Chapter 88: You Need Hokage's Orders

"We seem to be locked in here by them. Are you sure it's really okay?", Inside the inn of Kirigakure, Shino secretly released his little insects outside while peeking through the window at the Kirigakure ninja guarding outside.

They were now completely under house arrest in this place.

"As long as they haven't attacked us, it should be fine,".After arriving safely at the inn, Yuhi Kurenai let out a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, these Kirigakure ninja still had some sense of honor and did not resort to the worst-case scenario, leading them into Kirigakure and then slaughtering them.

If that had happened, then she, as the teacher who made the decision to follow the Kirigakure ninja into the village, would have had to bear full responsibility.

But entering the village had been a completely unavoidable choice.

If they had refused to enter and resisted those Kirigakure ninja, they would have been blamed for causing the alliance mission to fail.

And if they had returned to Konoha then…

Yuhi Kurenai could already imagine the kind of public opinion Hatake Sakumo had faced back in the day.

"It's all the Third Hokage's fault!"

If they were merely bait while someone else was sent separately to negotiate the alliance with Kirigakure, then he should have explained things properly in advance instead of putting them in such a dire situation.

He really didn't treat them as people at all.

"Sensei, be careful with your words. The Hokage must have considered things carefully," To be honest, Uchiha Kage actually wanted to start a fight in Kirigakure.

With so many ninja around, fighting would definitely drop a lot of fragments.

And he still felt a little regretful that he hadn't been able to obtain Terumi Mei's ninja fragment last time.

"Believing in the village is a good thing, but this time…", Yuhi Kurenai decided to properly educate this disciple who had blind trust in the Hokage, "If we hadn't agreed to follow these Kirigakure ninja into the village, there's a very high chance we would have ended up like Hatake Sakumo…"

Even though Sakumo's death had been covered up by Konoha's higher-ups, he was still regarded as a hero of Konoha.

But Yuhi Kurenai knew the true cause of Sakumo's death.

Back then, she had understood nothing, but now she felt she understood a little.

Especially after noticing the increasingly abnormal actions of the Third Hokage lately.

"Perhaps Sakumo's death was also closely tied to the orders of the Third Hokage."

"What…?", After listening to Yuhi Kurenai's account of past events, and seeing her pointing the blame toward the Hokage, both Hinata and Shino showed expressions of shock.

They had always thought of the Third Hokage as a great and noble figure. But he wasn't actually a true gentleman?

"Sensei, this is pure conspiracy theory. How could the Hokage possibly drive a hero of the village to his death?"

It seemed that Sarutobi Hiruzen's recall of Uchiha Itachi had already caused jounin like Yuhi Kurenai to lose faith in the Hokage.

However, Uchiha Kage hadn't even started spreading conspiracy theories yet, and Kurenai had already come to these conclusions on her own.

"Hmph, even if it's just a conspiracy theory, I refuse to believe that Sakumo's death had nothing to do with the Hokage at all," Since they weren't in Konoha, and the room only had the four of them, Kurenai didn't care about how rebellious her words sounded.

"I wonder who the Hokage sent to officially negotiate the alliance with Kirigakure? Why haven't they arrived yet?"

Hadn't that female ninja in blue just said that the official envoy would come to verify their identities?

———

"Ahem…", In fact, Hyuga Hiashi had already arrived outside the inn as soon as he got the news.

However, he happened to overhear Yuhi Kurenai discussing topics he 'didn't even dare to touch,' so he stopped outside the door.

'How could the Hokage deliberately cause Sakumo's death?'

'Yuhi Kurenai have at least become a jounin, so why is her thinking so improper?'

'If this continues, what if she leads Hinata astray?'

Hiashi felt a little angry inside, but he also knew that this wasn't the place to discuss such things, since they were in Kirigakure.

So, after signaling to the two Hyuga clan guards beside him not to spread what they had heard, he finally raised his hand and knocked on the door.

Knock! Knock…

But the fact that the Hokage had sent Hinata's Team 8 to act as bait for this mission was really.

It showed a complete disregard for him as the Hyuga Clan Leader.

"Father! Why are you here?", Hearing the knock, Hinata activated her Byakugan and saw the visitor outside. She quickly opened the door.

"Because I am Konoha's envoy for this alliance negotiation with Kirigakure," Hiashi entered the room, glanced briefly at the Uchiha boy standing behind his daughter, then turned to Yuhi Kurenai.

"Miss Kurenai, do you still have what the Hokage entrusted to you?"

Kirigakure hadn't said they were unwilling to ally with Konoha, nor had they agreed.

Most likely, they were unsatisfied with Sarutobi Hiruzen's trade concessions and wanted to extract more benefits.

However, even Hiashi didn't understand why Kirigakure's ninja harbored such animosity toward Konoha.

None of them showed him the slightest courtesy.

The Third Shinobi War had been over for so long…

And Kirigakure had only recently started opening up from its isolationist state, so Konoha shouldn't have had any reason to offend them.

