"Thank you, Lord Hiashi."
Watching Hyuga Hiashi accept the Caged Bird Seal's Sealing Jutsu, Chiba lowered his head slightly in thanks.
Originally, he had thought the former head of the Hyuga Clan had favored Hyuga Hiashi and had therefore been so eager to remove Hyuga Shinsuke.
After all, he was his own son.
But now, it seemed that the former clan head had truly possessed discerning eyes.
Or perhaps he had simply been an exceptional educator.
As he spoke, this thought flashed through Chiba's mind.
To be honest, before this, Chiba had never had a particularly favorable impression of Hyuga Hiashi.
It was not because of Yukina that Chiba had developed any ill will toward Hyuga Hiashi.
Honestly, if Chiba judged a shinobi based on his own impressions and personal likes or dislikes, he would have died countless times already, and Konoha would likely have suffered countless losses during the Third Great Ninja War.
None of Chiba's strategic planning, tactical planning, or even improvised tactics during combat encounters took personal preference into account.
At the very least, he had never judged people from his own perspective.
He would not exaggerate someone's strengths simply because he liked them, or portray even their flaws as virtues. Nor would he ignore someone's merits and endlessly magnify their faults simply because he disliked them.
That kind of behavior was no different from courting death.
One had to think from an objective perspective.
As for his unfavorable impression of Hyuga Hiashi, it referred to the impression Hyuga Hiashi gave as the head of the Hyuga Clan.
Or rather, the impression he gave Chiba.
In a sense, Chiba before today had been somewhat less than objective.
Objectively speaking, Hyuga Hiashi's previous performance as the Hyuga Clan head had at least been proper and respectable. Though he