Uchiha District – Hyūga Clan Grounds
At the head seat sat Hyūga Hiashi, his expression darker than a thundercloud.
The flames of fury in his eyes seemed to lower the surrounding temperature by several degrees.
All around him, kneeling Hyūga clan members wore equally grim faces.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
BANG!
Suddenly, Hiashi slammed his chair's armrest with a thunderous crack, roaring:
"Speak! What the hell happened?! Why did you do something so disgraceful in public?!"
"Do you have any idea how much shame you've brought upon the Hyūga clan?!"
"If you can't give me a damn good explanation, then you'll atone with your blood!"
"Our clan has no room for trash like you!"
He had clearly lost control.
Since becoming clan head, nothing this humiliating had ever happened under his watch.
The Hyūga clan had always prided itself on its etiquette, its noble image.
But today? That image was shattered.
Now, when people mentioned the Hyūga, the first thing they thought of was a pervert dry-humping a tree in public.
Sure, it was only a branch family member, but the villagers didn't care.
To them, Hyūga was Hyūga. No such thing as "main" or "branch" families.
Below him, Hyūga Daisuke—now free from genjutsu—sat in a daze.
Hiashi's roar barely registered with him.
He just wanted to dig a hole and disappear.
What the hell did I do?! How am I supposed to show my face in Konoha again?!
"Answer me, dammit!!"
Hiashi growled and formed a hand seal:
—Caged Bird!
"AAARGH!"
Daisuke clutched his head and howled in agony, the pain snapping him back to reality.
"C-Clan Leader! Mercy! I-It was Juki's fault! It was all because of him!"
In the back of the hall, Hyūga Juki trembled at the sound of his name.
"Hyūga Juki! Step forward and explain!"
Hiashi's glare locked onto the boy like a predator on prey.
Juki, pale and shaking, crawled forward and dropped to his knees.
Then—like a born liar—he began spinning a flawless tale.
"It was Uchiha Rukawa! He's the one who did all this!"
"This afternoon, my cousin and I were sparring at the training grounds, and Rukawa showed up to 'train' too."
"He was super arrogant, flashing his Uchiha status and demanding we give up the area."
"Of course, for the pride of the Hyūga clan, we refused!"
"But that shameless bastard attacked us without warning!"
"He caught us off guard and used some freakish genjutsu on my cousin."
"And me? He knocked out all my teeth!"
To prove it, Juki opened his mouth, showing his now toothless grin.
"Clan leader, I swear it's true! That bastard even said the Hyūga weren't worthy to carry the Uchiha clan's shoes!"
His face was full of righteous fury—like he was the one who'd been wronged.
Hiashi stared coldly at the boy's performance.
Then—wordlessly—he formed a hand seal:
—Caged Bird!
"NOOO! PLEASE! I'LL TALK! I'LL TELL THE TRUTH!"
Juki screamed, writhing in pain, snot and tears flying everywhere.
Typical of habitual liars—when confronted, their first instinct was to deflect and blame someone else.
But once punished, they'd spill everything.
Eventually, Juki confessed everything—how it all started with a sparring match that went wrong.
"I-I just wanted my cousin to help me get back at him, I swear…"
Even at the end, he still tried to justify himself, but—
"Enough!"
Hiashi cut him off with a snarl.
"You utter disgrace! Because of your stupidity, you've dragged the Hyūga clan through the mud!"
Juki instantly shut his mouth.
Another elder, Hyūga Makino, stepped forward.
"Clan leader, regardless of the cause, Rukawa's behavior was beyond outrageous!"
"He's completely disregarded the Hyūga clan's honor. We can't just let this slide!"
Makino was still fuming—he, too, had been humiliated thanks to Rukawa's genjutsu.
What he really wanted now was to catch that brat and beat the ever-living hell out of him.
"Hmph!"
Hiashi's face turned even colder.
"Of course we won't let it go. The Hyūga clan won't tolerate this insult!"
"I don't care if he's from the Uchiha! We're not like the other clans—cowering in fear!"
In his mind, the Hyūga and Uchiha were equals—two titans of Konoha's elite.
"Let's go! We're heading to the Uchiha district—today, I'm getting answers from Fugaku himself!"
With a flick of his sleeve, Hiashi turned and stormed out.
Behind him, dozens of Hyūga elites followed, their faces stern, their steps thunderous.
They marched toward the Uchiha district—
Clash incoming.