I had been home for a week. And as I had expected, I was seen to by the clan's best healers and doctors. Then, I was told to recover, and that was it. I was sure it wasn't the end of things, but it was pretty much the end of things.
The clan had forgiven me, not that I had done anything wrong.
Sure, I went against orders and abandoned the mission, but it was hardly a big deal. After all, I had a compelling reason to do it.
The deep, bloody wound on my side was a great excuse.
The trip back to Konoha had been long and painful, and moving with a gaping hole in my side hadn't been pleasant.
Yet, it had thankfully been uneventful. No ambushes, no fights, just running into a few other Konoha squads.
Thankfully, having the Byakugan was a pretty good sign that you are from Konoha, so we ran into no problem from them; in fact, they offered us help, seeing that I was injured.
Once we arrived in Konoha, it was just a short report, handing in the intel we gathered, and back home I was, awaiting judgment.
Over the last week, I have been reassured that I haven't done anything wrong multiple times.
And today, I would finally be reserving said judgment, a full formal meeting with the elder council.
I had to look my best for it.
With the wound healed, not even a faint scar left, I spent the morning bathing, and then the next few hours brushing my hair.
Having as long hair as I did, came with its own challenges.
Brushing it took hours, washing it took hours, drying it took hours, and it took constant maintenance. While I could use Chakra and a few special ninjutsu to help, I was a bit limited at what I could show off here in the clan.
After all, I would have to explain where I learned such things, and while the clan had a few jutsus for such things, they were hardly up to the quality I needed, long hair was somewhat rare among shinobi for a reason.
A soft knock sounded at the door, causing my hands to pause for a moment, while Chakra flared in my eyes, allowing my Byakugan to awaken for just long enough to know who it was.
"Enter." I called out as my hands picked up once more.
Hiashi stepped into the room with his usual quiet grace, the door sliding shut behind him with a soft click. His eyes met mine in the mirror before drifting down to the silver-brushed strokes of my hair trailing past my shoulders and over the edge of the low seat.
"You look well," he said simply, voice even.
"I am well," I replied. "Or well enough. The healers did their job."
He nodded and stepped further inside, folding his hands behind his back.
There was a moment of silence—not awkward, just... still. He had always been that way—thoughtful, measured. I used to think he was boring through and through.
Now I knew better.
"They're waiting," he said after a breath. "Father and the elders. The courtyard has been prepared."
"I figured." I smoothed out the last section of hair, twisting it with care before setting the brush aside. "You're escorting me?"
"Yes. I asked to."
That made me glance up. "How very forward of you."
Hiashi blinked once. "As your future husband, it's the least I can do."
I smiled faintly, stood, and turned toward him. My robe shifted as I moved—light lavender silk tied with a silver sash.
Not as comfortable or as nice as the clothes I wore as the ruler of this world, but it was a lot better than what most shinobi ever got to wear. Just one of the perks of being from a noble clan that once ruled over a massive nation.
"How do I look?"
Hiashi was silent for half a second too long.
His gaze caught on my hair, still shimmering slightly from the oil I had used. Then his eyes dropped—just slightly—taking in the fall of silk over my hips before snapping back up to meet mine.
"Appropriate," he said stiffly.
I arched an eyebrow. "Appropriate? That's all?"
He cleared his throat. "Elegant."
"That's better." I took a step closer, tilting my head up to meet his eyes. "You know, I don't mind if you look a little longer."
He blinked, very slightly caught off guard. His posture remained perfect, but his ears turned faintly pink.
"I wasn't—"
"You were," I cut in, voice low. "And I find that rather flattering."
"I see." He looked away, just for a moment. "I was only making sure you were... fully recovered."
"From what?" I asked, stepping past him. "The injury or the battlefield?"
"Yes."
"Then yes," I said as I paused by the door. "I'm well enough to walk. Well enough to fight, if needed. Well enough to keep you on your toes, clearly."
His mouth twitched—just the barest ghost of a smile. "That last one does seem to be intact."
I pushed the door open, letting sunlight spill across the polished floor. "Good. Because I'd hate to lose my sharpest weapon."
Hiashi fell into step beside me as we made our way through the halls. The air was warm, edged with the faint scent of blooming plum and the sound of distant wind chimes.
