Chapter 175: "Neji, You Betrayed the Hyūga Clan?"
"Father, it was merely a branch family elder who died. There's more than one elder in the Hyūga Branch House. Just because of his death, you have to temporarily go into hiding?"
Inside the Hyūga Clan Compound.
The eldest son of the Main House Elder, Jinsuke Hyūga, was openly complaining to his father, his face full of indignation.
"Back ten or twenty years ago, before this so-called 'Absolute Justice,' why would we ever have to run and hide over something like this?" he grumbled.
"That old coot, Hyūga Kōgari, did what he shouldn't have. Attempting to break the Caged Bird seal is the greatest taboo of the Branch House."
"What's wrong with paying the price for making a grave mistake? Besides, he was just unlucky; his illness flared up."
Next to him, Jinsuke's second son added, "Father, Uchiha Ikeizumi should be reasonable, right? He calls himself a man of justice, and rules are justice. In our Hyūga clan, the family law is naturally justice. Even if he interferes, by the rules, he should stand on our side, shouldn't he?"
Jinsuke rubbed his temples. He spoke to his second son, "You've been managing the Hyūga clan's commerce outside Konoha and only recently returned. You don't understand that Uchiha brat enough."
Jinsuke exhaled a deep, shaky breath, his wrinkled old face showing deep apprehension.
"His Absolute Justice doesn't stand on the side of any local rules. His only allegiance is to his own stance."
"He is an extremist Uchiha who refuses to listen to any counsel. He is utterly arrogant and self-opinionated."
"The most crucial point is..."
"He is also incredibly strong!"
That was the main reason. Uchiha Ikeizumi possessed the power to effortlessly take Jinsuke Hyūga's life, which is why he was listening to Hiashi's advice to lay low.
Even at over eighty years old, with perhaps only a few years left to live, he still didn't want to die prematurely.
Furthermore.
He needed to die of old age, not be murdered by an Uchiha—and potentially even have a 'murderer' label pinned on him before he died.
Punishing a branch house ninja for breaking the family law had become his own fault?
What a joke!
Jinsuke Hyūga could not accept it.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Hyūga compound.
After Homura Mitokado concluded his talk with the branch elders, he found Hiashi Hyūga again. From Hiashi, he learned that Jinsuke Hyūga was about to leave Konoha as a concession to the branch family.
This was also to prevent Uchiha Ikeizumi from getting involved.
After all, the person in question would be gone.
They couldn't possibly target the other innocent members of the Hyūga clan, could they?
"Hiashi, is this how your Hyūga clan intends to handle the situation?" Homura looked deeply at Hiashi. "You must understand this isn't the correct solution. The Hyūga clan is merely running away from reality."
"Advisor Homura, this is the solution that our three Main House Elders jointly agreed upon," Hiashi explained, sitting upright. "While this action will certainly leave many branch members dissatisfied—they will feel the Main House is being perfunctory—if we don't do this, the Main House members will be dissatisfied."
"Jinsuke Hyūga choosing to temporarily leave Konoha is, in essence, choosing to step away from the Hyūga center of power. He is retiring. This is the greatest concession the Main House can make."
Hiashi paused, implying, "Ten or twenty years ago, the Main House conceding to the Branch House would have been unthinkable."
Homura remained silent.
He generally understood Hiashi's meaning: the three Main House elders felt that sacrificing one of their own to retirement was the utmost they could force themselves to concede. If the branch members were still unhappy, they were simply ungrateful.
The only reason the Main House had conceded at all was the pressure of Uchiha Ikeizumi's Absolute Justice looming over the Hyūga clan, forcing them to discuss 'reason' with the branch family.
In the past...
There would have been no need for a discussion.
"Hiashi, I repeat," Homura said earnestly. "Don't let this spiral out of control. It will be bad for everyone."
"Understood."
Hiashi nodded.
...
"Retirement is their greatest concession to the Branch House." Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. "The Hyūga clan's rules are truly filled with decaying and outdated ideology. One might think we've returned to the pre-Konoha era."
Homura, who had returned to the Hokage building at some point, spoke. "Hiruzen, is a warning all we'll give? Are you sure we won't intervene in the Hokage's name?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "We can't intervene."
"The Hyūga clan appears 'milder' and less 'isolationist' than the Uchiha clan. However, their deeply entrenched philosophy is far more rigid than the Uchiha's."
"I was able to cultivate Uchiha like Shisui and Itachi, who sided with Konoha. Konoha could use them to infiltrate the Uchiha clan."
