__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Hyuga clan.
Hyuga Hiashi sat at the head of the hall, his expression terrifyingly dark.
Raging fury burned in his eyes, so intense it felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.
All around him, Hyuga clan members knelt in silence, each one wearing an ugly expression.
The atmosphere was crushing.
Bang!
Suddenly, Hyuga Hiashi slammed his palm down on the armrest of his chair and roared in fury.
"Speak! What exactly happened?! Why would you do something like that in public?!"
"Do you have any idea how badly you've disgraced the Hyuga clan, you idiot?!"
"If you can't give me a proper explanation, then wash away this clan's shame with your blood!"
"The Hyuga clan does not need trash like you!"
It was obvious that Hiashi had completely lost his composure.
Since becoming clan head, he had never encountered anything this absurd.
The Hyuga had always paid careful attention to their image, presenting themselves as a dignified great clan to the outside world.
But today, that image had been utterly destroyed.
From now on, when people mentioned the Hyuga clan, the first thing that came to mind would probably be, "Those perverts who like climbing trees in public."
Even though the culprit was only a branch family member…
The villagers of Konoha didn't care about main house or branch house. In their eyes, a Hyuga was a Hyuga.
Below, Hyuga Ko stood there in a daze, the genjutsu already dispelled.
Faced with Hiashi's furious interrogation, it was as if he hadn't heard a single word.
When he thought back to what he'd done earlier, all he wanted was to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
This was beyond humiliating.
How was he supposed to keep living in Konoha after this?
"Bastard! Didn't you hear me talking to you?!"
Hiashi ground his teeth together and formed hand seals.
The Caged Bird.
"Ugh… ahhh!"
Ko clutched his head and screamed in agony.
The searing pain snapped him out of his stupor. He hurriedly cried out, "Cl–Clan Head, spare me! Th–This is all Hyuga Neji's fault! If it weren't for him, I never would've done something like that!"
The moment his name was spoken, the Hyuga Neji hiding at the back of the crowd shuddered.
"Hyuga Neji!" Hiashi barked coldly. "Explain yourself. What is really going on?"
His gaze locked onto the trembling little brat, killing intent flashing across his face.
Neji shakily stepped out from the crowd, knelt down, and immediately began spewing lies.
"It was… it was all Uchiha Akira!"
"This afternoon, my cousin and I were sparring at the Konoha training grounds when Akira showed up and said he wanted to train there too."
"Relying on the fact that he's the Uchiha clan head's son, he arrogantly demanded we give the place to him."
"For the honor of the Hyuga clan, of course we refused!"
"But that despicable bastard suddenly attacked us!"
"We weren't prepared. My cousin fell into his genjutsu, and I got beaten so badly all my teeth were knocked out!"
As he spoke, Neji opened his mouth wide, proudly displaying his toothless gums.
Fuming with righteous indignation, he continued, "Clan Head, it was all Uchiha Akira! You have to stand up for me and my cousin!"
"And he even said that the Uchiha are the number one clan in Konoha, and that the Hyuga aren't even worthy of carrying their shoes!"
His face was full of grief and anger. The performance was vivid enough to pass for the truth.
Hiashi merely watched him coldly, then calmly formed another seal.
The Caged Bird.
"I want the truth," Hiashi said icily, "not some made-up story."
As clan head for so many years, there was no way Hiashi would be fooled by a child's lies.
"Ahhh! No! Clan Head, please! I won't lie again!"
Neji clutched his head and rolled wildly on the floor, tears and snot streaming everywhere.
Only after the pain subsided did he stop, gasping for breath.
People who were used to lying always tried to dodge responsibility first, no matter the situation.
After being punished, Neji finally told the truth.
"It started with the match this morning…"
Several minutes later, he finished explaining everything from beginning to end.
"Clan Head, I just wanted my cousin to help teach him a lesson. But what Uchiha Akira did was really too much. He shouldn't have—"
"That's enough!" Hiashi cut him off mercilessly. "Useless trash! Because of your stupidity, the Hyuga clan has been completely disgraced!"
Neji didn't dare say another word.
"Clan Head," Hyuga Tokuma said in a deep voice, "even if this was just a fight between juniors, Uchiha Akira went far beyond acceptable limits."
"His actions show complete disrespect toward the Hyuga clan. This matter cannot simply be dropped!"
Tokuma's resentment was boiling over. Thanks to Akira's genjutsu, he had also been dragged into this humiliation.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to grab that brat named Uchiha Akira and beat him senseless.
"Hmph."
Hiashi let out a cold laugh, frost covering his face.
"Of course this won't end here. The Hyuga clan will not accept humiliation for no reason. Even if the other side is the Uchiha clan."
"Other clans may fear the Uchiha, but the Hyuga do not."
Confidence filled Hiashi's expression. In his eyes, the Hyuga and the Uchiha were both Konoha's greatest clans, equals standing side by side.
"Come with me," he ordered, sweeping his arm forward. "We're going to the Uchiha compound. Today, Fugaku will give me an explanation!"
With that, Hyuga Hiashi led a large group of clan members, marching straight toward the Uchiha clan grounds…
"..."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________