Chapter 129: The Tiger Out of the Cage
The meeting hall had grown silent.
Only a few voices stirred the heavy air.
Ever since Hyūga Hiashi passed the floor to Hinata, he had remained still—eyes closed, expression unreadable. Whether he was indifferent to the elders' reactions or simply expected them, no one could tell.
Hinata, for her part, maintained a calm front.
But Ryosuke, sitting just behind her, could see the truth beneath her composed posture—her little feet shifted restlessly beneath her robes, betraying the tension she kept hidden.
She was nervous. Embarrassed, even. But still, she pressed on.
"More than half of the clan supports the new system I proposed."
She didn't respond to the Elder's earlier question directly. Instead, she returned to numbers—her strongest shield.
But the elders before her were not so easily pacified.
"They support you, yes," said Elder Kazuo, shaking his head. "But I suspect many of them don't truly understand what it is they're supporting."
"They only see the promise of freedom from clan restrictions," he continued. "They don't grasp the complexities of what you're proposing."
"Hinata, I understand you want to help the clan. That you want to carry some of the burden. But you're still young. You don't yet understand the weight of this decision."
His tone wasn't harsh now—only resolute.
"Just like the issues we pointed out earlier. They aren't minor details. They're fundamental flaws in your proposed system. You need to consider them carefully before pushing forward."
The other elders nodded in agreement.
Unlike active shinobi, these elders no longer took missions. They spent every day managing internal clan affairs. And while Hiashi and Hinata both had foresight, so too did they. But thinking and implementing were very different things.
A reform of this magnitude couldn't afford missteps.
One mistake could unravel the clan. And in such a scenario, it wouldn't just be Hiashi's burden—it would be theirs too. They weren't afraid of dying for the clan. But they were afraid of dying with dishonor.
Just as Hinata opened her mouth to speak again—
"Does he know about this?"
A voice, rough and hoarse like wind over dry soil, rose from the far end of the room.
It came from the front row of the branch family's elders.
The tone was quiet, almost brittle—but it echoed through the room, carrying a strange weight.
Hinata hesitated, unsure at first who the ancient voice referred to. But then, when her gaze met the clouded eyes of the oldest Hyūga elder—the Grand Elder—she understood.
He was referring to Ryosuke.
Although Ryosuke had displayed glimpses of his strength to a select few in the clan, the matter had been kept quiet. Only those who had worked closely with him—Hizashi, Hoshicai, Sōji, and Iroha—knew the full extent of his power.
Among the elders, many were still in the dark.
All except the Grand Elder.
Hinata remembered clearly what her father and Ryosuke had said during their last meeting: aside from Hiashi, the first person to truly recognize Ryosuke's strength had been him.
So when the Grand Elder posed his question… she knew exactly what was behind it.
She paused for only a moment, then bowed her head respectfully. "Yes. He agrees."
A long silence followed.
The Grand Elder closed his eyes. For a moment, he didn't speak. Then, with the slowness of an ancient clock, he gave a single nod.
"Then I have no objection."
The words dropped into the room like a stone in a still pond.
"…Grand Elder?!"
The other elders turned to him in shock.
This reform would change everything—not only the relationship between the main and branch families, but the very essence of the Hyūga identity. Without the clan's rigid structures, without its careful control…
The Hyūga might end up like the Uchiha.
But the Grand Elder wasn't finished.
"Hinata's proposal… is a collective one."
He turned his gaze slowly to the other elders—his contemporaries, men and women who had lived long enough to bury entire generations.
"There are truths that we old men know well," he said, voice thin but unwavering. "Truths we have kept hidden. Even from the clan head."
"I resisted before—even when Hiashi approached me. I refused to move. Because the time was not right."
His eyes narrowed, full of age and history.
"Our foundation was strong, but we lacked something."
"A leader."
The word struck like thunder.
"A leader?" Kazuo repeated with disbelief. He jabbed a finger toward Hinata. "You mean her?"
Hinata blinked, clearly startled.
"She's… improved, sure. But let's not get ahead of ourselves," another elder said, scoffing. "If she hadn't been born to the main family, she wouldn't have made it this far. Her talent is still average at best."
