Chapter 11: The Main Family's Response (Part 2)
This latest Caged Bird incident had solidified one truth for the branch family: waiting wouldn't change anything, and neither would enduring.
The Main Family and Konoha had never truly regarded them as equals or comrades. Thus, their resentment, and even rebellion, was only natural.
"Do not provoke the branch family further. I've already discussed matters with the Hokage and will ensure the branch family calms their anger," said the Hyuga clan head as he passed a scroll containing a jutsu to the gathered elders.
After reading it, the Second Elder's face darkened.
"Clan Head, are you saying we'll let the Fourth Elder's death go unpunished? And this technique…"
The clan head shook his head, his gaze icy.
"It's only a temporary concession. Even if we do find the Fourth Elder's killer, we can't execute them right now."
As the day of the Caged Bird rebranding ceremony approached, the anger within the branch family continued to swell. If no one had dared to rebel, the anger would have remained impotent. But with someone taking the lead, it was only a matter of time before others acted irrationally.
For the branch family, the rogue ninja operating in the shadows was a hero who dared to resist. Killing them now would ignite the branch family's simmering fury like a powder keg.
The war had reached a critical juncture. Forcing the Hyuga branch family to rebel now wouldn't just make the other villages laugh at Konoha—it could even prompt the Hidden Cloud, which had recently declared a ceasefire, to reignite hostilities.
After all, wasn't that how the Third Shinobi War had begun?
The Raikage had cited the Sand Village's loss of the Third Kazekage as an excuse, claiming they were willing to "generously" take in the Sand Village under the Raikage's rule—only to launch a surprise attack.
If not for the Fourth Kazekage's rise to power, the Land of Wind itself might not have survived that invasion.
And if the Fourth Raikage proved as shameless as his father, another war with the Hidden Cloud might soon follow.
Sensing the elders' dissatisfaction, the Hyuga clan head snorted coldly.
"Don't even think about purging the branch family. That would be no different from weakening our own strength."
"In the future, the Main Family's individual abilities must also improve. Ultimately, the Fourth Elder's death was due to his own carelessness."
With those two statements, the clan head set the tone for the meeting, and the elders reluctantly turned their focus to discussing the details of the new Caged Bird seal.
By the time the meeting ended, dawn had already arrived. The Hyuga clan head walked alone toward his home, where two Hyuga ninjas were waiting.
Hyuga Hiashi.
Hyuga Hizashi.
His two sons, each destined for vastly different futures.
"Clan Head." *2
The brothers greeted him respectfully. The clan head nodded slightly.
"Hizashi, you'll oversee the branch family from now on. Do not disappoint me."
"Yes, Father," Hizashi replied, bowing deeply before him.
Satisfied, the clan head then turned his cold gaze toward Hiashi. "Hiashi, I shouldn't need to remind you of what you must do today, should I?"
The morning sun cast its light through the window, but Hiashi felt enveloped in his father's shadow. Lowering his head, he replied quietly, "I understand."
---
The Hyuga compound was vast.
At its center was the Main Family's residence, while the branch family's homes spread outward from there, the differences in location and elevation symbolizing the divide between the two groups.
Even in death, the division remained. The Main Family's burial grounds were separate from those of the branch family.
Because the Main Family's Byakugan did not decay immediately after death and could only rot over time, their burial ground was located at the heart of the Hyuga compound to prevent body theft.
The branch family's burial ground, however, was at the outer edges of the compound.
Hyuga Miyuki stood before her parents' graves and bowed deeply.
Forgive me, Father, Mother. Even if my hands must be stained with the blood of my own clan, I won't let our people remain on their knees.
"Ah, Miyuki, visiting your parents again?"
A voice and the sound of footsteps interrupted her thoughts.
She turned her head, nodding lightly. "Fuji-kun, it's been a while."
The familiar voice belonged to a fellow Hyuga clan member who had once fought alongside her during the Mist battlefield campaign.
In her memory, he was one of the few branch family special jonin known for his exceptional strength and relentless determination. Most importantly, he had never shown favoritism toward the Main Family.
Hyuga Miyuki folded her hands in front of her abdomen and watched quietly as Hyuga Fuji placed a bouquet of flowers before her parents' graves.
After clasping his hands together in prayer, Fuji straightened and turned to Miyuki, who asked softly, "Fuji-kun, are you also worried about today's Caged Bird branding ceremony?"
"Yes," Fuji replied calmly, his tone measured. "But what worries me more is the Hokage's decision."
Miyuki let out a small sigh of relief before furrowing her brows.
It was true—things had been far too quiet.
Even though the perpetrator hadn't been found, the Hokage and his advisors shouldn't have been so passive.
Recently, more and more branch family members had taken action. While the higher-ups had suppressed the news, rumors were beginning to spread in the streets. Yet the Hokage's response had been limited to increasing nighttime patrols, deploying more ANBU, and attempting to reduce casualties.
Although these measures had made her operations slightly more challenging, they only bothered her because she wasn't yet ready to target her allies.
So far, all her victims had been those loyal to the Main Family.
Now, with her Byakugan's evolution nullifying the Caged Bird's effects on her, she had begun considering turning her focus directly onto the Main Family.
This eerie silence from the leadership unnerved her.
"Surely nothing will happen," Miyuki murmured, running a hand over the Caged Bird seal hidden beneath her headband. "Perhaps the Hokage merely hopes we'll resolve our differences internally."
Fuji noticed the confidence and resolute determination in her eyes. His brow twitched as he realized her intentions.
Did she plan to kill the Main Family and defect?
Now that her strength had grown, and with the belief that the Caged Bird couldn't affect her, was she planning to use force to settle everything?
It was so… typical of how things unfolded in the shinobi world.
Sasori of the Red Sand, a puppet master, assassinated the Third Kazekage in his youth to create a human puppet. Once grown, he roamed arrogantly, destroying nations and challenging his own grandmother.
Nagato endured humiliation to assemble the Six Paths of Pain and seek revenge against Hanzō, but later attacked Konoha by himself, destroying the village.
Even Konan, who secretly amassed billions of explosive tags as a countermeasure against Obito, failed to seek allies like Naruto for her plan.
In the shinobi world, the pattern was clear: when weak, they endured; when they felt strong, they acted recklessly, believing force could solve everything.
Where did such confidence come from?
Shaking his head slightly, Fuji silently added Miyuki to a growing list of cautionary examples, alongside Nagato and the others.
Even with the Eight Gates open, Might Guy could easily destroy this body Fuji currently possessed. He had no illusions of invincibility like those above.
"Miyuki, have you been paying attention to the whispers in the village? His name is everywhere."
Miyuki looked at him in confusion as Fuji turned his gaze upward to the blue sky.
"Konoha's sun has returned."
(End of Chapter)