The Main House's Legacy

The next day, news that nearly the entire Hyuga Main House had been wiped out spread rapidly.

As one of the only two great clans in Konoha Village, the Hyuga were well-connected, unlike those obnoxious Uchiha, who were nobody's favorites.

Aside from the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga maintained good relations with all the other clans in the village, large and small. Everyone liked having a Hyuga teammate on missions, since the Byakugan could genuinely improve both the mission success rate and the chances of survival.

So even though the Hyuga lived together as a clan in a relatively isolated environment, the news still spread in all sorts of ways over the course of that one night.

Then, as expected, it caused an uproar.

It wasn't just the many clans in the village. Even plenty of shinobi from civilian backgrounds showed concern when they heard what had happened, asking everyone they could find what was going on.

At around nine in the morning, staff from the Hokage Building fanned out across the village and posted a statement on the public notice boards. Its general message was that the Main House's downfall was under the village's control, and that the Hyuga remained an unshakable cornerstone of Konoha Village!

The Third still had plenty of credibility!

Once the statement was released, the unrest in the village immediately subsided for the most part. After that, the various clans sent envoys to the Hyuga.

Now that the Main House had fallen, they needed to build new, friendly relations with the Hyuga's new leaders. Everyone liked being friends with the Hyuga—except, of course, the Uchiha, who had no friends.

Envoys from all the clans came one after another, hoping to meet the Hyuga's new Clan Head. But the new Clan Head, Hyuga Ritsu, did not show himself. The one who received them was the newly appointed elder, Hizashi Hyuga, who looked nearly identical to the former Clan Head of the Hyuga.

As for that,

the envoys from the various clans were a little disappointed, but none dared voice their dissatisfaction. They weren't blind. Without the Main House and Branch House system shackling them, the Hyuga were like a giant who had finally broken free of the chains that had kept his hands bound.

Of course, if anyone asked what Hyuga Ritsu was doing,

the answer was that, with the help of the former Clan Head, Hyuga Hiashi, he was busy sorting through the many things the Main House had left behind. Naturally, this didn't mean wealth like money or estates, but the Hyuga Clan's inherited secret techniques, which the Main House had kept.

The Tamagushi Shrine, Treasure Hall.

"All the inherited secret techniques held by the Main House are here? Are you sure nothing's missing?"

Hyuga Ritsu looked at the three large wooden chests piled on the tatami.

"The clan's inherited texts and scrolls are all here. Even the notes left behind by the ancestors of the Seven Main House Branches are all here."

Hyuga Hiashi looked at the many scrolls neatly arranged in the chests with some reluctance.

In the end, he had bowed to reality and accepted his fate!

He was the only adult from the Main House still alive. The children were unharmed, but could he really expect them to grow up and restore the Main House to its former glory?

That was impossible.

Even if Hyuga Ritsu couldn't remove the Caged Bird Seals from the clan members' heads, the idea of the Main House rising again would be nothing but a foolish dream once the next generation of children who hadn't been branded with the seals grew up.

After that,

at his younger brother Hizashi Hyuga's urging, he cooperated with Hyuga Ritsu in gathering the many secret techniques the Main House had held and transporting them to the Treasure Hall of Tamagushi Shrine.

"Let me see!"

Hyuga Ritsu casually picked up a scroll and opened it. It recorded a special technique called "Gentle Fist: Mountain Breaker Strike," a derivative of "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm." It possessed destructive power surpassing that of "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm," capable of shattering boulders dozens of meters away with a single strike.

After looking through it,

Hyuga Ritsu found plenty to gain.

He set down the scroll in his hand and took a notebook from another chest. Its yellowed pages showed that it was quite old, and the neat handwriting suggested it was a copy.

In other words,

the contents recorded in it were truly ancient.

"This is... This ancestor of the Main House sure had a lot of nerve. He actually wanted to imitate the Uchiha Clan and create a 'Susanoo' belonging to our Hyuga Clan. Hiashi, have you read this notebook?"

"I have. This notebook was left behind by an ancestor of my branch over three hundred years ago. The original was destroyed, of course. What we have now is a copy made over seventy years ago."

"What did you think after reading it?"

"Uh... It was too fanciful and unrealistic."

"Fanciful, you say?"

Hyuga Ritsu laughed as he skimmed through the not-too-thick notebook. "Most of it really is speculation, and not very reliable. But didn't you ever feel like trying to follow in this ancestor's footsteps?"

Hyuga Hiashi was taken aback and said nothing.

"That's why your Main House never amounted to anything. An ancestor from hundreds of years ago dared to try to create a 'Susanoo' for our Hyuga Clan. He failed, but you can't see that same ambition in any of you."

"No wonder our Hyuga Clan has far more members and Jonin than the Uchiha Clan, yet has always been overshadowed by them. You people from the Main House are useless!"

Hyuga Ritsu didn't hold back as he disparaged the Main House.

Hyuga Hiashi's face darkened. He wanted to argue, but when he thought of Hyuga Daichi and the others, whom Hyuga Ritsu had killed with ease, every retort vanished in an instant.

Actions spoke louder than words!

Hadn't so many people from the Main House been killed by Hyuga Ritsu alone? Didn't that prove just how useless they were?

Hyuga Hiashi fell silent. Hyuga Ritsu lost interest in talking to him and turned instead to his cousin, who was staring at the three chests of scrolls with rapt attention. "Akiba, sort all of these things out. They'll be stored in this Treasure Hall from now on. Remember to categorize them, store them according to their different categories, and label them so they'll be easy to find and borrow later!"

In the past, all these things had been kept in the Main House's estate, where only members of the Main House could access them. Members of the Branch House couldn't borrow them, or even take a distant look.

But those were outdated old rules. After discussing it with the elders, Hyuga Ritsu had decided to move these precious things left behind by their ancestors to the Treasure Hall of Tamagushi Shrine. From now on, all members of the clan would be allowed to study them.

"Also, remember to notify all the Jonin, Chunin, and Genin in the clan to come to the shrine in batches and train in 'Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.'"

Hyuga Ritsu gave the order.

The Branch House had previously practiced the abridged "Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms." Now they needed to switch over to the complete "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."

Not everyone could break through their limits on their own like Hyuga Ritsu and learn "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms." Most people spent their entire lives learning from the wisdom of those who came before them. Only a very small number could build on the achievements of their predecessors, innovate, and advance further.