"Waiter, tea!" Gojo Kaigetsu called out.

  "Right away, sir!"

  Gojo Kaigetsu and Hiashi Hyuga quickly excused themselves from the weddiion aled into a teahouse a short distance from the Uchiha pound.

  Hiashi Hyuga sat stiffly. This was his first private meeting with Advisojo.

  He felt a knot of ay in his stomach.

  While he'd observed that Advisojo generally supported initiatives that empowered ninja, the oute of this meeting was uain.

  What if… Advisojo was a wolf in sheep's clothing? What if, for the sake of political expediency, he betrayed Hiashi and sided with the Hyuga elders in exge for… financial iives?

  Then the branch family ninja might never know true freedom.

  But if he, as the Hyuga Head, didn't fight for them, who would?

  'I carry the burden of their liberation. I ot fail.'

  Hiashi Hyuga's gaze hardened with resolve. "Advisojo, I have a… request."

  "I…"

  "Hold on a moment." Gojo Kaigetsu produced a bnk sheet of paper. "Let's write dowopic we're about to discuss. If they match, you owe me a favor. If not, I owe you two."

  "What? Sure." Hiashi was taken aback. He'd e here to ask for a favor, not grant one.

  He wrote on the paper with tea, as did Gojo Kaigetsu. They flipped their papers simultaneously. Both read: [Branch Family].

  "It seems I win. I'll remember that favor, Hiashi. Now, tell me what's on your mind." Gojo Kaigetsu poured them tea.

  Hiashi Hyuga got straight to the point. "Advisojo, I wish to liberate the Hyuga branch family. I want to abolish the Caged Bird Seal."

  "That's… a rather delicate matter, Hiashi. As an advisor, I 't interfere in a 's internal affairs. And I'm just a in, my influence is limited."

  "Besides, you're the Head. Surely your smen 't defy your authority?"

  Hiashi Hyuga smiled wryly. "Advisojo, you jest. As The Hyuga Head… I hold no real power. I'm merely a puppet for the elders."

  "If I were to abolish the Caged Bird Seal today, my younger brht be dead by tomorrow. And then… more branch family members. They'd pressure the vilge leadership to reverse my decision, and all my efforts would be wasted. Most of the main family also supports the elders. After all, the Caged Bird Seal protects their is and eheir safety."

  Those within the system fiercely defe, while those outside fought to break free.

  But resources were finite. Liberating the branch family meant less for the main family. It wasn't that they cked empathy, but their current privileges outweighed any such… ses.

  The Hyuga … that's how they operated.

  The Hyūga had a high floor, but a low ceiling.

  Though their Byakugan aed taijutsu teiques made them formidable in the early stages, a saying circuted in the ninja world:

  When you're poor, you aim for precision. When you're rich, you use overwhelming force.

  The Hyuga, limited by their cle bat style, were destio be early-game powerhouses. Jonie Jonin, Kage… the higher the rank, the less effective the Hyuga's abilities became.

  During the chaotic Warring States Period, the Hyuga had developed the Caged Bird Seal, sacrifig a portion of their to protect the main family.

  They poured their resources into nurturing a select few, ensuring the 's influehin the vilge and the ninja world.

  This strategy had made the Hyuga one of the s with the most Jonin ae Jonin. Even on simple missions, a main family member would be escorted by two or three branch family guards, minimizing casualties.

  And during the Shinobi World Wars, it was the branch family ninja who were sent to the front lines.

  Even after the transition from the Warring States Period to the Hidden Vilge era, this practice tinued.

  Hashirama Senju, in his é, hadn't interfered. After all, he ractically invincible. Such trivial matters could be handled by future geions.

  Tobirama Senju, more pragmatic, had seen the bes of the system for the vilge. A loyal, expendable force with a valuable Kekkei Genkai that couldn't be stolen by other vilges? It was… ve.

  Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura had simply tiheir predecessors' policies.

  The branch family, subjected to this system feions, seemed to have accepted their fate. From a young age, they were indoated with the cept of absolute loyalty to the main family. Freedom was a fn cept.

