Settling the Hyuga, First Meeting Hinata

Settling the Hyuga, First Meeting Hinata

"You actually..." Hyuga Hiashi shot to his feet. He stared at the black eyes that had shifted from Mangekyo to Three Tomoe before vanishing, then murmured, "Is this what you were relying on?"

What incredible talent.

Bai Ye was only in his teens, yet he already possessed the Uchiha clan's ultimate power—the Mangekyo. Hyuga Hiashi now understood why Bai Ye had the confidence to stand against Konoha.

It also made Hyuga Hiashi reassess Bai Ye.

Just as Bai Ye had said, this land was not particularly useful to the Hyuga clan. The most central areas had all been taken by the Sarutobi clan, Shimura, Mito, and the Utatane Clan.

They had merely acquired some scraps around the edges, land bordering their original Hyuga territory. It was tasteless to keep and a shame to discard.

In the end, returning it to the Uchiha clan would not cause the Hyuga clan any losses at all.

But they would lose face. If word got out, people would think the Hyuga clan feared the Uchiha clan.

"Hiashi, what's going on?"

The elders glanced at Hyuga Hiashi and noticed that he seemed slightly different from before.

They instinctively looked into his eyes. After confirming that he had not been controlled by the Sharingan's eye techniques, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's nothing. I just feel that we really need to have a proper talk."

"Then let's talk, just the two of us."

The unnecessary people could leave.

After some thought, Hyuga Hiashi finally nodded and agreed to Bai Ye's request.

He now acknowledged that Bai Ye was qualified to speak with him as an equal.

At first, he had thought Bai Ye was merely a puppet pushed forward by the Uchiha Radical Faction. But now, it seemed that Bai Ye truly possessed the strength to change the current situation.

Besides, the Hyuga clan was not the one at odds with the Uchiha clan. Why should they become Hiruzen Sarutobi's vanguard?

"Clan Head, you can't!"

The moment Hyuga Hiashi finished speaking, several elders' expressions changed at once.

This Uchiha had used the Sharingan to control Hyuga clansmen all the way in.

If Bai Ye were left alone with Hyuga Hiashi now, they could not help suspecting that he might make a move.

"Go undo the genjutsu on those people. Also, tell them to properly train their resistance to genjutsu from now on. You are not needed here. He will not attack me. Just leave!"

A trace of anger flashed across Hyuga Hiashi's face. Within the Hyuga clan, while many matters were decided by the Main House elders, as clan head, he still had the final say.

Back then, when the Cloud Ninja demanded that they hand over the culprit, he had only wanted to protect his daughter. He had thought Konoha would stand with him, yet Konoha had cowardly chosen to yield. In the end, Hizashi had died in his place. Even after Hizashi died, he had not wanted to hand over Hizashi Hyuga, but he could not withstand the pressure from Konoha, the Cloud Ninja, and part of the clan.

In the end, he could only hand over Hizashi's corpse. Even now, he still could not let go of that matter.

In this strictly hierarchical clan, the clan head was naturally the highest authority.

Thus, after Hyuga Hiashi spoke, the other elders merely opened their mouths but ultimately said nothing and left.

Once only Bai Ye and Hyuga Hiashi remained in the reception hall, Hyuga Hiashi asked, "So this is what you were relying on? Do you think your abilities are enough to crush Konoha?"

Hyuga Hiashi admitted that Bai Ye's Mangekyo had indeed surprised him, but after calming down, he immediately poured cold water on him.

If Bai Ye wanted to rely on the Mangekyo to deal with Konoha, that was simply impossible!

"I've always said that the Uchiha clan is not enemies with most of Konoha's clans. Why do you think the Uchiha clan wants to fight all of Konoha?"

Bai Ye asked curiously. It seemed that, in everyone's eyes, everything the Uchiha clan was doing was meant to oppose all of Konoha.

Even the Uchiha themselves thought so.

But Bai Ye had never thought that way, nor had he ever intended to do so.

What would be the point of killing everyone in Konoha?

Wouldn't the village then contain only members of your own clan?

Could that still be called a village?

"If you want to become Hokage, you will inevitably become the enemy of most people. Konoha's cake has already been divided up."

