Hyuga and Uchiha

The heavy doors of the Hyuga clan hall were suddenly pushed open.

A man clutching a letter stood there, hunched over and gasping for air as he tried to steady his breathing. His gaze swept over the sea of heads in the room, fixing directly upon the figure seated high on the wooden dais.

His damp, long hair fell across his white robes, and his clear, resolute eyes met the many scrutinizing gazes directed at him. He couldn't help but tighten his grip on the letter in his hand.

A Hyuga clansman kneeling near the door noticed with surprise that the Uchiha Clan's fan crest was imprinted on the pristine white envelope.

"Harumasa, you are late. Go sit in the back."

The middle-aged ninja sitting in the center of the dais spoke with great authority. His smooth, unadorned forehead clearly marked his status as he spoke in a calm, indifferent tone.

"Yes, Clan Head."

After closing the door, Harumasa bowed his head and obediently knelt at the back of the crowd.

What he held was an invitation from the Uchiha Clan to the various families, requesting their presence at a spectator event. He knew this was the Uchiha Clan's way of testing the academic progress of their youth at the Ninja Academy.

As the son of the Clan Head, his political instincts were sharp; the Uchiha surely hadn't invited only the Hyuga. There must be other families involved as well. With so many clans bearing witness, their ambitions were clearly significant.

On the dais, his father, Hyuga Ryudo, was speaking with a straight face about the empty platitudes of unifying the clan's strength.

Unify the clan?

Under the oppressive threat of the Caged Bird curse seal, the Hyuga clan had long since been fractured.

He had proposed to the clan long ago that their disciples be sent to the Ninja Academy to study, but it had been in vain.

Patriarchal authority and clan tradition crushed his progressive ideas with a heavy hand; the term "a voice crying in the wilderness" was the most fitting description for his situation.

The identical, vacant expressions of the clansmen around him made his own moon-white Byakugan eyes fill with resentment.

Having newly joined Konoha, he longed for change, but the passage of time made him feel as though they had simply moved from their ancestral home into a new house without any real transformation—it was merely old wine in new bottles.

The meeting gradually drew to a close, and the customary concluding question echoed through the room.

"Does any fellow clansman have anything to add?"

The Clan Head's deep, authoritative voice reverberated in the hall for a long time.

The invitation for input, which appeared democratic, was actually laced with hypocrisy. Harumasa slowly stood up and, amidst the surprised gazes of those around him, walked forward.

"This is an invitation from the Uchiha Clan, requesting our presence to observe their Clan Tournament."

Harumasa respectfully handed over the letter, which he had smoothed of its wrinkles, and stood quietly with a straight posture in front of everyone.

"Is this what made you late?" Hyuga Ryudo pointed at the fan crest and took the letter from within, saying, "You have done well."

The content of the letter was brief, covering nothing more than the time and location. After committing it to memory, Ryudo passed the letter to the other main branch elders of the Hyuga.

It would be no harm to let the branch family elders wait a while.

Once the circulation was complete, the letter returned to Ryudo's hand. He spoke, "You shall represent the Hyuga family in this matter. Meeting adjourned."

As the words fell, Ryudo was the first to rise, followed closely by the main branch elders. They bypassed the screen behind them and gradually vanished from Harumasa's sight.

In the empty hall, Harumasa leaned weakly against the wall of the wooden dais and slumped to the floor.

His various efforts had all been for nothing. The indifferent look his father gave him before leaving chilled his heart. He lowered his head, his gaze passing through the open doors to look into the distance.

On the horizon, the white clouds changed colors with the shifting sky, but even the fiery red of the sunset could not ignite his cold heart.

"Stand up."

A long while later, a familiar voice sounded from the wooden dais. Seeing him motionless, the man quickly descended the steps, pulled him up, and struck him across the face with a fist.

Harumasa clutched his cheek in disbelief, staring at the angry face before him.

He had never seen his father, who was always as calm as still water, show such an expression of anger.

Even when news reached the clan that his brother had died in battle after joining the village, his father's face, which was always like ice, had not changed in the slightest.

Perhaps since joining Konoha, the peaceful scenes within the village had caused Hyuga Ryudo to gradually set aside his mask, and he vented his true feelings to the son who had fallen to the ground: "I am aware of everything you have done."

