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"Lord Hiashi, you’re back."
Seeing Hiashi’s somber expression and hurried steps as he returned, Tokuma, still standing guard at the main house, immediately bowed and greeted him.
"Notify the elders of an emergency meeting."
Without breaking stride, Hiashi brushed past Tokuma, pushing the door open with a sharp motion and closing it firmly behind him.
"Yes, sir."
Outside the door, Tokuma straightened up and vanished in a flash.
Inside the room, Hiashi’s face remained dark, his brows tightly knitted as he paced back and forth across the tatami mat.
His mind raced as he considered the next steps to take to preserve the Hyuga clan’s strength to the greatest extent possible.
As the head of the main family, he held control over the Caged Bird Seal, which gave him a significant advantage.
Yet, even if he used force to suppress the dissenters, it would only amount to a pyrrhic victory.
In truth, the moment the main and branch families openly opposed each other, the clan had already lost.
After all, the rebellious branch family represented at least half of the Hyuga clan’s strength.
While he could suppress their rebellion with force, he couldn’t change their mindset.
It was clear that these dissenters would not give up so easily.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to abandon them entirely.
Losing this force would weaken the Hyuga clan immediately, leading to even greater losses down the line.
"Damn it!"
Even someone as calm and composed as Hiashi couldn’t help but curse.
He wasn’t blind to the fact that many in the branch family harbored resentment toward the main family, including his twin brother.
In the past, these issues hadn’t concerned him.
No matter how discontent they were, they hadn’t dared to openly rebel.
When anyone showed signs of defiance, he swiftly punished them.
Even when dealing with his own twin brother, he never hesitated.
But when it came to Neji...
That child was a true genius.
Whether out of guilt for his brother or admiration for Neji’s talent, Hiashi had always felt a pang of compassion for him.
Yet he never imagined that Neji’s defection would open Pandora’s box.
Overnight, the branch family’s fear of the Caged Bird Seal seemed to evaporate. They dared to stand before him and openly challenge his authority.
Knock, knock.
A knock at the door brought him back to reality.
"Lord Hiashi, the elders have arrived," Tokuma said softly from outside.
Hiashi composed himself, walked to the center of the room, and sat upright.
"Enter."
"Elders, please come in."
Tokuma gently pushed the door open.
"Lord Hiashi," the chief elder, somewhat disheveled, entered first. "Was the matter resolved?"
"Please take a seat," Hiashi said, shaking his head and gesturing toward the seats.
The elders, noting his grave expression, felt a chill in their hearts. They entered the room silently and sat down in two rows.
"Tokuma, guard the door," Hiashi instructed.
"Yes, sir."
Tokuma closed the door softly.
"My apologies for disturbing you all so late," Hiashi began, sweeping his gaze across the room. "The Hyuga clan is in a precarious situation, and I hope we can quickly devise a solution."
"Does that mean...?" the chief elder began, only to cough violently in his urgency.
"Is the rumor true?" the second elder interjected.
At this, all eyes turned to Hiashi, their gazes intense.
Hiashi nodded expressionlessly.
"How is this possible!" the chief elder exclaimed, yanking out several strands of his beard in agitation. "Even we, the Hyuga clan, can only apply and control the Caged Bird Seal. Who could have developed a method to remove it?"
"The information sent to the Hokage came from Uchiha Kaito," Hiashi explained further. "From my observations, Tsunade seems very confident about it."
"It appears she has verified it to some extent," the second elder mused.
"Are you saying someone from our clan has cooperated with her in experiments?" the third elder asked angrily, his eyes wide.
The chief elder shook his head. "My people have been watching closely—there’s no sign of that."
"She doesn’t need direct experiments," the second elder said enigmatically. "As the foremost medical ninja, she’s undoubtedly treated countless Hyuga clan members over the years. I trust she can assess the data’s credibility quite well."
"That’s plausible," Hiashi said with a dangerous expression. "But ultimately, that information is just a bargaining chip in her hands. She doesn’t need to confirm its authenticity fully."
"Today’s negotiations were intended to unite other clans to pressure the Hokage into handing over the information," he continued.
"However, the Akimichi, Nara, and Sarutobi clans firmly sided with the Hokage..." Hiashi clenched his fists. "In the end, the Hokage promised to safeguard the information strictly and to stay out of our internal matters—until we present a unified stance."
"The Fifth Hokage! Truly insidious!" the chief elder said angrily, coughing again in his agitation.
"Elder brother!" the fourth elder hurriedly patted his back. "Calm down."
The chief elder finally caught his breath. "Apologies for my outburst."
Hiashi waved a hand. "Let’s focus on what we should do next."
"It won’t be easy," the second elder said, frowning. "The dissenters now have leverage and will undoubtedly push further. We also cannot eliminate them completely."
"This must not be resolved through brute force," the chief elder said. "A small punishment as a warning is fine, but a massacre will give the Hokage a pretext to formally intervene."
Hiashi said coldly, "The Hokage’s actions have effectively handed those dissenters a legitimate platform to challenge the main family’s authority."
"Lord Hiashi," the second elder said, "for now, we must placate them, whether sincerely or otherwise. By presenting a unified stance, we can ensure the Caged Bird removal method disappears for good."
"We have no choice," the chief elder said icily. "Once the attention on the Hyuga clan subsides, we can reevaluate our options."
Hiashi nodded. "Very well, we’ll proceed as you suggest. First, we’ll focus on controlling the key instigators among them."
Knock, knock, knock!
An urgent knock interrupted them. Tokuma pushed the door open without waiting for a response.
"Lord Hiashi! Elders!" he said, his expression unusually anxious. "The clanspeople... they’ve all gathered suddenly!"