Chapter 179: Excessive Correction is Mandatory!
The face of the head that dropped to the ground with a thud was frozen in residual terror and pleading.
When Hiashi Hyūga casually glanced at it, he thought he could read a flicker of confusion in the eyes.
It seemed Kenjirō Hyūga, in his final moments, couldn't understand why Hiashi, the Hyūga Clan Head, had not stood up for him.
Why hadn't he taken a strong stance? Why didn't he protect his Main House kin?
Why did he allow an Uchiha ninja to arbitrarily "murder" people right inside the Hyūga compound?
An indescribable guilt flooded Hiashi Hyūga's heart.
He couldn't offer the dead man any answer or explanation. A thousand words could only be condensed into a silent sigh deep in his soul.
Then.
Meeting the strange gazes of many surrounding clan members, Hiashi looked up to meet Uchiha Ikeizumi's eyes. But after less than a second, Hiashi vaguely remembered the strange and unbelievable power held within Ikeizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Danzo Shimura, the former leader of the Root organization, had once been completely helpless against those eyes.
Furthermore... Ikeizumi was now suspected of possessing the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.
Wood Release, plus Sharingan, plus Lava Release.
What kind of bizarre combination was that?
A strange thought suddenly occurred to Hiashi: if Uchiha Ikeizumi opened his eyes one day to reveal a Byakugan, he probably wouldn't even be surprised.
Harboring this odd thought, the uneasy Hiashi subtly shifted his gaze away.
He avoided continuing to stare at Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"Ikeizumi, the Hyūga clan has no objection to the 'Absolute Justice' you executed today." Hiashi conceded, retreated, and held back. "Hyūga Jinsuke's actions many years ago were indeed a violation of justice. Hyūga Kenjirō's collaboration with Gatō to transport contraband also violated the laws of the Land of Fire."
"The father and son both deserved to pay the corresponding price for their actions. And as the Clan Head, it is my fault for not discovering their wrongdoing. I will reflect on this."
Listening to Hiashi Hyūga's words, Neji was momentarily stunned.
This was the lofty Main House?
This was the unassailable, dignified Lord Hiashi, who could cause his father unbearable pain with a single hand sign to activate the Caged Bird?
In the face of Uchiha Ikeizumi's 'Absolute Justice,' the Hyūga Main House was nothing.
The Main House, which lorded over the Hyūga clan, constantly retreated and yielded to outsiders.
In a trance, the filter of supremacy Neji held over the Main House seemed to develop fine cracks.
But then, Neji suddenly heard Uchiha Ikeizumi speak.
"You say you've reflected? That's quite humorous. You almost made me laugh."
Both Neji and Hiashi paused, baffled.
Neji looked up at Ikeizumi's back, confused. In his mind, what Hiashi Hyūga had just said was certainly a concession and a form of reflection, wasn't it?
Hiashi Hyūga was the Hyūga Clan Head. Didn't saying those words count as retreating? Didn't it even border on being cowardly?
Uchiha Ikeizumi's gaze fell on Hiashi Hyūga's face.
For some reason, it made Hiashi feel nervous.
Ikeizumi continued, "You only admitted that Jinsuke Hyūga's actions from many years ago were an evil. You did not admit that what he did last night was wrong."
"That suggests that in your deeply entrenched, decaying family rules, the Branch House Elder, Hyūga Kōgari, who tried to break the Caged Bird seal... was deserving of his death."
"You believe Jinsuke Hyūga was right to torment him. Kōgari died merely because he was unlucky and his old illness flared up."
"Your true inner feelings are exactly the same as Jinsuke Hyūga's before his death, because your philosophies are identical."
"In your eyes, the Hyūga Main House, riding on the backs of the Hyūga Branch House, is not wrong in any way."
"Am I right, Hiashi Hyūga?"
Hiashi froze in place, and Neji stiffened all over.
Neji suddenly snapped back to attention.
It was true!
Hiashi Hyūga had not said that Jinsuke Hyūga's act of "torturing Kōgari to death by causing his old illness to relapse" was wrong!
Hiashi hadn't reflected on that point at all. In other words, he hadn't empathized with the Branch House ninja in the slightest!
He had been naive enough to believe that Hiashi had truly reflected and realized he shouldn't treat the Branch House ninja that way.
He had held an unspoken 'hope' for Hiashi, wishing the Clan Head would be kinder to the Branch House.
Hoping he would admit that Branch House Elder Kōgari was not in the wrong.
'When did my expectations for the Hyūga Main House fall so low? I carry the resentment of my father being a scapegoat, yet why was I subconsciously favoring the Main House?'
While Neji was inwardly scrutinizing himself.
Hiashi Hyūga took a deep breath and finally spoke, "Ikeizumi, you don't understand the situation of the Hyūga clan. Jinsuke Hyūga's act of deliberately torturing Kōgari for half an hour was certainly poor, but it was merely an excessive impulsiveness on top of a legitimate act of punishment."
