"Come to think of it… doesn't Konoha constantly preach the 'Will of Fire'? 'Wherever the leaves dance, the fire burns on'?"
"Protect the village, protect your comrades, pass on the will… So what kind of 'Will of Fire' is this 'Caged Bird'? Protecting your own clan by treating them like slaves whose lives and deaths can be controlled at will?"
Those words resonated widely, sparking even deeper doubts.
"Heh. Where there's light, there's shadow. Even the brightest village must have corners the Will of Fire can't reach."
Some tried to sound "rational," but the disdain in their tone was unmistakable.
"Oh, give me a break with that Will of Fire nonsense!" someone else snapped. "Did you not watch the previous sky screen broadcasts?"
"Exactly! The Will of Fire is just something they use to fool kids and idiots! The higher-ups and the great clans of Konoha? They're playing by a completely different set of rules!"
Similar discussions erupted across the shinobi world.
Neji could feel the stares from his classmates around him.
He remained standing upright, expressionless.
But only he knew the storm raging beneath that forced calm—the fury, the coldness, the overwhelming resentment.
Go ahead. Look all you want.
He sneered inwardly.
The Caged Bird. His father's death. The Main Family's cruelty. Konoha's compromise.
Why?
Why was the branch family born inferior, their lives not their own?
Why did his father have to pay with his life for the main Family's mistake?
Neji slowly adjusted his breathing, barely perceptible, forcing every surging emotion deep into his heart—leaving behind something colder, firmer, more resolute.
The sky screen continued.
Then—
A clearly elite shinobi was shown infiltrating the Hyūga compound in silence, targeting the young Hyūga Hinata.
At the critical moment, Hyūga Hiashi arrived. Enraged, he struck down the Kumogakure head ninja who had attempted to abduct Hinata, killing him on the spot and saving his daughter.
But the matter did not end there.
Kumogakure shamelessly turned the tables, accusing Konoha of "killing their envoy without cause and violating the peace treaty." They applied immense diplomatic and political pressure—going so far as to posture for war.
Faced with Kumogakure's aggressive extortion, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, ultimately placed the heavy burden of "resolution" upon the Hyūga clan in order to preserve the hard-won peace and avoid another war.
Within the Hyūga clan, the atmosphere grew suffocating.
In the end, Hyūga Hizashi—Neji's father—looked silently at his elder brother, Hyūga Hiashi. In his eyes flashed resolve, sorrow… and perhaps even a trace of relief.
He said nothing more.
Calmly, he accepted the role of sacrifice.
The scene shifted.
Before the Kumogakure envoy lay a cold corpse—Hyūga Hizashi.
After verifying the body, the envoy wore a satisfied, faintly mocking smile as he accepted the "explanation."
"We're supposed to be the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages…" a middle-aged man muttered hoarsely. "Didn't we win three Great Ninja Wars? Then how… how did we end up being bullied like this?"
"Those bastards from Kumogakure came into our village to kidnap a child. We killed the criminal—and they still had the nerve to twist it around? And we actually… actually handed over a life to make peace?!"
"The Hyūga are one of Konoha's great clans! And they were just… sacrificed?"
The humiliation wasn't only about losing the head of the branch family.
It was about the weakness and compromise Konoha had displayed in the face of external threats.
For many villagers, this shattered their long-held pride in Konoha's strength and honor.
Inside the Hokage's office, the air felt suffocating.
"Bastards…" Tsunade ground out between clenched teeth. It was unclear whether she was cursing Kumogakure—or the one who had made that decision.
Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to age visibly in that moment. His back bent slightly as he looked from the sky screen to Tsunade's dark expression and Jiraiya's heavy silence.
"I… had no choice," he said quietly. "At that time, Konoha had just endured the Nine-Tails' attack. The Fourth Hokage had fallen. The village had suffered immense losses. Morale was unstable."
"The other great villages were watching like hawks. Kumogakure was especially aggressive… We simply couldn't withstand another large-scale war."
"For the overall stability of the village… for the lives of many… I could only make that choice."
His explanation sounded pale—even defensive.
And yet, given the circumstances back then, perhaps it truly had been what a Hokage might deem the "most rational solution": sacrifice one life to secure temporary peace, buying time for the village to recover and rebuild.
Tsunade turned sharply, her amber eyes blazing with fury.
She wanted to argue. To shout. To demand: Is the Hokage's duty to sacrifice the innocent in exchange for a fragile peace?
But in the end, she merely let out a heavy snort and turned away.
Another word, and she might lose control.
The past could not be undone. The dead would not return. Digging up old decisions now would only deepen divisions.
Yet the anger in her heart had reached its peak.
If she had been Hokage at that time, she would have led Konoha into full-scale war with Kumogakure before ever accepting such humiliation.
Konoha's dignity—and the lives of its people—were not bargaining chips.
Jiraiya sighed deeply as he looked at the tense standoff between them.
"Hearts… have begun to scatter."
"Old man, did you ever consider whether the other ninja—the great clans of Konoha—would accept this kind of peace?"
"I think most shinobi would rather fight than swallow humiliation like this."
Those words pierced Hiruzen like a needle.
His expression shifted. He opened his mouth to argue—but found no words.
Yes.
Hearts were scattering.
Within Konoha, the great clans likely already harbored dissatisfaction—perhaps even alienation—from him and the system he upheld.
Elsewhere in the shinobi world, commentary on Konoha's "performance" was merciless.
"Tch. So this is the leader of the Five Great Shinobi Villages? Someone invades their village to kidnap a child. They kill the criminal—and then pay with one of their own lives to beg for peace? I've really seen it all now."
"They weren't even in the wrong, and they still folded?"
"Disgraceful! They've embarrassed all Five Great Nations! Look at Amegakure back in the day—so weak, yet under Hanzō of the Salamander, they dared to declare war on multiple great nations at once. And Sarutobi, sitting on a powerhouse like Konoha with so many elite ninja—how did he become so spineless?"
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