Enviable Freedom, the Unresolved Issues Between Uchiha and Konoha

"Understood! You two, come with me..."

Hyuga Ko recognized the Anbu's voice as somewhat familiar, but he had no time to dwell on it. He instructed the Branch Family members beside him, "You two, go inform the Clan Head!"

The Branch Family guards carried out the order without a word, like puppets.

"The Main Branch will show me the way?"

Seeing Hyuga Ko's smiling face, as though he were trying to leave a good impression, Hizashi Hyuga felt an indescribable bitterness well up inside him.

This was truly an ugly sight... He had never wanted to be like the Main Branch, inexplicably superior to others. He only wanted to live as an independent person.

Seeing Hyuga Ko, who had once swaggered through the clan compound, reveal this side of himself, Hizashi Hyuga could not help but feel a trace of satisfaction.

This scene proved it.

—The Main Branch, or at least a considerable portion of it, only knew how to throw its weight around in front of the Branch Family because of the Caged Bird!

Out in the world, if you had no real ability, this status meant nothing!

The reception room of the Hyuga Clan Compound.

Hyuga Tenzo, the Hyuga Clan Head and Hizashi Hyuga's biological father,

sat upright in the seat of honor, waiting for Sakumo and Hizashi to arrive.

Below him sat several Main Branch members discussing the situation, along with the Branch Family members who, as usual, accompanied them and served as guards.

When the two stepped through the reception room's doors, Hyuga Tenzo slowly rose to his feet. Wearing an official yet friendly smile, he walked over. "Why have you two come to the Hyuga Clan Compound today?"

"Did Lord Third give you any instructions?"

Hizashi Hyuga stared fixedly at his father.

The way his father rose from his seat, the way he walked over to him,

and that smile...

These were all things he had never seen before.

At that moment, Hyuga Tenzo was also pondering the Anbu's purpose.

What happened?

He had witnessed the clash between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru.

As the Clan Head, he was naturally not a useless fool like Hyuga Ko. His Byakugan was among the best in the clan.

It did not matter if there were one or two useless Main Branch members who occupied their positions without contributing. The Hyuga Clan was wealthy and powerful enough to support them.

They only needed to choose their successors carefully.

Hyuga Tenzo was deeply astonished.

Although the Hyuga Clan rarely used the Byakugan at full power within the village in order to avoid suspicion, there were always opportunities for Hyuga Tenzo to observe the conditions of important figures.

For example, today.

Through his Byakugan, Hiruzen Sarutobi's vitality and the abundance of his Chakra were like those of a man more than ten years younger...

How did that old man manage it?

That was why he had been anxiously awaiting Hizashi Hyuga's report, repeatedly asking Hyuga Ko whether Hizashi had returned.

To remain neutral, allowing the Hyuga Clan to enjoy the Hidden Village's protection without having to exert themselves or bleed for it...

required them to maintain a clear-eyed understanding of the village's situation.

Riding the fence was not so easy.

"I voluntarily joined the Anbu."

Suppressing his excitement and the trembling in his hands, Hizashi Hyuga slowly removed his mask. "If the Hyuga Clan has anything it needs to discuss with Lord Hokage, or if there are any difficulties that are hard to speak of..."

"You may tell me. I will write a report and promptly submit it to Lord Third!"

The moment Hizashi Hyuga spoke,

Hyuga Tenzo sensed that something was wrong.

Although Hyuga Tenzo had always treated Hizashi strictly according to Branch Family standards in both status and treatment in order to preserve the Main Branch–Branch Family system of rule,

his younger son had already gone off to toil like a beast of burden, so naturally no other clansman could raise objections!

This was Hyuga Tenzo's finest endorsement of the clan rules, and the effect had been obvious.

Making his younger son suffer a little could greatly increase the Branch Family's tolerance while also vastly improving the Main Branch's evaluation of him.

Such methods showed that he was a veteran Caged Bird warrior.

But Hizashi Hyuga was still his son. Hyuga Tenzo could recognize his voice.

Hyuga Tenzo's heart skipped a beat, and his pale eyes slowly widened!

His younger son had actually joined the Anbu on his own without informing him?

"Hizashi, why is it you?!"

Hyuga Ko's eyes widened as nameless fury surged within him. He shouted, "Why are you only returning now?! I told you to come back and report immediately after investigating! Are you deaf?!"

