Hyuga Hanabi?

Hyuga Clan compound.

After the banquet concluded, Hiashi kept Hyuga Natsu behind.

"Not bad. According to Hizashi, you have already mastered the Eight Trigrams Palms and possess the strength of a chunin?"

"My progress is only so rapid thanks to the cultivation of Lord Hizashi."

From March to December, for nearly nine months, their ninja squad had been stationed at the border, and Hyuga Natsu had received guidance from Hizashi almost every day.

Coupled with the baptism of the battlefield, her strength, which had been between a genin and a chunin, naturally advanced by leaps and bounds.

Hyuga Hiashi nodded slightly. "Regardless, I am very gratified by your improvement, and it proves that I did not misjudge you."

"Natsu, I intend to entrust the task of caring for the young lady to you entirely."

Entrust it entirely to her?... Hyuga Natsu was stunned.

She had always been responsible for caring for the Main House young lady, but because her ninja squad frequently required her to go on missions, she was not a full-time servant; she was merely one of the maids, and for the past half-year, she had been stationed at the border.

Hearing Lord Hiashi's intent to have her take over the work completely—meaning she would become the young lady's exclusive servant—implied she would have to abandon her ninja squad, which left her feeling somewhat conflicted.

However, as a member of the Branch House, the words of the Main House head, Hyuga Hiashi, were undoubtedly an irresistible command. After a brief moment of hesitation, she nodded and said, "Yes!"

"Thank you for your trust, Lord Hiashi!"

"I will certainly do my utmost to take good care of Lady Hanabi!"

???

The second young lady? Lady Hanabi?

If Sasuke were here, he would certainly be full of question marks.

Where would the Hyuga Main House get a second young lady?

Where did Hyuga Hanabi come from?

Shouldn't she be born two years later?

Of course, he was not here, nor had he ever monitored the Hyuga Clan.

Otherwise, he would have known that several years ago, Hyuga Hiashi's wife had given birth to twins...

At this moment, Hyuga Natsu, having finished expressing her loyalty, hesitated again: "It is just, Lord Hiashi, Lady Hanabi is..."

According to Hyuga custom, the status of the Main House is determined at the age of three, and it has always been the eldest who is established, not the youngest.

With Hinata about to turn three, once her status as the Main House heir was confirmed, Hanabi, as the younger sister, would need to be branded with the Caged Bird and become a member of the Branch House.

A member of the Branch House, by logic, had no qualifications to possess servants.

For Hiashi to make such an arrangement at this time was clearly quite intriguing...

Hyuga Hiashi frowned and said in a deep voice, "This is not something you need to worry about. You only need to do your own job!"

Realizing she had committed a grave taboo by privately speculating on the clan head's choice for the future Main House, Hyuga Natsu quickly knelt on one knee and lowered her head respectfully: "Yes!"

Hyuga Hiashi nodded slightly, turned around, and with his back to Hyuga Natsu, said, "Also, I know you are conflicted about the ninja squad, but you need not worry."

"Your squad member, Uzuki Yugao, performed excellently at the border this time, and I believe she will soon pass the application for the Anbu."

"Among the first few batches of ninjas who withdrew from the border, many who performed well and rendered meritorious service have already been promoted."

"You and Uchiha Izumi have also rendered much service, and I believe you will be no exception; you will soon be promoted to chunin."

"At the same time, Uchiha Izumi's status is special, and I believe the Third Hokage will have other arrangements for her, so your ninja squad is not far from disbanding."

"During this period, when there are missions, you will continue to act as part of the ninja squad, and when there are no missions, you will follow the butler to familiarize yourself with the work."

"Once the squad disbands, you will take over completely."

"Do you understand?"

So the squad is facing disbandment?... Even knowing she was about to be promoted to chunin, Hyuga Natsu still felt a sense of reluctance in her heart.

She had worked so hard to build deep bonds with her companions during these border missions.

Once she became Hanabi's exclusive servant, it would be very difficult to see them again, wouldn't it...

But she could not refuse the command of the Main House, so she could only nod heavily: "Yes, I understand!"

Of course, if Hanabi could become the Main House heir, then as her exclusive servant, her own status within the clan would rise with the tide, and she might even become the butler of the Main House.

That was the only consolation.

After Hyuga Natsu left, Hyuga Hiashi narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering.

Main House... Branch House...

Thinking of one of his daughters being about to be branded with the Caged Bird, he found it hard to accept.

I must find an excuse to delay the ceremony...

A few days later, in the afternoon.

"It is confirmed."

"The years of ongoing conflict between the Cloud Ninja and Konoha since the end of the Third Shinobi World War are finally coming to a successful conclusion."

"The Cloud Ninja will be sending a delegation to Konoha to sign a peace treaty."

Fugaku Uchiha, having just returned from the meeting, announced this news upon arriving home.

Hearing this, Itachi Uchiha let out a sigh of relief, his face brightening with joy.

The imminent signing of a peace treaty meant that Konoha would be ushering in an era of total peace for a long time to come.

For him, someone who cared deeply for Konoha and had been closely following the progress of the negotiations, this was truly good news.

Thinking of his best friend, Itachi spoke up: "By the way, Father, Shisui probably doesn't know yet, right?"

Fugaku nodded: "Only the high-ranking officials of Konoha and the heads of our ninja clans attended the meeting just now; Shisui likely hasn't heard."

Upon hearing this, Itachi stood up immediately and said excitedly: "Father, I'm going to tell Shisui!"

"Go ahead, but remember to come back for dinner." Fugaku did not stop him; he naturally supported the friendship between Itachi and Shisui, the geniuses of their clan.

After Itachi left, Uchiha Izumi looked at Sasuke with a worried expression.

It was not just because of the friendship between Itachi Uchiha and Shisui.

Having spent much of her time with Sasuke and Elder Nobuhiko, she naturally understood that without external pressure, it meant the high-ranking officials of Konoha could finally free their hands to reorganize internal affairs.

For the Uchiha clan, whose conflict with the village was deepening by the day, this was certainly not good news.

Fugaku also looked at Sasuke: "Sasuke, what is your take on this?"

While gently patting Uchiha Izumi's thigh to comfort her, Sasuke replied: "The Third Hokage still hopes for internal peace."

"After all, the strength of our Uchiha clan cannot be underestimated, and he is unwilling to give up such a significant fighting force."

"Now that the war has completely ended, Konoha has many industries waiting to be rebuilt; they lack the confidence to trigger a civil war in the next few years."

"Besides, we are one of the two founding clans of Konoha. Unless we launch a coup first, the Third Hokage, who treasures his reputation, will not lay a hand on our Uchiha without a reasonable excuse."

"Taking all of this into account, I believe the Third Hokage will continue to adopt a policy of appeasement toward our Uchiha clan."

"Of course, this does not mean we can rest easy; we still need to be wary of Danzo."

After listening to Sasuke's analysis, Uchiha Izumi breathed a sigh of relief, while Fugaku raised an eyebrow: "Did Elder Nobuhiko analyze this for you?"

That's what the original story said... Sasuke scratched his head and said: "Something like that."

Let's just say it was Elder Nobuhiko's analysis.

Fugaku gave Sasuke a deep look, then shifted the topic: "Then what do you think we, the Uchiha, should do?"

I can't really say that... Sasuke replied: "Father, you are the clan head after all..."

In the future, he would need to use a certain opportunity to win over the clan members, awaken his own Mangekyo, and incidentally save his foolish brother, so he had no intention of interfering in the issues between the Uchiha and the village.

So, the future of the clan needs to follow my will?... Fugaku nodded; he seemed to understand.