"Or I can put it this way... his act of punishing Kōgari according to Hyūga family law was correct, but his excessively extreme and deliberate torture was wrong. I admit to this point."
"I do not feel Kōgari deserved his death, and I regret his passing, but that does not mean Kōgari did not err."
"The Caged Bird seal is the foundation that has allowed the Hyūga bloodline to continue for hundreds, perhaps a thousand years, without interruption. Kōgari attempting to break the Caged Bird meant he was digging at the roots of the Hyūga clan."
"The Main House cannot permit him to attempt to destroy the continuity of the Hyūga bloodline."
Hiashi paused, seeming to regain a sliver of confidence. His face was solemn. "Jinsuke Hyūga was wrong, but Kōgari was also wrong. That is my firm stance."
Naruto, watching the spectacle unfold behind Uchiha Ikeizumi, felt his head ache.
He couldn't help but poke Sasuke next to him, leaning over to whisper, "Hey, do you understand what he's saying?"
Sasuke gave Naruto a speechless side-eye, whispering back, "He thinks their Hyūga family law is greater than everything else. Or at least, it ranks equally with the laws of the Land of Fire, Konoha's rules, and Absolute Justice's order."
Naruto was surprised, muttering skeptically, "How can you understand that?!"
Sasuke was silent for a moment, then replied, "Because he's very similar to some of the incredibly stubborn people in the Uchiha clan. I even think he's more stubborn than those Uchiha diehards."
"In the eyes of such people, the clan's rules are the supreme rules. If the clan's rules conflict with the rules of Absolute Justice, they believe the clan's rules must be upheld."
Sasuke added, "They would think and act this way even if it conflicted with Konoha's rules."
Sasuke, hailing from a Great Clan, naturally understood this type of person.
After all, this type of person was not rare in the Uchiha clan.
It was just that the Uchiha clan was not as entrenched in outdated ideology as the Hyūga clan. The Sharingan itself naturally brought a certain level of extremism and rebellion, making it impossible for every member to rigidly adhere to ancient family rules.
But Sasuke noticed that seemingly every member of the Hyūga clan, from top to bottom, highly revered their family law.
Hmm...
Especially this group of Hyūga Main House members.
Even the oppressed Branch House members were like this.
"What are they muttering about, meow?!" The sudden, strangely accented voice made Hiashi Hyūga jump.
He couldn't help but look down at the orange ninja cat at Uchiha Ikeizumi's feet, which was speaking in human language.
Kijirō raised its eyes, full of distaste, and met Hiashi Hyūga's gaze. "Are you going to say next that the Main House is the inheritor of the Hyūga bloodline? That the Branch House is just the Main House's protector?"
"That Branch House members must strictly adhere to the duty of a protector, and cannot overstep the line in the slightest against the Main House? And that once they overstep, it's only right for them to feel the agony of the Caged Bird seal?"
Hiashi Hyūga remained silent, because the ninja cat had just said everything he was about to say.
Only the cat's tone was extremely hostile. Hiashi felt that the orange ninja cat was trying to insult him.
The next second, his intuition proved correct.
The rude ninja cat genuinely hurled vulgarities at him!
"Meow! Aren't you disgusting, Hiashi Hyūga!"
"What inheritor, what protector? You almost made me laugh. All you so-called Hyūga Main House ninja do is enslave the Branch House ninja under the guise of the Caged Bird seal, using death and pain to coerce them, simply to be people who stand above others!"
"A Byakugan with the seal and one without the seal is how you mark the difference between the superior and the inferior! Don't label yourselves as the inheritors of the Hyūga bloodline. I think your Hyūga Main House has been interbreeding so much that your minds are starting to go wrong."
As Kijirō spoke, perhaps feeling unsatisfied, it suddenly turned its attention to the Hyūga Branch House.
It jumped onto Neji's shoulder. The sudden weight nearly sent Neji stumbling.
Kijirō fiercely poked Neji's cheek. "And you, the Hyūga Branch House, have you truly been brainwashed by the Main House? He just said a few words, and you were almost ready to bow down and thank him, weren't you? The dogs in the Inuzuka clan aren't as easily trained as you people, and besides, the dogs have better treatment than the Hyūga Branch House."
"At least if a dog in the Inuzuka clan tried to break their contract, the Inuzuka ninja would care enough to ask them: Why are you breaking the contract? Did one of our clan members mistreat you?"
"But what about your Hyūga Branch House? Trying to break a Caged Bird seal that you never wanted on your forehead means you are tortured half to death. They don't treat you like people or even dogs, meow!"
Neji's young face immediately flushed crimson.
"One sentence!" Kijirō declared. "The so-called Hyūga family law is a twisted, diseased product spawned by a sick ninja world. The 'Caged Bird' is the most extreme example of this distortion."
"Meow, I almost got sick from the anger of talking about this."
Kijirō, having vented fully, muttered dryly.
The entire Hyūga compound was silent.
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