Past Events Like Smoke

It had been manageable while the Second Hokage was alive. Born into the Senju Clan, even though he had founded the Ninja Academy, he was still fundamentally a clan ninja. He gave greater consideration to the interests of the various ninja clans, and with his prestige, even if civilian ninjas were dissatisfied, they would not show it.

But things were different under the Third Hokage. Though the Sarutobi Clan was also a ninja clan, it had already declined before the Third Hokage grew up. As a result, he had not been influenced by his clan during his upbringing, which inevitably made him favor civilian ninjas. This could be seen from the few disciples the Third Hokage had taken and some of his later actions.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru were both civilian ninjas. Though Tsunade was a clan ninja, she was the granddaughter of the Third Hokage's teacher, so that was simply unavoidable favoritism. Then there were the policies during his administration. Almost all those who suffered losses under the Third Hokage's rule were clan ninjas. Hatake Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang, was driven to suicide after failing a mission. Kushina Uzumaki was nearly abducted by Cloud Shinobi. Hizashi Hyuga committed suicide under pressure from Cloud Shinobi. Shisui Uchiha had his right eye dug out for no reason before taking his own life. The Uchiha clan was exterminated over a so-called rebellion. One did not need to think hard to see the shady dealings behind all this.

Take Hatake Sakumo first. At the time, he had been shaking the Shinobi World with his reputation. Other villages had been forced to order their subordinates to yield to him—what immense glory that had been. Yet in the end, he was driven to suicide over a single failed mission. Setting aside whether the so-called villagers had even dared to insult and spit on someone with his prestige, if a ninja's mental fortitude had truly been that poor, how had he made such a huge name for himself on the battlefield?

Then there was Hizashi Hyuga. Although Cloud Shinobi had set a blatant trap first, it was already absurd that a great village like Konoha had let them easily abduct Hinata Hyuga. What happened afterward was even more absurd. The mighty Hyuga Clan had been forced by pressure from the villagers to hand over one of their clansmen's corpse. How much scheming had been involved in that?

Kushina Uzumaki's abduction by Cloud Shinobi was even more ridiculous. As the ultimate weapon of a village, even if the still-young Kushina had not been accompanied by more than ten Jonin, there should at least have been three to five. Yet Cloud Shinobi had directly infiltrated their headquarters and forcibly taken her away. From the look of it, Cloud Shinobi probably had some bloodline limit specialized in kidnapping people.

Finally, Shisui and the Uchiha clan were beyond being called a joke. The Uchiha clan, supposedly plotting a rebellion, had somehow let Konoha's higher-ups learn everything without even the slightest precaution. In the end, Itachi had wiped out the entire clan single-handedly. Even the death of Shisui Uchiha, the strongest member of the clan, had failed to give them the slightest warning. Even if all their IQs had only been two digits, there was no need to flaunt it so brazenly.

For comparison, look at how civilian ninjas had been treated. Jiraiya had failed to return during wartime for no reason, had even taught children from an enemy ninja village, and afterward had not returned for more than ten years. If a clan ninja had done that, he would likely have been treated as a village traitor outright. Yet Jiraiya had still been treated as a hero.

Orochimaru had not only conducted all kinds of forbidden jutsu experiments, but had also used ninjas from his own village and the corpse of the deceased First Hokage as test subjects. Even if that was not utterly heinous, it was still outrageously immoral. Yet what happened? He was merely driven out of the village. Though he had been placed on the wanted list, it was only in name—what effect had that had on Orochimaru? Nor had the powerful Konoha sent anyone to hunt him down.

That treatment was excessive even if they had been the Third Hokage's disciples. If it was because they were powerful enough, then how could one explain Hatake Sakumo, who had been stronger than the Three Legendary Sannin? Looking deeper, even Tsunade's relatives and lover had died under unclear circumstances. Take Nawaki Senju first. As the grandson of the previous Hokage, there was no way he should have been sent to the battlefield while still a Genin. Even if he had gone to the battlefield, he should not have died so easily. Yet Nawaki Senju, still a Genin, had died for no apparent reason.

There was also Tsunade's lover, Dan Katō. To be involved with Tsunade, he had at least been a Jonin, and his jutsu, the Spirit Transformation Jutsu, had been a long-range offensive type. Yet even so, he had still died. Thinking of Tsunade's relationship with Jiraiya at the time, the outcome spoke for itself. Perhaps the war had indeed been fierce, but no matter how fierce it was, it could not have coincidentally turned out like this.

One or two coincidences were normal, but repeated coincidences meant inevitability. The Third Hokage had suppressed the various ninja clans too harshly. No wonder that after Orochimaru launched his Konoha Destruction Plan, those clan ninjas had insisted on waiting until the Third Hokage was certain to die before acting, and had even refused to move again after taking action that time.

Just as Yuun thought life would continue so blandly until Naruto Uzumaki and the others graduated, and that the next disturbance would only come when Orochimaru launched his plan, Hiashi, who had not spoken to Yuun in years, sent someone to summon him. The first thing he asked was whether Yuun was willing to marry Hinata Hyuga, leaving Yuun completely dumbfounded.

"Lord Hiashi, Lady Hinata is only ten this year..." Yuun did not immediately refuse. Since Hiashi had raised it face-to-face, Yuun could not directly reject him. Even though the world of the Hokage had its saying that the strong were respected, that was merely an unspoken rule. Clans still held great power over ninjas.

"She is eleven." Hiashi interrupted Yuun. "Just a few days ago, Hinata was defeated by Hanabi, who is five years younger than her. The facts have proven that she simply does not possess the talent to inherit the Hyuga Clan. I do not want to watch her become part of the Branch House, so as long as you are willing to marry her, you can become a member of the Main House, and Hinata will not have to receive the Curse Mark."

"Please give me some time to consider it." After thinking it over again and again, Yuun answered hesitantly. If he had encountered something like this before transmigrating, he would definitely have agreed without hesitation. A beautiful, wealthy girl throwing herself at him—who would not want such a good thing? Shortly after transmigrating, he might have hesitated for a moment, but he believed he would still have agreed. After all, he had somewhat liked Hinata in his previous life. But now, after living in this world for more than ten years and getting to know more people, he was not an idiot. He naturally knew that Hana liked him, but faced with this situation, he did not know what to do.

"You need to think this through." Hiashi spoke calmly. "As a member of the Hyuga Clan, you cannot marry a woman from another clan. Even if you are a genius of the Hyuga Clan, that remains true."

Seeing that Yuun seemed to be wavering, Hiashi pressed his advantage. "Besides, I am not asking you to marry her immediately. You only need to agree first. Once Hinata graduates, you can become engaged. The marriage itself can wait a few more years." Hiashi continued persuading him. "Yuun, think carefully. If your parents were still alive, they would surely be happy for you to marry Hinata. Among your generation, Hinata is quite outstanding."