Chapter 206: My Target Was Never Neji—It's Itachi!
This series of combination punches immediately stunned this group of country bumpkins who'd never seen the world.
Even the mighty Hokage had bowed and apologized to them—what more could they do?
Should they really demand Lord Hokage abdicate?
They couldn't be that disrespectful, could they?
Moreover, the Main House had already yielded, promising never again to misuse the Caged Bird seal to bully the Branch House. Wasn't that exactly what their rebellion aimed to achieve?
Even the steps down for the rebellious Branch House had been built—why weren't they quickly taking advantage to descend? What were they still hesitating for?
Under numerous expectant gazes, quite a few among the rebellious Branch House began wavering.
The Hokage title truly ran deep in people's hearts. Even knowing the village and Main House had colluded, many still wanted to believe Lord Hokage's promises.
Fortunately, they maintained some discipline and didn't speak out of turn. Instead, they all turned their gazes toward their leader, Hyuga Neji, waiting for him to make the decision.
Yasushi and Zetsu watching from a distance naturally saw all this as well. Zetsu said with a grin:
"Yasushi, looks like Konoha Village has safely weathered another crisis!"
"Your plan has failed!"
"So, are you going to act?"
"The stage you wanted is set, the audience is in place. It's time for you to make your entrance."
"Don't rush." Yasushi leisurely shook his head, continuing to watch with a smile. "When killing someone, you must destroy their heart. Simple physical destruction no longer satisfies me."
"I've transcended such base pleasures now."
"Compared to watching people die without burial, I much prefer watching people's mental collapse, their regret driving them insane."
"Like Obito?" Zetsu's expression turned strange. "You're not planning to play some new tricks, are you? I'm telling you—Obito still has use to me. You can't continue toying with him!"
"No, no, no—Obito is finished." Yasushi said dismissively. "A madman can't feel pain. There's no fun continuing to play with him."
"I have a new target now."
"Hyuga Neji?"
"No, no, no—my target has never been Hyuga Neji."
"It's Itachi!"
"But for now, let's give Neji a chance and see if he can grasp it."
"What are you scheming?"
This time Yasushi didn't answer, only watching the distance with a smile, waiting for Neji to make his choice.
Neji himself felt somewhat wavering at this moment.
Though he and his companions had long been prepared to trade their lives for freedom, wouldn't it be better if they could resolve things peacefully?
He hesitated before finally asking: "Then what about the Branch House's Caged Bird seal?"
"Will Branch House children in the future still have to continue receiving the Caged Bird seal?"
"This..." Hiruzen's brow furrowed as his gaze shifted toward the Hyuga Main House.
For him personally, whether Main House or Branch House, they were all his subordinates. Whether or not this seal existed didn't matter to him.
Though the probability of Byakugan leaking out might increase significantly, compared to future hidden dangers, he focused more on the present.
However, he knew the Main House's attitude on this matter—they definitely wouldn't agree.
Sure enough, when this issue came up, those Main House members' expressions turned extremely ugly.
If all the previous conditions were vague content that could be realized through workarounds, whether or not to inscribe the Caged Bird seal was extremely specific.
Inscribe meant inscribe, not inscribe meant not inscribe—there was no room for ambiguity or maneuvering.
Moreover, promises made before so many village members would make it extremely difficult for them to renege later.
Once they reneged, not only would the currently rebellious Branch House members become furious—even the Branch House members who currently trusted them would lose faith.
"This... we're just ordinary Main House members. The Caged Bird seal is the clan's ancestral teaching from hundreds of years. How can we casually abolish it?"
"Even if we were to abolish it, it must be decided by the Clan Leader!"
At this mention of the clan leader, everyone suddenly remembered their acting clan leader, Lady Hinata. Rushing to find her, they discovered Hinata kneeling before the memorial ceremony platform, tears streaming down her face, silent and motionless.
At such a young age, she couldn't understand at all why clan members had to kill each other.
When everyone was fighting earlier, she'd initially called out from behind, trying to stop the bloodshed between clan members, but absolutely no one listened to her.
After feeling her own powerlessness, Hinata's spirit broke. She simply knelt there silently weeping, not resisting, accepting whatever fate awaited.
All Main House members had guards, but the clan leader's guards had all died when Hiashi was captured. The current guards were arranged by the clan later—essentially other people's confidants.
They could serve adequately as guards normally, but when true danger arrived, these guards' first priority for protection would always be the Main House member they served.
When those Main House members retreated, all guards stayed close to protect their own masters. No one remembered this orphaned little girl, simply abandoning her there.
But the Branch House weren't murderers—no one would randomly attack a child. Seeing she wasn't resisting, they ignored her instead, preferring to leave her for others to kill while they themselves went to hunt adult Main House members.
Everyone thought this way, ironically allowing her to survive.
Hiruzen quickly went over, bringing Hinata forward as he asked seriously:
"Hinata, I'm asking you—are you willing to end the Hyuga clan tradition of Branch House members having to receive the Caged Bird seal?"
"Um..." Though Hinata's body still trembled, she gathered her courage and asked softly: "If—if this tradition ends, will everyone stop fighting?"
"Exactly!" Hiruzen looked at Hinata with encouraging eyes. "As long as you nod and completely end this tradition, the Branch House naturally won't continue killing Main House members."
"Then..." Hinata's eyes lit up. Just as she was about to nod in agreement, she was immediately interrupted by a Main House member.
"Wait!" That Main House member shouted loudly: "The current clan leader is Lord Hiashi—we need his approval!"
"Moreover, though Lady Hinata is the Main House heir, her personality is too weak. She's not a suitable clan leader candidate. The Main House has long wanted to replace her with Second Miss Hanabi."
"Furthermore, she lost the Tenseigan—an unforgivable sin. She should rightfully be stripped of her position as Main House heir."
"This matter should wait until Lord Hiashi returns, then let him announce it!"
These Main House members had assumed Hinata died in the chaos, casually using her as an excuse to stall for time by claiming no clan leader existed, planning to decide after selecting a new clan leader later.
Who knew Hinata's life was so resilient that she survived such chaos—completely ruining their scheming.
Seeing Hinata about to abolish the Caged Bird system under Hiruzen's guidance, all the Main House members grew unhappy. Regardless of anything else, they quickly interrupted to strip Hinata of her position, throwing all responsibility onto the missing Hyuga Hiashi.
After this interruption, the little courage Hinata had mustered immediately deflated. Like a frightened quail, she shrank her head back against her chest.
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