"That won't do..."
This time, it was Yamada Hideko, who stood nearby, who spoke.
"Those two children are very talented. They shouldn't be kept in the clan forever," Yamada Hideko said loudly. "The village's ninja squads can give them more room to grow."
At her words, he cast her a brief glance, his pure white eyes showing little emotion.
"Heh..." He gave a disdainful laugh.
"I take it you're Yamada Hideko, their teacher?" Hyuga Feng asked.
"Yes..." Yamada Hideko nodded.
"Hmph. Those two children belong to our Hyuga Clan," Hyuga Feng said, his expression unfriendly. "And what they practice is our clan's Gentle Fist."
"They'll have more room to grow only if they stay in the clan."
"We have elders in the clan who are experts in Gentle Fist. Can the jonin leading those squads say the same?"
"Besides, both girls have already graduated from the Ninja Academy. You're no longer their teacher."
Those words left Yamada Hideko so angry that she struggled to speak.
"But..."
Yamada Hideko wanted to argue, but she realized she had no grounds to do so.
"All right, all right. Hideko, please step outside," Hiruzen Sarutobi said. "I'll handle things from here."
Hearing that, Yamada Hideko could only leave reluctantly, glaring at Hyuga Feng on her way out.
"Hmph." Naturally, Hyuga Feng felt the hostile gaze directed at his back.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't been there, he wouldn't have been so polite to her.
He turned his gaze back to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Third, it's not that I refuse to give those two girls a chance."
Hyuga Feng considered his words for a moment, then said, "One of them, a girl named Nai, is terminally ill. I fear she doesn't have long to live."
"The other is named Yui Hyuga. She's a member of the branch family, and I hope she'll marry my second son, Hizashi Hyuga, in the future."
At that, the corner of Hiruzen Sarutobi's eye visibly twitched.
What was he talking about? A terminal illness? Marriage?
Fine, he could accept the first reason, but what about the second?
What kind of ridiculous excuse was that?
"Haha... Hyuga Clan Head, I heard years ago that you had two sons," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile. "But there hasn't been any word of them since. To think it was true. Haha."
"Hahaha!" Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi laugh, Hyuga Feng followed suit.
"Of course it's true. Those two little brats are already four."
"Ahem..." Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed a few times.
Only four? And he was already discussing marriage?
"But, Hyuga Clan Head, as you know, the rules governing ninja squads were established by the Second."
"We, his successors, can't simply change them at will. By rights, students who graduate from the Ninja Academy must join a squad."
With the conversation having reached this point, Hyuga Feng knew that if he wanted Hiruzen to agree today, he would have to offer something in return.
After considering it for a moment, Hyuga Feng finally spoke slowly.
"Of course. These rules were established by the Ninja Academy and a former Hokage."
"Naturally, we must abide by them."
"However, I recall that the ANBU directly under Lord Hokage are still short a few sensory ninja."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened at those words.
"Hyuga Clan Head, do you understand what you're doing right now?"
Hyuga Feng knew that now that he had said it, there was no turning back.
"Five. Those are the last ninja the branch family has available."
Faced with this offer, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked somewhat hesitant.
His fingers tapped lightly against the desk.
Five assets ready to be deployed, versus two children who might become pillars of the village after years of training.
After a long silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally nodded.
Rather than investing in the future, Hiruzen Sarutobi preferred strength he could use now.
After all, the village's future wouldn't suffer for the absence of those two girls.
Three figures came to mind.
"Hahaha..."
"Then it's settled. I'll have them report for duty tomorrow."
With the matter resolved, Hyuga Feng no longer wanted to remain in this room full of scheming.
"Then I'll take my leave."
"Mm..." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
As it happened, he didn't want to see any more of Hyuga Feng either.
Hyuga Feng then walked out at a leisurely pace.
Outside the door...
Yamada Hideko pressed her ear to the door, listening carefully to the conversation inside.
"Damn it. Why did Lord Hokage agree...?"
She was confused. She couldn't understand why the Hokage would agree to such an unreasonable request.
Then she sighed.
"How many people in this world can truly decide their own fate?"
She felt sorry for those two girls.
They were so talented!
With proper training, they might have become more powerful ninja for the village!
Hearing the footsteps draw closer, Yamada Hideko finally pulled her ear away from the door.
Oh no! As the footsteps approached, Yamada Hideko rapidly formed hand seals.
"Dog, Monkey, Tiger, Ram."
"Transparent Release: Concealment Technique."
The moment she completed the hand seals, Yamada Hideko's figure blended into her surroundings.
Creak-
Hyuga Feng stepped out through the doorway.
He paused at the entrance, faintly sensing an unusual disturbance nearby.
He looked to his left, but nothing seemed out of place.
He wanted to activate his Byakugan to investigate, but on second thought, it might simply have been an ANBU standing guard nearby.
With that thought, he stopped paying it any mind.
Now that the matter was settled, he felt relieved.
"Time to head back..." With that, he ignored the disturbance and walked away at a leisurely pace.
"Whew..."
Only after Hyuga Feng disappeared from sight did Yamada Hideko dare to dispel her invisibility.
"Is his perception really that sharp even without activating his Byakugan?"
When Hyuga Feng had looked in her direction, she had thought he had seen her.
Fortunately, he had only sensed something faintly.
The tension had left her drenched in sweat.
After steadying her breathing, she used the Body Flicker Technique and left.
In the underground laboratory.
Yui sat at the laboratory table, staring at the white mouse in front of her.
As the seconds and minutes passed, she remained there, watching it.
The blue-green cursed seal on the mouse's forehead had vanished, proving that its cursed seal had been removed.
As long as the mouse woke within an hour, the experiment to remove the Caged Bird Seal would count as a success.
"Squeak, squeak..."
Watching the mouse, Yui's eyes gradually lit up.
"It... it worked!" Yui waved her arms excitedly, taking off her mask and gloves.
She had actually succeeded...
She had never imagined that removing a Caged Bird Seal could be so simple.
As long as she tricked the cursed seal into thinking her brain was dead, it would disappear on its own.
She had administered a drug to the mouse that could induce a deathlike state.
But if the procedure went wrong, it could actually die.
After inducing that state, an electric shock was needed to reactivate the brain. In all honesty, the risk was still considerable.
Yui didn't want to try it on herself so soon.
Besides, she still didn't know whether there were any side effects.
She would need to run more experiments to confirm the success rate.
Her gaze returned to the mouse on the table.
By now, the mouse had gotten to its feet and was staring at her with wide eyes.
"Squeak, squeak-"
Picking up the mouse, Yui couldn't help feeling a little wistful.
This little mouse really was lucky! It was smart, too. After so many experiments, it was still alive.
Oh well. She would keep it for now!
She would see how long this little fellow could live.
She put it back in its cage and looked up at the clock.
"It's already dark? Time to head back."
She would have to leave a clone here to keep running experiments.
She crossed two fingers from each hand, forming a cross-shaped seal.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
Poof-
With a puff of white smoke, a clone identical to Yui appeared.
"Stay here and run experiments tonight."
"Mm..." Yui's clone nodded.
Then Yui left the laboratory.
In the iron cage in the corner, the white mouse she had experimented on watched her leave with an unreadable look in its eyes.
Only when the clone turned her gaze back toward the cages did it look away.
Before you continue