allendalepharm Chapter 183 Refusal
Chapter 183 Refusal
Upon seeing Hiashi Hyuga's arrival, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face revealed a barely perceptible smug smile. He knew that Hiashi must be struggling with inner turmoil, forced to send his younger brother to his death. This not only concerned the Hyuga clan's future peaceful existence in Konoha, but also the fate of the entire clan. As the clan head, Hiashi had to weigh the pros and cons and make a wise decision. All of this was unfolding according to Hiruzen's meticulously planned steps. Once this crucial first step was taken, he could gradually lure the Hyuga clan into his carefully laid trap, stripping them of their current powerful status and reducing them to obedient, powerless vassals. In this way, the Hokage position would naturally be firmly in his grasp.
When Hyuga Hiashi stepped into the meeting room, he immediately felt everyone's eyes on him. Especially when he caught a glimpse of Hiruzen Sarutobi's smug smile, a nameless rage surged within him. However, reason told him that this was not the best time to completely turn against them. Only when Hyuga Kanan returned safely to Konoha would the Hyuga clan have enough strength to confront this formidable opponent.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Hiashi Hyuga, whose face was pale, and asked with feigned concern, "Clan head Hyuga, are you alright? I believe your Hyuga clan has already made a decision, so let's act quickly! The sooner we quell this incident, the better, so that Konoha can return to peace."
Looking at the utterly hypocritical Hiruzen Sarutobi before him, Hiashi Hyuga felt a surge of intense disgust. He simply couldn't understand how such a person could become the Hokage of Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi was always subservient to external enemies, compromising and yielding without any principles; but when it came to matters within his own village, he was ruthless, not only suppressing the development of Konoha clans but also weakening the power of the Konoha ninja clans.
Konoha Village was originally a village formed by various clans, and the strength of most of Konoha's ninjas originated from these clans. It can be said that weakening the power of Konoha's clans is equivalent to weakening the entire village's strength! Especially the powerful clans of Konoha, who are a crucial deterrent force for the village. However, Hiruzen Sarutobi has consistently suppressed these powerful clans, even attempting to eliminate their power!
Hiashi Hyuga couldn't help but recall the Third Shinobi World War. If the Uchiha clan hadn't paid a heavy price to thwart the Kirigakure attack, Konoha would likely have long since become a defeated nation. At that time, Konoha would have faced endless reparations and humiliation, instead of maintaining its status as the strongest ninja village as a victorious power. His Hyuga clan, as Konoha's strategic force, had provided battlefield advantage and sacrificed countless lives, yet now they were the target of the enemy's suppression. Thinking of this, Hiashi Hyuga's resentment towards Hiruzen Sarutobi grew even stronger.
Konoha Village is now unrecognizable. Its former glory, once revered as the strongest ninja village in the world, is gone! Now, even a mere Kumogakure village dares to so arrogantly provoke Konoha—this is a blatant trampling of Konoha's dignity! Back then, the two Senju brothers poured their hearts and souls into building this premier village. But now, it has fallen to such a state. If they knew this in the afterlife, they would probably share my resentment.
It's important to understand that even Tobirama Senju, a member of the Senju clan with a long-standing feud with the Uchiha clan, had never suppressed the Uchiha clan of Konoha like this. While he was wary of the Uchiha clan, merely fearing the emergence of another figure with a personality like Madara Uchiha, he certainly didn't intend to suppress their development. He knew that Konoha was formed by the convergence of many clans, and the Uchiha clan was an indispensable force within Konoha, crucial to ensuring the village's stable position in the ninja world. Furthermore, the Hyuga clan was a strategic force for Konoha, the most important weapon for securing an advantage on the battlefield, leading to a tacit understanding within Konoha to prioritize the protection of Hyuga clan members on the battlefield.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, is currently destroying the very foundation of Konoha. To maintain his rule as Hokage, he has been relentlessly suppressing the Uchiha clan, the most important contributors to the war effort, and has now turned his attention to the Hyuga clan, Konoha's strategic force. This effectively weakens Konoha's two most important powers, reducing its overall strength by at least 30% and depriving it of its most crucial deterrent against external threats. If another Shinobi World War were to break out, Konoha might be destroyed in that war.
