Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 273 Succession to Clan Chief, A Person from the Moon

It has to be said that after spending so much time with the Uchiha clan, Neji picked up some of their bad habits. For example, when he was emotionally agitated, he would often express his emotions with maniacal laughter.

This was quite inconsistent with the Hyuga clan's tradition of self-proclaiming themselves as noble ninjas and demanding of themselves the highest aristocratic standards. Therefore, upon seeing Neji's maniacal laughter, the elders present all frowned.

"You say the Caged Bird Seal is the foundation of the clan?" Neji, having finished laughing, looked directly at the elder who had spoken earlier. "Then I want to ask, is it you who don't even do the most basic tasks and only rely on the Caged Bird Seal to enslave the branch families that are the foundation of the clan, or is it the branch families who are enslaved by the Caged Bird Seal for their entire lives that are the foundation of the clan?"

After Neji finished speaking, the faces of the elders present turned a deep shade of liver. Although everyone does some things the same way, once they say it outright, it becomes a different matter.

"Hyuga Neji! Watch your attitude! You're not the clan leader yet! And even if you become the clan leader, you have no right to speak to us like that!" an elder rebuked Neji.

"I'm not qualified?" Neji sneered. "I am a Jonin of Konoha, the Fifth Hokage's personal disciple, and the captain of the fourth squad of the Jonin team. And you? You don't even have the rank of Chunin. Logically speaking, a ninja of your level has no right to speak to me directly."

"Hyuga Neji! Don't think that just because you have the Hokage backing you up, you can ignore the clan's rules!" Elder Hyuga said angrily, then looked at Hiashi Hyuga.

"Hyuga Hiashi, the young clan leader you chose is so disregarding the clan rules. Don't you plan to do anything about it?"

"Ah, I still need to go to the Hokage to get the border defense map and study how to arrange the border military equipment. Neji, I'll leave this to you." Upon hearing this, Hiashi Hyuga stood up, patted Neji on the shoulder, and decisively said, "Just kidding. If the guards found out about those few elders' disrespectful words to the Hokage, they would be sent to the Nakagawa Grand Hotel for a lesson from the Three Pure Ones. These elders are usually pampered by their respective branch families in the clan, and they probably think everyone in the village will treat them the same way."

After Hiashi Hyuga left, Neji got up and sat directly in the seat that Hiashi Hyuga had previously occupied, the seat representing the head of the clan. He then reached into the portable sealing scroll at his waist, pulled out his Eight Trigrams Staff, and forcefully planted it into the ground before looking at the elders.

"In a few days, I will release all the Caged Birds from your branch families. From now on, there will be no distinction between the main family and the branch families in the Hyuga clan. Your status in the clan will be determined entirely by your talent and strength. However, the elders do not need to worry. Considering that you have worked hard in the clan over the years, even if you have not made any great contributions, the clan will support you for life with the same treatment you received as the main family members," Neji said.

"Hyuga Neji, you are not the clan leader yet!" the Hyuga elder roared. Then, he looked at the others around him and said, "Gentlemen, I propose that we, in the name of the elders, strip Hyuga Neji of his position as the young clan leader. We cannot stand by and watch the Hyuga's ancestral precepts be severed in the hands of this madman! Otherwise, how will we face our ancestors when we reach the Pure Land!"

"It seems the elders don't want to maintain any semblance of decorum?" Neji clapped his hands expressionlessly.

At that moment, the gates of Hyuga Shrine were opened, and a group of people wielding kunai rushed in and took control of all the elders inside the shrine.

The elders looked closely and realized that the newcomers were all members of the branch family of Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Neji. They were immediately enraged. "Hyuga Neji! Are you trying to stage a coup within the clan? And you, as members of the branch family, how dare you defy your superiors and point weapons at the main family?"

"It seems the elders have misunderstood something. What I did could only be called a coup if it failed, but if it succeeded, it would be a revolution." Neji slowly stood up, drew his Bagua staff, twirled it, and pointed it directly at the face of the Hyuga Grand Elder.

