Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 402 A Clichéd Story of a Hero Saving the Beauty

"..."

"Why are you speechless?"

Hiashi Hyuga offered a defense to the Hokage: "This was just for the sake of the bigger picture."

Aokiji said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Oh~ that does show a good sense of the big picture. At least someone like me, who doesn't have much of a sense of the big picture, would never do something like handing over one's own people."

"Shut up, stop slandering the Hokage." Hiashi Hyuga said sternly, "I respect you as the head of the Uchiha clan and for your past contributions to the village, but that cannot be used as an excuse for you to continue spouting nonsense."

"Slander? I didn't slander anyone. I was just stating the facts." Aokiji sneered, "The Byakugan has the ability to see through a kilometer, so finding someone is too easy. Besides, this is Konoha Village. Kidnapping a member of the Hyuga clan's main branch from Konoha is as difficult as climbing to the sky, unless you have Kage-level strength."

"But in fact, the person who kidnapped your daughter was killed by you in a flash, before he even had a chance to take off his mask, right?"

"With this kind of trash, I don't think the Hidden Cloud Village would send someone to capture your daughter unless they were out of their minds. It can only be said that the Hidden Cloud Village was probably prepared to make trouble from the beginning. As for who gave them this opportunity, of course someone deliberately leaked this information, which made the Hidden Cloud Village decide to take a gamble. Anyway, no matter how they gamble, they will win, right?"

Hiashi Hyuga: "..."

"Because I was certain you could find this person immediately, and because you're desperate to save your daughter, you won't hold back, that's why I came up with this plan. In this way, there are at least two advantages."

Aokiji held up two fingers: "Firstly, we don't have to worry about the Byakugan falling into other hands. Secondly, we've calculated that the Hyuga clan won't hand you over, but will instead hand over your twin brother. After all, you two look exactly alike. To some extent, you two represent the main family and the branch family respectively. With Hizashi dead, the internal conflicts within the clan, which are already due to historical reasons, will inevitably intensify even further, which is equivalent to weakening your power."

After saying that, Aokiji asked, feigning seriousness, "Do you think my analysis makes sense?"

Aokiji's words were logical and well-founded, and even though Hiashi Hyuga didn't want to believe him, he couldn't find a single reason to refute them: "What about the motive?"

"Isn't the motive obvious?"

"Of course, it threatens the ruling position of the higher-ups. An overly united and powerful Hyuga clan is not what the higher-ups want to see. A Hyuga clan that is neither too weak nor too strong is in the higher-ups' interest."

Aokiji laughed and said, "There's a saying, 'If you have a hammer, everyone looks like a nail and you want to hammer them.' The Hyuga and Uchiha both fit this description."

"Hmph, after saying all that, you just want to sow discord between the Hyuga clan and the higher-ups, don't you?"

"I'm just stating the facts," Aokiji said. "If you observe carefully, you should have noticed that the Hokage position is passed down through a single lineage. To ensure this succession and maintain a firm grip on power, the higher-ups have done a lot of insidious things behind the scenes. Let me give you two examples to show you just how dark our village really is."

Hiashi Hyuga remained silent, wanting to hear what he had to say.

Aokiji reminded him, "You should still remember when the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was kidnapped, right?"

Hiashi Hyuga thought for a moment and nodded.

"Don't you think some aspects are similar? How come it's both our village and Kumogakure? You have to understand, back then, the people who knew Kushina were the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, not like Naruto who was known to everyone. It seems that only a few people knew about her."

"How did Kumogakure know that Kushina was a Jinchūriki and then accurately locate my residence?"

"And what about Kushina, such an important Jinchūriki? Shouldn't she be protected by the Anbu in secret?"

"Even if we were kidnapped, there should be appropriate measures in place."

"As a result, such an important character as a Jinchuriki was kidnapped in Konoha Village without our knowledge. By the time we realized what had happened, the person had disappeared. We searched but found nothing. Is our village a public toilet? People come and go as they please?"

"Normally, if things had come to this point, it would have been fine, but somehow a young upstart like Minato Namikaze found them and miraculously rescued them."

"The reason is quite funny. Apparently, Kushina used her hair to mark her path, and Minato was able to find her by following the hair. Do you know what that means?"

Aokiji's mocking smile piqued Hiashi Hyuga's curiosity: "What does it mean?"

Aokiji's face darkened: "Does that mean all of us Konoha ninjas are just sitting around doing nothing?"

Hiashi Hyuga: ...

Aokiji rubbed his throat. "My throat's a little dry from talking. Is there any tea?"

Hiashi Hyuga: ...

A few minutes later, Aokiji took a sip of tea to moisten his throat: "Your tea is quite good. You Hyuga clan really know how to enjoy life."

Hiashi Hyuga had a gloomy face, which seemed to say, "Stop talking nonsense and get to the point."

Aokiji put down the cup: "Let me analyze the problems inside for you."