  Of course, there had been those who rebelled, who were swiftly eliminated by the Caged Bird Seal.

  "So? You've e to me… for help?" Gojo Kaigetsu asked.

  "I ask that you, in the name of the vilge, threaten those elders who oppose me. Even if it means using the Anbu to… eliminate branch family members. Oheir leverage is gohe Caged Bird Seal be abolished."

  Hiashi Hyuga's face was etched with pain.

  Liberating the branch family would iably lead to bloodshed. Those stubborn elders wouldn't yield until the st branch family member was gone.

  Because Konoha he Byakugan, they couldn't allow the bloodlio die out. As long as the vilge hem, the elders were untouchable.

  Even if they had to activate the Caged Bird Seal and kill every branch family member, they would survive. The price would be the loss of the seal, a less fortable future.

  Gojo Kaigetsu gasped. "Hiashi Hyuga, you're ruthless!"

  To prevent hostage situations, elimihe hostages?

  He didn't immediately reveal his own pns. "Why not… target the elders directly?"

  Hiashi Hyuga shook his head. "It's pointless. The elders reside in the most heavily guarded area of the pound, stantly protected by branch family ninja. And the Byakugan… you know its capabilities. No one infiltrate ued. The moment the Anbu arrive, they'll use the Caged Bird Seal to create a wall of flesh."

  "And we 't reassign the branch family guards. Their families are also within the pound. Any unusual activity would be noticed."

  Gojo Kaigetsu stroked his . "That does plicate things."

  He wracked his brain, trying to recall simir sarios from other stories. How had other protagonists hahis?

  The elders' staimately depended on the ninja world's political climate. As long as the vilge he Byakugan, they were untouchable.

  After Naruto became Hokage, the ninja world's popution had been decimated. And with Naruto's Talk no Jutsu… the world had entered an era of peace.

  But would the elders dare? Did they have the power?

  Setting aside Naruto's political power, the ninja world eace. The Hyuga's strategic value had diminished.

  The Byakugan, though useful for intel gathering, wasn't as versatile as, say, the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. If push came to shove, the Hyuga could be eliminated without much sequence.

  So, the elders had promised.

  There were no absolute principles, no invioble traditions. Everything was iable.

  "If it's this difficult… why should I help you, Hiashi? From the vilge's perspective, maintaining the status quo is the best option."

  Hiashi Hyuga revealed his trump card. "The Hyuga possesses a colle of sealed Byakugan from past geions. If the branch family is liberated, I'm willing to dohem all to the vilge."

  "And… Advisojo, you could certainly use a group of loyal ninja."

  That's what he'd been waiting for.

  The Tenseigan.

  The ultimate evolution of the Byakugan, achievable only by bining ōtsutsuki chakra with a Hyuga's Byakugan. A dojutsu with the power of creation aru.

  Its potential, in Gojo Kaigetsu's opinion, even surpassed the Rinnegan.

  Creating a Tenseigan was a long and arduous process.

  tless Byakugan, fused into oheir essenbined, f a pure, ultimate Byakugan. And then, using ōtsutsuki chakra as the catalyst, it would evolve into the Tenseigan. pared to the Rinnegan, which required a Sage Body, the Tenseigan's requirements were far more demanding.

  Byakugan → Pure Ultimate Byakugan → Tenseigan

  What did Konoha currently possess?

  Gojo Kaigetsu mentally reviewed his assets. Senju, Uchiha, Hyuga, Uzumaki, Kaguya… all the ōtsutsuki desdants were preserag a trace of their aral chakra shouldn't be impossible.

  But the first step was acquiring a rge number of Byakugan. And that required the Hyuga's cooperation.

  If the Tenseigan Project succeeded… it would be Konoha's ultimate trump card.

  "Hiashi, do you have a list of the elders who oppose you?"

  "Right here." Hiashi Hyuga produced a folded piece of paper.

  "Hyuga Nu, Hyuga Jun…" As Hiashi watched, Gojo Kaigetsu snapped his fingers, and the paper disied into dust.

