The Federation delegation received invitations from the three parties at the same time, but the more conservative Shizune chose to meet the Fifth Hokage first - although she heard that he was the one who spoke the least!

However, what she didn't know was that at the same time, one of the twelve guards, a sister, quietly lurked in the forest next to Konoha... found a place where no one was, and waited silently after making a seal.

Not long after, a young ninja with white pupils and a Konoha forehead protector on his head came here with a clear goal.

That's right, the person who came was Hyuga Neji!

And the sister's guard was naturally the cross-dressing boss - Orochimaru.

Because of his father's self-sacrifice, Neji has the highest level of authority in the branch family, the "Caged Bird Curse Seal". Although he is still restricted by all parties, if he actively cooperates with Orochimaru's research, he will not be discovered by Hyuga Hiashi.

After Guan Liyuan obtained the Byakugan of the Todai... that is, the Byakugan of Hyuga Hiashi that was blackmailed by the Hidden Cloud Village, he had a deep talk with Neji and reached a "deal".

The content of the deal is that Hyuga Neji will cooperate with Guan Liyuan and Orochimaru to study the "caged bird curse seal" of the Hyuga family, and Guan Liyuan will help all the Hyuga family members to remove the curse seal - just "help" everyone to remove it, not as a threat. As for how the people of the branch family will choose later, Neji feels that he does not need to be loyal to the main family to the extent of voluntarily becoming a slave.

If other branch families are willing to continue to follow the arrangements of the main family, it is considered that Hyuga Hiashi is a good leader. If they are not willing... it is also the fault of the main family.

Neji subjectively does not want to destroy the Hyuga family, but the "caged bird curse seal" should not exist - this is the consensus reached between him and Guan Liyuan.

Afterwards, Orochimaru imposed a "seal" on Neji. Without unsealing it, he has no memory of this part of cooperation with the Federation, so as to avoid his acting skills being exposed.

Only when Neji goes out on a mission, if there is a chance, Orochimaru will find him to cooperate with some experiments...

And this time Orochimaru directly lifted Neji's memory seal remotely near Konoha, and Neji really came all the way.

"Hello again, young man from the Hyuga clan." Orochimaru said in his original voice, without hiding his identity.

But this time, Neji said with a stern face: "Let's end our deal!"

"Oh? You don't want the 'caged bird seal' to disappear forever?" Orochimaru didn't seem very surprised.

Neji was silent for a while, but finally said: "I do want the caged bird to disappear, but... I won't betray Konoha. Since Konoha wants to go to war with you, I won't cooperate with you again! Of course, you can also choose to expose me, after all, I did cooperate with you."

"Don't forget that it was Konoha that acquiesced to the existence of the caged bird seal." Orochimaru said.

But Neji didn't respond, just remained silent.

Sure enough, Neji didn't want to betray Konoha because of the "caged bird seal", and it couldn't even be considered a betrayal of the Hyuga clan. If there was no "caged bird seal", the main family would not be able to control the Hyuga clan, and even be retaliated, which was also caused by the main family itself.

However, now that Konoha has declared itself an enemy of the Renewal Federation, Neji gave up the cooperation after some hesitation. He felt that if he continued, he might accidentally hurt Konoha.

As a ninja of Konoha, Neji still had a strong sense of belonging to Konoha.

"Well, the Grand Speaker had already anticipated your choice, and just wanted to fight for it one last time..." Orochimaru pretended to be helpless.

Neji instantly became nervous, thinking that the other party wanted to take action...

"Don't worry, our Grand Speaker is still very principled. Since you don't want to cooperate, forget it. There is no need to seal the memory later, and even... The Grand Speaker said that the 'meeting gift' has been given to you. He is just keeping it for you and will not take it back. He will return it to you through the hands of the envoys later." Orochimaru said.

Neji showed some excitement when he heard this. The so-called "meeting gift" was the eye of Hyuga Hizashi, his father, that Guan Liyuan "gave" him. It was dug out by Guan Liyuan from the Cloud Ninja Toshiro!

However, in order to prevent Neji from being unable to explain the origin of the eyes, Guan Liyuan offered to keep them for him.

Originally, Neji had come this time prepared to sacrifice himself, but even so... he did not want to hurt Konoha.

However, he did not expect that the other party would be so frank, not only "parting in peace", but also return his father's eyes to him?

If it was returned to Konoha by the delegation, Neji would naturally not need to explain anything...

"Thank... Thank you! If there is anything in the future that will not harm Konoha or my companions, I will definitely cooperate with you!" Neji was very moved, and he had not yet distinguished the difference between "returning it to you" and "returning it to you".

"The only thing you can do to help the Grand Speaker is the caged bird... Forget it, I won't force you if you don't want to, but if you change your mind, you can find a place where no one is and open this scroll." Orochimaru said as he handed the scroll to Neji.

Orochimaru looked at Neji's back as he left, and couldn't help but mutter: How could there be such a moral person as the Grand Speaker?