As they spoke, their words cut through the air like blades—spoken not in hushed tones, but openly, as if Hinata wasn't sitting just meters away.
They dissected her in public.
And Hinata sat through it—back straight, eyes cold.
She no longer flinched.
She no longer shrank.
But it still stung. Of course it did. Even if there was truth in their words, the humiliation was hard to swallow.
Still, she said nothing.
And Hiashi and Ryosuke?
They remained silent.
If Hinata wanted to be the head of the Hyūga clan, she would have to earn her place in front of them—not be defended by others.
Even if it hurt, this was her trial.
And the elders… they didn't care for hierarchy when it came to the future of the clan. They had once scolded Hiashi to his face when they disagreed with him. They would not soften simply because Hinata was the heir.
"...That's enough."
The Grand Elder's voice cut cleanly through the room.
He didn't shout. He didn't rise.
But just like that, the discussion stopped.
"I've said my part," he murmured. "I have no further objections. Whether you choose to support her or not… I will not interfere."
The other elders sat back in their seats, quieted. Their resistance had not vanished, but it had been stilled—for now.
The Grand Elder gave one last look around the room before turning to Hinata. His face, lined like tree bark, softened just slightly.
"Little Hinata… we old ghosts have no more objections to what you've said."
Hinata bowed deeply. "Thank you, Grand Elder."
Then, rising with grace, she turned to face the rest of the hall—the shinobi elites who had remained quiet all this time.
"And to the rest of you—our veterans, our mentors—may I ask where you stand?"
One by one, the jōnin of the Hyūga clan stood.
Some had been quietly deliberating. Others had listened with admiration, even awe. None had interrupted the elders' debate.
But now that they were called—now that it was time to choose—
They answered without hesitation.
One after another, they declared their support.
They were not like the uninformed civilians outside the compound, whose only understanding of the system was what they'd been told.
Everyone in the hall had their own considerations.
But now that the elders had given their approval, the other Hyūga elites had no reason to object. After all, even they harbored quiet unease about the proverbial sword hanging not only over their own heads—but those of their descendants as well.
Hinata scanned the faces in the room one last time.
Silence.
Not a single dissenting voice rose.
Then, with steady breath, she turned to face her father. "Father," she said, voice heavy with emotion, "the proposal… has been approved."
The moment felt enormous—almost too much. The months of worry, the endless nights spent second-guessing herself, the silent burden she'd carried through every step of the reform... all of it culminated here.
A swirl of emotion welled up within her. There was sorrow, relief—and yes, pride.
Because this was the first thing Hinata Hyūga had ever done for her clan.
For a long moment, Hiashi said nothing. His eyes remained closed.
Then, at last, they opened—and the look he gave his daughter was filled with pride and admiration.
Without a word, Hiashi leaned forward and sat beside her, facing the clan.
"In that case…" he announced, his tone firm yet dignified, "I formally declare that, based on the system proposed by Hyūga Hinata, our clan will undergo structural reform."
"The process will be slow and deliberate. If any member's actions prove harmful to the clan's development, they will be corrected immediately."
He looked around the hall, gaze sweeping across jōnin, elders, and shinobi alike.
"This matter is of great importance to both myself and to Hinata. I ask each of you—do your utmost to see it through."
"Yes!" came the unanimous reply.
. . .
Compared to the storm of reform, the remainder of the clan meeting felt tame—routine even.
But one item still caught Ryosuke's interest: the Hyūga clan's expansion within the Land of Fire.
It had begun subtly.
Sparked by the diplomatic incident with the Hidden Cloud envoy, Ryosuke had orchestrated a long-term move—sending senior shinobi Hyūga Sōji to the Daimyō's court in Land of Fire as a guardian. Since then, Sōji had earned favor, backed by Hyuga's support and the clan's growing reputation.
And the alliance with the Land of Waves had only bolstered that prestige.
To the noble families and government officials of the Land of Fire, the Hyūga were no longer just a mysterious bloodline hidden in Konoha—they were assets, protectors, providers of peace.
And so, one by one, members of the Hyūga were welcomed as esteemed retainers—bodyguards and confidants of high-ranking officials.
It was a strategic move.