Damn it, he had actually smiled warmly at him just now!

I'm Main Branch!

Hyuga Ko was exceptionally furious. As a Main Branch member with no real ability, his sense of superiority came entirely from his absolute control over the Branch Family.

That control had lasted for more than twenty years and had never once failed.

And his anger did not represent only himself. Many of the Main Branch members present were also enraged.

A Branch Family member like him actually dared to privately discuss cooperation with the Hokage?

If there was going to be a discussion, the Main Branch had to do it. The Branch Family were merely workers and bargaining chips!

And now he wanted to sit at the table himself?

This was a shameful betrayal!

Hyuga Ko quickly swept his gaze over the other Main Branch members' reactions. Reassured, he was about to continue his outburst.

This was his true duty.

—As a Main Branch member without strength, he could only become a flesh loudspeaker for saying unpleasant things.

Without either strength or diplomatic skill, this was the only niche he could occupy.

"What's his name?" The silent Hatake Sakumo suddenly spoke, pointing at Hyuga Ko.

Hyuga Ko's expression froze, and all the words he had prepared clogged in his throat.

"Hyuga Ko." When no one answered, Hizashi Hyuga smiled and replied after a moment.

"I'll remember you." Hatake Sakumo nodded. "I've worked in the Anbu for a long time, but this is the first time someone has demanded to my face that the Hokage's directly subordinate Anbu report to a Ninja Clan..."

"Since I heard it, I can't pretend it never happened."

Hatake Sakumo's tone was calm, but there was a trace of chill in it. "Hyuga Ko, are you demanding that the Anbu serve you? Are you dissatisfied with Hizashi joining the Anbu?"

Hyuga Ko, who had been raging only moments before, immediately wilted when he met Hatake Sakumo's gaze.

"No! That's not what I meant..." Hyuga Ko stammered. "I was only..."

He fumbled incoherently for several seconds but could not say anything.

Hyuga Tenzo watched the scene and shook his head slightly.

Closed management was indeed beneficial to the Hyuga Clan's continuation, but it also truly left its members lacking in perspective and social skills. One could even call them childish.

"But this weakness cannot be helped. The Hyuga must establish the Main Branch and Branch Family. The ancestral laws absolutely cannot be changed!"

"As long as Hiashi is properly raised, all of this is necessary for the clan's continuation!"

With those thoughts flashing through his mind, Hyuga Tenzo stepped in to smooth things over for Hyuga Ko.

"I am terribly sorry. Ko truly has no other intentions. He rarely leaves the clan compound and has no understanding of the Anbu."

"He is ignorant. Please forgive him. I will certainly discipline him strictly."

At that moment, Hyuga Tenzo noticed the White Fang Short Sword at Hatake Sakumo's waist, and his expression grew solemn.

So it was that man?

It seemed his younger son had truly sold himself for a good price...

"Is that so?" Hatake Sakumo nodded. "I understand."

Hatake Sakumo was very satisfied with Hizashi's performance. That was also why he was willing to stand up for him.

Hizashi had not said that Hiruzen Sarutobi had invited him. Instead, before his clansmen, he had emphasized that he had entered the Anbu of his own accord.

That was a Pledge of Allegiance.

It left room for maneuver between the Hokage and the Main Branch, while openly taking the matter upon himself.

Well done.

"Hizashi, perform well from now on. I think highly of you." Hatake Sakumo patted Hizashi Hyuga on the shoulder, then vanished from the spot like a ghost.

So fast! The Hyuga present cried out inwardly.

Even with the Byakugan activated, it would probably be difficult to keep up with that speed. Even if they could see clearly, their bodies likely would not be able to react...

Hizashi Hyuga stood in the center of the reception room. At that moment, he swept his gaze across the expressions of the Hyuga ninja present.

He no longer lowered his head, nor was he humble.

The Hyuga Main Branch members who met his gaze were naturally angry, but Hatake Sakumo's questions to Hyuga Ko still rang in their ears.

Hizashi Hyuga's Anbu mask still hung on his face, right before their eyes.

For a time, wherever Hizashi Hyuga's gaze fell, the Main Branch members merely snorted coldly and turned their heads away.

At that moment, the eyes of every Branch Family member present concealed an intensely envious light...

What incredible majesty and freedom was this?

In the end, Hizashi Hyuga and Hyuga Tenzo, father and son, looked at each other.