  "Eleven elders… impressive." Even the Uchiha's internal flict seemed less… one-sided. Hiashi's "liberal fa" ractically ent.

  "Get me pen and paper."

  "Yes, Advisojo!" Hiashi Hyuga, his face serious, personally fetched the requested items.

  Gojo Kaigetsu accepted them, pausing for a moment as if gathering his thoughts. Then, he began to write.

  The Death of a Hyuga Branch Family Ninja

  Hiashi Hyuga's breath hitched.

  The elegant calligraphy and the impactful title immediately captivated him.

  It perfectly summarized the story's premise and hi its tragiature.

  Hiashi couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation. Advisojo's talent for writing was legendary.

  Even without reading the full article, he could ses power.

  "tinue, Advisojo," he urged, uo tain his curiosity.

  "Patience. I'm… finding my muse."

  After a moment, Gojo Kaigetsu tinued writing:

  [In the Land of Fire, the pce least affected by ninja tool shes isn't the Daimyo's estate, but Konohagakure. Over fifty years ago, the Hyuga branch family designed a modern, industrial ninja tool f system for this then-backward vilge, a system so adva remains the most productive in the Land of Fire, eveire ninja world, to this day.]

  [Konoha's ninja tool factory, built by the Hyuga branch family, has operated effitly for over fifty years. Retly, some parts required rept. However, the inal Hyuga craftsmen were long gohe factory workers searched everywhere for suitable repts. An elderly Hyuga, a branch family member, told me that acc to their guidelines, spare parts should be stored within three meters of the inal. Following his advice, I found a small ste room filled with perfectly preserved rept parts, ed in oiled cloth.]

  [This enter sparked my i in the Hyuga .]

  [At the time, I was unaware of the ugliness within the ow, I deliberately distinguish between the main and branch families. The reason? I heard a story from a civilian ninja with ties to the Hyuga.]

  [While written from a first-person perspective, this is based on an interview.]

  "Impressive." Hiashi Hyuga spped his thigh in admiration. These few lines painted a picture of a pragmatid meticulous branch family.

  But…

  'Since when did the Hyuga specialize in toolmaking?' He quickly uood. This was Advisojo's way of hinting that after the Caged Bird Seal's abolishment, the Hyuga should i in the vilge's ninja tool factory.

  'Good thing I caught that. Advisojo's… methods are truly profound.'

  [January 8th, Konoha year 50. I received news of my academy cssmate, Hyuga Hinata, dying on a mission. She was a bodyguard for a main family member. I was tasked with handling her belongings. Her ste scroll tained 3,700 ryō. She wore a cheap, 100 ryō uniform. Her once bright eyes, filled with a longing for freedom, seemed… extinguished. Six scars, carved by a kunai, marred her face. Her arms bore the marks of torn muscles and burns. I imagine she used the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven until her st breath.]

  [Her younger sister, Hanabi, wept insobly. It broke my heart.]

  [She was only four months away from her fifteenth birthday.]

  [From the day I received the news, to deg to share this story, to you reading these words… it's taken me half a month to process.]

  [I opened my mouth five times, closed it five times. I couldn't speak.]

  [But I have to.]

  [To be frank, we hadn't been close since graduating from the Academy. The bonds we'd fed had faded.]

  [But her death… it seo a deep depression. I share this not just for my own ato, but also to express my e at the Hyuga main family! Her death forced me to refley own life, my e to the vilge, and how such a… despicable could exist in Konoha.]

  [That day at the Academy, when we first spoke… I thought she was naive. A month ter, I no longer saw her that way.]

  [Our history lessons were divided into ses, each followed by a test. The questions were incredibly difficult, and we'd barely had time to process the material. We pined stantly. But from the third test onwards, Hinata sistently scored first pce, a position she maintained until graduation. I still remember the pride in her eyes when the instruentiohe Hyuga 's aplishments.]