"Do you think you can control us with these branch families?" The First Elder gritted his teeth and raised his hand to form the incantation to activate the Caged Bird Seal.

However, the members of their branch families remained completely unmoved.

"This...you released them all from their caged birds?" Elder Hyuga looked up in disbelief at Neji, who was pointing a stick at him.

"Elder, as I've already said, this is a revolution, so naturally it must start with me," Neji said.

"Why? Why do you still obey his orders even though the caged bird is gone?" At this moment, an elder of the Hyuga clan turned to a member of the Hyuga branch family who was holding a kunai to his neck and asked.

Hearing what this person said, Neji also lost interest and put away his weapon. Ever since Uchiha Touko told him to prepare to take over the Hyuga clan, Neji immediately released the Caged Birds from the cages of his branch families. In order to seize power smoothly, he also made many preparations.

Furthermore, he was somewhat excited, after all, he had been studying optics with Uchiha for so long, and now he finally had a chance to put it into practice.

But to his surprise, the elders of the Zong family, whom he had previously valued so highly, turned out to be such idiots.

At this moment, Neji couldn't help but sigh. Some members of the Hyuga clan had visible Caged Bird Seals, but weren't these people in front of him just caged birds on another level, only they didn't have that ugly seal on their heads?

"Take them away." Neji waved his hand dismissively, turning away, not wanting to look at these fools who had been spoiled by years of pampered life.

"Where are you taking us?" Elder Hyuga shouted at Neji, his neck held by a kunai.

"Where can we go? To the security force, of course. Oh, I forgot to tell you, they're all members of the security force now. Your actions with the Caged Bird Seal have violated the village law. Just wait to be judged." Neji finished speaking and left the family shrine without looking back.

After leaving the shrine, Neji turned and headed towards the center of the Hyuga clan's territory.

He hadn't walked far when Sasuke appeared behind him, chuckling as he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"To be honest, it's pretty boring." Neji shrugged and said, "If our master's opponents were a bunch of insects, then these guys in our clan are just a bunch of parasites."

"Let's not talk about that. Anyway, you've become the head of the Hyuga clan, so I still have to congratulate you." Sasuke said with a smile. After speaking, Sasuke took out a scroll from his body and handed it to Neji. "This contains the power generation methods and trajectories of some basic Uchiha shurikenjutsu that don't require the Sharingan. Take this and have Tenten try to replicate it using scientific ninja tools. Consider this a succession gift from our Uchiha clan to you, the new head of the Hyuga clan."

"This gift of yours is truly precious. Does the teacher know about this?" Neji exclaimed. If Sasuke's gift were converted into something from the Hyuga clan's standards, it would be equivalent to their most basic Eight Trigrams Palm technique, something that could be considered a part of their respective clans' heritage.

“My teacher has already put me in charge of the clan affairs, and I doubt he'll object. In the future, the importance of shuriken throwing will only decrease,” Sasuke shrugged and said. “But you, now that you've become the clan head, how do you plan to change the Hyuga clan?”

"No matter what, let's deal with the Caged Bird Seal first. With that thing around, the Hyuga will never be able to catch up with the Uchiha," Neji said.

"Heh, you Hyuga people wanting to catch up with our Uchiha are dreaming," Sasuke laughed.

"How will we know if we don't try?" Neji laughed as well. "Want to make a bet?"

“Hehe, let’s bet,” Sasuke said. “Let’s bet on which of our families will be the number one ocular jutsu family in Konoha ten years from now, how about it?” “Okay.” Neji also said with a smile. Compared to dealing with a bunch of parasites who weren’t even insects, competing with his junior brother was much more interesting.

"Come to my place for a visit? I got some tea from my teacher, want to try some?" Neji raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of tea?" Sasuke asked, intrigued.

“His most treasured jar,” Neji said with a smile.

