1300 PS
◇◇◇
Everything Arashi had set in motion was progressing in an orderly manner.
Except for the Hyuga.
This Konoha clan, known for its ocular Ninjutsu, still kept its gates tightly shut, oblivious to all external changes.
Arashi's patience finally ran out.
Inside the Daimyo Manor's study, he held a secret report about the Hyuga Clan's assets between his fingers, his gaze cold.
It seemed the Hyuga were prepared to resist until the very end.
"Gen."
"Your subordinate is here."
The butler immediately responded from the side.
Arashi casually tossed the secret report onto the table and leaned back in his wide chair.
"Send someone to Konoha."
"Tell Minato this."
"I'm giving the Hyuga Clan one last chance."
"The Genius Cultivation Program or the Twelve Guardian Ninja selection."
"Let them choose one of the two."
"Within three days, I want to see the Hyuga Clan's name appear on one of those application lists."
He paused, his tone becoming calm and detached as he issued the ultimatum.
"Otherwise, have the people from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Internal Affairs pay them a visit."
Gen bowed deeply. "Yes, your subordinate will see to it immediately."
...
Konoha Village.
Hokage's Office.
Minato was buried in mountains of scrolls.
Ever since choosing to submit, he had positioned himself purely as an executor, efficiently carrying out the Daimyo's orders.
This saved him a great deal of trouble, but it also left him feeling powerless at times.
Especially when it came to the Hyuga Clan.
Throughout Konoha, from the Advisor Elders to the ordinary shinobi, nearly everyone believed that the reason the Hyuga angered the Daimyo was because they refused to offer a daughter of the main family with the Byakugan.
In their eyes, all of the Daimyo's actions were aimed at forcing the Hyuga to yield and hand over their unique Bloodline Limit.
Even Minato himself had once firmly believed this.
He thought the Daimyo was pressuring the Hyuga in such a way to gain control over that ocular power.
The Genius Cultivation Program and the Twelve Guardian Ninja selection had seemed like little more than intimidation tactics.
Just as he was pondering how to persuade Hiashi again, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
A young man in the uniform of a Daimyo Manor official entered, his face unremarkable.
Minato recognized him at once. He was one of the Daimyo's resident staff stationed in Konoha to convey orders.
"Lord Fourth."
The man bowed slightly, his posture respectful but without a trace of flattery.
"No need for formalities," Minato said, setting down his pen and adopting a serious expression. "Does the Daimyo have new instructions?"
"Yes."
The man wasted no words and directly conveyed Arashi's command.
"The Daimyo ordered me to inform you that the Hyuga Clan must choose between the Genius Cultivation Program and the Twelve Guardian Ninja selection."
"The deadline is three days."
"If there's no response after three days, we will have to trouble Lord Fourth to take action."
Minato was completely stunned. His first reaction wasn't about the harshness of the order, but confusion.
He subconsciously asked, "Only these two choices?"
"What about… the matter of the concubine selection? Did the Daimyo not mention it?"
To him, that question was a given.
Wasn't that the core of the conflict?
As long as the Hyuga were willing to send a girl to the palace, the Daimyo would surely be satisfied, and all problems would be resolved.
He had originally thought this ultimatum would concern that issue.
But now, that most crucial option had been directly removed.
Upon hearing his question, a strange expression appeared on the messenger's face, a mix of amusement and bewilderment.
"Lord Fourth," he said slowly, "I think you have misunderstood the Daimyo."
"The Daimyo has never, from beginning to end, connected the concubine selection with the Genius Cultivation or the Twelve Guardian Ninja."
"'Absolutely no coercion' was clearly written in the Daimyo's edict."
"It seems…"
He paused briefly, then added, "This isn't something so difficult to understand, is it?"
Boom.
The words were light, but they hit Minato's mind like a hammer, shattering the deeply ingrained logic of shinobi politics that had guided his thinking.
A trace of disbelief flickered in his azure eyes.
His thoughts were in chaos as he reexamined everything that had happened.
He remembered that both the Genius Cultivation Program and the Twelve Guardian Ninja had been personally explained to him by the Daimyo.
As for the concubine selection, it had been announced nationwide by the Daimyo Manor, it had never been directed at any specific clan in Konoha.
So that was it… so that was it.
In an instant, all his confusion, assumptions, and self-righteous conclusions collapsed.
He finally understood.
They had been wrong.
From the Third Hokage, to the Advisor Elders, to every family in Konoha, and even himself—every single one of them had been absurdly wrong.
They had treated the least important matter as the most important, while dismissing the Genius Cultivation and Twelve Guardian Ninja programs as mere sideshows.
Coupled with the Uchiha Clan's proactive attitude, this led to a massive misjudgment.
He thought of all those in Konoha who had sent their daughters for the concubine selection, and a self-deprecating smile crossed his face.
It turned out, whether they participated or not, the Daimyo hadn't cared at all.
How laughable.
How absurd.
Minato's cheeks burned.
They had been trapped within the fixed mindset of shinobi, using the logic of Bloodline politics and desires to interpret the Daimyo's grand design.
They had thought the Daimyo was driven by lust, never realizing they hadn't even understood what he truly wanted.
Did the Daimyo care about the Hyuga women? About the Byakugan?
Perhaps.
But that wasn't what mattered.
The concubine selection was an opportunity offered to all.
Yet for the Daimyo, it was dispensable.
If that concubine selection had been a loyalty test, then the Hyuga, with their misplaced pride, had turned in a blank sheet.
They had stubbornly and righteously rejected what they viewed as humiliation.
And then what?
They extended that resistance to the Genius Cultivation and Twelve Guardian Ninja programs.
They thought they had preserved the Hyuga's dignity and the secret of the Byakugan.
But in the Daimyo's eyes, a clan unwilling to show even the most basic gesture of obedience was utterly insignificant.
Why should a disloyal family have its Bloodline merged with the royal line?
The Daimyo hadn't even bothered to force them to offer a woman.
Realizing all this, Minato's back went cold with sweat.
Just barely.
Just barely, Konoha had almost lost a major clan.
He finally understood the true meaning behind the ultimatum.
The Genius Cultivation Program demanded the Hyuga's future.
The Twelve Guardian Ninja demanded their present.
No matter which they chose, the Hyuga had to make a statement—to maintain their arrogance, or pledge allegiance to the Daimyo.
It was a hundred times more brilliant than forcing them to send a woman to the palace.
Because what the Daimyo wanted was never a woman or a pair of eyes.
It was loyalty.
The complete and unconditional submission of this Ninjutsu Clan.
After realizing this, Minato felt from the bottom of his heart that he was unfit to be Hokage.
Compared to the Daimyo, he was truly too naive.
"I understand."
Minato nodded solemnly. "I will convey the Daimyo's will, word for word, to Hiashi."
The messenger nodded, bowed again, and then withdrew.
Only Minato remained in the office.
He gazed out the window at the Hokage Rock, the symbol of Konoha's spirit, silent for a long time.
After a while, he finally let out a quiet sigh.
"Our perspective… it's too far off."
(To be continued.)