Hyuga Yu's chilling words were like a depth charge, instantly sending a shockwave through the entire street!
Behind the struck Hyuga Hiashi, the crowd—comprising members of the Hyuga clan, the Aburame clan, the Uchiha clan, and various other shinobi clans, alongside ninjas from Konohagakure's key departments—all showed expressions of utter disbelief.
"This... this..."
"How does he dare? Is he not afraid of the Caged Bird Curse Seal?"
"Wasn't it said that the Hyuga branch house is controlled by the main house and must obey their commands unconditionally?"
"No, then what is going on with this guy? Has he lost his mind?!"
Further away, the delegation of noble envoys from the Land of Fire also erupted into bursts of gasps, whispers, and intense discussions. These elites of the business and political worlds, highly skilled in dealing with people, immediately realized how extraordinary Hyuga Yu was. "Could it be... just as Shimura Danzo guaranteed—the Tennin is 'special'?"
They instantly focused all their attention on Hyuga Hiashi, who had nearly been knocked unconscious by Hyuga Yu's slap. They held their breath and widened their eyes, not wanting to miss a single frame. "Suffering such an insult, can Hyuga Hiashi still hold himself back from fighting?"
"Hiss... is it about to begin?"
"The conflict between the Tennin and the Hyuga main house!"
At this moment, Hyuga Yu, who had just slapped the head of the main house right across the face, remained expressionless. He merely stared at Hyuga Hiashi with a cold, indifferent gaze. This was the first step of the Foundation's operation. The root cause of the interest groups' mistrust toward Hyuga Yu stemmed from the rumor that the Hyuga clan could control the Tennin. Therefore, as long as this rumor was proven false, everything would be resolved.
And the Hyuga clan was the perfect target to make an example of.
To this end, Shimura Danzo had taken charge of this welcoming ceremony, mobilizing the Foundation and deploying a large number of personnel at the venue. He had deliberately engineered this scene precisely to use the strength of the Foundation to force the Hyuga main house to compromise.
Though, Hyuga Yu didn't really need it all that much.
Right now, Hyuga Hiashi clutched his burning, aching cheek. His face darkened completely, and a hint of anger flickered within his Byakugan. However, when he slightly raised his head and saw the eighteen Foundation elites standing behind Hyuga Yu—all of whom were at the special jonin level—he ultimately suppressed his fury. Soon, after his eyes flickered rapidly for a brief moment, he raised his head, tugged at the corners of his mouth, and forced a stiff smile. Addressing Hyuga Yu, he said, "Hyuga Yu, is there... some kind of misunderstanding between us?"
Hyuga Hiashi's tone carried a hint of grievance. "I have never done anything to harm you."
"In fact, because of your matter, I personally dismissed the former Great Elder of the main house, Hyuga Chosuke, who had once ambushed you."
"There is no enmity between us! Of course, I can understand your resentment toward the main house, but in the end, we are still family, aren't we?"
At this point, Hyuga Hiashi straightened his back slightly and spoke in a loud, righteous voice, "The clan feels proud of your achievements today. Although it is a bit late, this time, I came precisely to make amends to you!"
"Therefore, you struck well with this slap!"
"As the head of the Hyuga clan, I will accept this slap on behalf of the former Great Elder, Hyuga Chosuke. If you have any further dissatisfactions, feel free to bring them up right now!"
Hearing this, the eyes of everyone present flickered slightly. Indeed, the Tennin shared a mortal feud with the Hyuga main house, but that was directed at the main house's Great Elder, Hyuga Chosuke.
The subsequent response of the main house left little room for criticism.
Not only had the main house publicly disclosed the full details of the incident, but they had also severely punished Great Elder Hyuga Chosuke. Citing lax family discipline that resulted in harm to a Leaf ninja, they had actively sought forgiveness from the Third Hokage and paid a massive amount of compensation.
Now, Hyuga Hiashi was even swallowing his pride. Not only did he not blame Hyuga Yu for striking him, but he also loudly proclaimed that it was a well-deserved blow. Such political finesse... it was no wonder this man could become the leader of the Hyuga clan.
