"Someone who hates the Main House isn't just one person," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, eyes heavy with something between fatigue and regret. "Before, no one dared resist. But now… things are different."
His voice sank.
"If there's one, there will be two. Whether people imitate it—or whether they've already formed connections—finding the mastermind will be extremely difficult."
Danzō's expression darkened.
"Then we can't afford to sacrifice the Main House," he said coldly. "The Branch House can't be won over. For years, we've ignored what they think. You really believe they don't resent us too?"
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened, and his next words landed like ash.
"But… if we lose the Branch House, what value does the Main House have left?"
"..."
For a moment, Danzō had no answer.
Only then did he truly grasp how ugly the Hyuga problem was.
If his suspicion was correct—if the mastermind was Branch House—then any Branch House shinobi who hated the Main House would instinctively try to protect him.
Even a few agitated, hate-fueled shinobi were already a disaster. If more and more Branch House members began to rebel… what would the village do?
Strictly speaking, this was internal conflict within the Hyuga clan.
And when Konoha was founded, it had been declared: the clans governed themselves. Even the Hokage could not freely interfere in a clan's internal affairs.
Even if they forced intervention under the excuse of wartime necessity…
Which side would the village support?
Just as Hiruzen said—without the Branch House, what use was the Main House?
Send them onto the battlefield?
Let them "deliver" Byakugan to the enemy?
"If we keep tiptoeing around, the enemy will only grow bolder," Danzō said, eyes closing. "We need decisive action. Cut the knot."
He exhaled once.
"Leave it to me. You know I have methods for this sort of thing."
Hiruzen puffed at his pipe—tap, tap—and in the end, gave no answer at all.
…
No comrades. No power. A bird that can never fly out of the cage…?
Hyuga Yuuki watched as Hyuga Yuu walked toward the Hyuga Main House's inner district. His fist tightened until the knuckles went pale.
Then he turned away.
The hope of removing the Caged Bird…
He would seize it from the village's hands himself.
…
"Fourth pair."
The next night, Yuu stared down at the Hyuga jōnin he'd dropped with a single blow and strolled forward.
He grabbed the man by the throat and hauled him off the ground.
"Hyuga Yuu!" the jōnin rasped, forced into eye contact. "So it's you—attacking your own clan?"
He bared his teeth.
"With strength far beyond jōnin, yet you won't serve the Main House… shameless traitor!"
Yuu didn't answer.
He simply formed a few hand seals with one hand.
Fūinjutsu—White Prison Cage.
"AAAGH!!!"
The jōnin's scream tore out of him—again and again—but a barrier Yuu had already set swallowed the sound, trapping it so nothing could carry.
Pale Yin chakra—Byakugan ocular power—threaded between their eyes, forming a ribbon-like channel in midair.
The jōnin felt it immediately.
The Byakugan he'd awakened at seven was… receding.
Ocular power drained away, sliding backward as if his eyes were returning to the state before he'd ever opened them.
Panic cracked his face.
"What are you doing?! What is this sealing technique?!"
"If you still have questions," Yuu said lightly, "I'll explain after you're dead."
His own eyes trembled with a hungry pulse.
He raised his now-empty right hand and smiled.
"Thanks for the donation."
His palm came down.
Blood burst outward.
Wh—shh! Wh—shh!
Two ANBU materialized, cutting through the air like thrown blades.
"Hyuga Yuu," one barked. "You killed a comrade. Come with us."
"Heh." Yuu tossed the corpse aside without care. His Byakugan—now tinged a clear sky-blue—looked almost luminous in the night as he stared at them.
"Have you been working with the Hyuga so long you've grown dull?"
He tilted his head, voice almost conversational.
"I have the Byakugan. Of course I noticed you coming."
He spread his hands slightly.
"And yet I still took my time killing him. Doesn't that strike you as strange?"
The two ANBU stiffened behind their masks.
BOOM—!
A third ANBU—wearing a fox mask—crashed down in front of them from a distance, smashing a crater into the ground.
The two immediately pulled back, going shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back—defensive posture, ready to die if they had to.
