The Sarutobi Clan Emerges

The gaze of the Third Hokage fell upon the faces of his clansmen. Years of experience told him that these people were not as impartial as Shinnosuke Sarutobi claimed.

When carrying out missions, they were always subject to various interferences.

Sentiments, interests—even he, as Hokage, could not avoid them, so how could these people possibly do so?

Damn that Shinichi Hyuga!

The Third Hokage cursed inwardly.

He should have been retiring with glory, manipulating all of Konoha from behind the scenes, but now Shinichi Hyuga had ruined it all.

He had even created a rift between himself and Minato Namikaze.

"Clan Head, isn't fifty million ryo a bit too much? The clan is currently undergoing a new round of expansion, and I'm afraid funds are a bit tight."

The Great Elder of the Sarutobi Clan had beads of sweat on his face; he clenched his fists and asked tentatively.

His usual job was to coordinate the development of the Sarutobi Clan.

Those funds had already been allocated and approved by Sarutobi Hiruzen; diverting them now would be troublesome.

The words of the Great Elder of the Sarutobi Clan drew the attention of all the Sarutobi clansmen.

He represented a portion of their inner thoughts; in their eyes, this was originally their benefit.

Now, they were expected to give it up for the sake of those who were already dead?

How could they be willing!

"Expansion? Stop it! This time, we must shrink our influence!" Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled bitterly, recalling the map that Shinichi Hyuga had produced.

On it, the sphere of influence of the Sarutobi Clan already occupied a quarter of Konoha.

In his view, it was not objective.

However, in the eyes of the other ninja clans, the Sarutobi Clan was too dangerous!

They had already infiltrated every aspect of Konoha, controlling the village's vital resources.

Through various mergers and acquisitions, the number of their shops had reached the same level as the Uchiha Clan.

Ninja weapons, farming tools for civilians—

The Ninja Academy and Konoha Hospital, institutions that held significant influence despite their lack of direct power, all bore the shadow of the Sarutobi Clan.

The true thieves of Konoha were the Sarutobi Clan.

These were things Sarutobi Hiruzen had once been proud of, as they allowed him to influence public opinion.

Now that Shinichi Hyuga had laid these facts out in the open, the other ninja clans would not allow the Sarutobi Clan to continue monopolizing Konoha's survival resources.

They could decide the life and death of all of Konoha with a single word; Konoha belonged to everyone, not just the Sarutobi Clan.

They would unite to continuously weaken his influence.

"This... shall I lead the Anbu to bring Shinichi Hyuga under control?" Shinnosuke Sarutobi's expression gradually darkened. The origin of all this was that guy, Shinichi Hyuga.

Recalling the time of the Hyuga Clan meeting, he had been sent by his father to control Shinichi Hyuga.

But he had been blocked by Orochimaru; that had been the best opportunity, and he had retreated!

"It's already useless. Once he became the Clan Head of the Hyuga Clan, those methods no longer work!

One last time, have all the civilians connected to us issue a condemnation of Shinichi Hyuga.

Claim that because of his actions, the Daimyo has reduced the funding for Konoha by five hundred million ryo, and send people to his door to put pressure on him."

The Third Hokage exerted force unconsciously, and a crack appeared in the handle of his pipe.

Even now, he wanted to use his old methods to suppress Shinichi Hyuga.

"You all, go contact your comrades-in-arms, ensure they remain firmly on our side, go!"

The Third Hokage put away his pipe, not wanting anyone to see his loss of composure.

The "Ninja Hero" who once dominated the Ninja World was now capable only of impotent rage.

After everyone left, he took out a list, marking and calculating as he planned this round of audits.

His brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and the wrinkles on his face began to bunch together.

The heads of the various clans in the Ninja World returned to their homes.

The first thing they did was search for the original map from when Konoha was founded.

The two maps Shinichi Hyuga had shown them today were etched into their minds, impossible to shake off.

Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju had been thoughtful.

When Konoha was founded, to commemorate that beautiful moment, they had included a map of Konoha, and at the same time, clearly listed every clan. A total of fifty-seven ninja clans had joined Konoha, occupying the most fertile land in the Ninja World.

Today, Konoha was growing ever more powerful.

Whenever they opened that map, it always left them with lingering fear.

They did not possess the current map of Konoha, yet the village was already etched into their minds.

They began to cross-reference it, recalling the history of Konoha's development.

"Extermination!"

The words of Shinichi Hyuga echoed in their minds.

Twenty-three ninja clans had been wiped out, and the Senju clan had weakened, choosing to integrate themselves into Konoha.

The fall of these clans had created a monster.

A monster even more terrifying than the Uchiha Clan, controlling every aspect of Konoha.

From ninja promotions to the most mundane daily necessities.

They no longer held the Third Hokage in the same high regard as before.

One after another, they pondered the matter of verifying their contributions in the ninja wars.

Hyuga Clan, family training grounds.

The youths of the Hyuga Clan gathered together, fiddling with bows and arrows in their hands; this was to be a mandatory course for them from now on.

They were to apply the clairvoyant ability of the Byakugan to combat weaponry.

Some were still dismissive, believing that ninjutsu was the true foundation.

However, Shinichi Hyuga was about to teach them a lesson.

Shinichi Hyuga stood on the demonstration platform.

In his hand was a bow, and on his back was a quiver containing twelve arrows.

He tensed his body, stood with steady footing, and locked his gaze onto a humanoid target at the edge of the training ground, five hundred paces away.

Kunai and shuriken, the common hidden weapons of ninjas, could not inflict significant damage.

He nocked an arrow and drew the bow.

This time, he used only pure physical strength.

He felt a sense of becoming one with the bow and arrow in his hands.

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

Rapid fire.

Three arrows in quick succession landed respectively in the target's head, throat, and heart.

Following that, he gathered chakra in his body and loosed another arrow, piercing straight through the humanoid target.

The entire arrow buried itself into the ground, leaving only a hole behind.

He lowered the bow and fiddled with it for a moment.

"It's a bit too light! Tell the craftsmen to continue researching bows with greater range. Also, go to the Land of Artisans and inquire about the progress of firearms."

Shinichi Hyuga turned his head and spoke to the Third Elder.

In the future, the development path of the Hyuga Clan would be long-range combat.

He now possessed the talent of Usopp, granting him superior marksmanship and craftsmanship.