Hyuga Clan.
The backyard of Hizashi's house.
The two brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi both knelt and sat on the wooden promenade. Between them is a small tea table on with several cups of green tea on it, with smoke rising from it.
"Did Neji not go to the Academy today?" Hiashi asked.
Hizashi looked sideways at the end of the corridor, where a little head was sneakily looking here.
"Neji, come to meet Uncle." Hizashi said.
"Yes."
Neji trot trotted forward, saluted respectfully, and answered Hiashi's doubts, "Uncle, I'm sick and unwell, so I took a day off from the Academy."
Hiashi nodded slightly, his gaze swept across the headdress on Neji's forehead, and he said: "You need to rest well."
"Yes."
Neji glanced at his father, and when he saw that he nodded, he turned and left, but in his eyes, there was a bit of... unwillingness.
He touched the headdress that covered the Caged Bird engrave on his forehead, thinking of his uncle's two daughters, he felt inexplicably happy!
Main House only has one person per generation, so he wondered what choice his uncle will make when the time comes.
...
On the wooden corridor, Hiashi drank several cups of tea, Hizashi then opened his mouth and asked, "Big brother, for you to come here this time, it should be more than just drinking tea, right?"
Hiashi put down the cup, looked at his little brother with a serious face, and asked: "Hizashi, what do you think of the Caged Bird?"
Hizashi felt a little shocked in his heart, but his face remained unchanged, and he said: "The Caged Bird is the Curse Mark that protects our Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai."
'That's it?'
'Nothing else?'
Hiashi is a little dissatisfied, 'You sgould have to explain the meaning of the Caged Bird and the consequences of its disappearance!'
'You have to make it clear that you have a problem with the Caged Bird!'
Hiashi became more and more irritated.
'My younger brother should be trustworthy!'
'But he is from the Branch House!'
Hiashi then remembered what Kanpū said. Once this matter is not handled properly, the relationship between the Main House and Branch House will become very tense.
Hiashi hesitated again.
"Big brother, do you have something on your mind?"
Hizashi looked his elder brother in the eyes, and said, "And it has something to do with the Caged Bird, right?"
Hiashi said: "Hizashi, you are still as sharp as when you were a child."
Hizashi said solemnly: "Clan Head-sama, please tell me."
He called Hiashi Clan Head-sama this time, because this matter involves the Caged Bird. When it comes to Main House and the Branch House, even if he and Hiashi are brother with great relationship, they still have to be separated!
Hiashi considered his words carefully, and said: "According to reliable information, there is a Shinobi in Branch House colluding with outsiders to try to remove the Caged Bird."
Hizashi didn't show any surprised reaction. Although Caged Bird protects Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai so that it won't be leaked, it also makes the Branch House to be enslaved by the Main House for a long time. Occasionally, some rebels appear, so there is no need to be surprised about it.
"Does Clan Head-sama have any conclusive evidence?" Hizashi asked.
Hiashi said: "Someone from the Branch House has infiltrated Root's Headquarters."
"Root?"
Hizashi was taken aback, "Advisor Danzo's Root?"
Hiashi nodded.
Hizashi immediately began to brainstorm, and said: "The Shinobi who can convince us to split up, and can show the ability to remove the Caged Bird, plus the hostility to the Root… Is it Yondaime Hokage?!"
It must be known that a while ago, Minato also invited Hyuga Clan to help find the Root's secret research base in the village!
'Furthermore, Yondaime is Konoha's Kage. If he promises to remove the Caged Bird, it will definitely be an irresistible temptation for the Branch House's Shinobi!'
'Even if the removing fails, Yondaime can forcefully interfere with the Hyuga Clan's system, and the Caged Bird can disappear from Hyuga Clan!'
'Is it really Yondaime?'
Hizashi stared at Hyuga Hiashi closely, and in his eyes, there was inexplicable anticipation.
Hiashi shook his head and said: "Once the Caged Bird is removed, the enemy Shinobi Village will inevitably hunt our clan's Byakugan. Once Byakugan are spread, the threat to Konoha is the greatest. How could Yondaime do such a thing?"
'Not Yondaime?'
'What a disappointment!'
Hizashi is a bit unwilling, but it is true when he thinks about it carefully.
'If other villages have Byakugan in the next war, Konoha's arrangement will be seen through by the enemy. At that time, Konoha will lose the most!'
With Yondaime's shrewdness, it is impossible not to see this.
