"Definitely!"
Minato Namikaze nodded firmly.
Deep down, though, there was a thought he couldn't even bring himself to believe.
From what he knew of Shinichi Hyuga, his strongest point should have been close-quarters Taijutsu, all punches and kicks landing flesh to flesh. Like the Fourth Raikage, Shinichi Hyuga enjoyed that kind of fighting.
But when Shinichi Hyuga had fought him, he had used a kicking technique similar to Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. It left Minato Namikaze deeply confused.
If he hadn't changed his fighting style, then the Shinichi Hyuga who had been holding back was the truly terrifying one.
The two words Minato Namikaze had spoken with such certainty
fell like a heavy hammer on the Third's heart.
At this point, using force was out of the question. Neither Anbu nor Root had anyone who could match Shinichi Hyuga, and Shinichi Hyuga had also become the one in control of the Hyuga Clan.
He was another Hatake Sakumo, perhaps even more dangerous.
And he was openly hostile toward him.
Many of his original plans had to be abandoned.
He fell into thought again.
He regretted meddling in the Hyuga Clan's affairs in the first place, and part of him wanted to make peace with Shinichi Hyuga.
But he couldn't get past the loss of face. He wanted Shinichi Hyuga to admit he had been wrong.
A glint flashed in his eyes.
"Minato, restrict the Hyuga Clan from taking on assignments." The Third set down his pipe and fixed his gaze on Minato Namikaze.
Everyone was a little surprised, but these seasoned old hands quickly grasped the Third's scheme.
Most ninja earned their money through missions.
A major source of income for the Hyuga Clan came from missions assigned by Konoha.
But missions benefited both sides. If the Third did this, it would harm Konoha's own interests as well.
"This... doesn't seem like a good idea, does it?"
Minato Namikaze hesitated. He just couldn't convince himself.
The Hyuga Clan was part of Konoha too. As Hokage, was he really supposed to restrict their growth instead of protecting the interests of his village's ninja?
Yet he couldn't refuse. Although he had taken over as Hokage, many important departments within Konoha were still staffed by the Third's loyalists.
For example, Konoha Anbu, the Konoha Ninja Academy, and the Konoha Mission Assignment Office.
From the Third's tone, he wasn't asking for Minato's opinion. He was informing him of a decision.
"Our Shimura Clan suffered heavy losses and urgently needs funds to recover, so we're requesting special approval for a large number of missions."
Shimura Danzō stepped in at just the right moment to provide cover and give Minato Namikaze a way out.
With the Shimura Clan—or rather, Root, which stood behind Shimura Danzō—filling the gap in the missions, Konoha would suffer no loss. The only difference was that Root and the Shimura Clan would be doing the work instead.
That meant the only ones to suffer would be the Hyuga Clan's ninja.
Minato Namikaze was about to say something else, but the Konoha Council silenced him with their looks.
He felt utterly powerless.
"Minato, you're too softhearted. For Konoha's long-term growth, the Hyuga Clan will have to make some sacrifices.
"Think of Hyuga Hiashi. He's the rightful head of the Hyuga Clan.
"Shinichi Hyuga is far too dangerous now! We have to stay vigilant at all times. I'll have Shisui keep an eye on him."
The Third saw Minato Namikaze's displeasure and offered a brief reassurance.
Now that he held power, of course he had to secure enough benefits for himself.
Otherwise, it would all go to waste.
In the end, Minato Namikaze gave in.
He had only one belief now: everything for Konoha!
The elders were quite pleased to see Minato Namikaze like this.
The kind of Hokage they liked was one they could easily control.
What they hated most were people like Shinichi Hyuga, who refused to be controlled.
Among the other Konoha clans, most were more concerned with Shinichi Hyuga's strength.
In the end, they all reached the same conclusion: Shinichi Hyuga was already strong enough to suppress an entire clan.
The Uchiha Clan, of all the great clans in Konoha, had the clearest understanding of Shinichi Hyuga.
The great clans of Konoha all decided to wait and see.
The Third's schemes had always been about dragging all of Konoha into them.
The next day, just as the sun peeked above the horizon,
the Hyuga Clan's training ground
was already bustling with life.
Usually, only a few clan members got up early to train at this hour.
Now it was packed and full of energy.
The Hyuga Branch Family members had learned that they would no longer be controlled by the Caged Bird Seal. All the emotions they had bottled up for so long needed an outlet.
