A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard, completely engulfing the last wisp of green, cursed ashes into the sky.
The entire Hyuga compound fell into a brief silence.
A few seconds later.
"It's gone... it's really gone!"
A nearly fifty-year-old Hyuga Jonin as he touched his smooth forehead.
No more stinging pain, no more cold chains that could ignite your brain at any moment!
"We are free! We are liberated from the Branch Family!"
" The Caged Bird Seal... has been broken! Senju shattered the curse with a single finger!"
The humiliation and tears suppressed for hundreds of years transformed into an overwhelming ecstasy at this moment!
"Splash! Splash! Splash!"
Without any hesitation.
The courtyard was filled with hundreds of the Branch Family ninjas who had been given a new lease on life, all kneeling down in unison.
With tears in their eyes, they desperately kowtowed to the ground before the towering Senju Kenya!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The dull thuds of kowtows echoed wildly across the bluestone slabs, even leaving faint traces of blood.
But on the face of every member of the Branch Family was ecstatic joy and the fervor of rebirth!
And in front of the main hall steps.
The Main Family head, Hyuga Hiashi, looked at the clan members kneeling and weeping in the courtyard.
She glanced again at her younger brother Hizashi Hyuga, who was unharmed and had tears in his eyes.
This usually serious and rigid patriarch of a prestigious family was now flushed red, his heart churning with utter shame.
For the past few decades, he has been bound by so-called righteousness and ancestral precepts.
He believed that sacrificing his younger brother and using the cruel Caged Bird Seal to control the clan was a necessary evil for the continuation of the clan.
But today.
The unconventional young man before me hadn't even formed a hand seal.
With just one finger, he crushed the tragic fate that had tormented the Hyuga hundreds of years into dust!
His stubbornness and compromise seem so ridiculous and cowardly in the face of absolute power and courage!
Hiashi took a deep breath and, with heavy but firm steps, walked to within three steps of Kenya.
Amidst the trembling gazes of all the clansmen present.
Hyuga Hiashi straightened his clothes, bent over deeply, and bowed at a ninety-degree angle!
I haven't been able to straighten up for a long time!
" Senju- sama..."
Hiashi's voice trembled slightly, filled with unprecedented sincerity and remorse:
"I, Hyuga Hiashi... as the clan head, was stubborn and foolish in the past, and I have failed the Branch Family and my younger brother."
"It further caused the Hyuga Clan to stagnate in a quagmire of cowardice for hundreds of years!"
"Your actions today not only saved Hizashi, but also redeemed the souls of our entire Hyuga Clan!"
Hizashi Hyuga nearby, also stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and had tears in his eyes:
"We, Hizashi and the entire Branch Family, will never forget Lord Senju's life-saving grace!"
Kenya, with a white jade pipe between his teeth, slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
He looked down at the two kneeling brothers and casually flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"Alright, stop with your whining and crying."
"I just didn't like those old fogies who acted like they were superior because of their age, so I just smashed them up."
"If you want to thank me, prepare more premium barbecue sauce next time, and stop with all this fancy stuff."
Kenya spoke as casually as if he had just stepped on a bug.
But Hyuga Hiashi that this seemingly insignificant gesture was of paramount importance to Hyuga!
Hiashi suddenly straightened up, the last trace of hesitation in his eyes completely vanishing.
He turned to face the entire courtyard and with a swish, drew the patriarch's sword, a symbol of the absolute authority of the Main Family, from his waist!
"Snap!"
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Hiashi used Hiashi his strength to break his sword in two and threw it hard to the ground!
"The entire clan, heed my command!"
The Hiashi's voice, majestic as thunder, resounded throughout the entire East District of Konoha:
"From this day forward, the Hyuga Clan will no longer have Main Family and Branch Family family!"
"All those of the Byakugan bloodline are equal brothers and sisters!"
"The entire Hyuga clan's military strength, assets, and defenses will be completely reorganized and unified!"
Hiashi a deep breath, turned around abruptly, knelt on one knee again in front of Kenya behind him, and raised his arm to shout:
"From this day Hyuga, the entire Hyuga clan swears to obey Senju's will to the death!"
"Wherever your Iron Fist points, that is where my Hyuga Byakugan will strike!"
" Senju Kenya is the sole supreme leader and benefactor of my Hyuga Clan!"
"Anyone who disobeys or betrays will be punished by both gods and men, and the entire clan will unite to eliminate them!"
The highest oath, shaking the heavens!
Without the slightest hesitation, all hundreds of Hyuga ninjas in the academy erupted in a deafening roar:
"I swear to serve Senju to the death!"
"I swear to serve Senju to the death!"
The Uchiha their heads, the Hyuga submitted, and the Ino-Shika-Cho completely pledged their allegiance!
Thus, the core strengths of Konoha's three most powerful clans have all fallen under the command of Senju Iron Fist!
At this moment, Senju Kenya's prestige and power in Konoha completely surpassed that of all previous Hokage, reaching an unprecedented and supreme myth!
Under the lush cherry blossom tree in the corner of the courtyard.
Hinata stood in the cool shade of the trees, staring blankly at the towering figure on the stone steps, a pipe dangling from his lips, as imposing as a demon.
All feelings of inferiority and confusion melted away amidst the deafening cheers.
Hinata in the crowd, tears of joy welling in her eyes, her Kenya clenched tightly as she presented her armored knuckle duster.