And now, following Hyuga Hiashi's declaration, the Foundation's attempt to make things difficult for the Hyuga clan was instead utilized by him, turning into an opportunity to dissolve the enmity between himself and the Tennin.
At this moment, Hyuga Hiashi gazed deeply at Hyuga Yu with a resolute look that seemed to say, "Even though I have been wronged, I do not hold it against you."
It was as if it would become Hyuga Yu's fault if he refused to forgive him and the main house.
Seeing this scene, the crowd couldn't help but shift their gazes onto the protagonist of this celebration, the Tennin.
However, in the next instant, an unexpected twist occurred—
In the middle of the street, under the watchful eyes of thousands, and facing Hyuga Hiashi's string of sanctimonious words, Hyuga Yu frowned with slight disgust. He glanced at Hyuga Hiashi with a cold, indifferent expression, completely unmoved by his speech. He merely squeezed out a few words through his teeth in a freezing tone: "Are you deaf?"
"I said—"
"Kneel!"
Hearing this, Hyuga Hiashi's expression instantly became incredibly strained. A drop of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, and his gaze couldn't help but wander to his surroundings and the Foundation ninjas behind Hyuga Yu.
At this moment, a furious figure walked out quickly from behind, pointing at Hyuga Yu and rebuking, "Hyuga Yu, that's quite enough out of you!"
Hearing the voice, Hyuga Yu turned his head slightly to look over and recognized the newcomer as Hyuga Chosuke, one of the six elders of the main house and the grandfather of the previous main house member, Hyuga Genko.
Right now, he was consumed by rage, his face as cold as frost. His pair of Byakugan looked as though they were about to spit fire as he pointed right at Hyuga Yu's nose and barked, "Hiashi is the head of the Hyuga clan! There is no reason for a clan head to kneel to a clansman. If he kneels today, think about it—do you even have the right to accept it?"
"The issues between you and the main house are a chaotic mess to begin with. This old man hasn't even settled the account with you regarding my grandson yet!"
Hyuga Chosuke stared intently into Hyuga Yu's Byakugan, then said coldly, "Yes, you have achieved success and fame!"
"You are a big shot in the Foundation now! You are a candidate for the Fourth Hokage!"
"But as you bear this pair of eyes belonging to my grandson, Genko, do you not feel even a single shred of guilt in your heart?"
"Just how far do you intend to push us before you are satisfied?"
Hyuga Yu remained entirely composed, yet he caught the underlying threat in the old man's words. The elders of the Hyuga main house were pure political creatures through and through; they naturally wouldn't jump out to shout like a shrieking banshee without a purpose. Hyuga Chosuke was using the matter of Hyuga Genko to threaten him.
Presently, as a candidate for the Fourth Hokage, if rumors spread that Hyuga Yu had once harmed his own clansmen, it would undoubtedly deal a severe blow to his reputation.
However, hearing these words, Hyuga Yu only felt like laughing.
These stubborn old men of the main house still thought the current Hokage election was a normal one. In reality, the foundation supporting Hyuga Yu had absolutely nothing to do with reputation or popularity. Danzo, who knew Hyuga Yu inside out, had long since taken this into consideration—
The Foundation was inherently the moral low ground of Konoha. Whether it was Danzo as the "Shinobi of Darkness" or Hyuga Yu as the "Tennin," Danzo's disciple, neither of them was clean. Wanting to ascend to the position of Hokage through conventional means was a complete pipe dream.
Therefore, from the very beginning, what Danzo prepared for was to rely on forced decentralization to pry open the power structure of Konoha's upper echelons, paving the way for the next Hokage election.
To put it simply, Hyuga Yu's power was built solely upon his terrifying battle record and tangible, real strength—not upon the ethereal, illusory notions of popularity and reputation that the old man used to threaten him.
This was like a Pandora's box. If you didn't open it, nothing would happen; Hyuga Yu could even display a bit of a baseline to pretend to be a normal person.
