Chapter 20: The Hyūga Main Family and the Branch Family
The moment Senju Morin's formal invitation arrived, it sent shockwaves through the Hyūga clan.
Although Clan Head Hyūga Sōgo had anticipated something like this, once it actually happened, the entire clan still found itself caught off guard, uncertain how to respond.
After all, Konoha had already "elected" two Hokage in practice—the First and the Second.
But in truth, both of those elections had been little more than single-choice questions.
The first time, it came down to Senju Hashirama versus Uchiha Madara. Compared to the terrifying presence that was Madara, the Hyūga clan had naturally cast all of its votes for Hashirama without hesitation.
Before that vote, Hashirama had never deliberately courted the Hyūga. He hadn't even paid a formal visit to their clan compound.
The outcome was obvious.
Madara, defeated, rebelled in fury—and was ultimately slain by Hashirama himself at the Valley of the End.
By the time of the second election, Madara was already gone. Facing the utterly uncompetitive Uchiha Setsuna, the major clans—including the Hyūga—once again chose the Senju side without hesitation.
Senju Tobirama won in an overwhelming landslide.
Afterward, an unwilling-to-accept-defeat Setsuna attempted to stage a coup, only to be effortlessly crushed by Tobirama with nothing more than the ANBU. To this day, he remained imprisoned in Konoha's cells.
In both prior Hokage elections, the Senju candidates had made no political promises, offered no benefits, and negotiated no alliances in advance.
Simply being opposed by the Uchiha clan had been enough to guarantee victory.
And since virtually no clans openly sided with the Uchiha, even though none gained much from those elections, neither did any clan suffer retaliation or purges afterward.
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But the situation facing the Hyūga clan now was fundamentally different.
Even if they wished to continue their long-standing habit of supporting the Senju without thought, they now had to confront an uncomfortable question:
Did Sarutobi Hiruzen, Tobirama's disciple and chosen successor, truly represent the Senju faction?
Or was Senju Morin, an actual blood descendant of the Senju clan, the true core of Senju power in the present era?
And once a choice was made—
Should they demand concessions in exchange for their support?
If they asked for nothing, would they be taken for granted?
If they asked for too much, would they incur resentment from the future Hokage?
What, exactly, was the "right" price?
There were no precedents.
No experiences to draw upon.
No established rules to follow.
And for an ancient, deeply traditional, and stubborn clan like the Hyūga, nothing was more detestable than change and uncertainty.
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Hyūga Sōgo found himself, for the first time, silently cursing the Second Hokage.
Why couldn't Tobirama have simply passed the position to one of his own clan's juniors?
If he had done that, the Hyūga would have continued supporting the Senju just as they always had. It wasn't as though anyone truly objected.
Instead, he had insisted on reform.
On innovation.
On introducing unnecessary complications.
Utterly vexing.
Driven by a conservatism etched deep into their very bones, the Hyūga clan would much rather stand silently behind the inevitable victor and gain nothing at all, than personally step onto the political stage for the sake of a few meager benefits.
Nevertheless, propriety had to be observed.
Since Senju Morin had formally delivered a name card in accordance with protocol, the Hyūga—one of Konoha's most prestigious clans—could not afford to be discourteous, nor could they allow themselves to be accused of "slighting the Senju."
Time was tight, and so the Hyūga did not even wait until the following day. Later that very evening, they dispatched a senior elder of the Main Family to the Senju compound, carrying a handwritten reply from Hyūga Sōgo himself. The letter expressed sincere welcome toward Senju Morin's visit and proposed a concrete time for the meeting.
Unlike the Senju or Uchiha clans, the Hyūga did not have "clan elders" in the usual sense. Instead, they maintained only the position of house elder.
And this "house" did not refer to the Hyūga clan as a whole—but specifically to the Main Family.
The full title was Elder of the Hyūga Main Family.
This distinction meant that no matter how outstanding a Branch Family member might be—even if they rose to the rank of jōnin within the village—they would never attain the highest tier of political authority within the clan itself.
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In truth, the Hyūga Main–Branch Family system was not particularly complicated.
Its core principle was simple: the number of Main Family members was fixed in every generation.
For example, suppose that at the founding of the system, the Hyūga clan consisted of six individuals—direct descendants of their legendary ancestor, Ōtsutsuki Hamura. Let us label them A, B, C, D, E, and F.
These six constituted the first-generation Main Family.
Now take A as an example.
A had three sons: A₁, A₂, and A₃, forming the second generation.
Only the eldest son, A₁, inherited Main Family status. A₂ and A₃ automatically became Branch Family members, whose role was to protect A₁.
In the third generation, only A₁'s eldest son—A₁₁—could inherit the Main Family position. A₁'s second and third sons, as well as all sons of A₂ and A₃, became Branch Family members.
And so the cycle continued.
Although the Hyūga clan had existed for centuries, the number of Main Family positions remained essentially unchanged—still only A, B, C, D, E, and F. Six seats.
Of course, older Main Family members did not lose their status simply because a successor was born. Every Main Family member retained their privileges for life. Even in rare cases where three generations coexisted, the Main Family's numbers would only temporarily swell into the low double digits.
Meanwhile, the Branch Family continued to grow endlessly, eventually forming the overwhelming majority of the Hyūga clan as it exists today.
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This system also neatly explained why, in later years, Hyūga Hiashi and Hyūga Hizashi belonged to the Main and Branch Families respectively.
Their lineage had only one Main Family slot.
Hiashi, born first, became Main Family.
Hizashi, born second, became Branch Family.
For a clan as rigid and uncompromising as the Hyūga, no amount of talent, potential, or merit as a shinobi could ever shake the inheritance system handed down from their ancestors.
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That said, cases like Hiashi—Main Family members unable to produce a male heir—were not unheard of throughout Hyūga history.
During the Warring States period, the most common solution was adoption.
Typically, a closely related male relative—often a nephew—would be adopted into the Main Family. To reinforce legitimacy, the clan would then marry the adopter's daughter to him.
In other words, had he been born a century earlier, Hyūga Neji's fate would likely have been very different: adopted by Hiashi, elevated as a legitimate Main Family heir, and eventually married to the very same "Lady Hinata" who, in the current era, stood far above him.
Unfortunately for Neji, times had changed.
With the founding of Konoha, the Hyūga gradually grew progressive enough to accept female Main Family heirs. Combined with Hiashi's very human selfishness, this sealed Neji's fate.
And so Hyūga Neji could only bear the Caged Bird Seal—
born to serve the Main Family,
and destined to die for it.
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