Hyuga Hiashi lowered his gaze toward Bai Ye and slowly explained.

Who did not know that the Uchiha clan wanted to become Hokage?

They had even once shouted, "Why does the Senju clan, who founded Konoha alongside the Uchiha clan, get to have a Hokage while the Uchiha clan does not? We want a Hokage too!"

Konoha was like an enormous cake. It looked large, but there were many people eating it, so naturally everyone's share was limited. Now, that cake was nearing saturation.

If the Uchiha clan took office, it was definitely not something Konoha's other ninja clans wanted to see.

The Uchiha were already Konoha's largest clan. If they also produced a Hokage, their position would become utterly unshakable.

Wouldn't everyone end up with the Uchiha clan shitting on their heads?

"I have never considered having the Uchiha clan become Hokage. The position of Hokage does not suit the Uchiha. All we want is fairness. The Hokage has targeted us and created the current situation. If it were your Hyuga clan, you would probably do the same as us, wouldn't you?"

"That is why I came to you. If we fall, you will be next. If we cooperate, we can even draw their fire for you."

Bai Ye had never considered becoming Hokage. That position was nowhere near as important as his own strength.

If you possessed strength like the Sage of Six Paths, would you still care about that position?

Besides, once he became Hokage, his training would definitely be delayed. Even if he did not work himself to the bone like Naruto, he would still end up like Tsunade, driven mad by government affairs every day—and unable to shirk them.

So from the very beginning, Bai Ye had never considered becoming Hokage. Besides, Konoha was not lacking people who could become Hokage.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had to step down. As long as he remained in that position, the Uchiha clan would never know peace.

"So you want to bring them down. What can we gain from this?"

If the Uchiha clan would not be the ones taking office afterward, then this arrangement was acceptable.

Hyuga Hiashi was also deeply dissatisfied with Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others. If not for them, Hizashi Hyuga would not have died. It was impossible for him to have no other thoughts about it.

But even if he wanted this, there had to be benefits, right?

Otherwise, how would he explain it to his people?

"Is taking down those four clans not enough for you to divide among yourselves? Your Hyuga clan won't even need to contribute. When I deal with them, all you need to do is stay out of it!"

Bai Ye casually painted Hyuga Hiashi a grand picture.

After all, he had not succeeded yet, so Hiashi could wait. Once he did succeed, they could all swallow up those people together.

And in exchange, the Hyuga clan simply had to refrain from taking sides.

"But you want me to return the land to you now. Our Hyuga clan cannot simply give it back to you like that!"

Hyuga Hiashi fixed Bai Ye with an intense stare. In his heart, he was already leaning toward cooperating with Bai Ye.

Because it would not cause the Hyuga clan much loss.

At the start, they only needed to give the Uchiha clan land that had never been of much use to them anyway.

Later, they would not need to take sides or do anything. If Bai Ye won, they would share the fruits of victory. If Bai Ye lost, the Hyuga clan would still be fine. In fact, the Uchiha clan's decline would make them Konoha's foremost clan.

No matter how he looked at it, they could not lose.

Watching Bai Ye make Hiruzen Sarutobi miserable also gave him a secret sense of satisfaction.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi had made him miserable plenty of times back then.

But there was still one issue before them: the Hyuga clan's pride.

"We can buy it back with money. If I take it back for free, you will lose face. But if we pay to buy it back, then it is merely a transaction."

Bai Ye had thought this through before coming. If they paid, the meaning would naturally be different.

"Fine!"

Hyuga Hiashi pondered for a while before agreeing. "But I have one condition. You cannot reveal this yet. You must settle things with Ino-Shika-Cho before you make this public!"

"Fine!"

Bai Ye considered it for a moment, then agreed to Hyuga Hiashi's request.

Still concerned about face?

"Then let's draft an agreement. Later, I will compensate you with part of our current clan territory. If that is not enough, I will make up the rest with money!"

Having settled the hardest-to-handle Hyuga clan, Bai Ye was in an excellent mood.

The Uchiha clan lacked nothing except perhaps money. Anything that could be settled with money was no problem. Before coming, Bai Ye had even prepared himself for a fight.