Of course, Guan Liyuan answered this question before - I just gave him a chance to see Konoha clearly. I also gave Konoha a chance, didn't I? I am the one walking on the tightrope, right? If they have one tenth of my integrity, I will lose everything...

Why did Orochimaru and Guan Liyuan have such a conversation?

The reason is in the delegation...

When Orochimaru met Neji, Konoha had already broken off the talks with the delegation. After knowing that Tsunade had joined the Renewal Federation and accused Konoha of starting a war without reason, the advisory group and Danzo not only did not feel guilty, but scolded Tsunade in front of Shizune and threatened to declare her a traitor.

Uchiha Itachi felt that what Tsunade said made sense, but now it was difficult for him to stand alone!

Shizune was angry, but she did not forget Tsunade's request... In fact, this was also what Orochimaru asked Tsunade.

He made a final effort, which was to give Konoha a "gift" - yes, it was the Byakugan that changed hands many times! Before, Guan Liyuan specially sent the Byakugan to Orochimaru by "Pidgeot Express".

"This is... the Byakugan of Kumo Ninja Toshiro that was taken away?" Advisor Mitomon En asked immediately after seeing the Byakugan in the container.

They knew about Toshiro's murder before, and now they all know that it was Guan Liyuan who did it!

Shizune's voice froze when she heard this, and then she said angrily: "Toshiro's Byakugan? How can a Kumo Ninja have Byakugan... This is Hyuga Hizashi's Byakugan! The Byakugan that was blackmailed away by your so-called 'allies' back then, His Excellency the Grand Speaker has taken it back, and is willing to return it to you! I hope you can figure out who is the enemy and who can be a friend!"

Mito knew that she had said something wrong, and looked at Hyuga Hiashi awkwardly. As the head of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hiashi was very important in the village and also attended the meeting. What

Tsunade told her before... or rather what Orochimaru told Tsunade was that no matter whether the peace talks were successful or not, the "gift" must be given.

After Shizune left angrily, the high-ranking officials of Konoha looked at the "Baiyan" in front of them, and many of them secretly glanced at Hyuga Hiashi.

The Renewal Federation returning the Byakugan naturally would not be understood by them as "goodwill", but now this Byakugan is very sensitive!

From the source, this has been regarded as a "gift" from Konoha to the Hidden Cloud Village, and the previous attack on Toshiro was done by the common enemy of the two, the "Renewal Federation".

Now that the Federation has returned the Byakugan, can they accept it directly? Once accepted, what will the Hidden Cloud Village think?

Especially since Shizune deliberately emphasized "allies" and "friends", if she really accepted it, would the Hidden Cloud Village regard it as Konoha having allied with the Federation?

You have to know that the Hidden Cloud Village is already somewhat suspicious of Konoha...

What they want to do most is to send the Byakugan back to the Hidden Cloud Village, but what will Hyuga Hiashi think of doing this?

"The Hyuga clan... is the strongest clan in Konoha, and they will also have people standing on the side of Konoha. I feel a little uncomfortable. Let's discuss the future and notify me." Hyuga Hiashi also understood the current embarrassment, sighed, and left his seat.

Hyuga Hiashi's meaning of "putting the overall situation first" is already very clear, and others know what to do even more... Anyway, it was done the same way back then. There was also a corpse sent over with the Byakugan!

However... What made the Konoha high-level depressed was that there is no wall that is impenetrable, and the news of the delegation's gift still spread in the village.

The matter of Hyuga Hiashi at the time made many Konoha ninjas dissatisfied-they would rather fight to the death with the Hidden Cloud Village.

But the Konoha high-level did not allow such irrational things to happen, and still solved the problem in a way of "putting the overall situation first".

After the news of the delegation returning the Byakugan spread in Konoha, many ninjas were still happy and had a better impression of the Federation, especially the Hyuga clan ninjas. At the beginning, many branch families had great opinions about the main family, but with the "caged bird curse seal", these "opinions" could be ignored.

Now the happiest person is naturally Neji...

But... After waiting for a long time, Hizashi's Byakugan was not returned to the Hyuga family for burial, but Konoha decided to "return" the Byakugan for the friendship with the Hidden Cloud Village!

This was the third day of the delegation's visit. After learning the news, Shizune was still sulking for a long time and was ready to return empty-handed. Although it was raining heavily outside, Shizune didn't want to stay for a moment.

In the same heavy rain, Hyuga Hiashi rarely supervised his daughter's firework homework, nor did he pay attention to the affairs of the clan. Instead, he watched the heavy rain under the eaves and drank alone...

Hyuga Hiashi also knew that there was someone more depressed than him, but... As the head of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hiashi believed that his decision was not wrong.

However, the three elders' proposal to "reduce the authority of Ningci's special promotion" was based on the fact that if this happened again, it might affect Ningci's loyalty to the clan... As

a result, Hyuga Hiashi not only did not agree, but also rarely scolded the three elders. Hyuga Hiashi was just considering the overall situation, not being crazy...

