Chapter 34
Hiashi could understand his clan's members well. Their anxiety wasn't foreign to him, as he felt the same. The Uchiha clan climbed high after the Nine-Tails attack. It was hard to understand how it happened, as it was too fast. Gaining so much trust from the Third was suspicious. But not entirely unreasonable.
Even if he loath to admit it, Fugaku was probably only second to the Third in strength. The Wicked Eye earned its reputation during the war, and nobody could deny it. Fugaku had the strength and contribution to the village to become the next Hokage. But it still irked him that the Hyuga clan wasn't as recognized even if they had contributed enough to earn it.
"You sighing too much, brother," Hizashi commented uselessly. "Something on your mind?"
"Many things."
The future of the clan was in his hands, and yet it was slipping through his fingers. From the outside, his clan was strong as ever, but Hiashi knew that it was all for the show. Many whispered about his inability to lift the clan above others. The members were anxious. They felt Uchiha's threat to them with Fugaku's rising power.
"You worry too much," Hizashi said. "The Village is regaining its vigor; peaceful times are upon us. The elders will calm down; the members will realize that there is nothing to worry about."
"What about the branch family?" Hiashi asked. "What about you?"
"Brother…"
"Don't try to fool me," Hiashi glared at his brother. "They are growing bolder with each day, and you did nothing to correct their ways."
"Can you blame them?" Hizashi replied coldly. "Where do you think the main branch let out their frustrations upon? Every week, a poor man or woman is admitted to a hospital under the pretext of injury in training."
"You're right. I can't blame them as I can't blame your resentment towards me."
A teacup flew past Hiashi's head, smashing at the wall behind him. Hizashi's glare was intense as he stood up and left, but it didn't contain killing intent. It wasn't very reassuring. Everything would be easier if Hizashi hated him if he wanted to kill him. Then, when he would brand Neji, maybe he wouldn't feel so much remorse.
"Did you have to do that," Honoka came in with Hinata in her arms just after Hizashi left. "Will you push everyone away? Especially when you could use his help the most. I am worried about you, dear."
"It is inevitable," Hiashi replied to his wife. "He might deny it, but Hizashi was always better than me. More talented, more charismatic, and more of a leader than I could ever be. Yet, fate is cruel, and in mere seconds decided that it should be me who led the Hyuga clan while he and his family suffered. If I were him, my hate would long have surpassed any reason, and yet, he still loves me like a brother. Fate is too cruel."
Honoka sat next to Hiashi and put the sleeping Hinata on her lap while wiping Hiashi's tears. Only she could see him like that. Destined to be hated by his only brother. In their younger years, he thought about changing his clan's ways. But those thoughts were beaten down from his head by their father. He still felt those hits, that disapproving look, and his weakness to fight back.
"You don't know what the future holds," Honoka said. "Hinata and Neji will grow together. They will be friends and love each other as siblings should."
"And the history will repeat itself," Hiashi said. "Neji will resent me but not be able to do anything to me; he will turn his hatred to Hinata. It always has been like this in his clan. Families were torn apart, hatred brewing inside their hearts. And only that cursed seal keeping the peace while continuing the cycle."
Hiashi felt like a bird with broken wings. Even if he dreamed of a future where he and Hizashi were equal and nothing more than brothers, he could only wake up to a cold and unforgiving reality. The branch family has already fostered too much resentment to let it go with simple words. Without the seal, the clan could not exist.
"I am afraid," Hiashi finally confessed after a moment of silence. "I am afraid of the day I will have to use that cursed seal on my brother. I don't think I will be the same after. Even the thought of that breaks my heart. What do I do, Honoka?"
There was no answer, but Hiashi knew she understood him the most. She, too, grew up getting closer and loving her follow clan children. Only one day, those children received a caged bird curse seal, and she didn't. She only used the seal one time in self-defense, but ever since then, she never did it again. It broke her to leave her childhood friend in that state. Hiashi, not even for a moment, thought he was stronger than her.
