Chapter 44: Annihilating the Cloud Envoys! A Death as Dazzling as Fireworks!  

The one who arrived was none other than Uchiha Yoru. 

For a moment, the entire room froze in shock. 

Sarutobi Hiruzen trembled, as if his worst fear had just materialized before his eyes. 

"Yoru! You—!" 

Even Uchiha Shisui stiffened. 

This matter concerned the Hyūga clan, Konoha, and Kumogakure—it had nothing to do with Yoru! Why would he jump into the fray at such a critical moment?! 

What the hell is this man thinking?! 

The other clan leaders were equally stunned, but a complicated mix of emotions soon stirred within them. 

On one hand, they didn't want war between Konoha and Kumo to reignite. 

But on the other… 

If the village was willing to sacrifice the Hyūga today, whose clan would be next tomorrow? 

The answer was obvious. 

"The stick doesn't hurt until it hits your own back." 

Today's Hyūga would be their own future. 

And so, against all logic, a strange thrill surged through them. They found themselves eagerly anticipating what Uchiha Yoru—this man who feared nothing—would do next. How far would he shake the foundations of this rotten system? 

But the most shocked of all were Hyūga Hiashi and Hyūga Hizashi. 

"Y-You… Uchiha Yoru?!" 

Hizashi, his wrist locked in an iron grip, struggled desperately. But no matter how hard he strained, the kunai hovering a hair's breadth from his heart refused to move an inch further. 

From a distance, Hiashi nearly cried out, barely stopping himself by clapping a hand over his mouth. 

"Uchiha… Yoru…" 

What is that man planning?! 

Don't tell me… 

Is he really about to defy the Hokage—no, defy Sarutobi Hiruzen himself? Even if it means reigniting war between Konoha and Kumo?! 

Yet despite his disbelief, a deep shame welled up inside Hiashi. 

Here was a man with no ties to the Hyūga, willing to go this far for what he believed was right. And what had he, the clan head, done? What kind of elder brother was he?! 

Bowing his head in self-loathing, Hiashi suddenly snapped it back up, eyes locked on the unfolding chaos. 

The Kumo envoys, meanwhile, were livid. 

"Hokage-sama, what is the meaning of this?!" 

"First, you agree to hand over the murderer, and now you send one of your own to interfere?!" 

"Is this Konoha's idea of honor?!" 

"If you can't even keep a simple promise, how can we trust your ceasefire to be worth anything?!" 

Hiruzen's face drained of color. 

"N-No, that's not—" 

"Uchiha Yoru! What are you doing?! Release Hizashi at once!" 

Yoru didn't even bother looking at him. 

"Release him? So he can walk to his death like a lamb to slaughter?" 

Hiruzen roared, "It's a sacrifice for the village! For peace! That is a shinobi's duty—a clan's pride! A hero's end!" 

Yoru shook his head coldly. 

"A village that demands its shinobi die for nothing…" 

"…doesn't deserve a single life." 

"This decision—" 

"—I reject." 

Hiruzen's fury exploded. "Who gave you the right to speak like this?!" 

Yoru's voice was calm. "I am the captain of the Konoha Military Police Force." 

"That's my right." 

With a flick of his wrist, he wrenched the kunai from Hizashi's grip— 

Then— 

Zzt! 

Vrrrm—! 

Lightning Release Ninjutsu: False Darkness Blade! 

"W-What are you—?!" 

"Stop him!!" 

Hiruzen's eyes bulged. He lunged forward, ready to intervene— 

But it was too late. 

Not just the kunai—Yoru's entire body erupted in a storm of crackling lightning, wild and untamed, like a tempest given form! 

"That… That's—!" 

Every shinobi from Konoha and Kumo stood frozen, utterly stunned. 

And in the next instant— 

A flash. Faster than the eye could follow. 

Like true Shunshin no Jutsu, Yoru weaved through the Kumo envoys in a blur of lethal precision. 

"N-No way…" 

"That's the Raikage's—!" 

Thk! 

Thk-thk-thk! 

The lightning moved like a dragon—no, something far more vicious. 

Swift as a shooting star—no, far more ruthless. 

In less than a breath, it was over. 

Yoru's kunai—no, his False Darkness Blade—had claimed the lives of all thirteen Kumo envoys. 

Then, as suddenly as he'd struck, he returned to his original position. 

For a heartbeat, the Kumo shinobi didn't even realize they were dead. 

They only felt numbness, a strange mix of searing heat and icy cold where the blade had pierced them. 

The deputy leader managed to croak out one last question. 

"H-How… How can an Uchiha…" 

*"…use the Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode…?"* 

"This… can't… be…" 

BOOM. 

Before he could finish, the lightning embedded in his throat detonated, obliterating his skull and chest in a spray of gore. 

And then— 

Like fireworks. 

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. 

One after another, the remaining envoys erupted in bursts of crimson and electricity, their heads torn from their bodies in a macabre, almost beautiful display. 

But as the lightning faded and the blood settled, all that remained were headless corpses crumpling to the ground like discarded puppets. 

Silence. 

Absolute, suffocating silence. 

Every Konoha elder, every "important" figure, stood dumbfounded, unable to process what had just happened. 

Hizashi, standing mere inches away, felt his heart hammering against his ribs. 

"H-He actually did it…" 

"No hesitation. No mercy." 

"He slaughtered the entire Kumo envoy team—right in front of the Hokage!" 

"Just… who is this man?!" 

Hiashi, meanwhile, felt something he hadn't in years—liberation. 

"Good." 

"Good!!" 

"This… This is justice!" 

Tears welled in his eyes as he stared at the slaughtered Kumo shinobi. The suffocating despair that had crushed him for so long finally shattered. 

That man— 

Uchiha Yoru— 

He had done what Hiashi never dared. What he'd never even dreamed of doing. 

This… is what true strength looks like. 

The other clans, though horrified, couldn't deny the twisted satisfaction coursing through them. 

From the moment these negotiations began, they'd watched their Hokage bow and scrape before Kumo, surrendering rights and dignity at every turn. 

They'd watched the Hyūga—the victims—be forced to offer up a life to appease their attackers. 

And now, in a single instant, that humiliation had been avenged. 

Only Hiruzen saw it differently. 

To him, this was hell. 

"UCHIHA Yoru!" 

"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" 

"YOU'VE DESTROYED EVERY EFFORT FOR PEACE!" 

"YOU'VE ENSURED WAR BETWEEN KONOHA AND KUMO!" 

"DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT THE BLOOD THAT WILL BE SPILLED?!" 

Yoru didn't turn around. 

"All I know is this: Evil dies when it's met with steel." 

"And as long as I live, I'll cut down every last one of them—until the world learns that cruelty has a price." 

Hiruzen could only stare, hollow-eyed. 

Ding! 

[You have slain thirteen Kumo envoys, sparing them from Hizashi's deception and the Raikage's punishment. Good deed! +900 Virtue Points.]