I Am Uzumaki Menma

With Shura's departure, the mist that had enveloped the Hyuga Clan's compound gradually dissipated, leaving behind a scene of devastation.

The destruction caused by Choza's battle with the enemy's summoned creatures was mainly concentrated around the main family's assembly hall. Fortunately, the damage was not too severe.

"Notify the Medical Division immediately to treat the injured." After confirming that the enemy had really left, Hiruzen dismissed Enma's summon and gave orders to the Anbu's Ninjas.

"Yes!" Several Anbu's Ninjas vanished in an instant.

While Hiruzen directed the Konoha's Ninjas in cleaning up the battlefield, Hiashi approached the elders of the Hyuga Clan's main family.

These elders had watched Hiashi grow up, and though they often gave him a hard time, they were still his kin. Now, seeing the four main family's elders groaning in pain on the ground, Hiashi, as the clan's head, was filled with guilt and self-reproach.

"Are you all right?" Hiashi then turned to his wife and daughter.

Under the protection of the branch family guards and the main family's elders, they were unharmed. Even the young Hinata was chewing on something, her white eyes eyes curiously scanning the surroundings, even showing a hint of disdain toward the main family's elders.

"We're fine, thanks to Hizashi and the elders' protection." Hiashi's wife replied, holding Hinata while glancing worriedly at Hizashi, who remained unconscious in the corner.

As Hiruzen's orders were relayed, more Konoha's Ninjas arrived at the Hyuga Clan's compound.

Though Hiashi considered this incident the greatest disgrace the Hyuga Clan had suffered in centuries, with so many injured, including four main family's elders and branch family's head Hizashi, keeping it under wraps was impossible.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen also took into consideration the Hyuga Clan's reputation, so he only summoned Special Jonin and above to contain the information.

Soon, the Ninjas from Konoha's Medical Division arrived at the scene. They immediately sent Hizashi, the main family's elders, and other injured Hyuga Clan's members to the hospital.

"Hokage-sama!" Shikaku approached Hiruzen, who was discussing the attack with Hiashi, and reported, "The Medical Division has taken in all the injured. The good news is there were no fatalities, but thirty-seven were wounded, thirty of them Hyuga Clan's members. Among them, the four elders are the most severely injured."

Upon hearing this, Hiashi's face darkened, his brows furrowing tightly.

Hiruzen reassured him, "At least there were no deaths. That in itself is a relief."

Compared to the heavy casualties of the Nine-Tails attack years ago, Shura's two appearances in the village, both in the Hyuga Clan's compound, had resulted in no deaths and limited injuries, which somewhat eased Hiruzen's burden as the leader. Otherwise, Danzo would surely have seized the opportunity to criticize him.

"But the Hyuga Clan has lost four pairs of Byakugan-"

Hiashi gritted his teeth, his expression terrifyingly grim.

These stolen eyes belonged to the pure Byakugan of the main family, unlike the branch family's eyes, which were sealed by the Caged Bird Cursed Seal and would self-destruct upon removal.

He recalled the most brutal period of the Third Shinobi World War, when Kirigakure's Ao had stolen a Byakugan from a main family's heir, marking the Hyuga Clan's greatest humiliation in nearly a century!

Originally, the main family's elders had planned to issue a 30 million bounty through the black market to destroy Ao's stolen eye.

However, Hiashi believed such a bounty would only set a price on the Byakugan, sending the wrong message to hostile forces, so he vetoed the elders' proposal.

But now, four main-family elders had their Byakugan stolen right from the heart of the heavily guarded Hyuga Clan's compound-

What a shame and humiliation this is!

Hiruzen glanced at the ruined assembly hall, recalling Shura's mention of 'Hamura's gift' in both the notice and the battle just now.

What's more surprising is that when Hiashi just arrived to provide support, he couldn't see Shura with his Byakugan.

"It seems the enemy has deep ties to your Hyuga Clan, along with an ability to block the Byakugan. Does your clan have any long-standing rival clans?" Hiruzen's suspicion was not without reason.

For example, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan have always been mortal enemies since the Warring States Period.

Hiashi also recalled the bizarre scene from earlier and said solemnly, "I've already questioned our clansmen. After the enemy used a technique similar to the Hiding in the Mist Technique, hundreds of phantom illusions appeared. In the Byakugan's vision, these illusions possessed complete Chakra Pathways, severely disrupting our sight."

"But when we actually attacked those illusions, we found they were nothing more than ordinary phantoms… not even possessing the offensive capabilities of shadow clones."

"And then there's Shura's method of concealment when he appeared in the meeting hall-" At this point, Hiashi sighed and shook his head: "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of such a thing-"

"Clan head..." Before Hiashi could finish speaking, a main family's elder, whose eyes wrapped in bandages and supported by a relative, approached him.

"I once heard my grandfather mention... the Hyuga Clan's ancient enemy… the Red-Eyed Clan."

Hiashi and Hiruzen immediately turned their attention to the elder.

"That was a very, very long time ago." He began slowly, "Our Hyuga Clan's former enemy, the Red-Eyed Clan, has long since vanished into history. Calculating the time, it must have been over two hundred years ago."

"Two hundred years?!" Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Countless Ninja Clans had perished during the Warring States Period. Those that survived to the present either had once-glorious ancestors or, like the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance, relied on unbreakable bonds.

However, Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai were indeed quite rare.

Currently, the most famous Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai in the Ninja World were the Byakugan and the Sharingan.

"What was the surname of this Red-Eyed Clan? And what special abilities did they possess?" Though Hiruzen was known as the [Professor] for his mastery of Ninjutsu, his knowledge of history from over a century before the village's founding was limited.

The Hyuga Clan's elder shook his head, "The clan's historical records might contain some information about the Red-Eyed Clan, but I have nearly forgotten the stories my grandfather once told. I only vaguely remember that the Red-Eyed Clan's Dojutsu was once the natural counter to our Byakugan."

"Natural counter... to the Byakugan…" Hiashi's pupils contracted slightly.

As the clan's head, he had never been aware of this history.

"Most likely, because this clan was wiped out over two hundred years ago, so it's no longer mentioned within our clan." The elder explained.