In the Hokage's office, Minato looked at the four composed figures before him and smiled.
"From now on, you're Jonin. You're the pillars of the village, so you must set an example."
Could anyone say they hadn't expected this?
Not a single Chunin had passed. Only a few experienced, exceptionally capable Special Jonin had made it through the test.
Those Chunin still needed more experience.
"Yes!" they replied solemnly.
"You were all Special Jonin before, so I'm sure you understand your duties. I won't say any more. Go celebrate with your friends and family."
Minato smiled. "Oh, Hane, Yakumaru, stay behind. I have a mission for you."
The other two ninjas sensibly took their leave. Uchiha Yakumaru's expression changed, and he lowered his head, not daring to look at Minato.
"Yakumaru, look up."
Minato regarded him gently. Only after Uchiha Yakumaru raised his head did he continue:
"The pride of the Uchiha belongs to your whole clan, not just you. You don't have to carry everything on your own."
"...I understand."
After a moment of silence, Uchiha Yakumaru nodded.
"Hane, the same goes for you. Don't worry about the distinction between the Branch Family and Main Family. You're a Konoha Jonin now. That's the only identity that matters."
Minato paused, then suggested with a smile:
"Even if I say that, you probably won't really take it to heart. So, will you accept my help? As a prospective member of the Shadow Guard?"
A sharp glint flashed in Hyuga Hane's eyes.
It had finally come.
In the meeting room, a member of the Hyuga Main Family asked in puzzlement, "How did Hyuga Hane learn Rotation?"
Not long after Hyuga Hane and Uchiha Yakumaru's spar, the details had reached the Main Family through a few loose-lipped people.
After all, Branch Family members who were promoted to Jonin were important prospects for the Main Family. They were the best candidates to guard them when they went out.
They were also the ones who required the most careful watch.
"Did it leak from the Fourth Elder? Was he the culprit?"
"Impossible. Didn't we check? Nothing was missing from the Fourth Elder's home."
The Third Elder of the Hyuga Main Family shook his head, his expression grim. "I'm afraid it really is as the Hokage said. Hane figured it out himself. The question now is whether we need to reclaim it. Letting a Branch Family member keep Rotation goes against all our rules..."
"Ahem!"
Two quiet coughs interrupted him, drawing everyone's attention.
The First Elder looked toward Hyuga Hiashi, seated at the head of the meeting table, and asked in a low voice, "Clan head, what do you think?"
"If he figured it out himself, then there's no need to do anything unnecessary."
Hiashi's gaze swept over the elders. "I've just received word that Hyuga Hane has been appointed to the Shadow Guard by Lord Hokage. Don't even think about secretly making trouble for him."
"From now on, let him serve as a bridge between the Hyuga and the Hokage."
"..."
Just as Hiashi had expected, the elders fell silent once he invoked the Hokage's authority.
The Hyuga elders were conservative and stubborn. They kept a low profile toward outsiders but were especially domineering toward the Branch Family.
Unlike the Uchiha elders, these old men had no great ambitions. They had never aspired to become Hokage; they only wanted to guard the Hyuga clan's little corner of the world.
The reason, when all was said and done, was a warning passed down from their ancestors.
With the Otsutsuki on the moon hanging over their heads like a sword, they only wanted to keep a firm grip on the power of the Hyuga Branch Family to protect themselves.
As long as the Main Family's foundations were not at stake, they could make concessions.
Besides, there was no need to antagonize the new Hokage over one member of the Branch Family.
After mulling it over, the First Elder sighed amid the silence. "Fine, but Hyuga Hane must never teach Rotation to anyone else."
"I'll speak with Hizashi and Hane," Hiashi said with a nod.
"Very well, Clan Head. How did the negotiations with the Third Hokage go?"
"He agreed not to use the formula or activate the new Caged Bird technique. He even placed a technique on himself to prevent anyone from searching those memories."
"Good." The Main Family members all breathed a sigh of relief.
Aside from the Main Family, only two people knew how to activate the new Caged Bird technique.
One was the Third Hokage. The other was Tsunade.
Now that the former had sincerely agreed, the latter should...
"Lady Tsunade said she didn't know."
Hyuga Hiashi's words left everyone stunned. As he recalled what Tsunade had done, his expression shifted slightly.
"Lady Tsunade was at a gambling house. She gambled with me and won. Then, when I asked her about this, she simply said she didn't know and left."
What was that supposed to mean?
The Third Hokage had personally said that she had helped him revise the technique. How could she not know?
Everyone's expressions darkened.
Tsunade's status was far too special.
She was the First's granddaughter, the princess of the Land of Fire, one of the Sannin, and the founder of Konoha's medical system.
Strictly speaking, her standing in Konoha and the Land of Fire far surpassed that of the Third Hokage and the other two Sannin. If she wanted to become Hokage, no one could compete with her.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire would certainly support her!
So... if Tsunade said she didn't know, there was nothing they could do.
Hiashi, too, furrowed his brows and fell silent.
Tsunade loved to gamble, but she always lost. Everyone knew her as the Big Fat Sheep.
But she had won... What would happen now?
He felt a faint unease. Carefully thinking over recent events, he recalled something that didn't add up. Turning to the others, who were quietly grumbling about Tsunade, he asked:
"To prevent our teachings and the Caged Bird activation formula from leaking, every Main Family member was given a Cursed Seal. What do you think happened in Mist Village?"
The elders exchanged glances. The Second Elder stepped forward and said:
"I placed the Cursed Seals on all the Main Family members. Surely you still remember me from when you were young, Clan Head."
Hiashi nodded. When he had first been chosen for the Main Family as a child, he had met this elder.
"As you know, the Cursed Seal I designed includes a technique similar to Root's Cursed Tongue Eradication. Anyone affected by it cannot reveal anything related to the Caged Bird.
"There's also a technique based on the Caged Bird that can destroy the brain and Byakugan on command, preventing enemies from obtaining memories or eyes."
At this point, the Second Elder didn't dare meet Hiashi's gaze.
"We and the former clan head suspected that Hyuga Hisanobu didn't have time to use the brain-destruction technique before he died, and Mist Village read his memories."
Hiashi lowered his eyes. Beneath the table, his hand clenched tight.
"I've always wondered why the Cursed Seal can't be set to activate automatically. Corpses can be searched for memories too. Wouldn't it be better to have the brain destroyed automatically upon death?"
It was much faster for a ninja to kill themselves than to activate a Cursed Seal.
"Then how would we be any different from the Branch Family? We wouldn't even have a dignified death."
A member of the Main Family retorted without thinking. Hiashi gave him a cold look, but he met Hiashi's gaze without flinching.
If they couldn't control their own deaths, how was that technique any different from the Caged Bird?
Besides, the Main Family would never research a way to undo the Cursed Seal. That meant that when they died of old age, their corpses would be no more intact than those of the Branch Family.
They were the Main Family. Why should they have to endure that?
After a moment, Hiashi looked away from him and turned to the others.
The approval on their faces filled Hiashi with a deep sorrow.
This was the Main Family... the Hyuga Main Family!
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