Regarding the mention of Neji's talent, even Kuroto agrees that Neji's talent was evident from his tender age, there is also the mention of him being the most talented Hyuga to have ever existed, not only was the kid able to learn the secret advanced techniques of the main family without any formal guidance; but he, in fact, graduated from the academy at the top of his class and was the first of the Konoha-11 to become a Jonin.

Neji's raw talent and rapid growth despite being self-taught; so deeply impressed the Patriarch that he came to believe that Neji should have been the successor of the Main Branch and would eventually come to surpass all the other Hyuga to ever exist. ​​

And unsurprisingly enough, Neji did surpass all the other Hyuga's to ever exist!

Kuroto understands that such achievements are not easy!

Take him as an example, before he activated the Tenseigan. Back then even if he had the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai, he was still mediocre, when put against the geniuses like Kakashi, even if he could see through the other party's moves, thanks to his Byakugan, but his body just couldn't keep up with the opponent's actions, therefore he was often defeated in a few moves during their academy days.

That's why he understands Hizashi-Sama's unwillingness to accept Neji being bound to the life of service to the Hyuga Main Family when his son is more than capable of greater things.

Looking at the pair of Father and Son, Kuroto worded for both of them to hear, "One's destiny will always remain in their hands, all you have to do is to work your way out to seize it! At least, that's what I believe."

Hizashi was surprised by Kuroto's words and said quietly, "Sigh, maybe you are right, but let's not talk about this anymore."

Kuroto nodded.

After a maid brought out tea for the two, Hizashi asked, "By the way, you came to meet me this time, was there something you specifically wanted to talk about, Kuroto-Kun?"

Taking a sip of the warm tea, Kuroto said, "The fact that Kumo has always expressed great interest in seizing other Kekkei Genkai of Konoha isn't unknown to Hizashi-Sama, this time the Kumo envoys have come to the Konoha Village, I think it would be best if we strengthen the security of the Hyuga Clan grounds."

Hizashi's face was a little doubtful and he asked in confusion, "Why do you believe that such a thing is necessary? Aren't the Kumo envoys here for signing the peace treaty, I don't believe they would be rash enough to take such actions, besides if we do strengthen the security of the Hyuga Clan, it could be taken as a negative message that we don't trust the other party."

Kuroto knows that simple doubt is not enough to convince Hizashi-Sama so he decided to give out some information, "If I am being honest Hizashi-Sama, I doubt whether Kumo is entirely sincere to keep the peace treaty, it was our Team-11, that was responsible for escorting the envoys from the border of the Land of Fire to Konoha, and I have a feeling that their objective is more then just signing the peace treaty, this is clearly indicated with the fact that they didn't even send appropriate people in their team to match the purpose of this task."

Hizashi understood that the matter is not so simple so after a little hesitation he finally nodded, "Alright, if you believe that is the case, then I will arrange extra manpower to strengthen the patrol of the Clan grounds."

"I believe that would be the best choice."

With this out of the way, Kuroto discussed some other topics with Hyuga Hizashi and soon left.

On the way home, Kuroto was thinking about how to effectively deal with the possible kidnapping incident.

He is now more than sure that Kumo's intentions are clearly wrong, so the kidnapping incident is likely to happen.

Even if he didn't consider the Village's or Clan's interest and think from his own stand, Kuroto didn't want the conflict between Konoha and Kumo to escalate any further.

It is simply because once a full-scale war starts, Kuroto's actions will also be highly restricted, and more than likely he would need to go to the battlefield to participate in the war against Kumogakure.

And if this happens, Kuroto wouldn't be able to continue his experiments for his ascension as long as the war continues.

What's more, if the conflict between Konoha and Kumo turns into a full-scale war, the conflict will continue to intensify, and the direction of the events of Shinobi World would become more and more unpredictable, therefore, it is very likely that the fourth Shinobi Great War might also break out much before the original timeline.

And as such, the five great powers whose vitality and strength have seriously depleted would be more powerless in the face of the Akatsuki, each and every event of the Naruto story are co-related to one another, and changing even minor events could lead to such drastic consequences.

Therefore, the approach for solving this incident has to be well thought out, if somehow, any of the Konoha citizens is convicted, then the result would still be the same.

'Sigh, how to solve this trouble?' – thought Kuroto with a troubled sigh.

In fact, the trouble of solving this kidnapping attempt is not that difficult, but the political disputes that might arise could be troublesome, as long as the kidnapper is caught alive, things could be resolved easily.

'Looks like I'll have to keep an eye on them!'

…

In the courtyard where the Kumo envoys are staying at.

Kumo Head ninja stood by the pond in the yard, throwing cereals in the pond to feed the koi carps, when he suddenly whispered in a light voice, "Have you brought it?"

A light whisper came to his ears, "It is dangerous for me to come into contact with you like this!"

Staring at the Koi carps in the pond that flapped their tails carelessly, he spoke, "Don't worry, Konoha wouldn't dare to provoke Kumo so openly, I have checked and confirmed, there is no surveillance at such close proximity!"

After a short silence, the whisper was again heard, "Have you decided?"

"Yes!"

"In that case, you should be aware of the consequences!" – after a short pause, the whisper continued, "No matter whether you succeed in the plan or not, you can't go back alive!"

His face returned to calmness, "Do not question my determination, I am prepared to die!"

"Is that so!?" – the whisper.

He didn't continue talking about it anymore and directly spoke, "Give it to me!"

As he spoke, there was a silence on the other side, then a scroll floated upwards from the pond.

The scroll was picked up by him and hidden in the pants of his Kimono.

Finally, the whisper returned, "I don't think I need to remind you to destroy it after reading the information, make sure that it doesn't fall in the hands of Konoha, otherwise there is a possibility that my identity will be exposed!"

With a solemn face, he nodded and said, "You can provide me with such important information, I am really curious about your true identity!"

"I am just a ghost who hasn't died yet!" – said the voice as it disappeared, the yard returned to silence, while the head ninja continued feeding the koi carps in the pond as if nothing happened.

…

Uchiha Clan Grounds,

Patriarch Uchiha Fugaku quietly sat by the courtyard in a meditative state.

Suddenly a figure appeared before him and reported, "Patriarch, our people are all blocked by the Anbu!"

Uchiha Fugaku's face sank hearing the report.

After the Kumo delegation arrived at Konoha, the people of the Uchiha Clan have made several attempts to contact them, but the Anbu ninja under Hokage have prevented all the attempts without any exception.

The purpose of initiating contact is naturally to inquire and confirm the whereabouts of Uchiha Shinichi.

As one of the two officials Uchiha to have the Mangekyou Sharingan, Shinichi's whereabouts have been a matter of concern for the people of the Uchiha Clan.

Most of the clansmen believe that as long as Shinichi returns to the clan, the Uchiha Clan can seize the position of Hokage without any issues.

After a light sigh to calm himself, Fugaku asked again, "What is the status of the report from the Black-Market Circle?"

The ninja replied, "Since the report that Shinichi was spotted as a part of some bounty-nin organization, there is no follow-up!"

Fugaku nodded and said, "Continue the attempt to make contact with Kumo ninjas, it is unlikely that Shinichi would join some small-time bounty-nin organization, it's most likely a ruse that Kumogakure has used to hide Shinichi!"

"Yes!" – The ninja nodded seriously and then disappeared.

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