False Kindness

"Is there really no chance at all?"

Fugaku Uchiha asked.

But Li Ke shook his head again.

"There's no chance of that."

Both clan heads then turned to Minato Namikaze, hoping to persuade Li Ke through the future Lord Hokage.

But Minato Namikaze only gave them that same warm, sunlike smile.

"Qingtan and I are of the same mind."

He was completely on Li Ke's side. As long as Li Ke didn't send Kushina to her death or cause the village immense losses, he would support him.

And besides...

"I think this is a family matter between the two of you."

Minato Namikaze's words settled the matter outright, leaving the two clan heads at a loss for words.

"That's right. It is."

Li Ke smiled as well. The chakra around him gradually subsided; he showed no sign of wanting the people outside to rush in just yet.

Then the Hyuga and Uchiha clan heads fell silent again.

They both knew about Murata's circumstances. The ancestors who had married into their clans had been people whose bloodlines hadn't awakened a Kekkei Genkai for two or three generations. Calling them commoners wouldn't have been wrong.

They had only dug up those records after learning that Li Ke possessed Wood Release.

But who could have told them that someone really could awaken a Kekkei Genkai from such a faint trace of blood?

And so many of them, all at once!

Was this reasonable?!

Was this even a jutsu?!

Was this the Sage of Six Paths?!

But as they looked at Li Ke and Minato Namikaze, they understood their intentions even less.

Li Ke clearly intended to reveal his Byakugan and Sharingan, and to step into the public eye as an even more powerful Kekkei Genkai user.

But he and Minato Namikaze should also have known that doing so would only spark a conflict between the Hyuga and Uchiha.

The reason the Hyuga and Uchiha would clash was simple.

The Ninja World revered strength above all else, and the power Li Ke had demonstrated was enough to make him Hokage even without many accomplishments.

Besides, Kekkei Genkai could be inherited. If they did nothing and let Li Ke remain outside their clans, would his family's children inherit the Sharingan, or would the Uchiha?

The same was true of the Byakugan.

Their monopoly would be broken.

The Uchiha Clan could tolerate that. With certain secret techniques, the more Sharingan, the better. Given Li Ke's current strength and reputation, as well as the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan, Fugaku Uchiha didn't consider it too great a problem.

But the Hyuga were different. The Byakugan had no substitute.

That was one reason the Uchiha held a lower position in Konoha than the Hyuga.

The Hyuga's place in the village was exceptionally secure, but the Uchiha's wasn't. The Sharingan's genjutsu was powerful, but other skilled shinobi could do similar things—and, at worst, they could fight two against one.

The Byakugan was different. Its X-ray Vision was strategically valuable in any situation. It might not greatly increase an individual's combat strength, but a faction could afford to lose a Sharingan wielder. It would never willingly give up the Byakugan's ability to see through things.

But if they did nothing about Li Ke, the Hyuga Clan's exceptional status would vanish in an instant, and they would no longer be able to maintain their current size and generous benefits.

So Fugaku Uchiha still had room to retreat, but Hyuga Hiashi had no way out—not the slightest one. The moment Li Ke walked down the street with his Byakugan exposed, the Hyuga Clan would have to respond.

And so, with some difficulty, Hiashi spoke.

"Then... what do you intend to do?"

Li Ke looked into his eyes. He had a vague feeling that if he applied his chakra to his own Byakugan, he might even be able to control Hyuga Hiashi's eyes.

The feeling was faint, but Li Ke was certain it wasn't mistaken. He had no intention of testing it, though. Instead, he began to explain what he planned to do.

"I intend to become the Fifth Hokage, probably after my child is born and has grown a little. But before then, I want my child to live in a peaceful world—a world where they won't have to kill anyone with their own hands. So..."

Li Ke looked at Hyuga Hiashi. The light in his Byakugan brightened slightly. Hiashi's heart nearly stopped, but he also heard Li Ke's thoughts with absolute clarity.

"I want the Caged Bird to disappear."

Everyone present stared at Li Ke in disbelief. He slowly explained his reasoning.

"I once had a teammate from the Hyuga Branch Family. He was talented, but because he was from the Branch Family, he had no hope or reason to strive for the future... After all, no matter how nicely you dress things up, the Main Family still owns every member of the Branch Family."

Li Ke finished and gave them a meaningful smile.

"If I want my child to live in a peaceful world, then I can't want them to live in a world where, no matter how hard they struggle, they see no hope. I also don't want my child to be born with a bloodline that forces them to put their life in someone else's hands, leaving them to struggle until freedom comes only with death. I understand the need to protect the Byakugan, and I don't object to it. The weak need protection, after all. But the Caged Bird has to disappear."

The Branch Family's benefits were real. They were given plenty, and many of them truly took pride in being part of the Hyuga Clan.

But one thing would never change.

The Hyuga Branch Family would always be servants of the Hyuga Main Family. No matter how tenderly or gently the Main Family treated them, as long as the Caged Bird remained, that would never change.

The Main Family might treat the Branch Family well to secure its position and protect its own lives. But people treated their tools and pets well, too.

For every shinobi in the Branch Family, the future was already decided.

As long as they were willing to live in their cage, they could have a relatively safe and respectable life. They would have to sacrifice themselves for the Main Family, but that was simply what being a shinobi meant.

If you were already stuck in a mire, you wouldn't mind one that was a little more comfortable.

The Hyuga's Caged Bird was a piece of trash, but the Ninja System had made it a perfectly suitable, perfectly fitting part of its own garbage heap.

And beneath that tender kindness, was there genuine warmth and goodwill—or only a kind of "goodwill" you couldn't refuse?

Li Ke had seen the answer in his teammate from the Hyuga Branch Family.

The things the Hyuga Clan provided were indeed good, but they were still just things. The price was your freedom and the right to decide your own life. They would let you choose someone to marry, but no matter how you chose, you could only pick from among those same people.

Everything the Hyuga Clan offered was nothing more than a slightly warmer turd in the cesspit of the Ninja System.

The bitter irony was that even this foul garbage, warmed just a little, was a kind of comfort that countless people from small nations and other civilian shinobi could only dream of.

Hyuga Hiashi's lips trembled slightly. He looked to Minato Namikaze, but Minato remained silent.

So Hiashi turned to Li Ke, testing the waters.

"Isn't there any other possibility?"