Chapter 14 — From Now On, You'll Be the Clan Head's Wife
"Hyūga Akiha, salute the clan head."
"Hyūga Arima, salute the clan head."
"Hyūga Takuma, salute the clan head."
The three froze a moment, then—bitter at the way Hyūga Hizashi, the clan head's brother, had knelt—each dropped to one knee in imitation and shouted the call. Their voices cut through the rain and spread like a match to dry tinder: sparks of rebellion turned to a rolling blaze.
They began calling friends.
"Torasaburō! You idiot, hurry and salute the new clan head!"
"Kashu! Why are you standing there? Don't you remember your life was saved by Ritsu from the Mist?"
"Sister Kōko! Come on—don't you want to chase Ritsu? If you marry him, you'll be the clan head's wife!"
Akiha's teasing was nonsense, yet effective. With Hizashi's public kneel and the three acting as catalysts, one by one bold Branch members stepped forward, fell to their knees, and cried out, "Hail the clan head!"
Like a cascade of dominos, the crowd followed. Hundreds of Branch relatives dropped to the wet ground in succession; the refrain "Hail the clan head!" swelled until it drowned out the rain. In the end, only Hyūga Ritsu remained standing in the downpour, accepting the homage.
"Go wash and change. In twenty minutes, every jōnin and special jōnin assemble at the martial hall of Tametsu Shrine."
That was the first order Ritsu issued as clan head.
The rain increased. Speaking in the open was impractical, and there was no immediate danger of a countercoup—the Main House's leadership had been wiped out, Hyūga Hiyasu and the others were still at the eastern front, and the clan's power had become a vacuum. Ritsu could afford a measured start: give people time to process, let the new order settle. If anyone later regretted their allegiance, he wasn't afraid—small-time troublemakers were easy to handle. Besides, many Branch members still wore the Caged Bird mark; anyone who tried to back out now would be courting death.
"Understood, Clan Head!" the crowd answered in one voice.
"Takuma—find some hands and deal with the bodies. Take those men down to the jail and let them sober up. See if any are worth saving."
Ritsu handed Takuma the grim task—along with the severed heads he was still carrying.
The Main House corpses required careful disposal. Without the Caged Bird seal, the Byakugan could be extracted and used—if the body and host could manage the strain. It wasn't as demanding as the Sharingan, but it wasn't plug-and-play either. The jōnin dispersed to clean the scene and gather supplies; in less than twenty minutes they'd be at Tametsu Shrine.
"Hizashi." Ritsu called after the man who had knelt.
"Yes, Clan Head?"
"Why did you support me?"
Hizashi answered plainly and earnestly: "My son was born recently. I named him Neji—Hyūga Neji. He's lively and sweet. I don't want him to be branded with that slave-mark like I was."
It was the answer Ritsu expected, yet it still touched him. A father's love thinks generations ahead.
Ritsu replied solemnly: "From today on, our clan will never again brand our children with that slave-mark, the Caged Bird."
"I expect you to make that true." Hizashi said, then hurried off.
"Arima, Akiha—let's go." Ritsu called the two along. Akiha and Ritsu were cousins who lived near the compound edge; Arima's home was also nearby.
"At the shrine, you don't need to come. Go explain the situation to my parents and aunt instead." Ritsu assigned Akiha a task at the gate.
"Hey! Don't! I want to go to the meeting." she protested in a high voice.
"This is the clan head's order." Ritsu said without changing expression.
"Ritsu—this is cheating!" Akiha accused, but she obeyed.
Rain hammered the roofs. The new order had begun, and the clan moved to follow.
Hyūga Akiha was on the verge of tears.
She had no choice but to accept the troublesome task her cousin had dumped on her. In her mind's eye, she could already see her mother and aunt closing in like a pair of squawking hens—each one more relentless than five hundred ducks combined.
Her uncle might be quiet as a stone, but those two women? Their questions could drown her.
"Do your best, Akiha," Ritsu said, flashing her a teasing smile. "When this is all over, I'll teach you the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists."
"Really? You promise?" Her eyes lit up immediately.
"I promise."
The girl's gloomy face broke into a radiant grin.
Sure, being interrogated by her mother and aunt would be "painful," but imagining herself mastering that elegant, devastating technique made the suffering feel worth it.
They parted at the gate.
Ritsu pulled out his key and stepped inside. The sound of the door drew a middle-aged woman's head out from the kitchen.
"Ritsu? You—you're back?" she said, both surprised and overjoyed.
Then her joy gave way to worry. "I heard the Main House wanted to punish you. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Mom. The Main House won't bother me again," Ritsu replied quickly, kicking off his sandals as he dashed toward the bathroom. "I've still got work to do—just changing clothes before I head out. If you and Dad have questions, ask Akiha next door."
He disappeared into the washroom, the sound of running water following. Seconds later, the door creaked open again and his wet head popped out.
"Mom, grab me a clean set of clothes—something formal!"
"What?" she blinked, caught off guard.
Her husband stepped in from the living room, quiet as ever. The two exchanged a glance.
"I'll get them," she said at last, drying her hands on her apron and hurrying upstairs. From his room, she fetched a white long-sleeved robe—traditional, crisp, and dignified—and laid it neatly by the bathroom door.
Then she turned to her husband, who still stood in the entryway looking lost.
"Well? Don't just stand there. Let's go see Akiha. Ritsu says he's fine, so maybe he is—but we should find out what's really going on. Since when do the Main House people just 'let things go' so easily?"
"…All right."
The man nodded quietly.
They slipped out into the rain and crossed to the neighboring house.
Two minutes later, Ritsu emerged from the bath, his hair still damp, dressed in pristine white robes. He grabbed an umbrella, stepped out into the storm, and vaulted onto the compound wall in one effortless leap.
The rain drummed hard against the paper canopy as he sprinted across the rooftops—
straight toward the Tametsu Shrine at the northern edge of the Hyūga compound,
where destiny—and a clan reborn—awaited.