After the two sides signed the agreement, Hyuga Hiashi prepared to escort Bai Ye out. After what had just happened, he did not dare let Bai Ye leave alone.

At a corner, a figure suddenly appeared and crashed into Bai Ye the next second. "S-Sorry..."

"Hinata, why are you being so careless?"

Once Hyuga Hiashi saw who had bumped into Bai Ye, he frowned and looked at her with displeasure.

Hinata was no longer favored in his heart. A daughter with a timid personality and less talent than his younger daughter was someone he was beginning to consider giving up on.

Seeing her stern-faced father and the unfamiliar person she had just collided with, Hinata panicked. Her little face was full of anxiousness as she tried to explain, while tears seemed ready to spill from her eyes at any moment.

But the more anxious she became, the less she could speak. Hyuga Hiashi glanced at her, and the dissatisfaction in his heart became even more apparent.

"Is this Clan Head Hiashi's daughter, Hinata? She's quite pretty, and she seems lovely. I was not paying attention either, so don't blame her."

A gentle smile appeared on Bai Ye's face. He raised a hand to pat Hinata on the back of her head, then took out a piece of candy from behind his back and placed it in her palm. "Don't cry. If children cry too much, their noses will get bigger."

"My apologies for making you see that."

Hyuga Hiashi glanced at Hinata, then at Bai Ye, before speaking flatly.

"It's nothing. I think she's quite adorable. Little girls are nice too. Come to think of it, your Hyuga clan's household rules are truly strict. I'll be leaving now, Clan Head Hiashi."

"Then I won't see you off."

Hyuga Hiashi nodded. As he watched Bai Ye's departing back, no one knew what he was thinking.

Hinata, who had been timidly hanging her head, also looked up at Bai Ye's retreating figure. The hand holding the candy unconsciously tightened.

"Go back."

"Yes, Father."

Hinata followed Hyuga Hiashi's footsteps and carefully tucked the candy into her pocket. Hiashi caught sight of it, and his disappointment only deepened.

His daughter had grown up already. Why was she still the same as before?

"What a hassle! This is such a huge hassle!"

"Shikaku, if Bai Ye comes looking for us later, should we return this to him or not?"

The heads of the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans—Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka—were discussing what to do next at the Nara Clan estate.

Though they were staunch supporters of the Hokage, if they clashed with the Uchiha clan in the current situation, it seemed they would be the ones suffering losses.

"That's why I said it's a hassle. If we give it back, it will be hard to explain ourselves to that side. If we don't, it will be hard to explain ourselves to the Uchiha side!"

Shikaku Nara felt that he should never have accepted this area in the first place.

Their clan had never needed it. Hiruzen Sarutobi had simply divided up the Uchiha clan.

The Uchiha clan had originally occupied a large area in central Konoha.

So after dividing it up, Hiruzen Sarutobi had distributed the edges of that area to several ninja clans, both because those areas bordered their territories and because it served as a way to win them over. The Hyuga and Ino-Shika-Cho clans were naturally among them.

Back then, Shikaku had thought that if the Uchiha clan came to ask for it, he would simply return it. The Nara clan was already fairly satisfied with their original territory.

But so many years had passed, and he had thought the matter was settled.

Yet after the clan head changed, the issue had been brought up again.

"We can't give it back, can we? It would be difficult to explain to the Hokage afterward. The relationship between the village and the Uchiha is extremely tense right now!"

Inoichi Yamanaka frowned at Shikaku Nara and voiced his concerns.

In his view, if they gave it back now, there would be no way to explain it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"And what about the Uchiha? If he dared do this, he must have come prepared. Looking at everything Bai Ye has done since taking office, he has not done much, but every action has had a purpose. He will definitely take it back!"

"So our stance is actually what the Hokage wants to test. If we refuse, then from now on, we must firmly stand with the Hokage. But the price is that we may have to join them in dealing with the Uchiha clan later.

"If we return it, then this matter has little to do with us. Ultimately, this is an issue between the Uchiha and the higher-ups, not a personal grudge against us. We have quite a few business dealings with the Uchiha clan as well, so... do you see why it is such a hassle?"

It was rare for Shikaku to say so much at once, but this matter truly was an enormous hassle!