They arrived at the training ground early, waiting for the ceremony to remove the Caged Bird Seal.
To ease their anxiety, many Hyuga Branch Family members practiced with one another.
Today was the day they would regain their freedom.
"Hyuga Heici, Hyuga Yasui..."
Hyuga Hizashi stood on the raised platform at the training ground, holding a scroll that had been glued back together as he called out a name.
Two boys, eleven or twelve years old, stood on the training ground. Joy shone in their eyes as they jogged toward the Ancestral Hall.
At that moment, Hyuga Hizashi trusted Shinichi Hyuga even more.
He had said yesterday that he would remove the Caged Bird Seal, and he was already putting his words into action today.
He had even involved his older brother, Hyuga Hiashi. That way, the Hyuga Branch Family members wouldn't resent Hyuga Hiashi, and the Hyuga Clan wouldn't be divided in the future.
They would have greater unity; only their leader had changed.
The scroll in his hands, pieced back together, was the list of Branch Family members that Shinichi Hyuga had torn apart.
Small mistakes were bound to happen. It was their job to find and fix them.
He was determined to do his best to support Shinichi Hyuga.
A little over ten minutes later, Hyuga Heici ran back.
The Konoha Forehead Protector he had worn on his forehead was now in a different position. The Cursed Seal, which should have been a sky-blue Caged Bird mark, had disappeared.
He hurried into the crowd at the training ground and excitedly began telling them what had happened.
Hyuga Hizashi watched the commotion he had caused in silence, admiring Shinichi Hyuga even more.
Removing the Caged Bird Seal didn't just mean the end of the Branch Family. It also meant the Hyuga Clan was transforming.
Shinichi Hyuga was declaring that, as clan head, he would give the Hyuga Clan a bright future.
Several hours passed.
Inside the Hyuga Clan's Ancestral Hall,
Shinichi Hyuga sat on a cushion at the center of the hall, a few beads of sweat at the corners of his eyes.
Hyuga Hiashi lay on the floor nearby, utterly undignified. His eyes were tightly shut, but the veins at their corners kept twitching.
"Third Elder, I can't keep going!"
Hyuga Hiashi's voice was hoarse and weak.
At the entrance to the hall, the Third Elder cast Shinichi Hyuga an inquiring look.
"How many are left?"
Shinichi Hyuga replied. He was just as mentally and physically drained, and he had underestimated how difficult it would be to remove the Caged Bird mark.
That morning, he had removed nearly two hundred himself.
Hyuga Hiashi had managed barely half as many.
His ocular power and chakra could hardly keep up.
One look at Hyuga Hiashi's condition told him that he was in even worse shape.
This made Hyuga Jizoku look up to him even more, and realize the gap between their abilities.
"Clan head, we've completed only a third. There are still more than six hundred people left. That's after excluding the hundred or so who don't want the Caged Bird Seal removed."
The Third Elder's gaze was now full of reverence. Removing each Caged Bird Seal took a great deal of ocular power.
Shinichi Hyuga's willingness to do this filled him with honor.
As for Hyuga Hiashi, wasn't this what he was supposed to do?
More than half the clan members had been branded by his branch of the family!
"That's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
Shinichi Hyuga thought it over briefly. He had been too impatient; they could take their time with this.
Hyuga Hiashi let out a breath of relief. He had been the one struggling the most to keep going.
His eyes and the veins around them burned. His ocular power had been drained dry. If he kept going like this, his Byakugan would explode!
The Third Elder nodded at once and went to inform the clan members.
Before he could leave, Hyuga Hizashi arrived at the entrance to the Ancestral Hall.
"Clan head, the clan members have brought some bad news. The Mission Hall is using all sorts of excuses to refuse the Hyuga Clan's mission applications."
Anger filled Hyuga Hizashi's voice. He was furious with Konoha and the Hokage.
"What! It must be the Third. I'm going to confront him!"
Hyuga Hiashi sprang to his feet, ready to demand justice for his clan members.
After thinking it over all night, he had fully come around to Shinichi Hyuga's way of thinking.
He had also recognized his own mistakes.
Shinichi Hyuga had discovered through his own research that the higher the Byakugan's level, the more it could subtly influence the thoughts of those with a lower-level Byakugan.
It was like a weaker version of Kotoamatsukami, but the influence was limited.
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