Hyuga Hiashi felt even worse after hearing that. Unable to stop himself, he argued with his father, "But this isn't fair! His talent was clearly better than mine. Father, you should have chosen him as clan head back then!"
Slap!
Hyuga Keiichi struck Hyuga Hiashi across the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. He roared, "You worthless fool! What do you take the rules of the Main and Branch Houses for?"
"Are you planning to betray the clan rules the Hyuga clan has passed down for centuries?"
"How can there be someone as stupid as you in this world?"
"Do you think you're helping Hizashi?"
"You're trying to get him killed!"
"All you'll do is feed the resentment and defiance in his heart, making the rest of his life even more painful!"
Only after saying that did Hyuga Keiichi suppress some of his anger. He sighed, stared at his son, and spoke helplessly. "It's precisely because you're too soft-hearted that I'm even more worried you won't be able to keep your younger brother in check in the future."
"You're not qualified like this."
"You and Hizashi are close now. You grew up together from childhood. But what about the future?"
"Because of what happened to Hizashi, I understand that you feel guilty about the Branch House and the Caged Bird rules."
"But you also need to think about your future children."
"Do you really want your son to be destined from birth to bear that thing, to spend his whole life beneath the Main House, living in misery?"
Hyuga Keiichi knew his eldest son far too well—Hiashi was soft by nature, always hesitating over every little thing. If no one forced him with harsh words, he would never take that step.
That was why he had made everything so