"This isn't looking right…"
Sweat beaded on Kakashi's brow.
He had thought Uchiha Keizumi would leave after killing the two evildoers.
But from the drawn-blades tension in the air, it was clear Keizumi's purpose today was not merely to cut down villains.
He intended to openly interfere with the Hyūga's time-honored house laws—
—he even meant to challenge the Hyūga's traditional beliefs.
He drew a sharp breath.
Wasn't this… meddling a bit too much? Even generations of Hokage had been unable to change certain Hyūga convictions, much less lay hands on their house laws.
Could Uchiha Keizumi really do it?
On the strength of his power?
On the strength of his [Absolute Justice]?
"The way those Hyūga Main House shinobi are looking at Uchiha Keizumi… it's not good."
Even knowing Hyūga shinobi had surely noticed him, Kakashi kept watching from the shadows and muttered to himself.
"They're all beneficiaries of those house laws. How could they possibly be willing to have the Caged Bird cursed seal carved onto their own foreheads like the Branch House?"
In truth, many shinobi in Konoha could see the Hyūga clan's internal problems plain as day—
—just as they could once see that the Uchiha clearly meant to stir trouble in Konoha.
Because of this, the Hyūga Main House wasn't exactly well liked in the village; otherwise, that incident where the Main House young lady was bullied by riffraff would never have happened.
Even so, the Main House still refused to change a single thing…
…which was enough to show just how obstinate and mule-stubborn they were.
Who wouldn't want to be waited on and guarded by the Branch House?
Who would want to breathe the same air as those "mud-legs" from the Branch?
And besides—
If the Main House, held aloft for so many years, were ever to "fall to earth," it was frightening to imagine what the Hyūga Branch—suppressed for centuries—might do to them.
"Hah… this feels like it's about to go bad. I should've told Yamanaka Ryōshin to bring the Hokage while he was at it…"
Kakashi grumbled under his breath.
…
"See that, brat?" Perched on Neji's shoulder, Tachibana Jirō jabbed Neji's cheek again with a paw. "Even an 'outsider' like Keizumi-sama is paying more attention to the Branch House's plight than your Hyūga Main House is, meow."
"In Keizumi-sama's justice, the Hyūga Branch has no need to kneel to the Main House. The Main House has no right to keep you on your knees for hundreds—nearly a thousand—years."
"Meow—don't let 'evil' disguised as rules brainwash you!"
"Hyūga brat!"
Whether it was Uchiha Keizumi's words or Tachibana Jirō's, to Neji they rang in his ears like thunder.
Had he—had every member of the Hyūga Branch House—been brainwashed by the rules the Main House set long ago?
Tachibana Jirō's words kept echoing in his mind.
Hyūga Neji couldn't help probing his own heart.
He found he had no way to refute what that ninja cat had said.
Because it was the truth.
If he hadn't been brainwashed, if he hadn't grown used to thinking in that rut… why would he still harbor that faint hope for the Hyūga Main House? They had shown the Branch House not a shred of fairness—only bondage. So why did his heart keep tilting toward them?
In that moment, every doubt inside him found its answer.
—Years of Main House indoctrination had trapped the Branch House in a mental prison more terrifying than the Caged Bird itself.
Without an outsider to jolt them awake, the Branch House—lost in its own fog—wouldn't even realize it was already inside a cage.
Neji couldn't help lifting his gaze to Uchiha Keizumi, who stood alone, face-to-face with the Main House elder and Clan Head Hiashi.
The Hyūga's internal strife should have had nothing to do with outsiders.
Yet this man chose to wade in anyway.
He didn't even care whether he offended the Main House.
This…
Was this justice?
"Uchiha Keizumi…" The Main House elder's tightened expression carried a trace of annoyance he tried to hide. "You're pressing the Hyūga too hard. As an outsider you even want to change rules that have been passed down for hundreds—nearly a thousand—years. No one in the Hyūga will support such behavior!"
"I'm the one changing the Hyūga clan's house rules—what's that got to do with the Hyūga?" Uchiha Keizumi's single line left the elder staring, dumbfounded.
In all his years, he had never seen anyone so willful.
Did this Uchiha junior not understand human speech?
"Who says no one supports it?" Neji stepped forward from the back, lifted his head, and fixed the elder with his gaze. "As a member of the Branch House, I support changing the Hyūga rules!"
The elder's ugly expression finally cracked.
