The Ninja Academy Is in the Works

Hyuga Tianren truly lived up to his reputation as clan head.

He had heard enough to understand Hyuga Hoshishaku's intentions.

"So you believe that an institution like the Ninja Academy will inevitably be established sooner or later, and that the ninja clans will eventually be forced to integrate into the village. So you want to take control of this matter and promote its development in the name of the clan, thereby claiming the moral high ground?"

Hoshishaku nodded in agreement.

"Yes. Our appearance and bloodline have already made it impossible for us to dissolve the clan and integrate into the village. So in the future, Konoha will inevitably have only our Hyuga Clan—and perhaps the Uchiha Clan, whose appearance is just as distinctive."

"Rather than wait to be treated like fish on a chopping board, we should play the good guys and keep the initiative in our hands. We can submit this proposal to build a Ninja Academy in the clan's name, then contribute to its development and leave a lasting Hyuga mark on it. We can also proactively seek rights or responsibilities at the Academy. That way, whether it's prestige, power, or the moral high ground, as long as we secure even one of them, whoever rules the village in the future won't be able to do anything to the Hyuga Clan."

"At the same time, we should maintain our ties with the Daimyo Palace of the Land of Fire and preserve our noble status. With both sides keeping watch over one another, the daimyo and Konoha alike would reach a firm balance that ensured the Hyuga Clan's continued existence. The Hyuga would still stand above every clan and commoner in the village, and in the Daimyo Palace, we could remain above all the other nobles."

Hyuga Tianren pondered his youngest son's words.

After a long silence, he looked at his youngest son and spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"Hoshishaku, I don't know what your aim is, but you've convinced me. The survival of the Hyuga Clan comes before everything!"

"I'll discuss with the elders how to move this forward. If we can't make it happen, joining forces with the Uchiha isn't out of the question. But don't forget: as the next heir to the headship of the Hyuga Clan, this is where your roots are."

"Of course. Without the Hyuga, there would be no me." Hoshishaku nodded and continued.

"I would never betray the interests of my own class."

"If I'm unhappy with something, I'll change it myself. If I lack the ability to change it, I'll leave. Betrayal will never be an option for me."

Hyuga Tianren gave his youngest son a long, hard look, then waved him away.

As Hoshishaku turned to leave, he breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, at first he'd only wanted to complete his commission and get an A+ ninja card.

But as he'd spent the past seven days writing the proposal, he'd thought more and more about the down-and-out state of the Hyuga Clan in the original story and begun to suspect that things might really unfold as he imagined.

Especially in the original story, when Kumogakure tried to frame the Hyuga Clan, the Hokage had actually ordered the head's younger brother—the Branch Family elder Hyuga Hizashi—to hand over his own corpse to Kumogakure as an apology.

It was downright absurd.

Even if Branch Family members were considered worthless, they were still members of the village—and valuable jonin. They'd been wronged, yet instead of demanding an explanation, the Hokage had helped outsiders dispose of one of his own?

And why had the Hyuga Clan been so weak at the time?

Even now, with the Senju brothers in power, the Hyuga Clan was still very tough.

Take the Sarutobi Clan's secret smear campaign against the Hyuga. If the Hyuga had been weak, there was no way they would have secured such heavy compensation.

If the Hokage hadn't intervened, the Hyuga might have gone straight to the Sarutobi and wiped out their clan.

Even with the Hokage stepping in, the compensation the Sarutobi paid was almost enough to spare them from annihilation.

That showed just how powerful the Hyuga were at present.

If necessary, the Hyuga could even wage war against an entire country on their own.

That thing his father had said earlier—"The clan has fewer than a hundred ninja, so I can't assign you any more"—was complete nonsense. The information Elder Xiao had let slip by accident was that "the clan currently has fewer than a hundred jonin." Read that carefully: jonin.

Elder Xiao was in charge of assigning the clan's ninja. Didn't he understand the clan's ninja structure better than the useless head?

What had caused the Hyuga's decline?

Was it the Third Great Ninja War?

Give me a break. With their Byakugan active, the Hyuga could avoid danger wherever it appeared. Their eyes were born for war, so the Hyuga must have suffered the fewest casualties.

After Hyuga Hoshishaku left, the clan head's guards immediately went to notify all the elders.

The elders responded swiftly, gathering in the meeting hall in the clan head's compound.

They were Elder Hyuga Xiao, who oversaw ninja assignments; Elder Hyuga Qiyan, who managed the clan's supplies and finances; Elder Hyuga Kazuya, who was responsible for the clan's ninjutsu and archives; Elder Hyuga Yumiko, who oversaw the clan's internal affairs; and Elder Hyuga Kawaryuzo of the Branch Family, who protected the clan's internal security.

Four elders from the Main Family and one from the Branch Family attended the meeting, along with the clan head and his Branch Family jonin bodyguard.

No one outside the clan knew what had come of the meeting.

The next day, however, the Hyuga head sent a letter requesting a meeting with the Uchiha Clan, then went to visit that afternoon.

On the third day, the Uchiha held a clan meeting of their own. The discussion grew heated, with fierce arguments breaking out.

On the fifth day, the two great eye-technique clans jointly submitted an important proposal to the Hokage.

<Proposal for the Hyuga Clan and Uchiha Clan to jointly establish a Ninja Academy in order to prevent the village's "young sprouts" from dying prematurely and increase the village's overall strength...>

As soon as the proposal came out, many of the village's ninja clans began cursing the Hyuga and Uchiha.

But they lacked the strength to do anything about it and didn't dare provoke them.

The Hokage also seemed eager to see the proposal.

Like rain after a long drought, he promptly adopted it and began holding meetings to put it into practice.

First, they expanded on each item in the proposal submitted by the Hyuga Clan.

Then they removed some items and added others.

The "elite class" proposed by Hyuga Hoshishaku was deleted for being too obviously self-serving, but the more subtle class ranking system was raised again.

When it came time to assign the work, the Hyuga and Uchiha stepped forward of their own accord, ignoring the other clans' looks that said they were volunteering to get fleeced. They offered money, people, and effort to jointly build the Ninja Academy, fund scholarships for outstanding ninja students, and provide instructors.

Senju Hashirama approved the move on the spot, praising them enthusiastically and agreeing to several minor requests from the two clans.

This left Senju Tobirama, who had been preparing to object, completely dumbfounded.

After the meeting, construction of the Ninja Academy began in full swing.

It was expected to be completed by August or September.

Meanwhile, as construction began, Hyuga Hoshishaku's commission was already being settled.

[Notification: A+ Rank Commission "Resolve Senju Tobirama's Worries" has been completed]

[Commission completed by: Hyuga Hoshishaku, Hyuga Clan, Uchiha Clan]

[System beginning evaluation and settlement...]

[After evaluation, the host initiated this commission, helped advance it, provided its central idea, and participated extensively, but was not involved in the entire process. Therefore, the commission's final rating is A Rank.]

[You have received the A+ Rank commission reward: A Rank Ninja Card x1]

Hyuga Hoshishaku was sitting in his room, staring nervously at the System Panel.

"An A Rank card for a jonin... Who could it be?"

He muttered to himself as he waited for the reward to arrive.

[Prompt: You have received the A Rank Ninja Card "Great Ninja War Sai"]

Hyuga Hoshishaku: "Sai?!"

"Sai is a jonin?!"