  [She lived on 450 ryō a week, c all her expenses. She had a younger sister, three years younger, also very bright, who would soon join the Academy. Her tuition aid by her branch family retives, who sidered her their pride.]

  [Every m, we received free milk. I never drank it, always tossing it irash. Hinata, seeing this, was shocked. 'Don't waste it!' she said. ' I buy it from you?' 'But you already have some,' I replied. She smiled. 'I give it to my sister.' 'I'll give it to you,' I said. 'Just let me wiime we practice shurikenjutsu.']

  [After our first holiday break, we gathered to share stories. That's how it was in the Academy. Everyone wore new clothes, new hairstyles. Some had even traveled to other tries. Hinata, too, wore a new bck shirt. But the symbol on it… it was… wrong.]

  [After css, a few boys approached her, teasing, 'Nice shirt, Hinata. Did you make it yourself?' The others snickered. I preteo read, saying nothing.]

  [Later, she slipped me a note: 'What's wrong with my shirt?']

  [I hesitated, then told her the truth: 'The Konoha symbol faces left. The one on your shirt faces right.']

  [I assumed she wouldn't wear it again. But the day, she did, only this time… i. The reversed Konoha symbol was even more noticeable. But I ko her, it was less embarrassing than a patch. Because I knew how much she valued Konoha, how much she believed in the Will of Fire. I wao ask her about it, but I couldn't bring myself to. She seemed to sense my hesitation. During m reading, she whispered, 'This is my only shirt. It y family half a month's food allowance.']

  [That was the first time she mentioned her family. No self-pity, no drama. Just a simple statement of fact.]

  [I asked her, out of curiosity, 'Aren't the Hyuga one of Konoha's wealthiest s? Why are you… less well-off than me, a civilian?']

  [She calmly expihat as a branch family member, she had a duty to protect the main family. Her equipment costs were higher, and she had to give half her mission earnings to the main family.]

  [I remember, just befraduation, Iruka-sensei's final speech: 'You are the best css I've ever taught. Most of you will bee ninja. But remember, no matter how successful you bee, it won't impress me. Remember your responsibilities. If this world, if this vilge, needs heroes, why not you? You've grown up uhe Will of Fire. You all dream of ging the world. Who else will?']

  [He then had us write down our dreams, or what we envisioned for ourselves in ten years.]

  [We were eight, nine years old. Filled with youthful passion and dreams. Inspired by his words, we wrote carefully, as if taking a sacred oath.]

  [Some wao make explosive tags more affordable. Some dreamt of joining the Anbu. Some wao be Hokage Guards. I wrote, 'I will be a reporter, ho and impartial, speaking for the vilgers of Konoha.']

  [Amidst all these dreams, Hinata wrote, 'I want to be Hokage.' She then crossed it out and wrote, 'I will dedicate my life to the Will of Fire, to the Hyuga , to repay the vilge and my 's kindness.']

  […Hyuga Hinata died. She might have survived. But there had been a… disagreemeween her and a main family member's child. During the enemy ambush, that main family child and the other branch family ninja retreated, leaving Hinata aloo face the enemy's assault.]

  […In that bottomless pit, ging to the rope the Sage of Six Paths had offered, she'd beeed tless times.]

  ['Just tell us the answers. We'll cover your expenses for a year.']

  ['Speak ill of the Hyuga main family, and we'll give you even more.']

  ['Just a little… adjustment to the main family's budget, and you'll have more mohan you've ever dreamt of.']

  [But she refused, her resolve unwavering.]

  [Hyuga Hinata's loyalty to the Will of Fire, to the Hyuga , was absolute.]

  [Ironically, she died because of a petty squabble with a main family member, abandoned arayed.]

  [We… we take the easy path, readily swayed by temptation, and then pin about being forced into it. But Hinata, fag true adversity, never onpined. When had the ninja world ever truly forced my hand? Or was it my own desires that led me astray, and I simply bmed the world?]

  [I don't know the answer.]

  [This… is my final farewell.]

