Taihiro leaned forward, his singular eye fixed intently on the blind doctor. The old man was thoroughly intrigued.
Maintaining a mask of perfectly measured, respectful hesitation, Kei continued. "I was calculating that if Neji were to receive an unprecedented level of special consideration directly from you and the Clan Head... the psychological impact would be profound."
"If he were suddenly enveloped in the Main House's benevolence, the foundation of his resentment would erode. He is still a child, Great Elder. At his developmental stage, intense emotions are highly volatile; they can be manufactured just as easily as they can be extinguished."
Taihiro settled back into his high-backed chair, his wrinkled fingers tapping a slow, rhythmic cadence against the wooden armrest. After a prolonged silence, he asked, "What specific parameters of 'special consideration' are you proposing?"
"I am proposing that the council formally permit Neji to study the Main House's advanced, highly classified secret techniques," Kei answered smoothly.
Taihiro's eye flashed. He stared at Kei, his gaze heavy and piercing, as if trying to dissect the doctor's true motives.
He neither agreed nor exploded in outrage. Instead, his voice dropped to a dangerous rumble. "Kei, you are intimately aware that the advanced secret arts are strictly forbidden to the Branch House, are you not?"
"I am entirely aware of the doctrine," Kei nodded, his expression turning grave. "My clinical rationale is simply that if we wish to permanently eradicate Neji's treasonous inclinations, we must grant him a privilege so monumental that it entirely rewrites his worldview. We must engineer a profound, unbreakable sense of gratitude toward the clan, toward Lord Hiashi, and specifically, toward you."
"I calculate that if the future Head of the Branch House matures with a deep, psychological debt to the Main House, the resulting political stability would yield generational dividends."
Kei paused, letting the strategic brilliance of the idea hang in the air for a fraction of a second before flawlessly executing the retreat.
He lowered his head, adopting a look of profound, shameful apology. "Forgive me, Great Elder. I have grossly overstepped my station. The sacred rules of this clan are absolute; they cannot be casually rewritten for a single child. Please strike my proposal from the record. I will return to the drawing board and formulate an alternative, compliant psychological regimen."
Seeing the blind doctor instantly submit to the clan's absolute authority and attempt to withdraw the brilliant strategy, Taihiro's paranoia evaporated. He shook his head.
"Calm yourself, Kei. I know your heart is entirely devoted to the prosperity of the Hyuga. You must not blame yourself for thinking strategically," Taihiro soothed, his ego expanding to fill the vacuum Kei had created.
"As for your proposal to utilize special privileges to foster absolute loyalty..." Taihiro stroked his beard. "I do not believe it is entirely out of the question."
Hearing Taihiro swallow the hook, Kei did not immediately celebrate. Instead, he vehemently shook his head, playing the fanatic. "No, Great Elder. I must protest. How can our sacred traditions be broken so easily? I will find another way! We cannot risk the integrity of the Main House!"
He knew with absolute certainty that if he had eagerly agreed, the paranoid Elder would have instantly suspected a trap. But by vehemently defending the Main House's exclusionary rules, Kei forced Taihiro to be the one to break them.
Predictably, seeing Kei desperately trying to dissuade him, Taihiro's resolve hardened. He raised a hand, silencing the doctor. "There is no need for further debate. I, the Great Elder of this clan, have made my decision. The matter will proceed."
"Regarding the unfortunate events surrounding Hizashi's passing, the clan did indeed inflict a heavy burden upon the boy," Taihiro rationalized, seamlessly framing the concession as a calculated act of grace. "This special dispensation will serve as his compensation."
In Taihiro's ruthless calculus, bending this specific rule was a phenomenal bargain. With the Caged Bird Seal firmly branded into Neji's skull, what did it matter if the boy learned the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven (Kaiten)? He could never use it against his masters. Securing the fanatical, lifelong devotion of the future Branch Head would yield a political return on investment that far outweighed the secrecy of a single taijutsu form.
"Kei," Taihiro announced, his tone authoritative. "Since you engineered this elegant solution, I am formally entrusting its execution to you."
"From this day forward, Neji's martial and psychological development falls under your direct jurisdiction. With your clinical expertise, mentoring him will be a simple task. By placing you as his instructor, the council will maintain absolute, real-time surveillance over his psychological state."
Kei did not rush to accept the monumental promotion. Instead, he offered a flawless, tactical roadblock. "Great Elder, it would be the highest honor of my life to serve you in this capacity. However... I am physically incapable of teaching Neji the advanced secret techniques. I do not possess the knowledge. You must assign a Main House master to instruct him."
"You need not worry about that logistical hurdle. If you do not possess the knowledge, you shall acquire it," Taihiro decreed effortlessly. "Your unyielding loyalty has been thoroughly observed and verified by this council. Therefore, I am authorizing an unprecedented exception. You are hereby permitted to study the advanced secret scrolls, including the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven."
Standing quietly in the periphery, Saku was utterly paralyzed by Taihiro's decree. He stared at the blind doctor in disbelief, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. He desperately wanted to scream an objection, to demand why a crippled upstart was being granted the clan's greatest secrets while he, a devoted servant, was given nothing. But his deeply ingrained terror of the Great Elder forced him to swallow his bile. He simply lowered his head, his fingernails digging painfully into his own palms.
Kei bowed deeply, his voice trembling with perfectly manufactured, overwhelming awe. "Great Elder... I am but a blind, crippled servant. What possible virtue or merit do I possess to warrant such a staggering honor...?"
