Haruki watched Hiashi leave the hall, looking completely out of it. He even tripped and nearly face-planted on the way out.
This made Haruki pause, just a little concerned.
Still, whether Hiashi turns over a new leaf or spirals even further, it all comes down to the choices he makes now.
Haruki thought about it for a second and smiled.
Even if Hiashi didn't go the way he hoped, the outcome was already locked in. It'd just be more of a pain in the ass.
Shaking his head with a grin, Haruki formed a seal and summoned a wooden clone. "You handle the rest."
"Got it."
Haruki waved him off with a chill look, completely relaxed.
It felt great to slack off sometimes.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the New Konoha Bookstore. With the Hyuga drama finally wrapped up, it was time to move on to his next agenda.
The New Konoha bookstore.
Or, more specifically, a way to control public opinion by publishing the books he wanted.
And, maybe make a bit of cash on the side too.
"Satoshi, track down these three people for me."
Haruki grabbed three books off the shelf, pointed at the author names, and said, "Offer them a good paycheck to ghostwrite the stories we assign."
He'd been binge-reading a bunch of novels lately, and these three were top sellers with great writing style.
With him overseeing things, recreating the best novels from his past life shouldn't be a problem.
"Yes, sir," Satoshi nodded.
Since he ran the bookstore, Satoshi knew plenty about the authors behind the scenes.
Writers like Jiraiya, who are also active shinobi, are super rare. Most of them are just regular civilians.
"Any word from Jiraiya yet?" Haruki asked.
"I got a reply. He's in. No objections to your proposal," Satoshi answered.
Haruki gave a small smile.
Jiraiya still held a bit of a grudge ever since Tsunade chose him, but at least he didn't give Haruki a hard time about it.
"What's his book called again?" Haruki asked.
"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja," Satoshi replied.
Haruki's expression twitched. "What kind of lame title is that? It sounds like a children's bedtime story."
Still, it did ring a bell.
"Wait… is the main character named Naruto?" he asked.
"Yeah," Satoshi nodded.
Haruki let out a sigh and shook his head. 'Minato loved that book in the original series, didn't he?'
"Alright, we'll keep the title as is, so Jiraiya doesn't throw a fit. But give it a catchy subtitle for the promos."
He thought for a bit. "How about The Child of Destiny? Sounds dramatic enough."
"So, when do we kick off the promotion, Lord Haruki?" Satoshi asked with a grin.
"No need to rush. We'll wait till tomorrow," Haruki replied with a casual smile. "We still need to give the Hyuga clan a bit more time to clean up their image. If Hiashi doesn't screw things up, this'll all go a lot smoother."
The next day, there was still no official statement from the Hyuga side. But Hiashi and his father, Tsukasa arrived at the institute.
"Haruki, I think I underestimated you," Tsukasa said first, giving a slight bow.
"What do you mean?" Haruki returned a light smile. "If you're talking about the work on the Caged Bird Seal, that was just a coincidence"
'A coincidence?' Tsukasa thought, practically scoffing at the idea.
Caged Bird Seal wasn't some basic seal technique.
It was on par with a forbidden technique.
There was no way cracking it, let alone rewriting it, could be chalked up to luck or coincidence.
To him, it was clear.
Haruki or maybe even Orochimaru, had their eyes on the Hyuga clan long before any of this.
Tsukasa wasn't as easy to mislead as Hiashi. He knew Haruki's fingerprints were all over the current situation.
"Haruki," Tsukasa said with a sigh, "Hiashi did as you asked. The elder passed away from heart failure."
Haruki tilted his head slightly, lips curling into a subtle smirk. "No, it wasn't a heart attack. He committed suicide."
Both Tsukasa and Hiashi froze at those words.
Tsukasa frowned. "What do you mean?"
Haruki shrugged. "The elder from the main house caused the deaths of forty branch members, all to protect his own interests. After stewing in guilt for a few days, he ended his life, as a way to atone."
He paused, glancing between Hiashi and Tsukasa. "Now, tell me. What do you think would happen if that version of the story got released to the public?"
Both of them stiffened after hearing his words.
The way things stood now, public opinion was overwhelmingly against the main branch.
But with a single sentence, Haruki had shifted the entire narrative.
He threw the entire blame on the elder, painting him as a selfish man whose actions led to tragedy, and who took his own life in guilt.
It reframed everything.
Now, the rest of the main house could play the role of bystanders, even victims, dragged along by the elder's decisions.
Tsukasa took a deep breath, voice heavy with emotion. "You really are something else. Hiding in plain sight, yet capable of flipping the entire narrative with just one sentence."
Haruki let out a short chuckle. "Come on, don't give me all the credit. The biggest contributor here is Hiashi,"
Tsukasa opened his mouth as if to respond, then closed it again.That bright, easygoing smile on Haruki's face somehow felt cold.
He knew his son too well.
There was no way his son would ever resort to something as extreme as assassinating the clan elders.
The only thing that made sense was whatever Haruki had whispered to him.
Tsukasa stood in silence for a moment before he finally spoke up again, his voice low. "Must the main family really give up control of the Caged Bird Seal?"
Haruki looked at him like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Seriously? There's still hope left in that stubborn head of his?'
"That's the only way to calm the rage from the branch houses," Haruki said flatly.
"But if we do that, our main family will take a massive hit," Tsukasa argued.
"Main family?" Haruki repeated, raising an eyebrow and letting out a cold chuckle. "What even is the main family? And what's a branch family, then? Is Hizashi not your blood? Not your son?"
"How ridiculous. If that's still how you think, then maybe it's time to step aside and let Hiashi lead."
Tsukasa and Hiashi both went pale.
Technically speaking, as the head of the Hyuga clan, Tsukasa outranked Haruki.
And politically speaking, Haruki didn't hold any official position.
He wasn't a Hokage's student, didn't command any special forces. His only connection to power was through Tsunade.
Normally, Tsukasa wouldn't even take him seriously.
At best, he'd consider him a talented medic with potential.
But right now, Haruki wasn't just speaking his mind.
He was making demands.
It was a direct hit to Tsukasa's pride, and he didn't even try to hide the disrespect.
Tsukasa's face shifted through anger, frustration, disbelief, before finally settling into resignation.
He let out a long sigh, raised his head, and said quietly, but with sincerity, "Help us, Haruki."
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