"But..."
Hiruzen continued, "I have never been able to cultivate a Hyūga Main House ninja to infiltrate their ranks. Konoha can only extend its influence to the Branch House, but the Main House is like an iron barrel. We can't break in, no matter what."
"If I could interfere with the Hyūga Main House, I would have used the Hokage's authority to force them to change some of their illogical family rules. But after all these years, the Hyūga clan's rules have never been changed."
In Hiruzen's view, some of the Hyūga clan's rigid rules were implicitly weakening Konoha's strength.
The Caged Bird seal capped the growth potential of many highly talented Hyūga ninja. How many Hyūga Branch House ninja had died on the battlefield due to the Caged Bird's defects?
If he could change it, he would have long since tried to force the Hyūga clan's hand.
Homura changed the subject. "Hiruzen, there's one more thing. Jūzō Biwa, the Kirigakure rogue ninja and Rain ninja envoy, seems to have abandoned the other Rain envoys and left Konoha alone."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall ever meeting him, did I? He just left?"
Homura replied, "I suspect his visit to Konoha had an ulterior motive, not purely to represent the Rain Village in communication with Konoha."
"And considering he was arrested by Uchiha Ikeizumi's subordinates in the Military Police shortly after arriving..."
Homura continued, "Perhaps he was here for Ikeizumi, but we don't know his exact purpose yet."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "I recall Jiraiya was present when Jūzō Biwa was interrogated, correct?"
Homura nodded.
"Hah! Have Jiraiya come here. He should know something."
...
"Little Jiraiya, Uchiha Izumi isn't the Child of Prophecy either."
Standing on Jiraiya's shoulder, Shima gazed at the Uchiha girl, who had just apprehended an abuser nearby. "Though she possesses a relatively correct sense of morality, she seems to lack a conviction of her own."
"Her over-reliance on Uchiha Ikeizumi's Absolute Justice as her nindō makes her seem less like the Child of Prophecy from the Great Elder's dream, and more like a puppet of Absolute Justice."
"Furthermore..."
Shima shook her head. "If this child had only recently adopted the ideology of Absolute Justice, there might be hope. But she has been corrupted by this extreme form of justice for too long. Her admiration for Uchiha Ikeizumi has reached an unparalleled degree."
"In this situation, Little Jiraiya, you probably won't be able to take her as a student, much less teach her how to correctly reform the ninja world."
Fukasaku, standing on Jiraiya's other shoulder, also spoke. "Move on to the next one, Little Jiraiya."
Jiraiya let out a heavy sigh, shifting his gaze away from Uchiha Izumi.
"Next, Uchiha... er..."
When Jiraiya pulled out his list, he paused slightly.
He took out a pen, crossed off 'Uchiha Itachi' on the list, and said, "Next up is Uchiha Sasuke. He's also close to Ikeizumi, and since they are both Uchiha, they might share a blood tie."
...
"Senior Kakashi, should one of us inform Lord Hokage? After all, this incident has happened in the Hyūga clan and now involves Uchiha Ikeizumi. The Hyūga clan is likely going to have trouble today."
Hidden in the shadows, ANBU ninja Ranshīn Yamanaka watched the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki follow Uchiha Ikeizumi toward the Hyūga clan compound. He couldn't help but whisper to Kakashi beside him.
This spot was the best for concealment, which is why Ranshīn and Kakashi were both here.
One was tasked with monitoring the Jinchūriki, and the other was supervising the Jinchūriki.
Kakashi, with his droopy, dead-fish eyes, looked at Ranshīn.
Silence spoke volumes.
Ranshīn Yamanaka: "..."
He immediately realized that as a junior ANBU, he should have volunteered to report to the Hokage, instead of trying to make Senior Kakashi take the arduous trip to the Hokage's office.
"I'll go!"
He instantly Shunshin-ed away.
"The Hyūga clan... the Caged Bird..." Kakashi murmured, watching the retreating figures of Uchiha Ikeizumi, Naruto Uzumaki, and the others. "If I recall correctly, that child, Neji Hyūga, is the son of Hizashi Hyūga from the Branch House, correct? That means he, too, is a child who lost his father young."
"And I remember Hizashi voluntarily died for the Hyūga Main House, but this child mistakenly believes the Main House forced his father to be a scapegoat. He must have drawn a connection to his own life from today's incident, which is why he sought help from Absolute Justice."
Kakashi naturally knew some of the hidden details from back then.
"Hah..."
Lost in thought, his eyes were momentarily clouded with shadow.
....
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