Taihiro looked down at the youth, his gaze lingering on the bandages covering Kei's dead eyes. "If I declare you worthy, Kei, then you are worthy. This is an absolute decree of the Main House."
"Yes, Great Elder!" Kei replied, his face a mask of solemn, fanatical resolve. "I swear upon my life, I will not disappoint the staggering faith you have placed in me. I will dedicate my every breath to repaying your boundless generosity!"
"Excellent. You are dismissed," Taihiro waved a hand. "I will have a courier deliver the classified scrolls to your residence this evening. Study them diligently."
Kei offered a final, reverent bow and turned to leave, a cold, victorious smile hidden beneath his polite facade. Before crossing the threshold, he 'looked' with his dead eyes directly at Saku's position.
Saku felt the sightless gaze pierce him. Looking at the blind doctor—the man who had just secured the clan's ultimate secrets, the Hokage's favor, and the permanent companionship of the woman Saku secretly coveted—Saku felt a surge of jealousy so violent he wished he could grind Kei's bones to dust.
But with Taihiro sitting mere feet away, Saku could do nothing but release his clenched fists and quietly excuse himself from the hall.
A few moments after Saku departed, the sliding paper doors at the rear of the council room opened. Hiashi Hyuga stepped out from the shadows. The Clan Head had been standing silently in the adjacent room the entire time, listening to every word of Kei's psychological masterclass.
Seeing Hiashi emerge, Taihiro did not turn around. "Regarding this special dispensation for the boy and the doctor, Hiashi... you are to publicize it widely throughout the Branch House."
"You wish to utilize it as propaganda?" Hiashi paused, quickly grasping the political angle. "You want the entire subjugated caste to witness the Main House's supreme generosity?"
Taihiro stroked his white beard. "Precisely. I want every single Caged Bird to clearly understand that as long as they exhibit absolute, unquestioning obedience, the Main House will reward them beyond their wildest dreams."
"Furthermore," Taihiro continued, his voice dropping into a cold, ruthless register. "This display of benevolence will provide the perfect smokescreen to accelerate our progress on Kei's 'tallest tree' theory. It will make our upcoming internal purges appear vastly less systematic."
"Although the Uchiha have been remarkably dormant since Shisui's disappearance, that silence will not hold. A violent clash between their compound and the Hokage Tower is a mathematical inevitability."
"Our window of opportunity is rapidly closing. While Kei maintains our diplomatic tether to the Hokage, we must ensure the village leadership views the Hyuga as an absolute paragon of stability and harmlessness."
"Will escalating the purge not trigger the exact instability we are trying to avoid?" Hiashi asked, his brow furrowing. "There are already dangerous whispers of dissatisfaction echoing in the lower courtyards. If we intensify the crackdowns now, the pressure might become unmanageable."
"You worry needlessly, Hiashi," Taihiro replied with supreme confidence. "When the atmospheric pressure reaches critical mass, we will simply deploy the pressure valve, exactly as planned. We will isolate and execute the loudest, most troublesome ringleaders... and simultaneously grant an unprecedented, highly publicized reward to an obedient servant like Kei or Neji."
"By decapitating the rebellion and simultaneously proving that compliance yields unimaginable rewards, the remaining dissenters will instantly scatter. It will permanently cement the absolute stability of our reign."
"Very well. I see the wisdom in the maneuver," Hiashi conceded, dropping his objections. "When the time comes, we shall distribute a few extra scraps of compensation to the Branch to pacify the herd."
Taihiro turned his singular eye toward the Clan Head, his expression turning deadly serious. "Hiashi. As the absolute ruler of this bloodline, you must remember one fundamental truth: you cannot afford a single drop of sentimental softness when managing the livestock."
"The Hyuga have survived the slaughter of the Warring States and outlasted countless rival clans for one reason alone: our absolute, ruthless prudence, and our unyielding discipline over our own blood."
"The Uchiha failed to understand the necessity of a leash. That arrogance is precisely why they are currently marching toward their own extinction."
Hiashi offered a slow, solemn nod. After a heavy silence, he shifted the topic. "Regarding Kei... after observing his maneuvering today, what is your finalized assessment of the boy, Great Elder?"
"He possesses a terrifyingly sharp clinical intellect, he understands the delicate nuances of political subservience, and he has miraculously secured the personal favor of the God of Shinobi," Taihiro summarized, stroking his beard. "He is an invaluable asset. That is precisely why I authorized his access to the Kaiten."
"He is also incredibly, transparently greedy," Hiashi noted, recalling the exorbitant sums Kei had extorted from the vault.
"His greed is his greatest virtue," Taihiro countered, a dark, cynical smile spreading across his weathered face.
"If the boy desired nothing... if he possessed no worldly vices, no hunger for wealth or status... that would make him a genuine threat to this clan."
Taihiro was perfectly aware of Kei's financial extortion. But in his arrogant, paranoid calculus, a man with glaring, easily satisfied weaknesses was a man easily controlled. He had never once denied Kei's requests for capital because every ryo he handed over was another link in the chain binding the doctor to the Main House.
He would gladly continue to bleed the vault if Kei demanded it. As long as the blind doctor's ambitions did not challenge the fundamental supremacy of the Main House, Taihiro would indulge him.
After all, Kei Hyuga was currently their most vital, irreplicable asset. He was their golden bridge to the Hokage, and Taihiro fully intended to keep his favorite dog happy.