him like a physical blow, but he shook his head immediately, trying to convince himself. 'No. I have too much dark material on him. He wouldn't dare.'

But the thought wouldn't leave. What if Danzō had been on Azula's side from the very beginning? What if all their cooperation, all the secret meetings, all the whispered plans, had been nothing more than an elaborate trap designed to gather evidence against him?

Hisashi forced himself to stop thinking in that direction. If that were true, it was already over for him. He couldn't afford to believe it.

His Byakugan activated again, scanning the room for the dozenth time in as many minutes.

His eyes were already sore from overuse, a strain he hadn't felt in five years because he simply hadn't needed to use his dojutsu this much.

He was also careful to only activate it for a single second at a time, knowing that the truly sensitive ninjas could feel the chakra signature of a scan. The last thing he needed was to attract attention.

'Damn it. Maybe I shouldn't have started this in the first place.' The regret was growing, coiling in his stomach like a cold snake. 'No matter what happens, I am an elder and the ex-patriarch of the Hyuga clan. I will not be mistreated.'

As if summoned by telepathy, Danzō suddenly appeared in front of him, his entrance as silent and unhurried as ever. The man looked completely unapologetic, like being late was a minor inconvenience that Hisashi should have already forgiven.

"Hisashi," Danzō said calmly. "It seems you have been here for a while."

Hisashi wanted to curse him on the spot. Every fiber of his being screamed to unleash the full fury of a Hyuga elder on this insufferable schemer who had kept him waiting in a damp underground bunker while his entire world crumbled around him.

But his education and his demeanor as a member of a 'noble' clan wouldn't allow it. He could only complain, which he did.

"For a while? The time we agreed to meet passed long ago, and only now do you appear. What? Do you also no longer take me seriously?"

Danzō, who had deliberately arrived late as part of his usual strategy of displaying that he was not in a hurry, had expected Hisashi to be irritated. He had not expected this level of raw outburst. The old man was genuinely cracking.

'Good,' Danzō thought, filing the observation away. .It seems his pressure is no less than mine. There's an advantage to extract here.'

On the surface, however, he appeared genuinely offended by Hisashi's accusation. "What do you mean by 'no longer taking you seriously'? I am only late by a few minutes. Do you think Azula's surveillance on me and anyone connected to Hiruzen is a joke? My every move is being watched."

He paused before delivering the excuse he had prepared in advance. "I planned to arrive earlier, but it was impossible. Her advisor, Orochimaru, came to see me personally."

The name landed exactly as intended as Hisashi's attention shifted immediately. "Orochimaru? Isn't he one of Azula's three trusted advisors? Why would he come to see you?"

"He took over my former role. He came for some files he claimed not to understand." Danzō allowed a thin, knowing smile to spread across his face. "At least, that was the surface reason. But did you forget his other identity?"

Hisashi frowned, thinking hard. "What other identity could he have, apart from being a civilian-born shinobi and the Third Hokage's student?"

Then it hit him. He looked at Danzō with sudden understanding, and Danzō nodded, satisfied that his manipulation was landing perfectly.

"Yes. Don't forget, he is Hiruzen's student. In fact, his most prized and deeply satisfying student. If Azula had never existed, Orochimaru would very likely be the next Hokage. That was the direction Hiruzen was grooming him toward." Danzō's voice took on a reflective, almost nostalgic quality. "Isn't it interesting that instead, he became nothing more than the shadow of a fellow academy classmate?"

Danzō could almost see his younger self in Orochimaru. The process was different, but the result was identical. Both of them had been passed over. Both of them had been forced to watch someone else claim the seat they deserved.

"You mean to say he is secretly dissatisfied with Azula?" Hisashi asked, his eyes gleaming with the sudden scent of opportunity.

Danzō shook his head, dashing the hope before it could grow too large. "No. Not exactly. For now, he is quite satisfied with his position. But that satisfaction is only due to his youth. As he matures, he will begin to truly understand what the position of Hokage means, what it represents, what it grants. His desire will grow. His ambition will reach its peak. And when it does, if we use him carefully..."

He let the sentence trail off, allowing Hisashi's imagination to fill in the rest.

One dared to speak it, and the other dared to believe it. Hisashi could already envision the future Danzō was painting, a future where Orochimaru, their carefully cultivated puppet, ascended to the Hokage's seat, and the two of them, hidden in the shadows, became the true rulers of a Konoha stronger than anyone could imagine.

It was a beautiful dream.

(END OF THE CHAPTER)

Hisashi Luther King Hyūga.

Do you remember Kaidou and Genzou?