But once you opened it, you would bound to bear the dire consequences of doing so. Because Hyuga Yu could truly abandon all morality.
At this moment, seeing Hyuga Chosuke step out to back him up, Hyuga Hiashi initially felt a stroke of luck, thinking that he might be able to preserve his dignity as the head of the main house this time. But the more he listened, the uglier his expression became, and the gaze he directed at Hyuga Chosuke grew increasingly horrified.
Evidently, Hyuga Hiashi had his own understanding of Konoha's current political landscape. He knew what kind of place the Foundation was, and he was well aware of what kind of people were standing behind Hyuga Yu right now—merchants, politicians, and feudal lords. In other words, a group of the shrewdest swindlers.
Now, the Foundation and the Tennin had actively stepped forward to act as their protective umbrella. What Shimura Danzo plotted next was not merely the position of the Fourth Hokage, but greater internal power within Konoha.
By offending this group of people, the Hyuga clan would very quickly lose the financial foundation required to sustain the system of the "Main and Branch Houses."
Once there was no money, it would be impossible to maintain the delicate balance and decency that existed between the ninjas of the main and branch houses.
Relying solely on the death-dealing Caged Bird Curse Seal, the Hyuga clan would inevitably descend into massive chaos. Even if the main house managed to preserve its current status by luck in such a turmoil, the Hyuga clan's overall strength would be severely depleted, erasing them from the list of the ninja world's top prominent clans.
Furthermore, after losing the allegiance of a large number of branch house ninjas, would the Byakugan of the main house, or even his own Byakugan, truly still belong to them?
Precisely because he saw through this, under such circumstances, Hyuga Hiashi swallowed his pride. He did not hesitate to lower his status just to repair the relationship between the main house and Hyuga Yu. The difference between the Hyuga clan and the current Tennin—along with the massive interest group behind him—was entirely the difference between a mayfly and a towering tree!
The conflict between the main house and the Tennin was a problem that absolutely could not be brought to the surface!
How to deal with the Tennin, and how to counter him—Hyuga Hiashi, who understood the wisdom of not putting all his eggs in one basket, naturally had his own schemes. But damn it!
Hyuga Chosuke, you old fossil, are you trying to destroy my Hyuga clan?
"Enough!"
As his thoughts raced wildly, taking less than a single second, Hyuga Hiashi, who instantly understood all of this, suddenly turned his head in front of everyone. He barked sharply at Hyuga Chosuke behind him, stopping him from speaking any further!
Then, amidst the shocked and incomprehensible gazes of the crowd, Hyuga Hiashi—the leader of the Hyuga clan—actually did not say another word. Right in front of the entire street and nearly all the representatives of Konoha's forces—Thud!
Facing Hyuga Yu, his knees bent, and he knelt heavily onto the ground!
Hyuga Hiashi roared with a booming voice, "Elder Chosuke!"
"Say no more! This kneel is what our main house owes Hyuga Yu!"
"I am willing to apologize to the Tennin on behalf of the main house!"
The clan head knelt, a world-shaking act!
Seeing this, the members of the Hyuga main house and their relatives instantly fell into complete disarray. Several young members of the main house stepped forward, attempting to pull up Hyuga Hiashi from where he knelt before Hyuga Yu, crying out in shock, "Don't, Clan Leader!"
"Why should we bow our heads and kneel to a member of the branch house?"
"What right does he have to receive your kneel?!"
"Clan Leader, get up quickly! This is incredibly humiliating for you!"
"Clan Leader, by kneeling like this, how can we ever hold our heads up high in front of the branch house in the future!"
Worse still, some young members of the main house looked directly at Hyuga Yu, demanding loudly with faces full of rage, "Hyuga Yu, why are you doing this?"
"When has our Hyuga clan ever wronged you! To think you would force the Clan Leader like this!"
"Hyuga Yu, has your anger still not faded? Let the Clan Leader stand up already!"
"Aaahhhhhhhh! Hyuga Yu, you bastard!"