He shifted his gaze to Hyūga Hiashi, hoping the clan head would say something firm right now. He didn't want a clash with Uchiha Keizumi, yet he also didn't want Keizumi meddling in certain Hyūga affairs.
He wanted Hiashi to drive the man off without offending him.
Hyūga Hiashi: "…"
"Huff!"
Hiashi felt crushing pressure. On one side were the hopes the Main House shinobi placed on their clan head; on the other was the oppressive weight of Uchiha Keizumi's Absolute Justice.
For a dizzy instant, he felt he could truly grasp the kind of position Uchiha Fugaku had once been in within the Uchiha clan.
"The Hyūga… will consider it." After a full ten-plus seconds of silence, meeting Keizumi's cold stare and the elders' stunned eyes, Hiashi ultimately didn't dare to be hardline.
"If the house rules truly leave many clansmen dissatisfied, the Hyūga will try to weigh a revision." Hiashi spoke at last, his expression bleak.
After those few words, Hyūga Hiashi felt his spirit drain away. He could keenly sense the disappointment in the eyes of many Main House shinobi as they looked at him.
Shame churned in his chest. He knew he had failed the Main House's expectations, yet this was all he could do right now.
Because Hiashi had a premonition—
—If the Hyūga kept wrangling with Uchiha Keizumi, the man might lose patience in an instant. And Uchiha Keizumi, once he lost patience, was without question the most terrifying shinobi in Konoha. With their hearts divided, the Hyūga stood no chance of withstanding his edge.
"Hiashi—"
The Main House elder, face dark, tried to speak, but the words stuck in his throat. He could feel Hiashi's predicament, and in the end could only sigh.
"Uchiha Keizumi, as our Hyūga clan head has said, the Hyūga will take this matter under consideration. We will discuss a plan that satisfies both Branch and Main Houses, and when it is ready, we will hand that plan over to you."
Hidden within his sleeves, the elder's hands had already clenched into fists. Wearing a sullen look, he forced out, "Now you should be satisfied, right? Your Absolute Justice has fulfilled its so-called duty, yes? This should be over, shouldn't it? It's time you left, isn't it?"
The Main House…
…had really backed down!
Many Branch House shinobi were stunned from start to finish. They had thought the matter of "Hyūga Yokogari," that Branch elder whose old illness was triggered by the Main House's Caged Bird curse mark and who died as a result, would be brushed aside with a few casual words.
Who could have imagined an outsider like Uchiha Keizumi would break into the Hyūga compound and speak up for the Branch House—
—actually forcing the Main House to retreat!
This was the greatest concession the Main House had ever made to the Branch.
Bar none.
"Who said it's over?" Uchiha Keizumi's flat question made the elder almost choke on his breath.
Uchiha Keizumi said, "Have you decided to ignore the way you exploited the Caged Bird curse mark to wantonly oppress the Branch? To act as though your selfish deeds—committed under warped, pathological, hidebound house rules—never existed?"
A bad feeling hit both the elder and Hiashi at once.
"Keizumi, what are you going to do?" Hiashi asked.
Uchiha Keizumi said, "We'll judge each person by the severity of their oppression of the Branch. For the gravest cases—Hyūga Jinsuke, for example—life for life: execution on the spot. For serious cases, imprisonment from 10 years up to but under 20. For ordinary cases, from 3 years up to but under 10. For the lighter cases, no less than 3 months' confinement."
As even Hiashi's perpetually impassive face cracked with shock, Keizumi went on, relentless: "Murder isn't the only form of evil, and only the most extreme acts aren't the only ones worthy of justice's punishment."
"In my eyes, among the Hyūga Main House from top to bottom, few are 'innocent.' The vast majority of you have used the Caged Bird curse mark on Branch members.
"Including you,
"Hyūga Hiashi."
A bead of cold sweat slid of its own accord from Hyūga Hiashi's brow down his cheek.
He finally understood why people in the village called Uchiha Keizumi extreme, why they had saddled him with the nickname "Uchiha Plague God," and, more clearly still, why he was likened to Konoha's "Street-Cleaning Tiger."
Uchiha Keizumi didn't care whether you yielded. He didn't care whether you compromised.
He had no interest in striking any deal.
He simply meant to carry out justice—mercilessly, without regard for social niceties—an absolute, iron-blooded justice.
He was going to come down hard on the Hyūga.
The Hyūga's compromise, retreat, and softness were useless—
—they would win no sliver of mercy from justice.
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