As a clan already firmly rooted in Konoha, the Hyuga couldn't simply stand by and watch Konoha continue to be thrown into chaos by Hiruzen Sarutobi and his ilk, causing the clan to lose its most fundamental base. However, most of Konoha's power was now in the hands of Hiruzen and his associates, leaving even the powerful Hyuga clan powerless to change the situation. But now, Hiruzen and his ilk were going too far, attempting to shake the Hyuga clan's foundation, which truly angered Hiashi Hyuga, leading him to decide to utilize the resources of Kanan Hyuga to create space for the Hyuga clan's development.
Now, Hiruzen Sarutobi actually dared to come to his door in person and pressure him step by step, even hypocritically expressing concern for the entire Hyuga clan. This was something Hiashi Hyuga could no longer tolerate. He turned around and loudly addressed Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Third Hokage, please stop harassing our Hyuga clan! Our clan has already made its final decision: we will never bow down to the Hidden Cloud Village! Since they dare to threaten us with war, fine, our Hyuga clan will accept it! Does the mighty Konoha, the number one ninja village in the ninja world, really have become so weak that it has to sacrifice the lives of its ninjas to achieve so-called peace? If Konoha doesn't even have the strength to protect our Hyuga clan, then please stop meddling! Our clan will naturally find a way to resolve this issue! I've already contacted Kanan and asked him to immediately return to the village and lead our clan to teach those arrogant Hidden Cloud Village a lesson! Let them understand that our Hyuga clan of Konoha is not someone who can be easily manipulated! Our Hyuga clan is fully capable of handling this matter ourselves; we don't need the village's help at all!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was horrified when he heard that Hiashi Hyuga had contacted Kanan Hyuga, summoning him back to the village. He didn't know the full extent of Kanan's current strength, but just a few years ago, Kanan had single-handedly slaughtered a thousand elite ninja units. Given Kanan's talent and training speed, he had likely reached the level of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Leading the powerful Hyuga clan, defeating Kumogakure would be no problem. Hiruzen had personally witnessed the First Hokage's power in his youth; that overwhelming strength transcended the realm of ninjas, and being called the God of Shinobi was no exaggeration. But the question was, if Kanan returned to Konoha, could he truly hold onto his position as Hokage? The ninja world revered strength; if Kanan returned to Konoha with the force of his sweeping victory over Kumogakure, most Konoha ninjas would see him as their new leader. If Kanan expressed any intention to become Hokage, most Konoha ninjas would likely support him wholeheartedly. That's an overwhelming force that I can't stop by relying on various schemes, and its strength is so great that I wouldn't dare to scheme against it.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was filled with panic and unease. He knew Hyuga Kanan's character well; this man might not care about the so-called Hokage position, but if he knew about the Konoha leadership's schemes to suppress the Hyuga clan, the consequences would be unimaginable. Hiruzen Sarutobi knew very well that Hyuga Kanan would not give up easily; he might very well take extreme measures to directly remove them from the Konoha ruling class and then install another Konoha ninja on the Hokage throne.
Faced with this situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt helpless. The disparity in strength between the two sides was too great; he was simply unable to stop Hyuga Kanan's actions. In the ninja world, the rule of the strong has always been unchanging, and strength is the key factor that determines everything. Hyuga Kanan was not someone with deep feelings for Konoha like Sakumo Hatake; he would not be forced by the village's power dynamics, much less be threatened or manipulated. Given Hyuga Kanan's personality, he might even not hesitate to eliminate those who caused him trouble, including Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi broke out in a cold sweat. He realized that he and the other Konoha leaders were in an extremely dangerous situation and had to come up with a solution as soon as possible, or the consequences would be unimaginable. However, what could they do in the face of such a powerful opponent? This was undoubtedly a life-or-death struggle, but Hiruzen Sarutobi was completely clueless.
Suddenly, he looked at Hyuga Hiashi before him. Wasn't this the best solution? Although bowing to Hyuga Hiashi now would damage his prestige as Hokage, as long as he could keep him in check and make him abandon his plan to recall Hyuga Kanan, then it wouldn't matter if the Hyuga clan remained a powerful clan in Konoha. As long as he didn't attack the Hyuga clan, they rarely participated in Konoha politics, rarely interfered in Konoha's administration, and posed no threat to his regime. Previously, he had only believed that Konoha couldn't have a clan with too high a status influencing its government, regardless of whether the other party intended to interfere. But now, the other party's strength had exceeded his capabilities, so he had no choice but to abandon his plan to continue suppressing them.