Harumasa clutched his reddened cheek, unable to hide the massive bruise, and stared in disbelief at the father he had always viewed as a stubborn relic.

With his facade stripped away, Ryudo's frame appeared somewhat hunched. He sat beside his son, gazing at the brilliant clouds, and said, "When the Uchiha and Konoha were preparing to establish the village, I knew of it. But why do you think I waited for the Ino-Shika-Cho and others to join before the Hyuga family did?"

Facing his foolish son's confused gaze, Ryudo suppressed the urge to use the Gentle Fist and pointed to his own clear, flawless Byakugan, explaining, "The Hyuga family only does things that add flowers to the brocade. If we were to bet on everything, we would have been wiped out by the chaos of war long ago."

Harumasa understood the situation of the Hyuga family well—the conflict between the main and branch families, and the Byakugan that outsiders coveted.

He hoped with all his heart that the Hyuga family could bring new vitality to the stagnant clan grounds within the newborn Konoha, even if it were only half as much as the Uchiha.

"As for the Ninja Academy, branch family disciples may attend as they please. You may decide for your unborn child, and as for the others in the main branch, we shall see." Ryudo glanced at his foolish son, who had regained his composure and remained silent, then stepped across the wooden floor and walked away.

With hope igniting in his pupils, Harumasa looked at the twilight and murmured, "Only my child and those of the branch family? Well, at least the effort has yielded a return."

Inside the Uchiha clan grounds.

Rai and Baru looked with envy at Rikusei, who carried the Uchiha Gunbai on his back.

The small boy lugged the massive fan and a towering Scythe. Even with the severely disproportionate scale, he appeared incredibly heroic in their eyes.

These were the sacred artifacts of the Uchiha Clan, which had defeated countless powerful enemies in the hands of the Clan Head.

Rikusei looked helplessly at Naka, who was buzzing around him with excitement, completely lacking any sense of rivalry despite the fact that they would be settling things on the training grounds soon.

Planting the Gunbai into the earth, Rikusei tugged at the chain attached to his Scythe and turned to look at the two sneaking about behind him.

"What are you doing? Beating up a contestant before the match isn't exactly honorable," Baru stammered, finally reacting as he shielded Rai behind his back.

He knew full well that Rikusei possessed the strength to wield this Gunbai, so he decisively chose to feign weakness.

"That's right! If you're going to fight, hit Baru first; I actually have a chance of beating you."

Speechless, Rai tugged at Naka's sleeve, noticing that his own legs were trembling while he tried to put on a brave face despite his plain expression.

"What are you all thinking?"

Rikusei stared blankly at the trio of troublemakers before him and waved his hand, signaling them to come closer.

Baru looked cautiously at Naka and whispered, "It might be a trap; the three of us fell for it just like this during the last Clan Tournament."

"Isn't this what you wanted to touch?" Rikusei gently waved the fan, speaking softly to the children who were as skittish as birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

"It's real!"

Rai stroked the fan's blade with a look of pure bliss, speaking to the two standing beside him.

Seeing the fish take the bait, Rikusei revealed a satisfied smile: "I'll have to trouble you to deliver this to Great Elder Kaku later."

The three exchanged ecstatic glances; now they could touch it to their hearts' content on the way there.

"There are conditions."

Rikusei looked at the three of them, who now resembled deflated black balloons, and said, "Help me tell Great Elder Kaku that the Clan Head is busy and won't be coming, and that the Gunbai represents him."

Seeing them nod like chicks pecking at rice, Rikusei's tone turned serious as he solemnly warned them: "Also, do not under any circumstances attempt to use it, or it will drain your chakra and cause you to pass out."

"No problem!"

Naka, entranced as he stroked the edge of the Scythe, patted his chest in assurance.

"Then I'll leave it to you!" Rikusei watched them go with a smile as they headed toward the center of the clan grounds.

"He gave this to us, so what is he going to do?"

Baru, who had detached the chain from the fan's handle, asked the two who were helping him carry the Gunbai.

"Who cares? It has nothing to do with us."

Naka replied, his eyes dazed as he stared at the tomoe on the fan's surface.

"True, we're making a killing anyway!"

Baru, gripping the Scythe, exchanged a smile with them and headed toward their destination, full of vigor.

Having finally shaken off his little tails, Rikusei spotted a purple silhouette in the shade of a tree in the distance and jogged toward her.