Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its character belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
Chapter 156: Hyuga Future
The matter of the Hyuga Clan landed like a bombshell, although Hatake Sakumo had held the position of ANBU Leader for several years and had made it his business to know things that other people did not, but the true nature of the Birdcage Seal had never reached him.
It all thanks to the leash that the Clan Leader held, not even once a rumor about this seal spread on public.
First because the public slightly hated Hyuga Clan, they are more arrogant than Uchiha Clan. They can't do anything while their clan leader and elders bullied them, so they directed their anger to the civillian ninja.
When the matter was reported to Hyuga Clan, they just smile and waved it like nothing. Only Clan leader reminded them to slightly restrain themselves.
Talk about Birdcage seal, it spoke to how deeply the Hyuga Clan had buried it. No branch member had ever spoken of it to an outsider and there is no sane main family member had ever seen a reason to bring it up because the arrangement suited them perfectly well as it was.
In another version of timeline it would have been Danzo who eventually learned about the Birdcage Seal, this happen just after he wanted to control one of the branch member as part of his Root ninja.
The existence of birdcage seal making him remove any talented Hyuga Clan shinobi on hi Root side. But Danzo was no longer in a position to arrange anything after Hiruzen stripped of his power.
What Sakumo and Shikajin had known up until today was only the surface of it, that the seal existed to protect the Byakugan from being stolen by an enemy and that it was considered one of the more remarkable protective jutsu the Hyuga possessed. The part where it could also be used to inflict pain on demand and restrict an entire family line from living freely within their own clan, that part had never made it into any report until today.
....
Because Asahi were no longer clan leader of Hyuga Clan, they are two option to choose and the first one vote for a new clan leader or the second one Hyuga Clan would become the next Senju Clan.
Sakumo had requested the presence of several branch members directly, wanting to hear the account from their side before drawing any conclusion that would affect the entire clan.
Three of them came, Chiharu, the female branch member who had spoken up earlier and an older man named Hyuga Rento who had been in the branch family long enough to remember how things had been before Konoha was even fully established.
They sat across from Sakumo with Raiken standing to the side and Shikajin positioned near the window with his notebook open.
Sakumo looked at them for a moment before speaking.
"I want to understand what has been happening inside the Hyuga Clan," said Sakumo. "We have heard their side and now it was from your side."
The three of them exchanged a brief glance before Rento spoke first.
"Hokage sama, the Birdcage Seal has been on my forehead since I was a child," said Rento, his voice carrying emotion trying to retell of his past. "I have felt it activated more times than I can count. Sometimes for refusing an order, sometimes for simply being in the wrong place when an elder was in a poor mood."
Sakumo said nothing but his expression shifted slightly.
"I was told who I would marry," said Chiharu, her voice raised slightly. "I was not consulted and have no choice otherwise the elders family would use the seal to torture me and my childhood friend. When I tried to object I was reminded very clearly of what the seal could do."
"How long ago was this?" asked Shikajin without looking up from his notebook.
"Eight months," replied Chiharu.
"And the engagement is still in place?" asked Sakumo.
"It was," said Chiharu, glancing briefly toward Raiken. "Raiken sama dissolved it when he came to the residence last time."
Sakumo looked at Raiken.
"You dissolved a betrothal arrangement made by a Hyuga elder," said Sakumo.
"I told her she did not have to honor it," replied Raiken with a smirk on his face "Whether that holds formally is another matter but I was not going to leave her standing there with that still hanging over her head."
Sakumo held his gaze for a moment and then turned back to the branch members.
"Were there others in similar situations?" asked Sakumo.
"Yes," said the senior branch member who had not yet spoken, a woman named Hyuga Saya whose voice was quiet but carried no hesitation. "Chiharu is not a rare case., he is just the one who was willing to stand at the front of the crowd and at first resisted it. Most of us have learned to stay quiet because staying quiet was safer."
"Until now," said Rento.
"Until now," agreed Saya.
Everyone in the office was quiet for a moment.
"Hokage sama," said Raiken, "the Birdcage Seal in its altered form still protects the Byakugan. The branch members are not exposed from danger and the clan is not weakened. The only thing that has changed is that the main family can no longer cause pain whenever they feel like it. If Asahi wants to argue that removing that specific ability has somehow damaged the Hyuga Clan then I would like to hear him make that argument in front of these three people."
Sakumo looked at the branch members sitting across from him and then at the notes Shikajin had been quietly filling in throughout the conversation.
"Shikajin," said Sakumo.
"The review of internal Hyuga practices will need to be thorough," said Shikajin without being asked to elaborate further, which was itself a kind of answer.
Sakumo nodded slowly and turned back to Chiharu, Rento and Saya.
"You have my word that what you have told me today will not be dismissed," said Sakumo.
Chiharu looked at him for a moment before giving a small nod the others also looked happy.
"But now we have one important thing, who will become the next Clan Leader of Hyuga Clan?" questioned Sakumo.
Everyone become silent and a moment later Chiharu pointed her finger at Hyuga Rento.
"Are you sure?" asked Sakumo.
They nodded but before Sakumo could decide who will be next clan leader.
"I think Hyuga should be absorbed into civillian population like Senju Clan," suggested Raiken.
....
There is 30 advanced chapter on my patreon.
Chapter 181: Keep Calm, Blame Danzo
Chapter 182: Convincing
Chapter 183: Dealing
Chapter 184: Approved
Chapter 185: Inspecting
Chapter 186: Waifu Part 1
-patreon.com/zorojurown