"Brother, do you know how Konoha divides the rewards for missions?
The village takes half.
The other half is divided equally among the squad members according to their ninja ranks.
Even Hyuga Clan ninjas with the Byakugan can only get a little over ten percent.
There's another unwritten rule: if you don't take part in combat, your share is reduced.
The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan can often prevent combat by providing teammates with intelligence before a fight breaks out.
Oh, and before, the Main Branch would take a cut, too."
Hizashi explained the hardships faced by the Hyuga Branch Family's ninjas.
He quickly spotted the connection in those figures.
A stark contrast appeared in his mind.
One option was to take dangerous missions in Konoha, risk his life, and earn a little over ten percent.
The other was to work with the Land of Fire's nobles, do things with ease, and take twenty percent.
The choice was obvious.
Besides, casinos never lacked customers, especially in peacetime.
Why risk your life on dangerous missions just to curry favor with others?
"Hizashi, go with him. Also, you can choose some clan members to marry into the Land of Fire's noble families."
Shinichi Hyuga admired Hizashi even more.
He had quickly grasped Shinichi's meaning.
By comparison, Hyuga Hiashi was a little lacking. He didn't understand the Ninja World's darkness as well.
The second part of Shinichi's suggestion was even harder for Hiashi to understand.
He had been doing everything he could to preserve the purity of their bloodline and keep the Byakugan, a Kekkei Genkai, from falling into outsiders' hands.
Yet now Shinichi Hyuga wanted them to marry into the Land of Fire's noble families?
Questions piled up in his mind.
Hizashi didn't give him a chance to ask.
As soon as he finished speaking, Hizashi pulled Hiashi out of the Ancestral Hall.
Shinichi Hyuga watched them leave.
Since he had intervened and changed their tragic fates, he hoped they wouldn't take a path that harmed the Hyuga Clan.
Both sides had now made their moves. The outcome was already clear.
The days passed, and a month went by.
The storm in Konoha grew fiercer by the day.
It wasn't the Hyuga Clan's ninjas who gave in first, but the civilian ninjas.
Complaints among Konoha's clan ninjas grew louder and louder.
Recently, the rate of ninja injuries and casualties on missions had reached an all-time high.
The problem was especially severe among low-ranking Konoha squads.
At first, Konoha's leadership hadn't noticed.
Shikaku Nara was the one who went to the Hokage Office and reported the situation.
Because of this, Minato Namikaze even called a meeting of the Council of Elders.
No one knew what was discussed, but the unwritten rule forbidding the Hyuga Clan from taking missions was lifted.
The Hyuga Clan's ninjas, however, fell silent.
Only a few Hyuga ninjas came out to take missions.
The rest of them became mysterious and elusive.
This prompted the extremely suspicious Danzo to request a large sum of money to build bunkers capable of shielding against the Byakugan.
The Council of Elders approved it.
The situation in Konoha grew increasingly volatile.
Inside the Hyuga Clan's meeting hall.
A huge table stood in the center.
Shinichi Hyuga sat at the head of it, growing more accustomed to his role as clan head.
He held a report compiled by the Third Elder, who had been observing the clan's ninjas.
The Hyuga Clan's ninjas had grumbled for only the first few days after losing the chance to take missions.
Now they understood Shinichi Hyuga's intentions.
Being sought after by squads from all over was the treatment they deserved.
On either side of him sat more than twenty jonin responsible for clan affairs.
They were all elite members of the Hyuga Clan.
Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga were among them, both with exhaustion written all over their faces.
Over the past month, they had been active among the Land of Fire's nobility, reopening the Hyuga Clan's casinos.
The results had been very encouraging.
Casinos had reopened in the prosperous cities and major towns.
The profit-sharing arrangement proposed by Shinichi Hyuga had been one of the most important factors.
"Clan head, more than thirty luxury casinos now have jonin leading squads stationed there. Should we continue expanding?"
Hizashi Hyuga was tired, but at that moment, he was even more excited.
They had fought back brilliantly.
Over the past few days, more and more ninjas had tried to recruit Hyuga Clan members as partners.
The Hyuga Clan was finally starting to look like a true great clan instead of a bunch of pointless cannon fodder.
The casinos brought in several times more than mission work.
For the first time, Hizashi could see a prosperous future for the Hyuga Clan.
"There's no need to keep expanding. We already have enough to develop the Hyuga Clan. Now we just need to secure this source of funding.
"Also, watch out for retaliation from every direction.
"The enemies lurking in the shadows are only just beginning to act."
Shinichi Hyuga tapped the table, reviewing the operation.
The Ninja World War had ended, and the Land of Fire had emerged victorious. As a result, people were increasingly eager for somewhere to vent their pent-up aggression.
On top of that, Shinichi Hyuga had introduced many forms of entertainment from his previous life. The casinos the Hyuga Clan had opened with the Land of Fire's nobles had quickly captured the market.
The one thing they still had to be wary of was the Hyuga Clan's biggest problem: ninjas lurking in the shadows, coveting the Byakugan.
He had to change how people saw it.
He planned to do so in two ways.
First.
Make Byakugan transplants taboo.
Everyone thought the Sharingan had severe side effects and didn't want to transplant it.
That made the Byakugan the best choice: powerful, with few side effects.
This perception came from the stolen Byakugan now possessed by Ao in Kirigakure.
He would turn Ao into an example—a cautionary tale of the Byakugan turning against its owner.
The Byakugan he had now, which was close to becoming a Tenseigan, could absorb the ocular power of others.
Ao's Byakugan was a perfect target.
He needed to make an example of someone to deter the rest. One victim wouldn't be enough; he wanted to create a few more.
Second.
He would arrange marriages with the Land of Fire's nobles and Konoha's clans, forging a vast bloc of shared interests.
The Hyuga Clan was clearly a great clan, yet it had never had a voice in Konoha or the Land of Fire.
One reason was that it had been too closed off and had failed to form reliable alliances.
Marriage was an excellent tool.
Such arrangements were common between ninja clans and the Land of Fire's noble families.
The Hyuga Clan had never allowed this before.
It had only allowed outsiders to marry in.
Changing the marriage restrictions would let clan members seek happiness in their own lives.
It would also bring the clan a substantial return.
Many Genin in the Hyuga Clan lived miserable lives.
Marrying into the Land of Fire's noble families would benefit both sides.
Never underestimate the nobles' desire for power.
The Sarutobi Clan had won over the Land of Fire's Genji Clan, which was how the Third had been able to decide who would become the Fourth Hokage.
When all was said and done, Konoha was merely a military organization operating on a mercenary basis.
Under Shinichi Hyuga's policy, the Land of Fire's nobles would have a chance to gain the Byakugan, a top-tier Kekkei Genkai. But the Hyuga Clan would retain control of the methods and techniques for using it.
That would allow the clan to maintain its leading position for a long time.
The Hyuga Clan would also gain allies it could truly trust, bound to it by both shared interests and personal ties.
Those who coveted the Byakugan would no longer be fixated on stealing it.
Instead, they would use a gentler approach: marriage.
That would give them access to one of the Ninja World's most powerful Kekkei Genkai.
If both plans succeeded, the Hyuga Clan would gain benefits beyond anyone's imagination.
And with Shinichi Hyuga's own strength, the clan could stand toe-to-toe with the Senju Clan at its peak.
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