Chapter 18: Second Clan Honor?

"Yes…" Hikaru's serious expression concealed his inner delight. "I wish to invoke my right of Clan Honor!"

All those gathered found themselves agape at the boy's words.

Hiruzen's relief at the foolish matter finally being over with shattered into a million pieces. Clearing his throat, he spoke up, "You are aware that once a Clan Honor has been concluded, all issues under its judgment are also deemed resolved. So, you cannot invoke a Clan Honor due to having one invoked against you."

"I am aware." The Uchiha boy replied with a calm smile.

"Then…"

"I accuse the Senju clan of insulting the Uchiha clan's honor!"

A sigh escaping Hiruzen's lips, he inquired further. "And just what is the charge that you lay at the Senju clan's feet?" 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺?! 𝘏𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥?

Before answering, Hikaru turned to Fugaku, who had been standing in silence, observing the situation. His thoughts were all-too-similar to Hiruzen's, not wanting to inflame clan tensions any further.

"Lord Fugaku, could you please locate Sir Kazuya for me? He should be within the arena."

Searching the boy's face for an answer, Fugaku caught a glimpse of something he liked. Without saying a word, he activated his sharingan and glanced around the entire arena before quickly finding who he was looking for. Pointing in Kazuya's direction, he ordered Yashiro to go and fetch him.

"Lord Hokage, I must protest to this utter foolishness! The boy is clearly acting out of hubris!" The gravelly voice of Senju's current patriarch cried.

However, it was not Hiruzen to respond but the dark shadow who had been beside him. "Unfortunately, Lord Kazuki, once a Clan Honor has been invoked before the Hokage, the process must be observed until its conclusion."

For Danzo, this was like a gift from the heavens itself. He began to wonder if this previously unremarkable boy really was what he had been looking for. The tool that would help him eradicate the accursed Uchiha clan once and for all. However, he was a measured man. This spark of hope was not allowed to spread, contained to an almost nonexistent size.

With weary eyes, Hiruzen could do nothing but affirm Danzo's statement, creating an awkward atmosphere of silence as the group awaited Yashiro's return.

Luckily, it did not take the elite Uchiha clansmen long to fetch and return with Kazuya in tow.

"Lord Hokage. Lord Kazuki. Lord Fugaku." Kazuya bowed his head to each of the three men in order of their name. "Is there a reason I have been summoned?"

Rather than answering the jonin, Hiruzen turned his eyes toward the one who had called Kazuya here.

"Hikaru?" He had an idea of why the boy had asked for his instructor but wanted to hear it from Hikaru's mouth.

Immediately grasping the situation, Kazuya couldn't repress a sigh. He had hated letting such a dynamic fester within his team, ignoring such intolerable actions from Kimiko, but he was also unable to refuse a request from his grandfather.

"I demand an apology from the Senju clan on the basis of Sir Kazuya's clear bias, who by standing by as my teammate constantly disparaged the Uchiha clan is complicit in her offense."

"And you do so, because of Kazuya's heritage, as a descendant of the Senju clan?" Hiruzen asked for clarification's sake.

"Precisely."

"Absurd! Kazuya is no member of the Senju clan, so how can we be held responsible for his-" Kazuki bristled with righteous indignation at Hikaru's pony show but was cut short by Hiruzen's raised hand.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴… The Hokage thought.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵… The Root leader thought.

"First of all. The Clan Honor system does not require those accused to be active members of the clans that are in question; they just must be related. Blood ties are more strong relations than most that have been used to instigate a duel between clans."

Lowering his hand and ignoring the flushed face of the Senju patriarch, Hiruzen turned his head toward Kazuya. "Secondly. Is there something you wish to tell us, Kazuya?" Frankly speaking, it was no secret that those with Senju roots actively discriminated against those belonging to the Uchiha clan in all manner of ways.

This issue was especially prevalent in the education system, where most, if not all, of the high-ranking officials were of Senju descent and went out of their way to diminish the achievements of Uchiha students. However, while Hiruzen was able to ignore such abuses of authority in those circumstances, now that such a case has been brought before him, he cannot turn a blind eye.

Looking between Kazuki, Hiruzen, and Hikaru, the jonin was silent for a time. He considered lying. Of course, he considered that. It would then just be a matter of whose word was more credible, a young genin or an accredited jonin. The answer to that question was obvious. Yet, he couldn't.

For a jonin of Konoha to deceive the village's Hokage, they would, in effect, be betraying the very village they had sworn their lives to. Moreso, even if he wanted to lie, he knew that a shinobi as brilliant and experienced as Hiruzen would easily see through his lie.

Most importantly, when he contemplated lying, he thought back to that very first mission of Team 5's. The time when he had so failed as a supervisor that one of his bright young students left the life of a shinobi behind her. When he had left such a heavy burden on his three genin. When Ren and Hikaru, the boy in question, had suffered greatly and lay broken and bloody, all because of him.

Ever since that day, he had questioned his ability as a teacher, as a guardian of Konoha's youth. Many times he had considered resigning from his duties as Team 5's instructor, yet he had always been hesitant to give up. Now was an opportunity to set things right, to remove himself from such responsibilities and atone for his corruption.

"I…" Glancing over at Lord Kazuki, his grandfather whose flushed face was now pale as he worried over what Kazuya would say, he lowered his head in shame.

"I did allow one of my students, Kimiko, to openly and regularly mock another one of my student's clan."