"But besides Yondaime, who else can do so?" Hizashi asked.
"Orochimaru." Hiashi said.
"Orochimaru?" Hizashi was startled, "Isn't that person already defected?"
Hiashi said: "Back then, Orochimaru defected from the village because he was betrayed by Danzo, so he has enough reasons to come back for revenge! And his reputation as one of the Sannin can also convince the Branch House's Shinobi, coupled with his ambitious… it's definitely him!"
"Orochimaru…"
Hizashi didn't know what to say when he heard this.
From Yondaime Hokage, Minato to Missing-nin, Orochimaru, the gap is a bit too big.
"Clan Head-sama, how do you plan to deal with this matter?" Hizashi asked.
"I plan to…"
Hiashi's eyes are solemn, and he said coldly, "I plan to send Branch House's members to hunt down Orochimaru."
"Eh?"
Hizashi was dumbfounded, 'After knowing that Branch House's Shinobi and Orochimaru were in collusion, he wanted to send them to hunt down Orochimaru. What does this mean?'
Hiashi did not explain why, and continued: "Orochimaru is very dangerous. The ordinary clansmen will only die if they chase after him, so this operation was handed over to the Elite Jonin of the Branch House."
Hizashi was shocked because he… is also an Elite Jonin!
Hiashi looked deeply at his little brother and said: "Hizashi, you are in charge of this operation!"
Hizashi has no expression on his face. At this time, his mood is very complicated. To say that his elder brother doubted himself, there is nothing wrong with it, as he sent himself out, but if it is said that he has no doubt, there is also nothing wrong with it, because he will be in charge of this operation.
Hizashi nodded: "I see, but… where is Orochimaru?"
"I don't know."
Hiashi shook his head recklessly, "Find out the whereabouts of Orochimaru yourself."
"…" Hizashi suddenly didn't want to speak anymore.
The two brothers had a tacit understanding and stopped talking. After drinking a few more cups of tea, Hiashi stood up and left.
Hizashi sat on the wooden corridor for some time again before getting up and starting to clear the tea table.
"Father, what is Uncle looking for you?" Neji ran over when he learned that Hiashi had left.
Hizashi smiled and said: "It's about a mission. Neji, you are not in good health, go in and rest."
"Is the mission dangerous?" Neji asked nervously.
Hizashi smiled, but said nothing.
Neji knows his father's temper, and immediately changed the subject when he didn't say anything: "Father, when Hanabi is three years old, will she have the Caged Bird engraved on her forehead like me?"
Neji was engraved with the Caged Bird when he was three years old. At that time, he didn't know what Caged Bird means. It wasn't until he grew up that he understood the horror of this thing. Naturally, he couldn't help complaining about his uncle who was the clan's Main House's members in his heart!
"Neji, this is not the question you should ask!"
Hizashi's face changed slightly, and there was even a hint of coldness in his eyes, "It's not the Branch House's turn to talk about the Main House's matter! Remember, don't mention it again, especially in front of your uncle!"
"I understand."
Neji nodded in response, but at the bottom of his heart, he is thinking about waiting for Hanabi's third birthday, 'I must mention this matter in front of many clansmen, when the time comes… hmph!;'
…
After leaving Hizashi's house, Hiashi visited two Branch House's elders one after another. Because he defeated them separately, Hiashi got their support smoothly. Three days later, a white-eyed team composed of thirteen people left Konoha quietly.
The thirteen people really insignificant compared to the thousands of Shinobi in Konoha, but for some ambitious schemers, it is a shocking news.
When Danzo received this information, the loose skin on his face was wrinkled, like an old tree bark, ugly and lifeless.
'Hyuga Hiashi sent them to leave Konoha at this time, it must be to make them track down Orochimaru. Along the way, he can find out the people who colluded with Orochimaru, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.'
'However, Hyuga Hiashi is too arrogant!'
'Elite Jonin?'
'In the eyes of Shinobi at Orochimaru's level, they are just a stronger ant.'
'In other words, except for the few who fell into Orochimaru's arms, the rest of them have only one end, which is dead!'
'And when the information about the death of Elite Jonin comes back, how will Hyuga Hiashi explain to the Branch House?'
'I really look forward to it!'
'Hahahaha!'
…
Minato also received information about Branch House's elite members leaving the village. He was a little concerned about it, so he asked Genma to ask, but the information returned was about getting some experience.
Minato knew that Hiashi didn't want to talk about this, so he didn't ask any more.