The chicken was Hizashi Hyuga. The monkeys were the rest of them, the great clans. Sometimes hands can reach out, but if they reach too far, they will be cut.
"..." Hizashi Hyuga lowered his head. Resentful anger showed in his eyes as his voice trembled. "I apologize."
"Apology accepted, Senior Jianwu." Yunchuan Hyuga nodded lightly. "I hope you understand that even members of the Hyuga Clan are not limited to growing strong through Byakugan and Gentle Fist."
Hearing this and recalling what Yunchuan Hyuga had just revealed, the looks people gave Hizashi Hyuga became strange. The traditionally closed and conservative Hyuga Clan had actually forced out a Ninjutsu genius, and even driven him to turn away and act on his own.
That was truly something.
"Alright, it is just a small conflict. Do not make it so serious."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and let the matter pass, then looked at the others present with a serious expression. "Back to the main issue. Regarding the proposal I just made, what are your views?"
Views?
Hizashi Hyuga was almost furious, yet he still did not dare say a single word. The example was right there, so what views could they possibly have, and what views would they dare to express?
But war was not a game. War meant people would die, and if ninja were drawn from the clans, those who died would be their relatives, friends, brothers, sisters, and lovers.
The meeting room fell into perfect silence, so quiet that people could hear their own breathing and even the rapid beating of their hearts. At last, a Jonin of civilian origin spoke up and stated that he was willing to follow the orders of the Third Hokage.
"This matter also carries fault on the side of our Hyuga Clan."
Hizashi Hyuga finally spoke, his voice low and steady. "I formally represent the members of the Hyuga Clan and state that we are willing to follow the orders of the Third Hokage."
Beside him, Hizashi Hyuga opened his mouth but in the end could not say anything. This meant that the authority to mobilize clan ninja had been completely handed over to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Very good!" Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with satisfaction, his tone warm with approval. "The Hyuga Clan truly lives up to being one of the Konoha Great Clans. You clearly keep the safety of Konoha in your hearts."
When he heard the words Konoha Great Clans, Fugaku Uchiha's face twitched. No matter how poor his political sense was, he could tell that this was a pointed reminder aimed at the Uchiha Clan, and he could only agree, just like the Hyuga Clan.
In the crowd, Shikaku Nara sighed inwardly, then spoke at the same time as Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi. They said respectfully, "The Ino-Shika-Cho feels the same."
With the Hyuga Clan and the three clans of the Ino-Shika-Cho having declared their stance, the other ninja clans could only pretend to agree willingly, even if they felt reluctant. In the end, they began to rush to show their loyalty.
Yunchuan Hyuga watched this display of arrogance turning into submission, and his mood was unusually calm, even faintly amused. Was he himself some loyal hound of Konoha? No, of course not.
People were unfortunate because they lived in a base world, troubled by baseness until even their own words and actions had to become base. Yunchuan Hyuga agreed to act as the one to step forward not because he held any belief in self sacrifice for Konoha.
It was because, in his view, the ninja clans of today were no longer the same clans that once held absolute power during the founding of Konoha. This was also why he admired Tobirama Senju even more than Hashirama Senju.
Tobirama Senju's wisdom and talent were not only shown in his ability to develop Ninjutsu, but in political insight and strategic vision that surpassed his elder brother Hashirama Senju. From establishing the Ninja Academy and the Chunin Exams to cultivate talent from civilians, to openly teaching the Ninjutsu he developed, leaving other clans with stolen techniques unable to complain, to creating the ANBU and the Konoha Police Force to greatly strengthen the central authority of the Hokage.
He even guided the Senju Clan to abandon the honor and surname of Senju and marry civilians. This move greatly improved the average potential of ninja of civilian origin and, in a real sense, turned the clan into nourishment that sank into the soil to feed the great tree of Konoha.
Tobirama Senju truly stepped beyond the narrow view of any single clan and led by example. His reforms shaped the entire Senju Clan and even today's Konoha, standing in sharp contrast to the seemingly broad minded but actually arrogant and extreme path of Uchiha Itachi.
In fact, even without the so called righteous act of killing his own kin by Uchiha Itachi, the Uchiha Clan never had the ability to overturn the faction of the Hokage. The clans had long since been cut down to half strength by Tobirama Senju, unless the Uchiha Clan united all clans together.
Would the Uchiha Clan unite the other clans? Could the Uchiha Clan unite them? The answer was no, and also no.
The Uchiha Clan could not bend, and the other clans were not fools. If the Uchiha Clan were the type to bow and play along, they would not have been forced step by step to the brink of rebellion.
Even if Fugaku Uchiha truly bent his back to seek help from other clans, those clan heads would smile and agree on the surface. The moment Fugaku Uchiha left, they would report everything to Hiruzen Sarutobi, afraid that another clan might get ahead of them and brand them accomplices while showing loyalty.
The ninja clans were never a single solid block, and there were always factions close to the Hokage. Yunchuan Hyuga even believed that Tobirama Senju chose Hiruzen Sarutobi to become the Hokage instead of Danzo Shimura for far more than the strange reason of who first said he would stay behind to sacrifice himself.
It was because the Sarutobi Clan was on good terms with the Nara Clan, Akimichi Clan, and Yamanaka Clan. Only with Hiruzen Sarutobi in power could the major clans of Konoha be divided and balanced, because his background suited that seat better.
Danzo Shimura still thought that he had only missed the position of Hokage because of a moment of hesitation back then. In truth, losing to Hiruzen Sarutobi was not unjust at all.
"Very good."
Hiruzen Sarutobi swept his gaze across the room, his heavy heart easing as he spoke firmly. "As long as we stand united, neither Kumogakure nor anyone else can defeat us."
Konoha had indeed grown weaker, but that did not mean its former defeated enemies had grown stronger. Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Yunchuan Hyuga standing nearby and thought of the Uchiha Clan's Shisui of the Shunshin, and of the still young Naruto Uzumaki like a blank sheet of paper.
A trace of relief passed through his clouded eyes. Konoha still had a future, and the road ahead was bright. kacha.
The meeting ended quickly, and the participants left one after another. Hiruzen Sarutobi kept Yunchuan Hyuga behind, along with another person of similar age.
It was Kakashi Hatake, a member of the ANBU and one of the Konoha Jonin. Yunchuan saw those lifeless eyes and recognized him at once.
"Let me introduce you. This is Kakashi Hatake," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile. "You two became Jonin at a similar age. You are both the future hope of Konoha."