In response to this admission, Yashiro took an unconscious step forward as his eyes spun rapidly, blazing with the crimson light of the legendary sharingan. Acting instantaneously, Fugaku's arm shot forward and gripped his subordinate's wrist, snapping him back to reality.

Ahma, on her part, did not make any such movements, but her eyes blazed the same crimson fury as Yashiro's just had.

After a quick glance at the two enraged Uchiha, Hiruzen spoke once more. "And why did you allow such things to occur?"

Everyone present shivered slightly, unnerved by the Hokage's soft voice that carried with it the danger of a shark's open jaws.

Although it was true that Hiruzen turned a blind eye to many abuses of authority by those related to the Senju clan, that was due to a mixture of personal bias and the impossibility of curbing such activities. Unless he wanted to completely restructure the institutions of Konoha while making enemies of the dominant force and many whose skills the village needed. It was simply unfeasible at the best of times, let alone during such turbulent times as now.

This kind of blatant abuse of power, however, made his blood boil. It was an example of the rot of the clans infecting and ruining the village, of a jonin charged with nurturing its young into splendid shinobi choosing to ruin them because of petty clan differences and allegiance.

Trembling, Kazuya was unable to meet the old man's eyes. "B-because… My grandfather requested it of me."

"Oh-hoh… So, you're saying you were under the orders of the Senju clan's patriarch?" Hiruzen's cold eyes settled on the kowtowing figure belonging to Kazuki.

"Yes, Lord Hokage." The jonin replied, deeply bowing for forgiveness himself.

"I see…" The Hokage stated dispassionately.

Even Danzo found himself twitching slightly, his body screaming at him to either fight all out or flee. This was truly the man considered the Second God of Shinobi, the strongest of the Five Kage. 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. When the warm or grumpy old man disappeared, that was when one best pray to the gods that they were not the target of his ire.

"Fugaku!" Hiruzen called, making the usually stoic man jump to attention.

"Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"Since this is no simple matter of a clan member insulting another clan, but the very clan patriarch himself insulting your clan… You will face Lord Kazuki in a duel, clan leader to clan leader."

"Of course, Lord Hokage." Bowing his head, Fugaku let a small smile play on his lips before he quickly smothered it. Although he was averse to clan conflict and would have let the matter go in order to avoid fanning the flames, he still felt just as furious as his two subordinates. Having the chance to pummel the Senju clan's current patriarch would be an enjoyable experience.

"What's more, since we are already here, why not begin the duel immediately?" Hiruzen's smile was so chilling that even those seated in the stands of the arena felt the temperature drop.

As for the target of this smile, Kazuki, all he could do was dumbly nod in agreement, unable to croak out any words. It was extremely clear as to what Hiruzen's smile meant: 'You will suffer this public defeat and humiliation and you will enjoy it, for if not then the punishment I have in store for you will be much worse.' This was the merciful option, so Kazuki grabbed onto it with all the strength he could.

Needless to say, the duel was a complete farce. Fugaku effortlessly dismantled the elder Senju within a matter of seconds. Leaving him collapsed on the ground without even being able to offer the slightest amount of resistance. It was not a fight between equals. It was a smackdown from an adult to a child. Which was ironic, given how much older Kazuki was than Fugaku.

"Wow, that Fugaku is so strong!"

"Yes, who knew that the Senju clan had fallen so low?"

"The Uchiha clan really is the strongest in the village!"

Those were just a few of the thousands of comments made by those watching, yet just those were enough to crush Kazuki's heart. It was clear to everyone watching that between the two great clans of Konoha, it was the Uchiha clan that reigned supreme.

First, the young Uchiha genin had soundly trounced the Hokage's own son and the most talented among the Sarutobi clan's young shinobi, then the Uchiha patriarch had effortlessly crushed the Senju patriarch. There was no question.

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. Hiruzen thought grumpily.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘩𝘢 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. Truthfully, Danzo hadn't even expected such a scheme to work, let alone play out so well.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘺… Now that he was close to him, he could examine him properly. He liked what he saw. An incredible maturity for his age, an intelligence far beyond his age, and determination… So much determination. Perhaps there was something he could work with here, but he would have to investigate further.

Still, something unexpected came up in his cursory examination, the boy was very easily read in many aspects, yet for some aspects, he was a complete mystery. He could tell that Hikaru desired strength above all else, but he couldn't tell why. What motivated him so powerfully?

There had never been a person or shinobi that Danzo couldn't easily pierce through, be them Kage, Daimyo, or merchants, yet this seemingly unremarkable genin had eluded him. A dangerous variable. His interest was piqued even further now.

Kazuki publicly kowtowed in apology before Fugaku in front of the entire arena. Normally, such an apology took place in private, but Hiruzen was already angry with the man, and it didn't take Danzo much effort to persuade him into ordering it be done right there and then.

"Right. Now that this is all over with. Is there anything else anybody wants to spring? Another Clan Honor, maybe?" Hiruzen wasn't asking seriously, as he paid no attention to anyone present.

Standing before Kazuya, the Hokage helped him to stand strong. "Kazuya. You are a fine jonin and a great shinobi. I am very disappointed with your most recent actions, but I'm giving you a chance to make it right."

"Lord Hokage?" Kazuya was bewildered but relieved.

"I will not be relieving you of your duty as the leader of Team 5. You will continue to nurture your squad until they all become great shinobi. This is my punishment for you. Repent by correcting your earlier mistake."

Immediately bowing his head, the jonin offered words of gratitude and promises. "Thank you, Lord Hokage. I will do my best to meet your expectations, to make up for my shameful behavior."