"First, whether it's a spontaneous kidnapping or a premeditated kidnapping, and whether it's done professionally or for the sake of convenience, the normal procedure should be to knock the person unconscious, not to stuff a rag in their mouth."

At this point, Aokiji chuckled, "Aren't you curious why I know so much about the scene of the crime?"

Hiashi Hyuga nodded.

"It's simple. If you just knock them out, what ability do you have to pull out your own hair?"

Aokiji was speechless and even swore.

Hiashi Hyuga: ...

Aokiji continued, "And even if the kidnapper was an idiot, and didn't knock him out directly, you should have tied him up with a rope, right? With his hands bound, what ability would he have to pull out his hair? It's not like a middle-aged person starts losing hair."

Although Aokiji's words were rough but reasonable, Hyuga was speechless and couldn't find a single reason to refute them.

"Honestly, I'm really curious about what kind of kidnapping method Kushina used to allow her to still have the ability to pull out her head with her hair while being kidnapped."

At this point, Aokiji said speechlessly, "It's impossible that Kushina's hands and head were facing the same direction, right? Uh, that's possible, otherwise it doesn't make sense. If that's really the case, then I can only say, kidnappers, whatever makes you happy. Are you an actor?"

Hiashi Hyuga: ...

Aokiji let out a breath, utterly speechless, and opened the door for his speechless mother: "Okay, now that we've talked about the unprofessionalism of the kidnappers, let me talk about our side."

"This is equally absurd. Logically speaking, Konoha should have dispatched its most professional search and rescue personnel immediately for such an important matter as the kidnapping of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Others might not have noticed, but the search and rescue personnel would have noticed. Besides, how obvious is the hair of the Uzumaki clan? If the search and rescue personnel can't find the right person, there is only one possibility: all that so-called professional experience has gone to waste."

"Of course, if you say that something as small as a hair is too hard to find, that's normal. Well, that's true. But why is it that Minato Namikaze can find something so small?"

"You know, when a person is moving at high speed, it is impossible for their perception to observe such minute things."

"Unless one's perception reaches the level of the Byakugan and Sharingan, I don't think Minato Namikaze has either of those eyes. So Minato must have stopped somewhere to find the hair, and then consciously ran in the direction the hair fell in order to find Kushina who had been captured."

"So where is this place? I think it should be home. Normally, when someone goes missing, it is normal to go to the victim's home to arrest them. So, Minato Namikaze noticed Kushina's hair when he was searching at Kushina's house. So, here comes another question."

"If that's the case, how come the Konoha rescue team wouldn't notice?"

"I doubt it."

"Then there's only one possibility: to turn a blind eye."

Hiashi Hyuga was taken aback: "Turning a blind eye?"

Aokiji said confidently, "That's right."

Hiashi Hyuga asked, "Why?"

"That's a very intriguing question," Aokiji chuckled. "Judging by the timeline, Minato Namikaze only recently graduated. Considering he was born a commoner, had limited ninjutsu resources, and didn't have a bloodline limit, his strength certainly wouldn't be that great. He's a genius, that's true, but he hasn't fully matured yet, so his strength can't be that high. If he were facing someone his own age, that would be fine, but the problem is that for an important mission like kidnapping a Jinchuriki, the person carrying it out can't be a kid his own age."

"So, the chances of successfully rescuing someone alone are very low. You'd be lucky to survive, let alone save them? What a joke. After all, for an important mission like kidnapping a Jinchuriki, you wouldn't dare attempt it without the strength of a Jonin."

"But the fact is, Minato Namikaze rescued Kushina directly, and she didn't seem to be injured at all."

That's quite intriguing.

Aokiji smiled. "Don't you think it's a bit out of place?"

Hiashi Hyuga: ...

Aokiji said, "Of course, as for whether it's really that incongruous and feasible, I can only say it is, but the probability is extremely low. Putting everything else aside, even the fact that an important person like a Jinchuriki could be kidnapped in his own home is simply unbelievable. Moreover, the kidnapper is also very weak. If that were the case, then Konoha, one of the Five Great Nations, would have no reason to exist. They're so useless that they should just self-destruct to avoid bringing shame to their ancestors."

Hiashi Hyuga: ...

Aokiji said, "Then the result is obvious. There is only one possibility that these things don't seem out of place, and that is that it was a premeditated, self-directed and self-acted performance."

"Self-directed and self-acted?"

"Yes." Aokiji said with some admiration, "To be honest, the higher-ups really dare to come up with this kind of hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress plot."

There's a scene in the original work where the Cloud Village ninjas tied up Kushina and actually made her walk on her own—yes, walk.

Just kidding, this is a kidnapping, a kidnapping, and every second counts.

It gives the impression that he was deliberately waiting for someone to rescue him, as if he was afraid that Minato Namikaze wouldn't arrive in time to stage a hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress scene.

"Hero saves the damsel in distress?"

Hiashi Hyuga's mind is a complete mess. If Aokiji's analysis is true, he really doesn't understand the higher-ups' reasons for doing this.

(End of this chapter)