"The Hokage ordered us to secure this alliance as soon as possible, so…"

"You may be Konoha's envoy, but so are we," Yuhi Kurenai wasn't about to hand over the ninja sword and Zabuza's corpse so easily.

One reason was to help cover up Uchiha Kage's loss of Samehada, and another was to express her dissatisfaction with the Hokage.

"If you want us to hand over the items, you'll need the Hokage's direct order," The mission scroll had clearly stated that the items were meant for negotiation with Kirigakure. In every way, Yuhi Kurenai couldn't just hand them over.

"But…", The Hokage was far away in Konoha, and a messenger would take days to travel back and forth. Hiashi was worried that if they delayed too long, Kirigakure might back out of the alliance entirely.

"As ninja, our duty is to complete our missions. Hiashi-sama wouldn't want to see us fail the task assigned to Team 8, would he?"

If they followed the mission instructions, even if the alliance failed, it wouldn't be their fault.

On the other hand, if they handed over the items recklessly, they might end up as scapegoats if something went wrong.

Yuhi Kurenai had only been a jounin for a few years, but she was experienced enough to understand this.

"You…", Hiashi was left speechless. With no alternative, he turned to his daughter, hoping Hinata would persuade her teacher.

But to his growing frustration, Hinata ignored his silent plea and instead positioned herself protectively in front of the Uchiha boy.

As if she was afraid he would cause trouble for the boy…

'Truly, daughters can't be kept at home forever.'

"I will report this to the Hokage as it is."

"Oh? Then I will also report to the Hokage how you allowed Kirigakure to detain us upon arrival."

Threats were a two-way street.

Even though Hiashi was the Hyuga Clan Leader, Yuhi Kurenai wasn't the least bit intimidated.

"I… I will inform Kirigakure's ninja to withdraw their guards outside," Shaking his head, unable to think of a better solution, Hiashi left the room with his guards.

———

"He's just as weak as the former Uchiha Clan Leader…"

Watching as Hyūga Hiashi left the inn and turned to the Kirigakure ninja, explaining something to them with a friendly expression.

Kurenai Yūhi didn't take much pleasure in criticizing this Hyūga clan leader. Instead, she felt that Konoha Village didn't feel like the number one ninja village at all.

"Ah, sorry, Hinata, I didn't mean to target your father," Seeing Hinata standing to the side, seeming like she wanted to say something but hesitated, Kurenai quickly explained.

"It's just that this mission..."

"I don't blame you, sensei. It was Father's fault," Hinata, understanding as always, shook her head.

She was just worried that her father might not treat her teacher and her other two teammates well in the future because of this matter.

"It's the Hokage's fault. Your father is just..."

'Just following orders.'

If anyone was to blame, it was that senile Third Hokage.

"Sensei, your words are too dangerous," Uchiha Kage certainly hoped Kurenai would say more, but on the surface, he still had to put on an act.

After all, he still had to blend into the Anbu when they returned to the village.

"What does a brat like you know about politics? Just shut up and listen to your teacher," Kurenai glared at this disciple of hers, who always talked back to her.

'Hmph, could it be that Kage had been brainwashed by the Third Hokage's Will of Fire?'

Also...

When she tried to take advantage of the moment to pinch her disciple's cheek, he dodged again.

'Damn it, now that I am healed, he won't let me touch him anymore, huh?'

"Yes, sensei," Uchiha Kage dodged his female teacher's pervy hands while looking out the window at the scenery of Kirigakure, "But what should we do next? Just keep waiting here?"

'Should we stir up some trouble?'

'But if we really make the alliance fail, it'll cause problems for us when we get back to the village...'

Uchiha Kage was a bit conflicted.

"Since we're already here, of course, we should take a good look around Kirigakure."

The Kirigakure ninjas outside the inn had already left. Though there were still some lurking in the shadows, Kurenai didn't care.

It's broad daylight—what, were they supposed to just sit inside and rot?

Besides, on missions like this abroad, if they didn't buy some souvenirs to bring back, Anko and the others would definitely roast them for it.

———

"The conditions Konoha offered aren't bad. Why didn't Master Genshi agree?", Being able to establish trade relations with the Land of Fire and Konoha would be an enormous benefit to Kirigakure's debt-ridden financial situation.

And they didn't even have to form a military alliance—this was pure profit with no downsides.

"Let's wait a bit longer. The longer we wait, the more concessions Konoha might offer," Genshi had noticed that Hyūga Hiashi and the others seemed a little anxious.

So, he wasn't in any hurry.

"True. Since they sent so many ninjas over, they must be determined to form an alliance with us."

"Master Genshi, about that new Uchiha ninja in the village. May I go test his strength?"

Just as Genshi and the other elders were wrapping up their discussion, Terumi Mei, who had been acting as a ninja guard, suddenly spoke up.

"Oh? That young man. He's the one you and Ao encountered in the Land of Waves last time?"

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