  [After her death, I struggled to find a fittiaph. The First Hokage's was, 'Wherever leaves dance, fire will burn.' The Sed's, 'This world is ily evil. I will se it.'… Even someone like Hinata deserved a fitting tribute. Something grand, something that captured her spirit. I couldn't find the right words. Then, I remembered Advisojo's speech at raduation: 'I hope the Academy's influeends beyond simply training ninja. I hope you bee people who truly live.']

  [Perhaps… that's the most fittiaph for her.]

  [A Konoha ninja who truly lived.]

  Hiashi Hyuga's world crumbled. His ninja way, his resolve… everything turo dust.

  He was drenched i, his body trembling.

  His eyes locked onto Gojo Kaigetsu.

  "So, Hiashi, what are your thoughts?" Gojo Kaigetsu asked, his voice gentle, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

  "Is… is this true?" Hiashi Hyuga's eyes were bloodshot. "I want that elder's child dead!" His voice was low and dangerous, his fury barely tained.

  Gojo Kaigetsu was satisfied with his rea.

  "The Death of a Hyuga Branch Family Ninja"… it was a story that resonated deeply, even in a world saturated with information and tless narratives.

  He sidered it a literary masterpiece, a cultural nuke.

  A persecuted branch family member, a top academy student, a prodigy, a ughingstock, utterly devoted to the Will of Fire and her , ostracized, a true Konoha ninja… abandoned arayed.

  Every element was carefully crafted to evoke empathy.

  The "branch family prodigy" trope perfectly highlighted Konoha's hypocrisy and the i injustice of the system.

  People loved underdog stories, stories of those who defied their circumstances.

  And Hinata's plight… she'd had it worse than a civilian, practically a sve to the main family.

  The gap between the privileged and the downtrodden, it was a cssic tale of good versus evil.

  And people loved stories of hope and tragedy. Gojo Kaigetsu had given them both, a potent cocktail of emotions.

  And to make the story even more impactful, he'd ected it to the reader, not through some famous figure, but through an ordinary cssmate.

  "I have a story. Do you have tears?" The Death of a Hyuga Branch Family Ninja asked. And if you did, how could you not shed them?

  If the Hyuga could maheir emotions through their eyes like the Uchiha, Gojo Kaigetsu couldn't imagihe iy of their rea.

  "Is it true, Hiashi? I believe you know better than I do. There shouldn't be a Hyuga ninja named… Hinata, should there?"

  "There was," Hiashi Hyuga said, his voice strained. "Hyuga Hinata. She was well-respected in the branch family, a top student at the Academy. She died about a year ago, on a mission, proteg an elder's child. The details… I'm not privy to them."

  "Really? There actually was a Hinata?" Gojo Kaigetsu was stunned. He'd made up the name. What a ce.

  "This story… it's fi. Any resembo actual events is purely tal."

  "My apologies, Advisojo. I lost my posure." Hiashi Hyuga closed his eyes, taking a deep breath tain his posure.

  "Tell me, Hiashi, how did the story make you feel?"

  "Angry," Hiashi Hyuga admitted. "At the main family's oppression. Hinata's death… it was senseless. She should have died a hero, not abandoned by her own rades. A ninja like her… she deserved better."

  "And if this story were to spread throughout the vilge?"

  Hiashi Hyuga shuddered, recalling the fallout from the Uchiha "Soldier Pill" article.

  The streets had been filled with angry protesters.

  That had been during Danzo's era, a time of political oppression. Now, Konoha was more… open. Public dissent wasn't suppressed.

  If "The Death of a Hyuga Branch Family Ninja" were to spread… he couldn't imagihe sequences.

  The Hyuga 's "noble" reputation would be shattered.

  Konoha beloo the vilgers, not the s. Public opinion could crush the Hyuga.

  "The Hyuga main family… their reputation would be ruined." Hiashi's voice was bitter. Perhaps this was the price for their past sins.

  "Fet the reputation for now," Gojo Kaigetsu said, his expression turning serious.

  "I will use this… io address a long-standing issue."

  "What issue?"

  "Whether the Hyuga branch family serves the main family, or Konoha."

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