For a time, the entire street became as noisy as a morning market at seven o'clock. There were those who were bewildered, those who hurled curses, those who pleaded, those who broke down, and those who shouted loudly—
It was like ten thousand flies flying around before one's eyes, buzzing chaotically in Hyuga Yu's ears around the lump of feces named Hyuga Hiashi kneeling in the center!
Just as the formation composed of the Hyuga main house was about to lose all order, completely surround Hyuga Yu, and swarm him—
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
In the next instant, dense black shadows leapt down from the roofs of the surrounding houses. Clang! Clang! Clang!
The synchronized sound of drawing blades echoed!
A group of Foundation ninjas arrived on the scene using Body Flicker, forming a human wall with flesh and blood, indifferently separating the members of the Hyuga main house from Hyuga Yu. Behind Hyuga Yu, the eighteen bloodlust-tinted Foundation ninjas drew their blades in unison, staring blankly at the chaotic crowd of the Hyuga main house!
A Foundation ninja standing immediately to the right behind Hyuga Yu stepped forward, holding his ninja blade horizontally against the neck of a radical main house member. He coldly shouted at the chaotic crowd of Hyuga main house members and their relatives on the street, "Anyone else disrupting the order of the venue will be executed!"
With just that single shout, the field instantly fell into an absolute, dead silence.
Gulp... The rowdy main house members swallowed hard. Looking at the blade edge pressed against their necks, their bodies trembled, and their lower halves instantly felt damp.
At this moment, seeing that the field had finally quieted down, Hyuga Yu slowly exhaled. He swept his gaze across the kneeling Hyuga Hiashi, frowning slightly. Then, he raised his head, his cold eyes sweeping across the crowd of main house clansmen before him, and spoke plainly to Hyuga Hiashi at his feet, "I think you, and all of you, might have misunderstood my meaning."
Hearing this, a bright light instantly flared up in Hyuga Hiashi's eyes, and he said with excitement, "Hiss... Tennin, are you willing to reconcile with us?"
Without even turning his head, Hyuga Yu simply walked forward on his own, stepping onto the path cleared by the two rows of Foundation ninjas, heading toward the Hokage Residence. He left behind a sentence in a flat tone: "I didn't just tell you to kneel."
"I meant—"
"All of you, everyone!"
"Forget it..."
Hyuga Yu knit his brows. Meeting the gazes of the gathered ninjas watching him from the street, he slowly raised his left hand, pressed his thumb against his middle finger, and snapped toward the sky.
Snap!
The finger snap rang out!
In the next instant, an emperor-like majestic authority and power manifested at this very moment!
The barrier enveloping the skies of Konoha visibly began to distort. Immediately after, large patches of dark clouds suddenly swirled and gathered in the azure sky. The gloomy sky rumbled and shook, as if heaven and earth were collapsing. An infinite, boundless gravity precisely poured down one hundred and twelve ultra-high-pressure shockwaves toward this street block, pressing down heavily upon every single member of the Hyuga main house and their relatives!
Seeing this, Hyuga Hiashi's expression changed slightly, and he was just about to question, "Wait, what did you do—"
However, before he could finish his words, a terrifying gravity descended from the sky, forcing the back that Hyuga Hiashi refused to bend, despite kneeling, lower and lower, inch by inch. "This... what is this?"
Hyuga Hiashi's pupils shrunk violently. He immediately channeled a massive amount of chakra from his tenketsu, gritting his teeth as he struggled to resist, but it was completely futile. The more strength he exerted, the greater the terrifying gravity acting upon his body became!
Ultimately—Bang!
His head intimately kissed the ground!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
A dense succession of kneeling and kowtow sounds rang out!
Every single member of the Hyuga main house—regardless of gender, age, or rank—fell heavily to their knees at this moment, collapsing into an 'orz' posture. Their entire bodies trembled, yet they couldn't even raise their heads!
They could only hear from afar an indifferent and clear voice drifting from the direction of the Hokage Residence:
"From this day forth, I am the sky of the Hyuga."
————
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