"I don't think I'm qualified to assist the great Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan," Haruki replied with a grin, returning to his usual easygoing tone. "All I'm doing is offering advice. If it makes sense to you, feel free to take it."
He genuinely meant it.
Even if Tsukasa had his flaws, he was still a competent leader. The kind of man who could swallow his pride when his clan was on the brink, unlike that old geezer who clung to power until the bitter end.
There was still hope for the Hyuga.
"The elder's suicide might take the edge off the public anger," Haruki continued, "but if you really want to stop the branch family from doubting the main house, you have to let go of the Caged Bird Seal. That's the only way."
"But the main family…" Tsukasa hesitated, his voice trailing off again.
"If you can't even control them anymore, then there is no main family or branch family," Haruki said, shaking his head. "That's just a label at this point."
What Tsukasa didn't realize was that, even if he refused to act now, Hiashi would still end up scrapping the seal eventually.
"The collapse of an old system always gives birth to a new one," Haruki said, narrowing his eyes with a faint smile. "If you want to break this cycle without bloodshed or chaos, then you need to rebuild the concept of family from the ground up."
He leaned forward slightly. "Look at it this way. Your family is made up of you, your wife, and your two sons. But once your sons marry, they'll start their own families. It's not about branches or status anymore. It's just families growing and expanding naturally."
Tsukasa's expression shifted. His brows furrowed in deep thought as he digested the words. After a while, he finally said, "If we do that, the original main family line will lose its position. Over time, even the leadership role might vanish."
Haruki's smile faded as his gaze sharpened.
"Then let me ask you this. Do you want the Hyuga clan to truly grow stronger? Or are you willing to hold everyone else back just to protect your own lineage?"
Tsukasa opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Shifting a mindset shaped by decades of tradition wasn't easy.
Haruki continued, this time with a colder tone. "The Hyuga and the Uchiha are supposed to be equals, right? But have you ever wondered why the Uchiha have so many more jonin than you?"
Tsukasa didn't answer.
Haruki didn't wait. "Is it because they're more talented? Or because their Sharingan is somehow better than your Byakugan? I don't think so."
He crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. "The real reason is that the main family has been holding the rest of the clan down. You've got an entire branch of gifted shinobi whose potential is capped from birth because you need to feel superior."
Tsukasa froze after hearing his words. Even Hiashi didn't speak.
His words hit hard.
They'd always prided themselves on being a top clan in Konoha, but in reality, they'd been falling behind for years.
They had a great legacy. But the Uchihas were feared in battle. Meanwhile, the Hyuga were known more for their discipline than their victories.
And the root cause was the Caged Bird Seal.
The same thing they'd used to keep order for generation. It wasn't just chaining down the branch members.
It was choking the future of the entire Hyuga clan.
Hiashi's eyes burned with a quiet intensity. This was exactly the kind of shake-up he had hoped for, deep down. But Tsukasa looked like someone had just asked him to light his own house on fire.
He hesitated, his fingers twitching slightly as if grasping for the right words. "This… this is too drastic," Tsukasa finally said, his voice hoarse.
"Clan leaders have always been chosen from the main family, and..."
"And that's why your clan hasn't changed in decades," Haruki interrupted calmly."The system protects the powerful and strangles everyone else."
Tsukasa opened his mouth but couldn't find a rebuttal.
Haruki continued, "I'm not saying any Genin can suddenly run the clan. There's still a strength test. But this system encourages growth, ambition, loyalty."
"It pushes your people to train harder, contribute more, think ahead. And more importantly, it gives them hope."
Hiashi nodded slowly. "It's fair."
"That's the point," Haruki said, glancing between the two. "A clan isn't a bloodline, it's a community. And the only way to rebuild trust in that community is to let them have a say in who leads them."
Tsukasa rubbed his temples, clearly overwhelmed. "But if we do this… there's no going back."
"There shouldn't be," Haruki replied. "And if you're afraid that the next generation might not choose someone from the main family, maybe that's the proof you need that something was broken all along."
A long breath escaped Tsukasa's lips. He looked at his son, then at Haruki, and finally at the floor beneath his feet, as if searching for the weight of history pressing down on him.
Tsukasa gave it some thought, then asked, "Alright then, what's the actual advantage of our clan… I mean, our main family?"
"You guys already have a 50 percent head start just by existing," Haruki replied with a cheeky grin.
"Hiashi is guaranteed to be the next clan leader. If you lot can't even keep half the vote with that kind of head start, then maybe you don't deserve the seat to begin with,"
Tsukasa fell silent.
"Dad, don't you trust our future generations even a little?" Hiashi added, giving his father a meaningful look.
Tsukasa and Hiashi paused for a moment. Then, after thinking it over, they nodded.
Right. If their descendants couldn't win even with that much in their favour, then maybe it really was better they didn't take over.
No point passing on the torch to someone useless.
"Haruki, I've got another question," Tsukasa said, finally breaking the silence."Why are you giving votes to Genin and Chuunin? Even for the Hokage elections, only Jonin get to vote."
"Why?" Haruki raised a brow. "What's wrong, worried your main family's too small and you'll get outvoted by the branch family members?"
Tsukasa didn't deny it. His eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice was steady. "Yeah. I am worried about that."
Haruki chuckled. "You're the clan head, and that's your mindset? Seriously? All you're thinking about is your own piece of the pie. Try looking at the bigger picture for once."
He paused for a moment to let that sink in, but when Tsukasa still looked a bit lost, Haruki sighed and shook his head.
"Anyone who wants to become the next leader or even an elder has to earn it now. They've got to win people over. But here's the thing. Your Hyuga clan only has about a thousand people right now. That's not a lot. And if the number of votes stays fixed, how do you make room for growth?"
Tsukasa and Hiashi listened carefully.
"There's only two options," Haruki continued.
"First, get promoted. Push more Genin to become Chuunin or Jonin. That increases their voting power."
"Second, boost the population. Encourage people to get married, settle down, and have kids. It's basic numbers. The bigger your base, the more votes you have. The more votes, the more leverage you get."
"And in the long run, you'll end up with more geniuses, more elite ninjas. I guarantee it. Within ten years, your clan's strength will double."
Tsukasa and Hiashi both looked shaken, in a good way. This was something they hadn't considered at all.
The more they thought about it, the clearer the future became. The Hyuga clan could actually rise to unprecedented heights.
Tsukasa looked over at Haruki again, this time with real admiration in his eyes. The man in front of him wasn't just a medical ninja or Tsunade's boyfriend. He was a visionary.
He took a deep breath to calm the surge of excitement in his chest, but then a darker thought surfaced. His smile faltered a little.
"But what if Hokage catches wind of this? He might not be thrilled with the idea of the Hyuga becoming too powerful."
Haruki's reply came instantly, cool as ever.
"That's easy," he said, waving a hand like it was nothing.
"We just get ourselves a new Hokage."
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