Outside the walls, the sound of thousands of Hyuga Branch Family members smashing their Forehead Protectors rolled into the courtyard like muffled thunder.
The dull thuds of knees striking the flagstones ran together.
Their cries and wails shook the heavens and earth.
Hyūga Tensō sat slumped in the blood-soaked courtyard.
As he listened to the commotion outside, his last shred of hope was crushed.
The Branch Family had rebelled. Thousands of Byakugan were no longer under his control as clan head.
He had become a toothless tiger. He could not even command a dog.
Tensō's legs trembled like dead branches in an autumn wind.
He braced himself against the bloodstained bricks and tried to stand. His arms gave out, and he pitched forward.
Thud.
Both his knees slammed into the flagstones.
His bones made a dull sound against the ground.
Tensō did not get up. He bent forward and buried his head between his hands.
His forehead struck the bloodied bricks hard.
"Lord Hokage... spare my life."
Tensō's voice cracked like a broken bellows leaking air.
He trembled all over.
The hem of his pure white kimono, a symbol of his noble status as a Main Family member, was soaked in the blood of the dead, dyed crimson.
He did not even have the courage to look up at the straight sword.
Shu Shiraishi stood before him.
The bloodstained straight sword hung at his side.
Drops of blood ran down to its tip and fell one by one into a puddle beside the back of Tensō's hand.
"Drip. Drip."
The thirty-odd Main Family members left in the courtyard had all huddled in a corner by the steps.
Some clutched broken arms, biting down on their collars to keep their screams trapped in their throats.
Some had wet themselves in terror, and the stench of urine mingled with the smell of blood in the air.
The lofty Hyuga Main Family was now more wretched than rats in a sewer.
Shu Shiraishi did not swing his sword.
He rubbed the straight blade twice against the clothes of a nearby headless corpse, wiping off the blood.
He turned his wrist.
Click.
The straight sword slid into its sheath.
The crisp metallic sound made Tensō's whole body jolt.
"So now you know how to kowtow."
Shu Shiraishi looked down at the trembling old man at his feet.
"Where's that backbone you had when you formed a battle array for your glory?"
Tensō clenched his teeth. Blood seeped from his gums.
He pressed himself against the ground, not daring to utter a word.
Shu Shiraishi raised his head and swept his gaze over the Main Family members in the corner.
His gaze scraped over them like a blade.
"Take off your clothes."
Shu Shiraishi's voice was quiet, but it rang exceptionally clear in the silent courtyard.
The people in the corner froze.
Several middle-aged ninja looked up, bewildered.
"The white kimonos." Shu Shiraishi pointed at their clothes. "Dressed so cleanly-are you afraid you'll get them dirty when you work?"
"Take them all off."
No one dared move.
A Main Family woman in her thirties clutched her collar, her face deathly pale.
Shu Shiraishi rested his right hand on his sword hilt again.
His thumb pushed against the guard.
Creak.
An inch of blade emerged, and cold light flashed across the woman's face.
Rip!
The man closest to the flash of steel tore at his collar like a madman.
The fine silk ripped under his rough hands. He frantically stripped off his outer white kimono and threw it into the blood.
Wearing only a thin gray underlayer, he shivered in the cool morning breeze.
Once someone had taken the lead, the rest could no longer worry about their dignity.
The sound of tearing cloth filled the air.
Dozens of pure white kimonos, symbols of privilege, were stripped off and thrown all over the ground like trash.
The Main Family masters, who usually held their noses in the air, now stood in wrinkled underclothes like quail waiting to be slaughtered.
"Hyūga Tensō."
Shu Shiraishi nudged Tensō's shoulder with the toe of his foot.
Tensō hurriedly straightened his upper body, but remained on his knees. The skin on his forehead had split, and blood mixed with dust ran down his face.
"From today on, there is no Main Family or Branch Family in the Hyuga Clan."
Shu Shiraishi looked at the people who had lost all their privileges.
"Tomorrow morning, you few dozen former Main Family members will report to the supply office in the west of the village."
"Collect pickaxes and carrying baskets. You're going to the Black Rock Coal Mine on the border of the Land of Fire."
"Mitokado Homura is short of hands over there."
Tensō sucked in a cold breath.
The Black Rock Coal Mine? That was where condemned prisoners were exiled.
"M-my lord." Tensō stammered. "We're ninja. To dig coal..."
"What's wrong with digging coal?"
Shu Shiraishi cut him off.
"Your daily quota is one ton. For every pound of coal you fall short, I'll chop off one finger."
"If anyone doesn't want to go, I'll chop off his hands and feet right now and throw him into a furnace for fuel."
Tensō shut his mouth.
He pressed his head to the ground again, completely resigned to his fate.
Shu Shiraishi paid the pack of beaten dogs no further attention.
He turned and strode toward the shattered gate, stepping over broken boards and torn white cloth.
He crossed the threshold.
On the street outside the gate, a dense crowd knelt across the ground.
Thousands of Hyuga Branch Family members lined the street from one end to the far end of the alley.
Every forehead was smooth and bare. That revolting blue-green cross was gone.
When Shu Shiraishi came out, a Branch Family Jonin in the front row took a deep breath.
"Lord Hokage!"
He took the lead and knocked his head hard against the ground.
Bang!
Thousands followed, kowtowing together.
The roar echoed along the flagstone street, deafening.
