Chapter 186: The Third Hokage: "How Could I Be Evil?"
Konoha Prison.
Hyūga Hiashi never imagined he would one day be wearing a prison uniform. He rubbed the poor-quality fabric of his clothes, then looked at the dark, damp interior of the cell before him.
The faint, lingering smell of mildew made Hiashi sigh deeply.
In truth.
It would be absolutely impossible for a prison like this to hold him.
Hiashi had at least ten ways to escape Konoha Prison.
The problem was, he couldn't bear the consequences of escaping.
The words of several Main House members, before they were locked up, still echoed in Hiashi's mind.
-"Hiashi, you are the Clan Head. Why did you keep acting so hesitant today? Your concessions didn't earn you the Uchiha brat's forgiveness; they only encouraged him to go further and wipe out the entire Main House!"
-"Clan Head Hiashi, we could have threatened the lives of the Branch Family shinobi to force Uchiha Ikeizumi to back off. Why didn't you give that order?"
-"Lord Hiashi, I've been sentenced to nineteen years by that Uchiha lunatic! Nineteen years... I'll be fifty or sixty years old in nineteen years..."
-"Hyūga Hiashi, as the Clan Head, do you have no sense of protecting the Main House members at all? How could we have been so blind as to choose you as our leader?"
-"Heh heh, now that this is over, your two daughters won't have the Caged Bird Seal placed on them, will they? Was that your plan all along?"
"Haa..."
A look of deep shame crossed Hiashi's face. He truly had failed in his duties as Clan Head.
And he truly had failed all the Main House members.
Hiashi couldn't refute any of the words spoken by the emotionally distraught Main House members. He knew he didn't have the right to argue and could only silently bear the weight.
Hyūga Hiashi sat cross-legged on the cold floor.
He fell into a profound silence.
"Hiruzen!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was working overtime on official duties tonight, was interrupted by a furious Koharu Utatane who burst into his office.
Koharu pushed the door open and asked Hiruzen, "How can you indulge Uchiha Ikeizumi to this extent? Even if you want to suppress the Hyūga Main House, you can't use this method, can you? You certainly shouldn't be using his Absolute Justice!"
Koharu took a deep breath, speaking earnestly: "Once you become overly reliant on Uchiha Ikeizumi's Absolute Justice, you'll be influenced by his extreme, black-and-white thinking."
"Have you forgotten the pain his extreme Justice has inflicted on Konoha? I don't understand why you and Homura are doing this."
Having vented her anger, Koharu's aggressive, exasperated demeanor finally softened slightly.
Hiruzen tapped his desk with a fingertip.
With a tired expression, he replied, "Besides Ikeizumi, who else can Konoha rely on now?"
"Furthermore..."
"Even if I hadn't made the best of a bad situation, could I have stopped him by sending people? If I stop him today, what about tomorrow? The day after? The day after that? Sooner or later, I will be too late. Since that is the case, it is better to simply indulge Ikeizumi this once."
Koharu furrowed her brow. "Hiruzen, I just hope you can distinguish between utilization and reliance."
"Don't forget..."
Koharu warned, "Uchiha Ikeizumi's attitude towards you has always been disrespectful. It's possible that in his eyes, you're no different from Danzō or Uchiha Itachi. The only reason he hasn't acted is because you're constantly surrounded by ANBU."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent for a moment. He did not refute Koharu's words.
Because he also felt that Ikeizumi had likely been watching him for a long time.
But, then again.
How could I, the Hokage, be guilty of evil?
"You're overthinking it."
Sarutobi Hiruzen said.
Elsewhere, the Hyūga Clan meeting began.
Just as Neji had suspected, the Branch Family had already fractured into several factions in the short time span of half a day.
Some factions were led by well-respected Branch Family Elders, while others were led by skilled Branch Family Jōnin.
They argued openly in the clan meeting.
Hyūga Neji, kneeling on a cushion, watched as many Branch Family members revealed quite ugly expressions. Neji found these faces familiar; they were just like the faces of some of the arrogant Main House shinobi.
Watching the farce unfold before him, Neji felt deeply disappointed.
He quietly stood up. In a room where everyone was kneeling, his action drew considerable attention.
He successfully attracted the gaze of the Branch Family members.
One Elder, who had just been arguing heatedly with someone else, forced a smile toward Neji: "Neji, you are the great hero of the Hyūga Clan today. You..."
But before he could finish his sentence.
Hyūga Neji, his small face set in an icy expression, cut him off directly.
"What you want is not Justice."
"What you want is the power of the Main House."
Neji's young voice was strikingly clear in the meeting hall.
"Justice will be watching you."
"Beware of yourselves!"
He walked out immediately, making no effort to hide the disappointment on his face.
He completely disregarded the shocked expressions of the other Branch Family shinobi.
......................
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