Early the following day, during his training, Hyuga Kyo heard rumours that the clan leader had been attacked. This confirmed that the tissue sample Orochimaru had sent the previous day was indeed from Hyuga Hiashi.
Although he had speculated this, the fact that Orochimaru could easily harm the Hyuga clan’s most vital member, even if it was a sneak attack, left Hyuga Kyo somewhat disappointed.
From his own experience, Hyuga Kyo knew that for a member of the Hyuga clan to reach the level of the legendary Sannin through conventional training was challenging.
Especially since Hyuga Kyo was clearly in the mediocre category, as indicated by the number of activated particular gene sequences he possessed.
Typically, an ordinary Hyuga clan member had about 20 of the 33 particular gene sequences in an active state. Exceptional members like Hyuga Hiashi could have up to 28 active sequences, while Hyuga Kyo only had 17, significantly below the clan average.
If things continued as they were, becoming a Special Jonin might be the peak of Hyuga Kyo’s life.
Details about Hyuga Hiashi’s attack were kept highly confidential by the prominent family.
Hyuga Kyo speculated that during the attack, Hyuga Hiashi must have recognised Orochimaru’s identity. Orochimaru, being a disciple of the Third Hokage and one of the legendary Sannin, held a sensitive and high-ranking position. The prominent family had likely not reached a consensus on how to handle such a delicate matter, hence their silence.
“Orochimaru dared to attack the clan leader, clearly unafraid of exposing his identity. This supports my suspicion that Orochimaru has already completed his preparations for defection and could act at any moment.”
After a brief consideration, Hyuga Kyo became even more confident that Orochimaru’s defection was imminent.
Orochimaru’s defection had both advantages and disadvantages for Hyuga Kyo. The advantage was the removal of significant pressure on him, while the disadvantage was the loss of a protector.
“Besides Orochimaru, everyone else who knew about my involvement in human experiments died in the war. As long as nothing happens to Orochimaru, the village shouldn’t trace anything back to me.”
The others who had defected to Orochimaru around the same time as Hyuga Kyo had all died in the war. After transferring to the rear, due to the uniqueness of the Byakugan, Hyuga Kyo conducted experiments in an independent lab. Thus, he had no interactions with other experimenters under Orochimaru. Only Orochimaru himself knew about the projects Hyuga Kyo was responsible for.
After mentally reviewing all potential risks, Hyuga Kyo continued his morning training calmly as if nothing had happened.
In the following days, the village remained calm until the third night, when an ANBU member wearing a fox mask suddenly appeared in Hyuga Kyo’s home and took him to a temporary ANBU base.
The base was located in the northwest corner of the village, large and heavily guarded. Hyuga Kyo noticed at least seven or eight ANBU squads patrolling.
Once inside a small room, Hyuga Kyo frowned slightly.
The room was small and unfurnished, with sturdy iron bars outside the door and an ANBU guard stationed outside. This setup resembled a temporary prison more than a base.
Undoubtedly, this indicated that Orochimaru had officially defected, likely today or even tonight, judging by the ANBU’s significant mobilisation.
Using his Byakugan, Hyuga Kyo calmly observed everything in the temporary prison.
He wasn’t the first ninja to be brought in, nor the last. Many other ninjas were continually being brought in after him.
All the detained ninjas were Orochimaru’s subordinates, numbering in the hundreds, including several well-known elite Jonin from the village.
This wasn’t surprising, as Orochimaru had commanded multiple units during the war. Over the years, it wasn’t unusual for him to have hundreds of former subordinates. In a village with tens of thousands of ninjas mobilised for war, having a few hundred subordinates was to be expected. If Orochimaru hadn’t had that many, he wouldn’t have been a contender for the Hokage position against the Fourth Hokage.
The presence of hundreds of detainees and an equal number of guards made the temporary prison quite noisy.
Only some people, like Hyuga Kyo, understood the situation. Many of Orochimaru’s former subordinates were unaware of his defection and were, therefore, highly dissatisfied and resentful about their sudden detention.
The noise gradually subsided when the Third Hokage appeared.
Although the Fourth Hokage had just taken office, many village affairs were still managed by the Third Hokage. Many ninjas habitually regarded the Third Hokage as their leader.
Under the Third Hokage’s supervision, the screening process quickly began.
The elite Jonin were the first to be examined, while Chunin, like Hyuga Kyo, promoted during the war, were lower on the priority list.
Three days passed.
Hyuga Kyo, aware of his status as a wartime Chunin with the strength of a senior Genin, knew he would be given little attention.
However, after being detained for three days without any questioning, his frustration began to build.
The village’s screening process was undoubtedly challenging. Many detainees refused to believe that one of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, would defect and were uncooperative.
There was also a division among the village leadership about whether to use torture.
Simple questioning made it challenging to determine who had participated in Orochimaru’s human experiments and who might be his spies. The detainees were seasoned warriors, having undergone rigorous anti-interrogation training and survived a war. They weren’t naïve rookies.
Yet, using torture on hundreds of recently honoured war heroes wasn’t a wise decision.
On the fifth day of Hyuga Kyo’s detention, Danzo visited the temporary prison.
Danzo spoke with the detained Jonin, and whatever was discussed, he left with most of them.
“They’ve been persuaded by Danzo to join Root!”
It took little thought for Hyuga Kyo to figure out the outcome.
Without torture to weed out the guilty, these detained Jonin were the most significant potential threat in the village. Allowing Danzo to recruit them into Root became the only solution.
These Jonins likely realised their precarious position in the village. As former subordinates of Orochimaru, they had little chance of being accepted by the Fourth Hokage. Given the Fourth’s youth, he might rule for decades, making it crucial for them to find a protector. Joining Root, independent of the Fourth Hokage, became their best option.
In the following days, Root agents also invited Hyuga Kyo to join, but he politely declined. To him, even defecting seemed preferable to joining Root, a group known for its dirty work and precarious existence.
Fortunately, the Root agents didn’t press him and left amicably.
Since the village had allowed Danzo to recruit so many Jonin, they would only let him extend his reach so far into the Chunin ranks. Root’s recruitment of the detained Chunin seemed more like a formality, which gave Hyuga Kyo the confidence to refuse.
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