One shouted at the fox-masked ANBU sprawled in the crater.
"What happened?! Weren't you in position to ambush?!"
The fox-masked ANBU staggered upright and spat blood, breathing ragged.
"It's his accomplice," he rasped. "He has the Byakugan—but he isn't in the Hyuga records."
They were here under the Hokage's orders, investigating the Hyuga killings.
Hiruzen had ultimately refused to let Danzō handle Hyuga affairs—afraid Danzō would exploit this to seize control of the Branch House.
So ANBU had reviewed the dossiers of every Hyuga clansman.
And this ANBU jōnin was certain of one thing:
The Hyuga Yud no monster like this.
"Enemy at seven o'clock," the fox mask warned, voice tight. "Byakugan user. His body has strange cracks—like it's been stitched together. Be careful. His strength… might not be worse than the Hokage's!"
"Not worse than the Hokage?!" the other two snapped. "Are you insane—?!"
But in the next instant…
They understood.
Clack… clack…
Armor plates shifted.
A Hyuga shinobi in Sengoku-era armor stepped into view.
His chakra pressed down like a tangible weight—something you could feel against your skin.
Fear crawled up the spine.
At the same time, Hyuga Yuu walked toward the three of them at an unhurried pace, as if taking a late-night stroll.
"Being locked inside the village," he said, voice almost cheerful, "with watchers everywhere… it's hell for a researcher."
He sighed like he was complaining about bad weather.
"Even finding sacrifices for Edo Tensei gets inconvenient."
"Normally I don't like disturbing the dead," Yuu continued, "but sometimes asking them directly is simply more efficient."
His smile deepened.
"So… I'll have to trouble the three of you to become sacrifices."
As the words fell—
An Eight Trigrams diagram spread beneath the reanimated shinobi's feet.
Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!
His hands moved like lightning.
Before the ANBU could fully react, their chakra pathways were sealed shut—one strike after another, clean and merciless.
The Gentle Fist was used so flawlessly it was almost inhuman.
Yuu watched the scene unfold and spoke as if delivering a lecture.
"Using a Main House corpse as the sacrifice… same kekkei genkai, same bloodline. It allows the reanimation to retain about seventy percent of its original strength."
He nodded, satisfied.
"Of course, if the original wasn't strong, it wouldn't matter."
He looked toward the armored figure.
"Hyuga MeiYuu—Main House clan head of the Sengoku era. In this age, you're strong enough to stand on the level of a Kage."
"Vile Branch House brat!" Hyuga MeiYuu snarled—his will clearly intact. "You developed a technique that defiles the dead. Aren't you afraid you'll never rest in peace either?!"
"Heh." Yuu chuckled, not bothering to credit the Second Hokage for the invention.
"Why are you angry?" he asked, tone mild. "Because you're being controlled?"
MeiYuu's eyes burned. "I'm furious that our clan produced such an unfilial descendant!"
"Those 'gentle' Byakugan eyes don't hide your rage," Yuu said, shaking his head.
He finished applying seals to the immobilized ANBU and stored them inside a scroll.
Then he looked at MeiYuu with a quiet, almost amused pity.
"You're not angry at my 'unfilial' nature."
"You're angry because you are the one being controlled."
"Controlled by a Branch House."
His voice stayed calm, but each word cut deeper.
"Just like the Branch House you used to dominate."
"You can't accept suffering a fate that resembles theirs."
MeiYuu's fury spiked—his chakra flaring, his posture straining like he wanted to tear the world apart.
Yuu smiled as if remembering something pleasant.
"By the way, finding your personal link at the Main House cemetery yesterday went smoothly."
"No obstacles."
"No accidents."
"I only did it for safety at first," he admitted, tilting his head. "To add some combat power."
"But after actually summoning you… it's hard not to feel like this is karma."
He stepped closer, eyes bright and cold.
"In life, you controlled the Branch House."
"In death, you're controlled by the Branch House."
He spread his hands slightly, as if presenting an elegant truth.
"Isn't that… fitting?"