"Father… is there really no way to change your decision to go to the front?"
"Couldn't we find another solution?"
"What if you speak with the Fourth Hokage first? Perhaps there's still a chance to turn things around."
After a long silence, Hyuga Satoru finally spoke.
He wasn't Hiashi; even as the heir of the Main Family, he didn't fully grasp all the inner workings of the Hyuga Clan the way his father and uncle did. In truth, he couldn't think of a good way out—only to try and persuade his father once more.
At this moment, Hiashi looked to Satoru like a battle-worn general already pierced by countless flags, a man who might fall the very instant he stepped out of his home.
Hiashi gave a low chuckle, the sound heavy and tired.
"Negotiate?" he repeated softly. "That won't work."
"The Fourth may be Hokage, but his foundation in Konoha still rests upon the Third."
"The matter of the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki has already placed him under immense pressure. He can't afford to stand against the elders for our sake."
Then Hiashi's tone deepened, his gaze steady on his son.
"Since we're talking about this, Satoru, there's a lesson I need to teach you."
"Do you know why Orochimaru dares to threaten the Hyuga Clan?"
He crouched before Satoru, the dim light behind him casting his shadow long and dark, enveloping the boy in its outline.
Satoru furrowed his brows but didn't answer.
"By birth, Orochimaru was nothing—an orphan with no name, no clan, no parents," Hiashi said slowly. "On pedigree, he's beneath us. Yet today he dares to speak to us as an equal, even to coerce us."
"Why?"
"Because of power."
"At this moment in Konoha, the village cannot function without him."
"That—" Hiashi pressed a firm hand on Satoru's shoulder, "—is his confidence."
"Now, Orochimaru and the Council have joined forces. Not only we Hyuga, even the Third and Fourth Hokage themselves are constrained."
"Yes, it's unlikely that Orochimaru and Danzo could topple two Hokage—but the reverse is also true: removing them wouldn't be easy either."
"In the end, everything comes down to strength."
"If the Hyuga possessed power to rival Orochimaru's, backed by our lineage, no one would dare threaten us."
"So, Satoru…" Hiashi's eyes softened, the weight of all his expectations behind them. "You are the future of the Hyuga Clan. Don't ever disappoint me."
His words came from the heart. For his family's survival, Hiashi was willing to bow his head, even appear weak before outsiders.
Few clan heads in Konoha possessed that kind of humility.
He was a man who could kneel before a child of the Branch Family for the sake of unity. Some might call that weakness; Satoru knew it was strength—the kind that had allowed the Hyuga to endure when others, like the Uchiha, had not.
Even generations later, when the Uchiha name was a memory, the Hyuga would still stand in Konoha—so respected that even the future Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, would heed their summons.
Satoru could sense his father's resolve. Hiashi wasn't simply yielding to pressure—he intended to use this opportunity to prove the Hyuga's strength, to ensure that no one, not even Orochimaru, could look down on them again.
If they succeeded, perhaps the entire Council would think twice before meddling with the Hyuga in the future.
Realizing that, Satoru no longer tried to dissuade him. His father was the clan head, a man of both duty and pride.
"I understand," Satoru said solemnly. "While you're away, I'll train hard—and protect the Hyuga in your stead."
Seeing his son's determined expression, Hiashi smiled faintly and nodded.
Just as the Hyuga had anticipated, the Fourth Hokage did not refuse Hiashi's request to join the frontlines.
To Namikaze Minato, this was a gesture of loyalty—a signal that the Hyuga intended to align themselves with him.
Though the warfronts had quieted, every battle line still required strong leadership. In truth, Minato was under pressure from multiple sides: Orochimaru's rising influence, Danzo's scheming, and the still-delicate issue of the jinchuriki.
Hiashi's support was a welcome relief—a powerful name he could use to balance the scales.
And among Konoha's noble houses, few carried the weight of the Hyuga Main Family.
Their motives differed, but their goals aligned.
The mission order was issued swiftly.
Orochimaru's faction received word soon after, but surprisingly, Danzo and the elders didn't voice immediate opposition. Their attention was fixed elsewhere—on the struggle for control over the jinchuriki.
The Hyuga moved with characteristic precision.
Once the orders were finalized, Hiashi convened a clan-wide assembly. In his absence, the elder Hyuga Shin would oversee all domestic affairs. Though too old to fight, the veteran's authority and steadiness would keep the clan secure.
For his escort, Hiashi handpicked fifty of the finest Branch Family warriors—elite guards who would accompany him to the front.
Hizashi was not among them; his brother insisted he remain in the village, a safeguard for both the family and Satoru.
Hiashi's arrangements were meticulous, almost as if he were preparing for his own death. He even reassigned trusted retainers to watch over Satoru, ensuring that, should anything happen to him, the Hyuga would continue under Satoru and Elder Shin's leadership.
Satoru was not a dull child. He understood the meaning behind all of this.
In the ninja world, every farewell might be the last.
The day before Hiashi's departure, Satoru stayed home. Father and son spent the entire day together in the dojo—training, talking, sharing quiet moments.
Hiashi didn't test his son's jutsu or lecture him about the clan's techniques. Instead, he spoke about life, about comradeship, about how to treat people with respect.
Lessons Satoru already knew, but listened to quietly all the same.
Neither of them said it aloud, but both knew—they were cherishing what might be their final day together.
Dawn. Konoha's front gate.
"Satoru," Hiashi said quietly, adjusting his armor, "you will always be my pride."
Before the watching crowd, the normally stoic clan head did something uncharacteristic—he pulled his son into a brief, firm embrace.
Then, under little Hinata's wide-eyed gaze of admiration, Hiashi turned and led his fifty elites down the road, their figures soon swallowed by the mist of morning.
The wind rose.
Leaves rustled, the clouds above thickened, and Satoru stood at the gate, watching his father disappear into the distance.
"…The wind has risen," he murmured softly.
And with that wind, the world began to stir once more.
News of the Hyuga Main Family marching to the frontlines spread like wildfire.
From Kirigakure to Kumogakure, from Iwagakure to Sunagakure—every hidden village began to move.
After all, the Byakugan, one of the oldest and purest bloodline limits in all the shinobi world, had always been a prize too tempting to ignore.
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