And Ningci... Although he originally had resentment towards the Hyuga clan, he did not want to destroy it. In Ningci's view, breaking the "caged bird curse seal" was a "better" result for the Hyuga clan, but it was not good for the main family. As for

Konoha, Ningci's sense of belonging and loyalty were beyond doubt. Even if what happened that year happened, although he could not accept it, he could understand it... At least it was like this before today.

But "loyalty" is not something that can be tested repeatedly.

In the heavy rain, Neci knelt alone in front of the cenotaph he built for his father for an unknown amount of time... and finally opened the scroll Orochimaru gave him.

Just as Guan Liyuan said... he was the one walking the tightrope. Some people had a little bit of integrity, and now he was going to lose everything. However, those with integrity had no say, and the bigwigs with the right to speak were "looking forward" to him making a lot of money, so he couldn't be blamed for being rude!

"Child, it seems that our gift didn't reach you... But don't worry, we will get it back again." Orochimaru's voice sounded behind Neci.

Just when an event that would change the direction of the future Ninja World War was happening in Konoha, Guan Liyuan also had an unexpected gain in the Land of Lightning!

"Hmm? One, two, three... five bloodline limit ninjas? One of them seems to have a very rare eye technique bloodline limit, and... it seems that he is not a cloud ninja? When did the Thunder Country have so many bloodline limits?" Guan Liyuan muttered as he looked at the "thieves group" that was attacking the Thunder Country's official motorcade.

Although the Thunder Country is famous for its martial arts, and the Hidden Cloud Village is also committed to studying ninjutsu from various countries... there shouldn't be bloodlines everywhere!

The five ninjas who seemed to be from the "thieves group" were all bloodline limit owners, and four of them were mixed chakra bloodline limits, and the other one... was a rare physical bloodline limit, and it was a "eye technique" type bloodline limit.

The ninja with the eye technique bloodline limit looks like a "little girl", but Guan Liyuan, who is sensitive to natural energy, found that the natural energy she was stained with was more like that of an adult in her twenties. What

Guan Liyuan was also concerned about was that the reason why the natural energy had a "bloody smell" was that the source was the eye technique power of the "little girl"!

It can be confirmed that these people are not Cloud Ninjas, because the target of their attack is a convoy protected by the Royal Guard Ninjas of the Kingdom of Thunder and the Cloud Ninjas. However, they do not seem to be important people, because the ninjas are not strong and do not have many followers. They are more like a transport team.

"Let's end it... Platform Style: Strong Wind Break!"

A young ninja with blue hair, who is the leader of the thieves, suddenly used a bloodline ninjutsu... According to Guan Liyuan's perception, it should be a chakra mixed bloodline belonging to "wind + thunder", which is the same as Troy's magnetic style of mixed chakra, but the result of the mixture is different. This is a chakra bloodline with a "wind" nature. Under

the strong wind attack, the last few ninjas of the Kingdom of Thunder who were still standing also "fell to the ground" one after another...

"Done! Quick, move all the things away... These damn nobles of the Kingdom of Thunder are really greedy." The blue-haired young man said.

It turned out to be a robbery, and when Guan Liyuan saw what they took away from the convoy, he immediately realized that this should be the tax transport team of the Thunder Country. Half of the "goods" were food, and some were livestock, coins, and... a mess of things, as if they were just robbed.

Guan Liyuan also knew what was going on in this situation, as he had encountered it before in the Thunder Country.

Looking at the food, you can see that most of them are high-yield crops that flowed out of the Federation, but some are ordinary crops!

In the face of the outflow of high-yield crops and chakra cultivation methods, the national policy of the Lightning Country is to execute those who are found to be practicing chakra privately, and directly increase taxes according to the yield of high-yield crops - and the increase is very extreme, so that even if ordinary people plant high-yield crops, the remaining food will not be more than before.

In this way, it is completely ensured that chakra power will not flow into the people, and the Lightning Country officials and the Hidden Cloud Village can enjoy the "dividends" of innovation to the greatest extent.

As the toughest country among the five major countries, this method of handling is very characteristic of them, and the civilians of the Lightning Country did not expect this result.

However, there will be a serious problem, that is, some people did not plant high-yield crops in time, and this round of taxation can only be subsidized by selling their pots and irons, so some messy things will be copied into the "tax"...

"Captain, this... there are a few girls here..." When another ninja opened a section of the carriage, he saw several tied girls stuffed in it, and he was also a little confused.

"Well? Untie them first... Um... Don't worry, I'll send you home in a while, and then I'll return the stolen things to you!" The blue-haired young ninja said righteously. Guan Liyuan, who

was watching from a distance, could probably guess their identities...

Sure enough, the "little girl" among them went over to comfort the young ladies, and patted her chest without any scale and said: "Don't worry, we are the righteous thieves of the Lightning Group, and we will definitely save everyone!"

Guan Liyuan couldn't help but muttered: "Good people are really rewarded, the Lightning Group... I just gave Konoha a big gift, and immediately received a return gift from the Land of Lightning..."