Chapter 17 — Sneaking into the Village, Don't Fire Yet
While they waited for the ANBU's report, Minato Namikaze didn't leave the Hokage's office.
The silence between him and the Third stretched long, broken only by the occasional rumble of thunder outside.
Finally, Minato spoke up.
"Lord Hokage… the Hyūga's system—" he hesitated, choosing his words carefully, "—is there truly no way to change it?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh, his pipe resting between his fingers. Smoke curled upward, softening the old man's tired expression.
"The Hyūga system's flaws are obvious," he said quietly. "Anyone with eyes can see that. But as I told you before, the autonomy of the great clans—the Hyūga, the Uchiha, the Aburame—was established by the First Hokage himself. It's not something we can alter lightly. If we tried, the other clans would never stand for it."
He tapped the pipe against the ashtray with a dull clink.
"And besides," Hiruzen continued, "the Caged Bird Seal gives the Main House absolute control over the Branch House—life and death in a single thought. The Branch families have no power to resist. Without strength, there can be no reform."
Minato's brows furrowed.
"Then isn't that a deadlock? The Branch House can't resist because of the seal, but the only way to change the system is for the Branch House to resist."
The Third Hokage smiled bitterly.
"Exactly. That's the paradox."
He took a slow puff before continuing, voice low and contemplative.
"In my experience, true reform succeeds only when it begins from below, not imposed from above. The Hyūga Branch House is too shackled, too fractured to rise up. Even if the village interfered directly, it would do no good. Force our hand, and we'd only alienate the Main House further—turning them against Konoha itself."
Those words weren't mere politics. They were the confession of a weary man who had seen too much.
And Minato knew it.
The only reason Hiruzen spoke so candidly—without pretense or caution—was because Minato was more than a subordinate.
He was the old man's student's student, and in many ways, the one Hiruzen privately considered to be his successor.
"Then it really is a dead end," Minato murmured, his tone heavy.
"For the Branch to change their fate, they'd need to break free of the Caged Bird Seal. But to break it, they'd have to… interfere with the Byakugan itself."
"Precisely," Hiruzen said, nodding gravely.
"That seal is the foundation of the Hyūga hierarchy. Whoever first designed it—one of their ancient ancestors, no doubt—was a genius of the highest order."
He paused, the faintest flicker of regret in his eyes.
"Truth be told, Minato, I once studied the seal myself—in secret. I wanted to see if it could be undone, if there was any way to free the Branch House and mend the clan's divisions."
Minato's eyes widened slightly. "You did?"
Hiruzen gave a small nod.
"I spent three months on it. And what I discovered was… humbling. The Caged Bird is bound to the very nature of the Byakugan. Its structure isn't merely ink on flesh—it's woven into the Hyūga's bloodline limit itself. To remove the curse, you'd have to tamper with the Byakugan directly."
He leaned back, a cloud of smoke exhaling from his lips.
"That, Minato, is beyond even me. After three months of effort, I had nothing to show for it. No progress. No insight. Just a growing respect for the cruelty of its design. In the end, I gave up. I couldn't afford to waste more time on the impossible."
Minato fell silent.
Even without studying the seal, he understood exactly what those words meant.
If a man hailed as the Professor of Ninjutsu, the one who had mastered every jutsu in the village, had declared something "too difficult"—
then the Caged Bird wasn't just a curse.
It was a prison carved into the soul itself.
For several seconds, silence hung heavy between them — the rhythmic tap of rain against the window filling the space.
Then Minato Namikaze finally broke it.
"Lord Hokage, what do you intend to do about Hyūga Ritsu? If he truly returned to the village intending to flee with his family…"
Hiruzen shook his head, cutting him off before he could finish.
"Making decisions based on assumptions stacked upon assumptions is meaningless, Minato."
Before Minato could respond, the door creaked open — and a drenched ANBU operative knelt before the desk, water dripping from his cloak and pooling on the floor.
