Chapter 20: This is the Hyuga Main Family!

Chapter 20: This is the Hyuga Main Family!

In the Hokage's office, Minato smiled at the four composed individuals standing before him.

"From this day forward, you are officially jōnin. You are now the pillars of the village and must set an example for others."

As expected, none of the chūnin had passed the test. Only a few experienced and exceptional Tokubetsu Jōnin succeeded. Those chūnin still needed more training.

"Yes!" the group replied solemnly.

"Since you were all previously Tokubetsu Jōnin, I trust you're already clear about your responsibilities. I won't say much more—go and celebrate with your friends and family."

Minato smiled again, adding, "Oh, Fuji, Yakumaru, stay behind. I have a mission for you both."

The other two jōnin left tactfully, while Uchiha Yakumaru's expression shifted, and he lowered his head, avoiding Minato's gaze.

"Yakumaru, lift your head."

Minato spoke gently, waiting for Yakumaru to meet his eyes before continuing.

"The pride of the Uchiha belongs to your clan, not just you. You don't need to carry everything on your shoulders."

"…I understand."

After a moment of silence, Yakumaru nodded.

"And Fuji, the same goes for you. Forget about the divisions between the Main and Branch Families. Right now, you are a Konoha jōnin—that is your only identity."

Minato paused, then smiled as he made a suggestion.

"Though I suspect you won't truly take my words to heart. So, would you like to accept my help? As a member of the Shadow Guard I've selected?"

Hyuga Fuji's eyes narrowed slightly.

It was finally happening.

---

In the Hyuga clan's meeting room, a member of the Main Family asked in confusion, "How did Hyuga Fuji learn Rotation?"

Not long after Fuji's match with Uchiha Yakumaru, details of the fight had already spread to the Main Family through loose tongues.

After all, any Branch Family member promoted to jōnin immediately became a key point of attention for the Main Family. They were the ideal candidates to serve as bodyguards but also required close monitoring.

"Did it come from the Fourth Elder? Could he be the culprit behind his death?"

"Impossible. Didn't we confirm there was no loss of any clan techniques from the Fourth Elder's home?"

The Third Elder of the Main Family shook his head, his expression grim. "It seems, as the Hokage said, that he truly mastered it on his own. The question now is whether we should retrieve him. Allowing a Branch Family member to use Rotation is highly irregular…"

Cough, cough.

Two light coughs interrupted him, drawing everyone's attention.

The First Elder looked toward Hyuga Hiashi, seated at the head of the room, and asked in a low voice, "Clan leader, what is your opinion?"

"If he mastered it himself, then we should not take any unnecessary action."

Hiashi swept his gaze over the gathered elders. "I've just received word that Hyuga Fuji has already been appointed to the Shadow Guard by the Hokage. Don't even think about moving against him in secret."

"In the future, let him serve as a bridge between the Hyuga and the Hokage."

"…"

As Hiashi expected, once he invoked the Hokage's name, the elders fell silent.

The elders of the Hyuga clan were conservative and stubborn. Outwardly, they maintained a low profile, but internally, they kept a high level of control over the Branch Family.

Unlike the Uchiha elders, these men had no grand ambitions. They didn't care about the Hokage's seat and only wanted to protect the small domain of the Hyuga clan.

The reason for this was rooted in warnings passed down by their ancestors.

With the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon looming like a sword over their heads, they believed their only choice was to tightly control the Branch Family's power for their own protection.

As long as the Main Family's foundation wasn't threatened, they were willing to make concessions.

More importantly, there was no need to antagonize the new Hokage over a single Branch Family member.

After some thought, the First Elder sighed amidst the silence.

"Very well, but Hyuga Fuji must not pass Rotation to anyone else in the future."

"I'll have Hizashi speak with him," Hiashi agreed with a nod.

"Good. Clan leader, how did your negotiations with the Third Hokage go?"

"He has agreed not to use or pass on the activation techniques for the new Caged Bird Seal. He even placed a self-imposed jutsu on himself to prevent anyone from extracting related memories."

"That's a relief."

The Main Family elders all sighed in unison.

Aside from the Main Family, only two people knew how to activate the new Caged Bird Seal.

One was the Third Hokage; the other was Tsunade.

At this point, Hiashi's expression darkened as he said something that shocked the room.

"Tsunade-sama claims she doesn't know anything about it."

The room fell into stunned silence. Hiashi's expression shifted as he recalled Tsunade's behavior during their meeting.

"She was at a gambling den when I approached her. We placed a bet, which she won. When I asked her about the matter afterward, she simply said she didn't know and left."

What kind of response is that?

The Third Hokage had personally stated that Tsunade worked with him to develop the modifications. How could she possibly not know?

The elders looked grim.

Tsunade's status was far too unique.

She was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the princess of the Land of Fire, one of the Sannin, and the creator of Konoha's medical system.

Her influence in both Konoha and the Land of Fire far surpassed that of the Third Hokage or the other two Sannin. If she wished to become Hokage, no one could compete with her.

The Daimyō of the Land of Fire would undoubtedly support her fully.

So, if Tsunade claimed she didn't know, there was little they could do about it.

Hiashi frowned in silence.

Tsunade loves gambling but always loses, earning her a reputation as a "walking jackpot." If she actually won… what might that mean?

A sense of unease crept into him as he recalled something odd in recent events. Turning to the elders, who were still quietly grumbling about Tsunade, he asked,

"To prevent leaks of our techniques or the activation of the Caged Bird Seal, all Main Family members are marked with a special curse seal. What are your thoughts on the situation in the Mist? Could it be related?"

The elders exchanged glances before the Second Elder stepped forward.

"I'm the one who applied the curse seals to all Main Family members. Clan leader, you should remember this from your childhood."

Hiashi nodded. As a child, when he was chosen to join the Main Family, he had witnessed this himself.

"You know, the curse seals I designed are similar to the Root's Tongue Cursed Seal. Those marked cannot speak about anything related to the Caged Bird Seal.

"Additionally, we developed a jutsu based on the Caged Bird Seal to destroy the brain and Byakugan in the event of capture, preventing enemies from obtaining our secrets."

The Second Elder hesitated, unable to meet Hiashi's gaze.

"We suspect that Hyuga Kyuushin, before his death, failed to activate the brain destruction jutsu in time, allowing the Mist to extract his memories."

Hiashi lowered his eyes, his hands clenching beneath the table.

"I've always wondered—why can't the curse seal be set to trigger automatically upon death? If a corpse can also yield information, wouldn't it be better for the brain to self-destruct immediately upon death?"

A Main Family member muttered instinctively, "Then how would we be different from the Branch Family? Even in death, there'd be no dignity."

The room fell silent under Hiashi's cold gaze, but the elder who spoke remained firm, meeting his eyes without flinching.

To surrender control over their own life and death would make them no better than the Branch Family. Furthermore, the Main Family wouldn't even consider studying ways to undo such seals. They would die without honor, just like the Branch Family.

We are the Main Family. Why should we stoop to such a level?

After a moment, Hiashi shifted his gaze away, looking at the other elders.

The approving expressions on their faces filled Hiashi with a deep sense of sorrow.

This… is the Main Family. This is the Hyuga Main Family.

(End of Chapter)

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