"The branch house is nothing more than the main house's servants, huh?"
"Your rules have always been this way. Not even the Hokages of past generations had the right to interfere, huh?"
Tsunade's killing intent boiled over as she repeated each of those words, pausing deliberately between them: "Well said… well said indeed!"
"Ryohei!" She suddenly stood up, stepped back two paces, pointed to her chair, and said to him, "You should be sitting in my seat. The title of Hyūga clan leader might already be beneath you."
At that moment, Ryohei finally realized what was happening. He struck his palm toward Hizashi's forehead, clearly intending to kill him on the spot.
In the next instant, Shin appeared in front of Ryohei and spoke calmly, "Trying to silence someone right in front of the Hokage? You've got some nerve."
Not only Shin, but also Fukuyama and Orochimaru immediately stepped in, surrounding Ryohei from three sides.
Sakumo moved instantly to stand in front of Tsunade, drawing his short blade and glaring at Ryohei. At the slightest move, he would strike him down.
"No, no, that's not it!" Ryohei finally came to his senses. Seeing the scene before him, he was utterly dumbfounded.
In his panic just moments earlier, he had only remembered the Hyūga clan's rules, forgetting entirely where he was.
Now he was practically hysterical, shouting, "It's not like that! He is slandering me! He's slandering me!"
"That's right," Shin said. "All his injuries came from tumbling down the stairs. His injuries? He slipped and fell on his own."
"In short, nothing at all to do with you."
"Don't worry, I believe you."
Hearing these words, Ryohei felt his body turn cold.
Inside, Shin smiled. Ever since he had decided to separate the branch house, he had known it meant going against the Hyūga main house. And he believed in one principle: roots must be cut out, and trouble must be eliminated.
Otherwise, in the past six months, after killing Danzō, Koharu, and Homura, he wouldn't also have secretly executed all their close associates, leaving none alive.
As for why Hiruzen's wife and son were still alive?
First, they truly knew nothing about what Hiruzen had done and firmly believed he had died at Danzō's hands.
Second, Tsunade still had a shred of teacher-student sentiment and couldn't bring herself to kill them.
Third, Shin had left certain… measures in place on them, ensuring they'd never pose a threat to him.
As for the rest of the Hyūga main house, they could be spared if they were willing to let go of the Caged Bird, since they had never wronged him directly.
But Ryohei had to die.
Still, Ryohei was the leader of the Hyūga clan, without sufficient cause, he couldn't be touched. Now, however, he had first gone after Minato, clearly trying to kill him. And now, in front of the Hokage and all of Konoha's top brass, he had attacked again, this time against another Konoha ninja.
Those two offenses alone were enough reason to kill him.
But there was still room to make the case heavier.
He turned to Hiashi, who had followed Ryohei here. Earlier, Hiashi had stood trembling behind him, but now he had collapsed to the ground in terror.
"Hiashi, how do you want this to end? What do you want?"
"Shin-sama, I don't want to die. I've never done anything against Konoha. I don't want to die."
Seeing his father surrounded and on the verge of being killed at any moment, Hiashi had completely lost his nerve.
Shin wasn't surprised. Hiashi's nature was cowardly, something that would be evident in an incident years later. Back then, some Kumo ninjas had infiltrated Konoha and kidnapped his daughter, Hinata. He killed the kidnapper only to save his child.
In any situation, he was the victim, he had done nothing wrong, and had even rendered merit.
Yet Kumo used the threat of war to force Hiruzen to hand over Hiashi. And Hiruzen actually wavered, neither agreeing nor refusing, even steering public opinion so that the anger was directed toward the Hyūga clan.
In such a matter, not refusing was in itself a clear stance. The wave of public pressure only pushed the Hyūga clan closer to volunteering themselves as the scapegoat.
In the end, Hizashi died in his place, and afterward, he didn't show the slightest resentment toward Hiruzen.
And with that, he still had the gall to compete with the Uchiha for the position of Konoha's foremost clan?
The Uchiha, for all their flaws, had always been willing to fight, to kill, and even to rebel.
But your Hyūga clan, or rather, the Hyūga main house?
The Hyūga clan's reputation was, in fact, built entirely by the branch house.
Whenever there was dirty work, hard work, or life-risking missions, without exception, it was the branch house who did it.
That's why the branch's strength, courage, and skill far exceeded that of the main house.
And what was the main house's role?
To use the Caged Bird to control the branch house.
Then to sit back, reap the benefits, and enjoy every convenience, service, and sacrifice the branch provided.
In short, every Hyūga clan leader in history had only been tough within their own walls. Outside of the Hyūga clan, they were nothing.
Hiashi was a textbook example, but far from the only one.
"Never done anything against Konoha? Long-term harm, and abuse of fellow villagers, how is that not a betrayal of Konoha?"
"But I can give you a chance. Tell me the truth, what really happened back then?"
Meeting Shin's eyes, Hiashi trembled uncontrollably and shouted, "I'll talk! I'll talk! What Hizashi said was true!"
"It was Father who suddenly attacked Minato. And ever since I was young, he taught me that branch members are slaves."
"It had nothing to do with me. He's the one who taught me. And I was a victim too, Minato beat me up as well!"
"I like people who tell the truth." Shin grinned, nodded in satisfaction, and slowly let his murderous aura subside.
Ryohei, on the other hand, stood as if struck by lightning, completely frozen.
He had been mentally prepared for Hizashi to stab him in the back, after all, he knew exactly how he had treated that son, hardly regarding him as human at all.
Even if he was his son, the branch was still the branch.
But Hiashi was different.
Ryohei had given him the best of everything, and all his love.
Yet never in his worst dreams did he expect Hiashi to pull something like this right in front of him.
In the end, it could only be said that Ryohei didn't understand his own son, nor did he understand Shin.
At a time like this, how could Shin not use certain methods. For someone whose mind had already collapsed, a little genjutsu nudge was all it took, all you needed were the eyes.