Looking at his younger brother, Hiashi Hyuga fell into deep thought.
Though he had been little more than a background character in the original story, the reality was far from that. The Hyuga Clan had not dared to call itself Konoha's strongest clan, nor repeatedly contend with the Uchiha Clan, without reason. That reason was their own strength.
Take Hiashi Hyuga, for example. As the head of the main family, he might not have reached Kage Level, but among Jonin, he stood at the very top—far stronger than Kakashi had been in Part One.
Combined with the Hyuga Clan's highly centralized clan rules, their degree of unity was unparalleled in Konoha.
To put it more plainly, aside from members of the Hyuga main family, not even the Hokage could interfere. Neither the Anbu nor "Root" had ever contained a single member of the Hyuga Clan, even to this day.
The Third Hokage and Danzo had both expressed dissatisfaction over this, yet there was nothing they could do.
Hiashi Hyuga saw the Kumogakure incident clearly. The Third Hokage was obviously trying to apply pressure and force the Hyuga Clan into making concessions.
The Third Hokage had absolutely never intended to hand over Hiashi Hyuga himself—that was impossible to begin with. But using this matter as leverage to get a few Hyuga Clan ninjas into the Anbu or "Root" was not entirely out of the question.
Just like the Uchiha's Sharingan, Konoha's Byakugan was itself a strategic resource and the very foundation of the Hyuga Clan's survival. It was not only outsiders who coveted it; even within the village, some people thirsted after it.
But whether Uchiha or Hyuga, both clans valued their eyes to a pathological extent. One only had to look at the seal on the branch family's foreheads