The moment Senju Mori's calling card arrived, it stirred a storm within the Hyūga clan.
Although Clan Head Hyūga Sōgo had anticipated this, once it truly happened the Hyūga found themselves at a loss.
Konoha had indeed held two de facto Hokage selections already—First and Second.
But both of those were almost single-choice affairs.
The first was a two-way race between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. Compared to the intimidating Madara, the Hyūga naturally cast all their votes for Hashirama.
Before that, Hashirama hadn't courted the Hyūga at all, nor even once visited their compound.
The result was obvious: the defeated Madara defected in rage and was slain by Lord Hashirama at the Valley of the End.
At the second election, even Madara was gone. Facing Uchiha Setsuna, who posed little real threat, the major families—including the Hyūga—once again sided with the Senju.
Senju Tobirama won by a landslide.
Afterward, the unwilling Setsuna attempted a coup, but Tobirama quelled it with Anbu alone, and to this day Setsuna remains in Konoha Prison.
In those two elections, neither Senju Hokage made political promises or distributed benefits in advance. Victory came easily simply because their opponent was an Uchiha.
And since almost no clan took the Uchiha's side, none of the families gained much from the election, but neither did any suffer retribution from the new Hokage.
Today, however, the Hyūga face a different landscape.
Even if they want to mindlessly back the Senju as always, they must consider who truly represents the Senju now: Sarutobi Hiruzen, Tobirama's disciple and heir, or Senju Mori, a bona fide Senju clansman and, perhaps, the true core of the clan today.
And after choosing?
Should they seize the moment to ask their chosen side for concessions?
If they don't, will they be looked down upon?
If they do, how much is appropriate?
Will the new Hokage hold a grudge?
The Hyūga have no precedents to follow.
For a clan as ancient, rigid, and traditional as the Hyūga, the most hated things are "change" and "uncertainty."
At this, Hyūga Sōgo couldn't help but silently blame the Second Hokage.
Why not simply pass the title to your own kin? We would have supported you as before. Everyone could have accepted that.
You just had to push reforms and invent new structures. Vexing.
Given that deep-seated conservatism, the Hyūga would rather stand behind the guaranteed victor with empty hands than enter the political fray themselves for mere scraps.
Even so, since Senju Mori had submitted a formal calling card, the Hyūga—as a prestigious house—could not neglect courtesy or be branded as slighting the Senju.
Pressed for time, they didn't even wait for the next day.
That very evening a main-house elder carried Hyūga Sōgo's handwritten reply to the Senju compound, setting a time for the visit and extending a sincere welcome.
Unlike the Senju or Uchiha, the Hyūga have no "clan elders," only "house elders."
And that "house" is not the "Hyūga house" as a whole but specifically the "main house"—formally, "Elder of the Hyūga Main House."
This means that no matter how exceptional a branch member may be—even if they become a jōnin—in clan politics they can never reach the highest tier.
In truth, the Hyūga main-branch system is not complex.
By Hyūga rule, the number of main-house lines in each generation is fixed.
For example, suppose that at the system's founding there were six original Hyūga—likely direct descendants of the ancestor Ōtsutsuki Hamura—labeled A, B, C, D, E, and F.
These six were the first-generation main house.
Take A as an example.
A has three sons: A1, A2, and A3—the second generation.
Only A1, as the eldest, inherits main-house status. A2 and A3 automatically become branch families who protect A1.
In the third generation, only A1's eldest son, A11, inherits the main-house position. A1's younger sons, as well as all sons of A2 and A3, become branch.
And so on. Though centuries have passed, the count of main-house lines remains roughly constant: still just A, B, C, D, E, and F in each generation.
Elders of a prior generation do not lose main-house status once their eldest succeeds; they retain it for life.
Even with long-lived elders, at worst three generations overlap, briefly swelling main-house headcount into double digits. No crisis.
Meanwhile, the number of branch members grows without end, becoming the true bulk of the giant that is the Hyūga clan.
This explains why, later, Hyūga Hiashi and his brother Hizashi belong to main and branch, respectively: their ancestral line holds only one main-house slot.
Hiashi was born first—heir and main house.
Hizashi, the younger—branch, by rule.
A clan as ossified as the Hyūga will never overturn ancestral succession for talent or potential.
Of course, there have been main-house lines like Hiashi's that simply failed to produce a son.
In the Warring States era, the common solution was to adopt a close male relative—usually a nephew—and marry him to the daughter of the main house.
In other words, had he been born a century earlier, Hyūga Neji would likely have been adopted by Hiashi, become a high-born main-house heir, and then wed his would-be "Lady Hinata."
Unfortunately, with Konoha's founding, the Hyūga gradually "modernized" enough to accept a female main-house heir, and with a bit of very human self-interest in Hiashi's heart,
Neji's fate was sealed: branded with the Caged Bird Seal, a branch member born to live and die for the main house.