"Lord Hokage," the operative reported in a deep voice, "we've confirmed Hyūga Ritsu entered the village at 1:17 this afternoon. He presented a travel order bearing Orochimaru's signature. The gate guards assumed it was a legitimate redeployment."
"Orochimaru's signature?" Hiruzen's brows furrowed deeply.
That piece of information hung in the air like thunder. But after a moment's pause, he waved it aside. Whether the paperwork was genuine or forged, the result was the same — Hyūga Ritsu was in the village.
The question was: what now?
The Third Hokage's expression hardened into one of thought.
If the document was authentic, then Ritsu's return was officially sanctioned. In that case, there was no legal ground to accuse him of desertion. But if it was fake… they couldn't accuse him without proof either.
Either way, acting rashly would cause more harm than good.
After a long moment of contemplation, Hiruzen exhaled through his nose.
"Minato," he said finally, "I'll have to trouble you to make a trip. Visit the Hyūga Compound and speak with Elder Hyūga Masamune of the Main House. Ask whether they can show leniency toward Ritsu. And while you're there, assess the situation for me."
It was the safest plan — calm, diplomatic, and informative.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Minato didn't hesitate. He wanted answers too.
If possible, he wanted to protect Ritsu — not because of Hiruko, but because Ritsu was a rare talent. A Hyūga prodigy like him wasn't just a family asset; he was a village treasure.
He pulled the bright yellow raincoat from the tote bag Kushina had packed for him and slipped it on.
"I'll head out immediately," he said, nodding respectfully.
Hiruzen gave a slow nod in return, watching as the young man vanished in a swirl of wind and golden light.
---
Outside, the storm had grown wilder.
Minato reappeared beneath a sprawling tree at the edge of the Hyūga Clan's estate. Rain hammered the leaves in steady sheets, heavy drops splashing down like silver beads.
"What a downpour…" he muttered, narrowing his eyes. The curtain of rain was so thick he could barely make out the walls ahead, and the clan's barrier field distorted his chakra sensing.
He started walking quickly toward the main gate —
but when he arrived, his steps faltered.
There were no guards.
That single detail made his stomach twist.
This wasn't normal. Not for the Hyūga.
The Hyūga were one of Konoha's proudest clans — second only to the Uchiha in prestige. Their Main House, in particular, prided itself on order and decorum. Even in a storm, the gates should never be left unattended.
Something was very wrong.
Minato's instincts sharpened.
If anything, this only convinced him to move forward faster. The stranger the situation, the more important it was to find out why.
He'd only made it a short distance past the gate when movement flickered through the rain —
a figure darting straight toward him.
Minato stopped, tense but calm, ready to react.
The man skidded to a halt before him, bowing slightly.
"So it truly is the Yellow Flash. My name is Hyūga Arima — I come on behalf of our clan head to welcome you."
He spoke with careful politeness, though his breathing was still rough from running.
"Clan head?" Minato repeated, eyes narrowing.
That word hit him like a splash of cold water.
Wait. The clan head?
So Hiashi Hyūga had returned as well? When? How?
What was going on in this clan?
First Ritsu sneaks back into the village… now the clan head too?
What next — the entire Main House "quietly returning" one by one?
Was "sneaking into the village" some sort of Hyūga hobby?
Minato exhaled through his nose. "Your clan head returned? When?"
Arima simply smiled.
"Please, Lord Fourth—this way. The clan head is waiting for you at Tamaki Shrine."
He said nothing more, making no effort to clarify that the "clan head" he referred to was not Hiashi — but Ritsu himself. His mission was clear: escort the Yellow Flash to the shrine. No more, no less.
"Lead the way," Minato said after a moment.
He didn't argue. Better to see things firsthand.
Once he met Hiashi, all these mysteries would sort themselves out.
Or so he thought — completely unaware that the "clan head" awaiting him in the storm-drenched shrine
was not Hiashi Hyūga at all…
but the man who had just torn the Hyūga's ancient system apart.