The Hyuga elder looked at the Hyuga Clan Head with some helplessness, coughed twice, and said, "Clan head, if you do this, aren't you afraid the Uchiha will go crazy and attack us recklessly?"
Upon hearing the elder's words, the Hyuga Clan Head trembled violently. Oh no! He had completely forgotten about the Uchiha Clan.
Everyone knows the Uchiha Clan's nature: they act without considering the consequences.
If they really betrayed the Uchiha, the Uchiha clan members would definitely go berserk and attack the Hyuga Clan.
The Hyuga Clan simply didn't have the strength to fight the Uchiha. They'd be so badly beaten they wouldn't even recognize their own mothers.
Even if the Uchiha Clan head were slightly more level-headed and unwilling to bear the consequences of annihilating the clan to seek Hyuga against the Hyuga, he still couldn't withstand the riots from his clansmen.
Once a large number of clan members are consumed by hatred, the Uchiha Clan head will have no choice but to be drawn into retaliating against the Hyuga Clan; otherwise, his position will be unstable.
It's important to understand that the Uchiha Clan head has only been in power for less than a year. To ensure the stability of his position, he couldn't guarantee that the Uchiha Clan head wouldn't launch a frenzied retaliation against the Hyuga Clan.
Thinking of this, the Hyuga Clan Head wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with lingering fear, "Thank goodness for the Grand Elder, you were there. I almost dragged the Hyuga Clan into the abyss."
The Hyuga elder nodded. "It's alright, clan leader. I have an idea. This way, we can benefit from both sides without offending the Senju and Uchiha."
Upon hearing this, the Hyuga Clan Head stepped forward and said, "What are your thoughts? Tell me."
The Hyuga elder immediately explained his thoughts, "Clan leader, think about it, the Uchiha Clan is asking us to help them restrain Uzumaki and Sarutobi."
The Senju Clan is demanding that we cease our interference and stop interfering, because their stronghold is now being eyed by the Uchiha, threatening their territory.
If we could find a way to force the Uchiha clan to withdraw from the front lines established by the Senju Clan, wouldn't that conveniently eliminate the threat posed by the Senju Clan?
In this way, we can also obtain the resources of the Senju Clan, and we won't be considered to have violated the alliance with the Uchiha Clan.
Most importantly, we never made an enemy of the Senju Clan Senju Clan from beginning to end. We simply accepted their conditions to mediate peace between the two clans. What does that have to do with Uzumaki Sarutobi?
Upon hearing this explanation of exploiting a bug, the Hyuga Clan Head's eyes widened. "As expected of you, you really have a trick up your sleeve. It seems to make perfect sense."
Elder Hyuga clapped his hands. "How could there be a problem? I'm a professional; I've found countless loopholes in the covenant."
The Hyuga Clan Head finally made the decision, saying, "Let's do it your way. Let our Hyuga Clan mediate the war between the Senju and the Uchiha Clan."
Let's make peace between the two tribes, so we can get resources from both sides!
However, at that moment, the Branch Family head walked in from outside and asked the Hyuga Clan Head, "Clan head, I just heard that the Great Elder met with the Senju Clan. What happened?"
The Hyuga Clan Head gestured Hyuga the Hyuga elder to tell the Branch Family head the results of their discussion. However, after the elder explained everything, the Branch Family head unexpectedly objected.
"Absolutely not! Don't the clan leader and the Grand Elder know the saying 'greed knows no bounds'? We accepted the Uchiha Clan's gifts, so naturally we should help them. How can we agree to the Senju Clan 'Uchiha Senju Clan just because we didn't have a direct confrontation with them?"
Even if we find a loophole in the rules, will the Uchiha Clan see it that way? Won't they consider our intervention a betrayal?
Furthermore, the Uchiha Clan is still strategically surrounded; they only want us to intervene because they threaten the Senju Clan's headquarters and the Senju Clan doesn't want to make huge sacrifices.
If we back down, the Senju Clan can quickly amass an army and launch an attack on the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha Clan will then be at a disadvantage again, and our balancing act will have failed once more.
The Senju Clan wants to achieve the greatest results with the least cost. How can we let Senju Clan have their way? Wouldn't doing so only strengthen Senju Clan power?
The Branch Family leader spoke vehemently, but his arguments were reasonable and well-founded. After all, trying to meddle in both sides usually results in being beaten by both. The last person to do that was the audacious Feather Hagoromo Clan.
So where is the Hagoromo Clan making their fortune now? They've been beaten to the point of near collapse; it'll take them at least a decade to recover.
However, the Hyuga Clan Head and the eldest elder ignored this guy's thoughts and instead discussed the feasibility of him standing in the middle and flanking the others.
Seeing that the two heads of the Main Family wouldn't listen to his advice, the Branch Family head slammed his fist on the table.
"Clan leader, elder! Are you even listening to me? If we do this, we are undoubtedly putting the Hyuga Clan in an unjust and immoral position!"
"We and the Uchiha are both clans that practice Dōjutsu. We should be natural allies to protect our eyes. How can we betray our allies to help the Senju?"
The Hyuga Clan Head sat calmly in his chair, not even raising his eyes. "Why say such harsh things? How have we betrayed our allies? We simply couldn't bear to see those two continue fighting, so we wanted to step in and mediate."
"Mediation? Isn't that just favoring the Senju? What are the Senju Clan's plans? Haven't we made it clear enough? They're at a disadvantage now, and they want peace?"
If the Uchiha withdraws from the front lines, they will relentlessly pursue and attack without hesitation. Furthermore, they will definitely hold us accountable for holding back Uzumaki and Sarutobi.
Do you think it's the Uzumaki Clan and the Senju, or are we closer to the Senju? After suppressing the Uchiha, won't the Senju turn against us for what we did to the Uzumaki Clan?
However, the Hyuga Clan Head and the eldest elder remained unmoved, and no matter how hard the Branch Family head tried to explain and argue, it was to no avail.
In the end, the head of the Branch Family could only shake his head and leave the Main Family's office. What could he do? The Branch Family naturally had to obey the Main Family; they were like Caged Bird Seal.
Their lives were firmly in the hands of the religion. They were not like members of the Hyuga Clan, but rather like servants, inferiors, and slaves of the Main Family!
The idea of protecting their Byakugan from spreading outside feels like a joke; their Branch Family from the start was a joke from beginning to end.
Seeing the clan leader and the Grand Elder still discussing what to do in the room, the Branch Family leader clenched his fists tightly.
What if he wasn't from the Branch Family, but from the Main Family, or what if there wasn't even Main Family at all? Wouldn't he then have a say?
At this moment, a tiny seed of rebellion was slowly planted in the heart of the Branch Family patriarch, waiting for the day it would take root, sprout, and grow into a towering tree.