…
White voice, Hiashi, after long years of being his clan head, mastered his ability to turn the pointless rambling into a white voice. Even if it were other clan heads and not his elders, he still could not escape from this rambling. Looking to the Third, he seemed to do the same. He didn't even try to pretend he was listening; nobody dared to point it out, though.
Shikaku, from what he looked, was very passionate about threats of other villages and defenses of Konoha, but sometimes he failed to notice that everyone was on his side, and he didn't need to sell his ideas so much. But once he said his peace, he would sleep through the rest of the meeting. And still, be able to keep up with the conversation if needed.
"With the increasing number of refugees coming to the Land of the Fire, we need to increase surveillance and patrol in the country," Shikaku explained the situation. "We even should put off extra missions to accomplish maximum security. Who knows how many roque or enemy shinobi are mixed in with the refugees? Sadly, we don't have enough sensor shinobi to spread across the country. So, I want to suggest that the Hyuga clan take responsibility for guarding all main roads of the country."
It was a thankless work, but it was something he would have to do. They were best at detecting other shinobi. No matter how well they hid, they could not escape the Byukugan. It would put a considerable number of Hyuga clan outside the village, and at best, they probably would catch a few spies trying to infiltrate. There was too little to gain, but Hiashi had to do his duty.
"Let them in," Before Hiashi could agree to the proposal, the Third's voice resounded through the room first. "All of you, what do you think you are doing? The war has long since ended."
"Hokage-sama, this is a dangerous thought," Inoichi was the first to voice his concerns. "Any show of weakness will be exploited. Now is the time we have to look strong."
"Exactly," The Third agreed. "And sending more than half of the Hyuga clan to guard the roads will show other countries how strong we are, or will it show how afraid we are? Nobody wants war, not just us. The other villages will show bravado, but none of them are ready for another war. They won't risk it by doing something reckless. Sure, they send spies and even assassins, but all they will observe and see is how peaceful the Land of the Fire and Konoha are. They will see how strong we are."
"It is too risky," Hiashi thought others were mad even to consider such a thing. "Letting others gather information about our country will put us at a disadvantage in future diplomacy negotiations. No matter what, we must not let even a rat through our borders without us knowing."
"Do you think I am a fool?" The Third asked.
And there goes his opportunity to rise above others. Of course, the Third was not a fool; it was he acting foolishly by disagreeing with him. There was probably a perfect explanation that the Third had prepared, and he went and questioned him without even hearing it. As everyone's eyes fell upon Hiashi, he could only say what was on his mind.
"I think you are acting too soft-hearted. You are right that neither we nor other villages have any resources to start a war, but has it ever stopped anyone?" He didn't want to sound like a warmonger, but he knew the Shinobi world well. "Only fear and strength of the First Hokage kept other villages at bay, but once he died, we all know the rest. Not a single shinobi after him had the same presence, and hatred can and will overrule any reason."
"You sound like Danzo," The Third said, his eyes locking with Hashi's. "It is hard to disagree with that kind of viewpoint. And the rest are thinking the same, even if they don't dare to say it to my face. Is peace really too much to ask? Are we really incapable of letting go of our hatred?"
"Kumo's stubbornness in not accepting our peace offers would be proof enough, Hokage-sama," Fugaku replied. "Even in this village itself, clans fight each other over insignificant things. Even if we try to be formal about it and not trying to burden you."
"Shinobi nature can't change that easily, no matter how much we would wish for it," Inoichi agreed. "As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We have great respect for your benevolence and will carry out your wishes as we know you will protect us from the consequences. But it is an unnecessary risk we should not take."
"Who is more a fool?" The Third chuckled, taking his pipe and lighting it before having a long smoke while the rest of the room was waiting for him in silence. "An old man like me, or you who would even listen to me. You are all probably right, and thank you, Hiashi, for listing your concerns first. But you all are mistaken about something. You assume that my actions come from softness. And it is true; I do not wish to antagonize anyone as I want to live the short years I have left in peace. But no one shall harm our village."
