An entire wall.
From floor to ceiling, it was filled with thick, hefty books in varying shades.
They stood neatly arranged on old wooden shelves. The lettering on some spines had faded, while others still bore little labels.
At a rough glance, there had to be hundreds, if not thousands, of volumes.
Hiashi carefully picked up several ancient texts of what seemed like "ordinary thickness" from a broad desk nearby. Even those books looked quite weighty in his hands.
"These..."
Hiashi looked toward the intimidating wall of books.
"Are all texts collected, compiled, or passed down by successive clan heads, concerning our family's origins, ancient secrets, bloodline research, the development of the Gentle Fist...
The sections about our ancestors are scattered throughout records, travel journals, and research notes from different eras.
Trying to find a definite 'path' in them would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."
Even if the Hyuga Clan wasn't a thousand-year-old family, it had still been around for several centuries.
It was hardly surprising that generations of clan heads had collected and compiled so much material. After all, entertainment in those days amounted to eating, drinking, visiting prostitutes, gambling, and traveling.
But the Hyuga Clan had strict family traditions. Gluttony, heavy drinking, visiting prostitutes, and gambling hardly seemed like things a clan head, expected to lead by example under those traditions, could indulge in.
Hiashi had remained a widower for years without remarrying, and the clan heads before him seemed to have been much the same.
Because of the Caged Bird Seal, even the Hyuga clan heads were reluctant to have more children.
For the Hyuga Clan's Main Family, having more children meant making more enemies.
If Hinata hadn't been a girl, Hiashi probably wouldn't even have had a second child.
Living like ascetic