It was heartfelt gratitude. It was absolute submission to power.
Shu Shiraishi stood on the steps.
The morning sun shone on his white Hokage hat.
He looked out at the sea of white eyes.
"Everyone, stand up."
Shu Shiraishi spoke.
No one moved. They all remained on their knees.
"Do my words carry no weight?"
Shu Shiraishi's voice dropped.
The Jonin in the front row jolted and immediately pushed himself up from the ground.
Rustling filled the air.
Like a receding tide, thousands of people rose to their feet one after another.
Everyone stood straight, heads lowered and hands against the seams of their trousers.
"I abolished the Caged Bird Seal, not to watch you wail here like you're at a funeral."
Shu Shiraishi pointed at the crowd.
"You're free. But that freedom doesn't come for nothing."
"Konoha doesn't support idlers. I gave you freedom, so you'll have to risk your lives for the village."
Thousands of Byakugan turned to stare at Shu Shiraishi in unison.
No one objected. For them, it was far too good a deal.
"Your eyes can see through things and see into the distance."
Shu Shiraishi pointed at his own eyes.
"The Main Family used to make you bodyguards and scouts."
"A waste of your talents."
Shu Shiraishi raised his voice.
"From today on, the entire Hyuga Clan will be assigned to the 'Heavy Industry Precision Detection and Radar Force.'"
"You'll be divided into three battalions according to age and Chakra reserves."
A slight stir ran through the crowd.
Heavy industry? Radar? They had never even heard those words.
Shu Shiraishi did not explain the terms. He simply issued specific assignments.
"First battalion, go to the steel mill the Uchiha just took over."
"Use your Byakugan to keep a close eye on the steel ingots fresh from the furnace. Check for bubbles and cracks inside them, and pick out any you find."
"If there's a problem with the quality of the steel, I'll hold you accountable."
Several young people in the front row nodded vigorously.
"Second battalion, go to the border of the Land of Fire."
Shu Shiraishi pointed beyond the village.
"Look down. Look a hundred, two hundred meters underground."
"Find iron ore veins and coal seams. Record the coordinates to the nearest centimeter, put them on a map, and hand it in."
"Find enough, and your wages will double."
"Third battalion, go to the watchtowers around the village."
"Keep your Byakugan active in shifts around the clock. Cover a twenty-kilometer radius around Konoha."
"If any rat dares sneak in and its Chakra flow looks wrong, sound the air-raid alarm immediately."
Shu Shiraishi looked at the crowd.
"This work will be exhausting. It may take even more Chakra than the missions you used to take."
"But the village will pay you well. It will give you houses. It will give you meat."
"Most importantly..."
Shu Shiraishi paused.
"No one will ever be able to keep you chained up like dogs again."
Silence.
Deathly silence.
A few seconds later, the Branch Family Jonin in the front row thrust his right fist into the air.
The veins in his neck bulged.
"We're ready to die for Lord Hokage!"
The roar was like a spark falling into a barrel of gunpowder.
Thousands of people raised their fists together.
"We'll die for him! We'll die for him!"
The fervent roar shot into the sky, startling all the sparrows from the trees lining the street.
An unprecedented light burned in those pure white eyes.
They were useful.
Not as vassals of the Main Family, but as precision components in Konoha's enormous war machine.
That feeling of being needed, of being treated as human, made them willing to shed their last drop of blood for the tyrant before them.
Shu Shiraishi adjusted his gloves.
The roar instantly died down. Their discipline was more formidable than even the most elite Anbu's.
"Rest today. Tomorrow morning, go to the Hokage Building to receive your assignments."
Shu Shiraishi turned and walked down the street toward the Hokage Building.
The crowd parted automatically, clearing a broad path for him.
No one dared raise their head to look straight at his retreating figure.
He walked out of the Hyuga Clan's district.
Shu Shiraishi casually pulled off the strap that was a little tight around his neck.
The Uchiha and the Hyuga Clan. Konoha's two toughest bones had both been shattered.
One had become a biting city enforcer, the other a prospecting radar.
The greatest internal threat had been completely eliminated. Next, it was time to set the entire village's war machine in motion.
He had just reached a crossroads.
A rapid rushing sound came from overhead.
"Whoosh."
A dark figure flipped down from a utility pole by the road.
It twisted in midair and landed heavily in front of Shu Shiraishi.
"Bang."
It was an Anbu Ninja wearing a cat mask.
The ninja dropped to one knee, which struck the bluestone pavement with a sharp crack.
The Anbu ninja was panting heavily, their chest heaving.
Several drops of cold sweat fell in succession from the chin of the mask, striking the pavement.
"Lord Hokage!"
The Anbu ninja's voice was dry and thick with urgency.
"Speak." Shu Shiraishi stopped.
"Something's happened."
The Anbu ninja swallowed hard, gripping the fabric of their trousers over their knee.
"The Sarutobi Clan has joined forces with the remnants of the Shimura Clan and several small and medium-sized civilian ninja clans..."
The Anbu ninja lowered their head further, their voice trembling uncontrollably.
"They suddenly closed every grain store, Military Rations Pill workshop, and weapons shop in the village."
"All the warehouses have been locked up."
"You can't buy a single grain of rice on the market now. Prices have risen fivefold in half an hour, and they're still soaring!"
"The villagers are in chaos. They're panic-buying supplies in the streets!"