Hiashi was not sure what he should feel. There was no killing intent extending from the third as he said that, but not even a fiber of his being could move. The Third continued smoking, eyes relaxed, and his smile was still soft. But all Hiashi could think was that he should never even consider being an enemy of the village, or he would face this monster before him.
And the next moment, he realized why. Because every member of Anbu was brandishing their weapons in the shadows of the room, he almost forgot that before he could even face the Hokage, he would need to go through them. Killers who would sacrifice their very being to carry out their master's will.
"My wish for peace does not come from naivety; I know it is arrogant of me to think I could accomplish it," the Third finally said, putting down his pipe and shocking everyone by bowing his head to the clan heads. "So, I beg you to entertain such thoughts and help me with your strength."
"We, or at least I can't do it," Hiashi spoke first, getting over his shock, but he needed to be firm now. He was probably one of the few people here who wasn't even a bit close to the Third, and he would probably forgo any opportunity to get closer to him. But as much as it was the Third's village, it was his too, so he would question the Hokage if he wasn't satisfied with the answer he was given. "Not unless you share your plans first."
"Hmm," The Third looked at Hiashi with a curious gaze. "You're right; I was ahead of myself. Spies and assassins will come. We all anticipated it, but I want to welcome them. Of course, on my terms. We will control what they see, what they hear, and what they think they know. We will use them."
"A trap disguised as a weakness they could exploit," Shikaku, who had been resting his chin on his hand, now smirked slightly. "But how are we going to control them without them realizing it? How do you intend to track them?"
"Why track them when we already know where they will be going?" The Third asked. "Let's say the Hyuga, the Inuzuka, and the Aburame shall be receiving a lot more missions from nobles and the capital city."
The smirk on Shikaku's face was more than enough to convince Hiashi of the plan. They would go to those missions and have polite talks with their clients about how their village is growing steadily and have forgone their hate for other villages. Bullshit that unwanted ears would misunderstand and deliver to their leaders.
It was a game of perception and control. It was not about blocking threats but controlling them before they could act. That is why those three clans would go; they were the only ones that could detect foreign shinobi. This way, they would also keep track of them. He was satisfied with that, as he preferred information warfare far more than meaningless bloodshed.
…
Left alone after the meeting, Hiruzen wanted to throw the table out of the window. What kind of nonsense did he just spout out? All he wanted was to calm down those murderous monsters. He did not want the Hyuga clan going through refugees and massacring every suspicious person they saw. It was a close call; he will have to be more careful with his words next time as it seems that he was getting a bit cocky of the late.
And Hiashi was definitely dangerous. Hiruzen could only think of the scene where he killed a Kumo shinobi in cold blood. To be fair, it was to protect his daughter. But he was supposed to be calm, and having such overwhelming strength would have enabled him to capture him alive. So, Hiruzen could only conclude that everyone in his clan would rather kill than ask questions.
Hiruzen didn't want another Danzo on the loose. Well, at least Hiashi was more inclined to listen and didn't act on his own accord. But from his questioning, Hiruzen could only conclude that Hiashi was more than happy with Shikaku's initial plan and wasn't afraid of him. Hiruzen would need to keep a closer eye on him.
Still, damn them all; he will not have a war on his hands even if his cover is blown. He was already barely holding on in peacetime. And that fucking ringing from the system didn't help to calm him down from the near crisis he was having.
'Yeah, yeah, hidden quest, rewards, and so on. I know the spiel, so shut up already. I don't care about it one more year adding to my lifetime if I was going to die from anxiety anyway, and I don't need another useless skill, especially a taijutsu. What use a parry even be of to me.'
A.N. What? Another chapter? Keeping my word for once? That can't be true. And you right you have fallen under my genjutsu. Hahaha.