"I'll go rest first. From now on, please do not send anyone to clean my room." Hizashi Hyuga spoke slowly. "If you think I'm causing trouble for the clan, I can move out."

"How could that be, Hizashi..." Hyuga Tenzo's knuckles protruded beneath his sleeves, though he maintained his composure.

"The clan supports you. How could we refuse such small requests? Hahaha!"

Hizashi Hyuga nodded lightly. "Thank you for your understanding."

That gesture caused the Main Branch members present to become enraged once again...

What did he mean by that?

That was the Clan Head—and his father!

What was with that attitude of speaking as equals?

After walking out of the reception room,

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" Hizashi Hyuga suddenly burst into laughter.

His laughter was loud and hearty, yet it vaguely carried a trace of tears.

Laughing toward the sky as he strode out the door—today, he would no longer be a Caged Bird...

His laughter echoed throughout the Hyuga Clan Compound.

It stirred the Main Branch's fury, but it also burned itself deeply into the hearts of every Branch Family member.

Hizashi Hyuga looked up. Upon the distant Hokage Rock, the statue of the Third Hokage seemed to be covered in a golden glow beneath the lingering light of the setting sun.

"Lord Third..."

Hizashi Hyuga reverently bowed toward Hokage Rock.

"Thank you for your kindness! Hizashi has no way to repay you, save with this body!"

On the other side of the village,

Uchiha Fugaku led the Military Police Force members in reporting the full sequence of today's events to the current Clan Head, Uchiha Isshin.

Uchiha Isshin puffed on his pipe, smoke swirling around him as his brows remained tightly furrowed.

As Uchiha Setsuna's younger brother, he was the spokesperson for the Uchiha Hawk Faction.

The news Fugaku had brought made him deeply displeased.

How could that rotten old man become young again?

"He used the Forbidden Technique of the previous Hokage?"

Uchiha Isshin angrily exhaled a mouthful of smoke and cursed, "Damn it, that damned Senju Tobirama still won't rest even after dying!"

Uchiha Fugaku chuckled.

Within the Uchiha Clan Compound, any aged Hawk Faction member could hardly go three sentences without saying those words.

They cursed when their Dojutsu Power declined, and they cursed when their children performed poorly in ninjutsu training...

Sometimes, Fugaku wondered whether those old men would even blame the Second Hokage when they got constipated.

"Clan Leader Isshin, let's stop talking about Senju Tobirama for now. We have to face the problem!"

Uchiha Fugaku's expression was solemn. "Do you think anyone in our clan can contend with the strength the Third Hokage displayed?"

"His disciple, Orochimaru, has hidden a ninjutsu that even the Three-Tomoe cannot see through."

Whenever he thought of the abilities Orochimaru had displayed, Uchiha Fugaku's expression turned strange.

It was not that he lacked social awareness and had deliberately described Orochimaru as "a demon" on the spot.

That posture had simply been far too bizarre...

Snake Spits Me, I Spit Snake, then the snake spits out a sword?

After getting burned by Fire Release of the Third Hokage's caliber, he opened his mouth and spat out a snake, then the snake spat him out and refreshed his condition?

No, was this some miniature Izanagi?

As the Uchiha Clan's current powerholder and the Deputy Chief of the Military Police Force,

Fugaku knew of the Forbidden Technique capable of rewriting the boundary between illusion and reality...

Izanagi, once hailed as the Uchiha Clan's second life.

This was also one source of Uchiha Fugaku's pride.

After all, such a powerful and mysterious Dōjutsu could not be found anywhere else in the Shinobi World, even if one searched with a lantern...

But after seeing Orochimaru's performance, Fugaku could no longer keep it together.

There truly were heroes everywhere in this world...

"Trifling tricks, not worth mentioning!"

Uchiha Isshin snorted coldly.

"They could never be as miraculous as Izanagi! As for Hiruzen Sarutobi... after all, he is Sasuke Sarutobi's son. It is only natural that he has some talent."

"Sure, he is not as good, but Orochimaru did not have to go blind over it... You always say we must remain tough, but we cannot just be stubbornly arrogant, can we?"

Uchiha Fugaku rubbed his forehead and sighed. "You know it too—there are not many of our Three-Tomoe clansmen left... And there are no particularly gifted talents among the younger generation."

"That Shisui is decent enough, but he is Kagami Uchiha's descendant..."