A tightly packed clan like the Uchiha had become a cautionary tale. The Hyūga had no intention of repeating that mistake. Dispersal, integration, and long-term influence—those were the keys to survival.
Through it all, Ryosuke said nothing. He didn't need to.
He'd already read through every proposal. He knew what each elder would say before they said it.
His thoughts had already been passed along to Hiashi weeks ago.
So, as the meeting drew to a close—its final decisions etched into the future of the clan—Ryosuke simply watched, quietly observing the shift he had helped orchestrate.
. . .
"Whew…"
Hinata let out a long breath as she stepped out of the meeting hall beside Ryosuke.
The moment they crossed the threshold, her composure collapsed.
She stumbled backward like a ragdoll, her legs turning to jelly.
Ryosuke reached out, catching her before she fell. "Careful," he said with a half-smile. "There are still eyes watching, you know."
His voice was gentle, teasing.
Though in truth, the festival's heart lay far from here. The clan's inner sanctum rarely saw much foot traffic, even during celebrations.
"I don't care. I'm exhausted."
Hinata clung to him like a koala, burying her face into his chest.
"I was so nervous in there," she murmured. "Even with so many supporting me, the elders still wouldn't listen. It was like—like they were deliberately trying to break me."
Her voice was soft, almost a whimper.
"But… what they said," she admitted, "wasn't wrong."
She had tried everything—racking her brain for arguments, counterpoints, logic. But some of the loopholes the elders had pointed out... they were real. Not theoretical. Inevitable.
"They were armchair arguments," Ryosuke said, his gaze warm.
"I could point out a hundred more hypothetical flaws in your new system. That doesn't mean all of them will actually happen."
He paused, holding her gaze.
"There's no such thing as a perfect system. And no way to prevent every failure."
Before she could protest, he shifted his grip and scooped her up into his arms.
"Come on," he added. "We're not standing around out here."
"...Fine."
Hinata, who had been about to ask him for advice, shut her mouth with a small pout.
She leaned against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. The warmth of his body, the sway of his steps as he moved, lulled her like a child in a cradle.
The wind brushed against them gently as Ryosuke carried her home.
Hinata's eyes fluttered shut.
She was tired—more than she'd realized. The strain of the past few months, the constant pressure, the fear of failure…
Now that it was over, it all came crashing down.
Sleep claimed her before she even knew it.
. . .
The Hyūga clan's annual festival continued for three days, as it always had.
But this year, there was no Caged Bird Seal ceremony following the clan meeting.
Instead, there was something else—something no one had expected.
Freedom.
Word of the changes spread quickly. The moment it reached the ears of the branch families, an emotional wave surged through the clan.
At first, they didn't believe it.
Then disbelief turned to tears. Then tears turned into cheers.
The burden of centuries—the branding of their ancestors, the silence, the obedience—had finally begun to lift.
For many, it was a miracle.
"Lady Hinata!!"
"Lady Hinata!!"
Voices rose in unison—raw, impassioned. Dozens of branch family members called her name with joy in their eyes and tears streaming down their faces.
To Hinata, it had been about securing the future.
But to the branch family, it was so much more.
She was the first in centuries to see them—to fight for them.
It felt like a holy day. Like a tiger locked in a cage for generations had finally torn the door off its hinges.
. . .
Atop the rooftop of the Hyūga Elders' Pavilion, the Grand Elder stood beside Ryosuke and Hinata, watching the crowd roar below.
From up here, it looked like a revolution made of smiles.
"How do you feel?" the old man asked in a voice barely stronger than the breeze.
Hinata, still stunned by the overwhelming reaction, blinked slowly.
There was awe in her eyes. A quiet wonder.
"…Happy," she whispered.
It wasn't just pride. It wasn't just duty.
It was the overwhelming, heart-crushing joy of belonging. Of knowing she had done something real.
But the Grand Elder didn't smile. "Is that all?" he asked, turning his gaze to Ryosuke.
"And you, Ryosuke?"
Ryosuke's arms were crossed, but his eyes were sharp—focused on the celebration below.
He tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk on his lips.
"…It's dangerous," he said.
"That tiger you let out of its cage?" His eyes darkened.
"Some of the restless ones might just jump out next."
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