"Do you have anything else to say?" Shin asked, looking at the Hyūga clan leader.
Ryohei gave a bitter smile and asked, "Is it because I chose the wrong side back then?"
Shin stared at him in disbelief. "At a time like this, you're still provoking division within Konoha in front of everyone."
"You've brought this upon yourself, you deserve what's coming."
Ryohei quickly realized what Shin meant.
That is, even if it were true, would you admit it?
But he no longer cared, and spoke his final words, "Do you think separating the branch house from the main house will end things? No!"
"As long as the Caged Bird exists, the branch house will only ever be loyal to the main house. With such a branch house, Shin, would you use them?"
"This guy is looking down on you." Shin turned to look at Orochimaru.
"Hahaha!" Orochimaru laughed as well. "Ryohei, with me around, you don't need to trouble yourself."
Ryohei looked at Orochimaru in disbelief, wanting to say something more, but he no longer had the chance.
Orochimaru stepped forward and directly used a sealing technique to bind him.
Then Sakumo waved his hand, and four ANBU operatives stepped up, taking Ryohei away on the spot.
Just the single crime of striking down a fellow Konoha ninja within the village was enough to keep him imprisoned for life.
And on top of that, after his crimes were confirmed, he tried to kill someone in front of the Hokage to silence them, an act akin to treason.
---
The events in the Hokage's meeting room quickly spread throughout Konoha, and the news of Ryohei's arrest was no exception.
When many people heard that he had been proven to have attacked Minato, and had even tried to kill him in front of the Hokage to cover it up, and that his intended victim was his own son, they thought they must have misheard.
Was this something a Konoha ninja being could even do?
The Hokage's statement also spread. Her original words were: "Whether it's the Hyūga main house or the branch house, they are all part of Konoha's strength. Some harmful traditions that weaken our village's power, it's time they changed."
This remark made many people think the Hokage was impressively bold.
As for why no one questioned why Ryohei didn't finish the job after Minato fell unconscious, it was because Hizashi never gave him the chance. He grabbed Minato immediately and ran straight to Konoha Hospital.
Would Ryohei really chase him down across the whole village? Impossible.
No one showed any sympathy for his capture.
The man had always been far too arrogant, rarely interacting with anyone outside the Hyūga clan, so he had almost no personal connections.
In fact, the Hyūga clan as a whole were like that, they barely interacted with non-clan members.
Their situation was different from that of the Uchiha.
The Uchiha's isolation from outsiders happened later, after their reputation had soured and others avoided them, not because the Uchiha themselves refused to interact. Over time, they simply stopped bothering.
Later, Obito had a good relationship with Kakashi and Rin, and no one in the Uchiha clan ever restricted such friendships. Shisui, with his good nature and wide circle of friends, was even encouraged by the clan's leadership.
The Hyūga, however, simply looked down on others from the start, believing that "you rabble aren't worthy."
Of course… that's only on the surface.
The truth was, the Hyūga main house had always been building an information cocoon, subjecting clan members to deep-level brainwashing and control.
Yes, they could control the branch house through the Caged Bird, but what if one day the branch members were pushed too far and choose to die rather than submit? What then?
That's why, in addition to the Caged Bird, they had a second method: indoctrination and strict rules from childhood.
We are a great clan with a thousand years of history. We have proud traditions. These traditions must never be broken, because they are the greatest guarantee of our continued survival. And our clan is great, even if you are from the branch house and your status is lower than the main house's, you are still far nobler than outsiders. So you must not mingle with those "lowly" people, and you must never marry them. That would be a violation of the rules, and our great clan cannot afford that kind of disgrace.
Why was it that the Hyūga clan, with such unique advantages, could only learn the inherited Gentle Fist, and are forbidden from learning other ninjutsu?
That too was a form of control.
If a branch house member ever emerged whose strength rivaled Hiashi's, and they managed to break the Caged Bird, wouldn't that spell disaster? So they'd rather keep everyone weaker than risk any unexpected accidents.
In the entire shinobi world, you would never find another clan as twisted as the Hyūga.
Nor would you find another clan that clung so rigidly to rules, with no one allowed even the slightest breach.
Nor would you find another clan whose members all have incredible natural talent, yet were all deliberately trained into uselessness.
Always boasting they've never lost, but never winning a fight either, and never producing any truly formidable combat power or noteworthy battle achievements.
The cause wasn't that the Hyūga as a whole were incompetent, it was that the main house was incompetent, and they dragged everyone else down with them. Yet unfortunately, it was the main house that called the shots.
The Hyūga main house were a bunch of greedy, shameless leeches. From birth, they enjoyed the service, effort, and devotion of the branch house without lifting a finger.
So every single member of the main house was a coward and a weakling.
They almost never took on missions, giving the excuse that they couldn't risk letting pure Byakugan blood fall into enemy hands.
As if the Uchiha clan's Sharingan wasn't precious too?
Yet in every generation of the Uchiha, there had been plenty willing to fight and kill.
What, your Byakugan was somehow more special?
The truth was, these people who'd grown up spoiled are terrified of losing the supreme privileges they'd enjoyed since birth.
That's why they fear change, constantly telling others that the clan rules must never change.
They dread that any small change could strip them of their privileges.
They were also afraid that someone might secretly research a way to break the Caged Bird.
How gifted are the Hyūga?
Any member of the clan was born with the ability to control chakra with precision.
The Byakugan was arguably the ultimate scouting tool, not only seeing far, but also having no blind spots.
It could also see the flow of another person's chakra, their network of chakra, and their tenketsu.
They knew exactly what each tenketsu in the body did, and could release chakra through all of them.
They couldeven inject chakra into an opponent's body through Gentle Fist, disrupting the target's chakra flow.
And yet, aside from the Gentle Fist, they were forbidden to learn any ninjutsu. Doing so was considered an act of betrayal against the clan.
Learning other ninjutsu was deemed a disgrace, a defilement of the noble Hyūga bloodline.
This was all psychological manipulation, to crush any rebellious thoughts before they can form.
Only this way could the main house continue to sit back and enjoy their unearned privileges, eating without working, living in comfort without fear.