At those words, Uchiha Isshin fell silent.

After a long while, the old Uchiha sighed. "Fugaku, I am not a fool."

"The Hawk Faction does not mean rebellion. It is the inheritance of an ideology—the need for vigilance!"

Uchiha Isshin spoke slowly. "The village was founded jointly by the Senju and Uchiha Clans..."

"Certainly, the Great Clan Leader and Lord Hashirama fought to the death for reasons unknown, but had we Uchiha not remained loyal?"

Uchiha Fugaku chuckled. "I heard from the elders in the clan that when the Great Clan Leader left back then, he did not call for anyone. He simply walked out through Konoha's front gate, and all of you thought he was going for a stroll..."

"Then he suddenly started fighting at the Valley of the End. The clansmen did not react in time either..."

Uchiha Isshin gave Uchiha Fugaku a sharp knock on the head.

"You brat! How could he not have called for us?!"

As he spoke of this matter, Uchiha Isshin's gaze grew somewhat clouded.

"He did call for us, but everyone truly did not want to live unstable lives anymore. So they said they would consider it further. Their enthusiasm was indeed not very high..."

"Everyone thought that with the Great Clan Leader around, and Lord Hashirama being a good man, no matter how rotten Senju Tobirama was, he could not do anything to the clan, right?"

"Who could have expected Lord Madara and Lord Hashirama to suddenly fight to the death! Lord Madara died, while Lord Hashirama was severely wounded, allowing that Senju Tobirama to become the Second Hokage while neither of them was around..."

Great Clan Leader was the Uchiha Clan's unique title for Uchiha Madara.

As for Senju Hashirama, this old man who had lived through the Warring States Period still held a certain degree of respect for him.

But when it came to Senju Tobirama, it was entirely different.

A venomous light flickered in Uchiha Isshin's eyes. "That man can never be trusted..."

"Since the Warring States Period, his hands have been stained with the blood of countless Uchiha. He also had a pathological desire to study the Sharingan and Uchiha bloodline. Who knew how many of our clansmen he had dissected..."

"After the village was founded, he constantly marginalized the Uchiha, blackened the Great Clan Leader's image, made the village's children think he was a murderous demon, and built momentum for the election of the next Hokage!"

"After becoming Hokage, his methods became even more ruthless!"

"To divide the Uchiha, he took the most talented 'Kagami' as his bodyguard, using him to split the Uchiha apart..."

Uchiha Fugaku frowned. "Taking him as a bodyguard also counted as accepting a clansman into the upper ranks, did it not?"

"Looking only at that point, of course it did." Uchiha Isshin snorted. "But why was Kagami the only one who died when Senju Tobirama stayed behind to cover their retreat?"

"Among Kagami's teammates, who are now the village's upper ranks, has even one ever shown the Uchiha any consideration?"

"Can all of that be explained as coincidence?"

"That Shimura Danzō—his malice toward the Uchiha has never faded... Yet he takes pride in it all day long, boasting that he is most like that damned Senju Tobirama."

"Those Root ninja openly monitor the clan grounds!"

Uchiha Isshin shook his head.

"I tell you to read more history books not to harm you! It is because I fear you will be deceived! How could Senju Tobirama's disciples and descendants possibly be good people?"

"If we do not maintain the stance of the Hawk Faction and let the children inherit this will, then once all the old people are dead and no one remembers these things, that will be the day the Uchiha Clan is stripped clean and exterminated!"

"Do you understand?!"

Uchiha Isshin looked at Uchiha Fugaku with frustration at his failure to meet expectations.

Uchiha Fugaku nodded, half-understanding. "Then when will we be able to restore our former glory? Are we just going to continue like this forever...?"

"Wait. Endure."

Uchiha Isshin spoke slowly. "We have not admitted defeat. We are waiting for a turning point!"

"Our bloodline contains limitless possibilities. That is the Uchiha's core advantage..."

"When the next Great Clan Leader and Young Clan Leader Izuna appear, everything will get better!"

And on the following day.

Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the Hokage Office early.

He was also pondering the issue of the Uchiha...

"The Second Hokage left behind assets, but he also left behind a mess..."

"It is also a historical problem born of a thousand years of resentment. It will not be easy to handle!" Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and sank into thought.

PS: Here is a five-thousand-word chapter! Starting tomorrow, updates will be released daily at noon!