This was once the place where he had been humiliated and oppressed.
The remaining members of the Main House and representatives of the Branch House had gathered here. As they watched Neji enter, their feelings were incomparably complicated.
The former "Branch House genius" had now become a figure who stood above all of Konoha, someone who held their lives, honor, and disgrace in his hands.
Several elderly Main House members of high seniority still tried to put on airs, intending to "discuss" the choice of a new clan head with Neji. Their words still carried a trace of ingrained arrogance.
Neji did not even sit down. Standing in the center of the ancestral hall, his gaze swept over everyone present before finally settling on those Main House elders. His voice was calm, yet it carried an invisible pressure.
"From this day onward, the Hyuga Clan will abolish the Main House and Branch House system."
Those words were like a thunderclap, stirring an uproar throughout the ancestral hall!
"What?! Impossible!"
"Neji! You may be the Hokage's aide, but this is an internal matter of the Hyuga Clan!"
"The Main House and Branch House system was established by our ancestors and has sustained the Hyuga Clan's legacy for a thousand years. How can it be abolished just like that?!"
The Main House elders protested furiously. Meanwhile, the Branch House members held their breath, disbelief blazing in their eyes, yet they still did not dare show it openly.
Neji ignored the noisy objections. He raised his left hand, Immortal Power flowing around his fingertips as he traced an incomparably complex rune through the air—the core structure of the Caged Bird curse mark. Yet under his modifications, every aspect related to control, punishment, and even destruction had been removed. Only the effects of condensing