"Are you nervous?" he asked.
"No," I said honestly. "I did nothing wrong, and I am to be your wife, I'm sure you will speak on my behalf, so what do I have to fear?"
Hiashi gave a small, amused exhale—close enough to a laugh for someone like him. "You sound very confident."
"I'm very pretty," I replied lightly. "Pretty girls can get away with a lot."
"That's not a strategy that will hold up in front of my father."
"No," I agreed, glancing at him sidelong, "but it works rather well on his son."
That got him. Just for a second, his carefully guarded composure cracked—his jaw tensed, his ears darkened again, and he very pointedly looked away.
"I'll keep that in mind," he muttered.
I hummed in satisfaction as we walked the final stretch of the inner courtyard. The closer we got, the quieter everything became. The clan's central compound was like another world—trees perfectly pruned, gravel raked in quiet, spiraling patterns. The breeze felt almost ceremonial.
We came to a stop before the stone gate that led to the elders' pavilion.
Hiashi turned to me again, formal once more—but I could still see a hint of pink clinging to his ears.
"Speak clearly. Be respectful," he said. "They want to understand the technique you used—and how you created it."
I nodded. "I understand, thank you, Hiashi-sama."
He gave me a look—mildly pained. "You don't have to call me that."
I smiled, soft and just a little wicked. "What if I like the way it makes you twitch?"
His mouth opened. Then closed.
Victory.
We passed through the gate.
The inner courtyard was quiet. Paved stone underfoot. A shallow koi pond reflected the pale morning light off to one side. At the far end, beneath the shade of a gabled pavilion, sat the clan elders—eight in total, arrayed in a semicircle, with the current clan head seated at the center.
Hiashi's father.
Hiashi bowed low. I mirrored him, my movements smooth and practiced.
"Honored elders," Hiashi said. "I have brought Hyūga Yuki as requested."
His father, Hiashi-sama, lifted a hand. He was a tall man, with silver-threaded hair and eyes like pale ice—watchful, not unkind. "Rise, both of you."
We did.
"Yuki," he said, fixing me with a level look. "You have returned from the field with honor. The full report has reached us. Your actions protected a member of the main house, eliminated three enemy Jōnin, and ensured the safety of your entire team."
There was no applause. No dramatic shift of tone. Just calm acknowledgment.
But in a clan like this, that meant more than any cheering crowd.
"I did only what was expected of me," I said, bowing again.
That earned a quiet murmur from a few of the elders.
"Indeed," one said. "And while you did abandon the overall mission, we can't fault you for it. Given everything, it was the right decision."
"If anything, the fact that you returned at all is a credit to your skill and talent, so young, yet already able to achieve such a victory." Another elder continued.
"However, we heard about how you achieved said victory, and we know of your progress with the advanced techniques of the Gentle Fist, yet this move, Four Star Convergence, is unknown to us." A third elder took over.
Hiashi's father gave a slight nod, acknowledging the shift in the conversation. "We'd like you to explain this technique. How it came to be, and what risks it poses."
I straightened. "Of course, Honored Elders. It is a technique I developed through independent study—based on the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, in theory, it's just overlapping four different uses of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
I slowly explained the technique. It wasn't something I had to keep secret, it was a good move, but hardly something that would be a threat to me once I recover my true power.
"You mentioned the shadow clone, while it's not a forbidden technique, we weren't aware of you learning it. Could you enlighten us about where you learned this jutsu?" the third elder asked.
"I learned it by using my Byakugan to observe others. It was while training my dojutsu that I saw someone perform the ninjutsu, and while the Byakugan is inferior to the Sharingan when it comes to learning ninjutsu, it's still not too hard to pick it up." I answered smoothly.
And I wasn't too far from the truth. I had indeed learned it by watching someone perform it with my Byakugan, though the person just so happened to be Tobirama Senju back when he invented it.
"That is… impressive," said the fourth elder after a pause, clearly weighing my answer. "And unexpected. Most branch members would not take such initiative."
I bowed slightly. "I am well aware that the clan has high hopes for my talent, and I only wish to live up to those expectations, so I attempted to better myself."
"And you did." Hiashi's father said. His gaze held steady on me, unreadable but not cold. "Your technique is impressive. I believe I have read something like it in the clan texts, but that was performed by individuals and was beyond difficult. Doing it with clones instead lowers the difficulty by a lot."
