Seven days later, at the Hyuga Clan Grounds, in the main family compound.
Hyuga Tianren was looking over financial reports sent in from the clan's various businesses.
The slight curl of his lips showed that he was in a very good mood.
Ever since the Hyuga Clan had taken over the businesses received as compensation from the Sarutobi Clan, the family had grown increasingly prosperous.
A few months ago, he'd taken his youngest son's advice and restored communications with the Daimyo Palace. Since then, the clan's businesses in the Land of Fire's capital had gradually reopened as well.
Perhaps they shouldn't have put all their eggs in Konoha's basket in the first place, but it wasn't too late to change course now.
Since restoring their businesses there, the clan had been thriving.
Just then, a maid announced, "Clan Head, Young Master Xingzhuo is here."
Before she could finish speaking, Hyuga Hoshishaku had already walked into the courtyard with Kenshi.
Hyuga Tianren looked up, meeting his youngest son's gaze.
He was in a good mood, so he couldn't be bothered to lecture the boy about his manners.
Seeing the guard beside him carrying a stack of documents, he asked directly, "What are you up to this time, you little brat, bringing all this stuff?"
Hoshishaku took the documents from Kenshi, set them on his father's desk, then swept the other papers aside with a wave of his hand. Pointing to the first page, he said, "Take a quick look first, then we can talk."
Hyuga Tianren's mouth twitched, but he didn't refuse.
After all, the changes the clan had seen so far were thanks to his youngest son. There was no telling what he had in mind this time.
So he picked up the documents and began to read.
[Proposal for the Construction of a Ninja Academy in the Hidden Leaf Village... Original Purpose... Significance of the School... Positive Impact... Improving the War Effort and the Pool of Talent...]
Hyuga Tianren didn't just skim the report. As soon as he saw the first page, he understood what it was about and read it carefully.
Only after he'd finished did he look up and let out a breath, his gaze complicated as he looked at his youngest son, who was only a little over seven years old.
But the first thing he said was somewhat unexpected to Hoshishaku.
"Do you realize that this system will erode the clan?"
Hyuga Tianren asked skeptically.
Hoshishaku pondered for a moment, then quickly understood his father's reasoning.
"Are you saying that establishing the Ninja Academy would make clan shinobi more loyal to the village, and that over time, clan shinobi and Branch Family descendants would gradually awaken to their circumstances and become alienated from the clan?"
Hyuga Tianren nodded. "Awaken to their circumstances—that's a good way of putting it. That's more or less what I mean."
Then, in a stern tone, he continued, "Alienated from the clan? That's a very precise way to put it. Since you've thought of that, why would you still make this proposal?"
Hoshishaku hadn't expected his father to look at the Ninja Academy from this angle.
He'd assumed that even if his father disagreed, he would first ask why Hoshishaku had proposed building a Ninja Academy.
But his father had a knack for identifying the crux of a problem—and his perspective was also shaped by the limitations of his era.
So Hoshishaku began to explain his theory:
"What if I told you that, in the villages of the future, integration will be the prevailing trend—that small and mid-sized clans will completely assimilate into the village and eventually become ordinary civilians? Would you believe me?"
Hyuga Tianren remained impassive. "Go on."
Hoshishaku continued, "At the clan level, the first thing that happened after Konoha was founded was the dissolution of the Senju Clan."
"They gave up their surname, became ordinary civilians, and joined every walk of life in Konoha, subtly influencing the entire village."
"This might seem like something that only concerned the Senju Clan, but its very occurrence set a course and policy for the villages of the future. It doesn't matter whose will is behind it. Once this happened, combined with the village's shinobi system, it was bound to bring about a transformation."
"Think about it. Not every shinobi clan has the Caged Bird Seal to control its members. If the village's shinobi system is better than the clan's, and the village also claims the greater good of the nation and village, then the fragmentation of the shinobi clans is inevitable. If the Hyuga Clan is the only shinobi clan left by then, what are we supposed to do?"
Hoshishaku spoke calmly.
But he couldn't help feeling a little agitated.
"And we may only be at the beginning of this transformation—or we may already be nearing its end. If Lord Hokage came forward with this proposal, do you think the Hyuga would have any way out? We might as well take the initiative now. Instead of being a target of change, we can become an example of leading it."
Hyuga Tianren's brow furrowed as he listened. He hurriedly cut in, "Wait. I can't keep up. Let's go through this one point at a time."
"Fine." Hoshishaku agreed aloud, but felt a little disappointed. He hadn't managed to completely bamboozle his father in one go.
Hyuga Tianren asked, "Let's assume, for now, that the shinobi clans will gradually integrate into the village. What makes you think the Hyuga won't?"
Hoshishaku replied, "Don't you already know the answer? At present, the Hyuga Clan's lofty status in the village is entirely due to the strategic value of the Byakugan in war."
"If the Hyuga Clan dissolved and integrated into the village, the family would decline. Without restrictions on intermarriage, the Byakugan would become far more common and lose its strategic value."
"So aside from the Branch Family, who are enslaved, no one in the clan would be willing to integrate into the village."
"And because the village fears the Hyuga bloodline might leave Konoha and fall into the hands of other villages, it probably wouldn't be keen to see that happen either."
Hyuga Tianren asked again, "If neither the village nor the clan wants to dissolve and integrate into the village, what makes you say the Hyuga will become a target for everyone?"
"People are capable of empathy. If everyone in the village is equal in the future, and the Hyuga Clan is the only one still living like nobility, then the clan's special status will ensure that clan shinobi remain. To those in power, the Hyuga will be a small military and political bloc. To civilians, we'll be a detestable, corrupt aristocracy. If everyone starts to suspect us, the Hyuga will have our hands and feet cut off, our sources of income severed, and end up as nothing more than a surveillance tool kept in captivity by those in power."
Hyuga Hoshishaku's words might have sounded alarmist.
But he really was basing them on the original story.
Even so, his words hit Hyuga Tianren hard.
As the head of a clan and a renowned warrior since the Warring States period, Hyuga Tianren was now breathing heavily.
"That's complete nonsense!"
He reprimanded Hoshishaku, his voice hurried.
"Father, I can come and go freely in the Senju Clan Grounds, so I know a lot of what goes on behind the scenes."
Hoshishaku said this, then presented the information the system had given him as if he'd witnessed it firsthand:
"Just yesterday, Master Tobirama was deeply troubled after reading last year's report on shinobi casualties. Lord Senju Hashirama was also heartbroken over the young shinobi who'd died. I suspect an institution like the Ninja Academy will be established very soon, because Lord Hashirama won't stand by and let the village's young shinobi keep dying like this."
"As the head of the Hyuga Clan, you must know what the various shinobi clans in Konoha are like right now, don't you?"
"They deliberately send young children to become shinobi, making them die on missions."
"They deliberately eliminate shinobi from the collateral branches and send them to die."
"If the Ninja Academy is established and everything unfolds the way I described, surely someone as wise as you can see where things are headed?"
Before you continue