Konoha, the newly built Hokage Building.
On the second floor, the window of the Hokage's office stood open.
Hashirama Senju sat behind a broad wooden desk, holding a notice he had just finished writing.
Tobirama Senju stood beside the desk, looking down as he checked the rosters submitted by the various clans.
Madara Uchiha leaned by the window with his arms folded across his chest, gazing at the buildings outside with an indifferent expression.
Neither Tobirama nor Madara acknowledged the other, and the air in the room was somewhat heavy.
"Reporting to Lord Hokage, the Hyuga Clan has sent someone."
The guard called out from outside the door.
Hashirama set down the notice and raised his head.
The door was pushed open.
A Hyuga ninja in grayish-white robes walked in.
A strip of white cloth was wrapped tightly around his forehead, his clothes were covered in dried mud, and the corners of his eyes were bloodshot.
He had left the Hyuga Clan Compound early yesterday morning and traveled through the entire night and half the day, completely unaware of what had happened in the clan last night.
The Hyuga ninja stepped through the doorway, then paused as he came face-to-face with the three men in the room.
He dropped to one knee and presented a letter with both hands.
"Lord Hokage, the clan leader sent me with our reply."
"Our Hyuga Clan agrees to join Konoha and will relocate the entire clan on the agreed date."
Hashirama burst out laughing, took the letter, and unfolded it for a glance.
"I told you the Hyuga Clan would agree."
He turned toward Madara by the window.
"When we went to the Hyuga Clan Compound the day before yesterday, Clan Leader Rissei said he needed to discuss it with the elders. I thought we'd have to wait ten days or half a month."
Madara snorted coldly and ignored him, not even bothering to turn his head.
Hashirama did not mind and called to the guard outside.
"Take our Hyuga brother somewhere to rest."
The Hyuga ninja bowed and withdrew with the guard, closing the door behind him.
Hashirama Senju pulled out his chair and sat down, smiling.
"With the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, we won't have to worry about ambushes on missions anymore."
"Brother, don't celebrate too soon."
Tobirama Senju closed the roster, his voice cold.
"The Hyuga Clan aren't fools. If they agreed this readily, they must be after Konoha's protection."
Madara Uchiha leaned by the window with his arms folded, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold sneer.
"The Byakugan?"
"All it does is let them see a little farther."
"Compared to the Sharingan, it's nothing."
Tobirama Senju tightened his grip on the papers in his hand and replied coldly.
"Fighting doesn't necessarily solve everything."
Madara cast a sidelong glance at Tobirama and snorted.
"A petty schemer."
"If it weren't for Hashirama, you wouldn't even be worthy of standing before me."
The veins on Tobirama's hand twitched.
He knew he could not beat Madara, and there was no need to fight at a time like this.
Madara could not be bothered to spare Tobirama another glance and turned back to the window.
"All right, all right. We're all doing this for the village."
Hashirama Senju laughed and patted the roster on the desk.
"The entire Hyuga Clan will be coming in two days. We need to hurry and set aside land for their compound."
Hashirama Senju turned toward Madara Uchiha by the window.
"Madara, I'm going to the Hyuga Clan Compound to pick them up in two days. Why don't you come with me?"
"We were just there together the day before yesterday. This time, we can bring them back."
Madara Uchiha did not even turn his head as he snorted.
"No."
"A bunch of ants aren't worth a second trip."
Tobirama Senju closed the roster on the desk and pushed it aside.
"Then leave the Hyuga Clan's compound to me."
Seeing that Madara was not interested, Hashirama did not insist. He smiled and rubbed his neck.
"All right. I'll go pick them up myself in two days."
The three men in the Hokage's office were still discussing the arrangements for picking them up.
They did not know.
The Hyuga clan leader and elders they were talking about had already been slaughtered to the last man the night before.
That same afternoon, at the Hyuga Clan Compound.
The bodies in the Main Family's courtyard had already been carried away by members of the branch families.
The blood on the ground had not been fully washed away and gave off a bloody smell.
Shinichi stood at the entrance to the main hall, looking at the empty courtyard.
To establish the Hyuga's own village, he first had to know how many resources they had available.
He turned to his eldest uncle, who stood beside him.
"Uncle, take a few reliable men and break open the Main Family's storehouse."
"Take stock of everything in there: people, money, grain, and secret technique scrolls."
His eldest uncle nodded and called over Scarface and three other branch family ninja.
With iron bars and kunai in hand, they went to the Main Family's storehouse, smashed the huge lock, and pushed open the heavy wooden doors.
Shinichi went inside with his eldest uncle and several branch family ninja.
His eldest uncle held a roster, turning through the entries one by one.
"The entire clan has over three thousand people."
"There are more than three hundred and sixty ninja."
His eldest uncle pointed to the rows of names.
"The vast majority are genin. There are only around a hundred chunin and fewer than thirty jonin."
His eldest uncle opened a rosewood cabinet beside him and took out a lacquered wooden box filled with stacks of banknotes.
"The Main Family's money comes to around thirty million ryo."
Scarface leaned closer, reached out to heft it, and spoke quietly.
"This much money would keep the whole clan going for several years."
His eldest uncle then pointed to several large grain bins in the corner of the storehouse.
"The grain in those bins is enough to feed the whole clan for three or four months."
"In the wooden crates beside them, kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags fill half a room."
Then he walked to the iron rack at the very back, carefully took down several scrolls, and spread them on the table.
"Rotation, Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm... all the Main Family's secret technique scrolls are here."
The branch family ninja standing by the door stared at the scrolls, rooted to the spot.
In the past, they would have been reprimanded for so much as giving these things an extra glance.
His eldest uncle took a thick cowhide ledger from the bottom shelf and handed it to Shinichi.
"This is the Main Family's commission ledger. It records the amounts paid by the daimyo and nobles who hired the Hyuga for missions. It brings in at least several million ryo a year."
Shinichi took the ledger and leafed through it.
He raised his head and looked at Scarface.
"This money really is enough for the whole clan to live on."
"But it's nowhere near enough to build a village."
Shinichi did some calculations in his head.
Seizing territory cost money, building village walls cost money, building houses, establishing a school, clearing training grounds-which of them did not mean pouring money out?
Establishing a village would take at least several hundred million ryo.
Thirty million ryo seemed like a lot, but it was nowhere near enough to establish a village.
Shinichi closed the ledger and handed it back to his eldest uncle.
Although they had now overthrown the Main Family's rule.
Shinichi still faced several difficult problems.
The first was Konoha.
Before his death, the clan leader had already sent someone with a letter agreeing to join Konoha.
Hashirama had promised to come in person to pick them up in two days.
But now the Main Family was gone, and the Hyuga could no longer go to Konoha.
He needed to think through what to say when Hashirama came calling.
The second was the village's territory.
The Hyuga could not keep huddling in this old clan compound forever.
To build a village, they had to find a sufficiently large piece of land.
The third was the lack of money.
Thirty million ryo was nowhere near enough to build a village. He had to find a way to make more money!
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