The room was quiet again, the elders looking at one another, words passing unspoken between them.
"Are you able to demonstrate it for us?" One of them finally asked.
Hiashi quickly spoke up in my defense. "Elder Noboru, please remember that Yuki is still hurt, and such a technique can't be easy to perform; we shouldn't ask too much before she is fully recovered."
Elder Noboru gave a small nod, folding his hands in his lap. "A fair point, Hiashi. We are not without patience. We can wait to see the technique performed in full when Yuki has returned to peak condition."
I lowered my head slightly. It was sweet of Hiashi to speak for me, and getting the elders to back off did put me in a better situation. "Hiashi-sama, I'm thankful for your consideration of me, but I can perform the technique without moving, by using four shadow clones rather than three, though it will leave me drained of chakra."
Hiashi's eyes flicked toward me, a subtle crease forming between his brows. "Yuki, you don't have to prove anything more today."
"I'm not doing it because I have to," I said, keeping my voice calm and steady. "But because I understand that time is precious, war is upon us, and gathering all the Elders together again for just the demonstration is a waste when I can perform it here and now with no problem."
There was a beat of silence, then Hiashi gave a short, almost reluctant nod. "Very well."
Next, the elder council seemed to once more communicate with their eyes, before Lord Tatsuo nodded his head. "Very well, if you are certain, we will gladly witness it here and now, go ahead Yuki-chan." He spoke with a kinder tone.
"Yes, Clan head." I said and quickly clasped my hands together and waved the seals.
"Multi shadow clone jutsu!"
Four distinct chakra signatures flared into being around the courtyard, each standing in their own position, forming a square and facing off towards the middle, eyes all locking together.
"North Star!"
"South Star.
"East Star. "
"West Star."
Each clone dropped into stance as I remained standing in the center.
The courtyard's air sharpened.
"Gentle Fist: Four Star Convergence." The four overlapping voices of my clones called out as their fists glowed with chakra and shot out towards the center of their formation.
"First step—two palms!"
The courtyard itself pulsed faintly, the overlapping chakra pressure visible even to those without the Byakugan. Dust stirred with every strike, caught in the wake of invisible force.
"Four palms!"
"Eight palms!"
Their voices overlapped, harmonized. The cadence rose.
"Sixty-Four Palms!"
The final strikes landed in perfect sync, a dome of shimmering pressure forming between the four clones before fading with a slow exhale of energy.
I wavered slightly as the last one dispelled.
Hiashi was there in an instant, catching my elbow.
I gave him a faint smile. "Told you I could."
The courtyard was silent again—awed, thoughtful.
Hiashi's father finally stood. "That will do."
He stepped down from his seat and crossed the courtyard to stand before me.
"For loyalty," he said, "for talent, and for defending the main family with your own body—we offer not only our thanks, but a reward."
"You are to be my daughter-in-law, one day, my home will be yours, and all the wealth and privileges of that position will be yours, so it is difficult to reward you." He said, a gentle smile on his face.
He turned slightly, addressing the elders. "It is the clan head's right to grant land and residence to worthy families."
A ripple of approval passed through them.
"Your parents will be moved to a larger residence closer to the inner courtyard, very near my own home, so that once you move in, you can visit your parents often."
I bowed low. "My family is honored beyond words."
"You earned this, Yuki," he said. "See that you continue to prove the strength of our clan in all that you do."
(End of chapter)
So, the Elder council and the Hyūga Clan, how does it all work?
So, in this story, the Hyūga Clan is massive, and as said before, has 9 elders, or 8 elders and a clan leader. Each elder, is the head of a family, and each of those 9 families are part of the main family.
It makes no sense that only a handful of people have this privilege. Because people born into it don't want to lose it. Like, if you are a high and mighty elder, would you allow your kids to be sealed and enslaved?
Fuck not, not if you can help it.
So yeah, this does mean that the main family isn't just a handful, it's dozens, maybe a hundred people. But in the grand scheme of things, it's a tiny number.
And the two councils we have seen so far in this story are, 1, a small council that deals with the sealing of clan members. Those members are picked from the main council.
And this council here is the main council, with all elders, clan leaders, and other important people.