"You managed to find him even though he was hiding so well?" Sasuke said, somewhat surprised. But when he looked into Neji's eyes, he immediately understood what Neji meant and nodded. "In this respect, your Byakugan is still the most powerful."

The two brothers walked toward the Hyuga clan chief's residence with smiles on their faces.

"Neji-nii-san!" As soon as Neji and Sasuke arrived home, a small figure rushed towards them.

"Hanabi, slow down, we have guests." Neji said with a hint of helplessness after catching Hanabi who was flying towards him.

"Sasuke-nii!" Hanabi, nestled in Neji's arms, looked up and waved to Sasuke with a bright smile.

"Hello, Hanabi." Sasuke smiled and nodded.

Hanabi glanced around at the two of them and, finding no sign of the blond-haired man, nodded in satisfaction.

It could be said that in this family, this little girl was the most hostile to the blond-haired guy. You know, every time that blond-haired guy came to the house, her sister would ignore her.

After Neji invited Sasuke into his home, Hinata opened the living room door and said with a smile, "Sasuke-kun, you've come."

The group sat down on the edge of the tatami mat in the living room, and Hinata started boiling water on the stove, waiting for it to boil.

After the water boiled, Neji poured tea leaves into the kettle, then poured in boiling water. The aroma of tea filled the living room, and Neji and Sasuke simultaneously enjoyed washing their noses.

"Teacher drinks really well usually," Sasuke remarked.

“Yes, when it comes to the tea ceremony, Master is truly the best in the ninja world!” Neji chimed in.

"Where did you get this tea from?" Hinata noticed something was wrong and quickly asked.

"Your brother took it from the Hokage's collection," Sasuke said with a shrug and a smile.

"This... won't cause any problems, will it?" Hinata asked hurriedly.

"What problem could there be?" Neji waved his hand. "Even if he finds out, we'll only get a beating at most, but the chance to taste the snow mountain rock tea of ​​the Land of Snow is not often."

"Uh..." Hinata, the obedient girl, still felt that what the two brothers were doing wasn't quite right, so she got up and asked, "Is Sasuke-kun having dinner here?"

"Then I'll have to trouble you." Sasuke didn't stand on ceremony.

"Then I'll go cook." Hinata nodded, got up to say goodbye, and headed to the kitchen.

At this moment, night gradually fell, and moonlight shone on the courtyard of the Hyuga clan patriarch's residence.

The next instant, the moonlight seemed to be distorted and gathered by some invisible force, condensing into a blurry human figure above the white sand in the center of the courtyard. The speed at which the figure turned from illusory to real was faster than the eyes could capture. One moment it was a fleeting light and shadow, and the next moment, a figure, like a ghost falling from the moon palace, silently stepped onto the cold sand.

Her long, silvery-white hair flowed with moonlight, and her pure white pupils held only a detached indifference, like looking down on ants, and a hint of greedy ambition.

The newcomer was dressed in a spotless white robe, his gaze like two icy blades that pierced through the shadows of the corridor and landed precisely on Hinata.

She was carrying the food that had been delivered, her face as pale as paper, her pure white eyes filled with terror.

"Pure Byakugan... Come with me back to the Sacred Realm of the Moon." The newcomer's voice was calm and even, yet it carried a will that could freeze the soul.

"You dare to act wildly in the Hyuga clan? You've got some nerve!"

A sharp shout, like a thunderclap, rang out! Hyuga Neji's figure burst out from the shadows of the corridor, his black Bagua staff tearing through the air with a piercing wail.

He didn't rush towards Toneri's main body, but instead lunged at the ground beside Hinata—there, several paving stones strangely rose and deformed on their own, instantly transforming into three rough yet incredibly swift rock golems. Their joints shimmered with a ghostly blue chakra light, and their giant rock claws, carrying a heavy wind pressure, fiercely grabbed at Hinata!

boom! boom! boom!
Neji moved with ghostly speed, his Eight Trigrams Staff transforming into a barrier of dark light that impenetrable to water. The staff's shadow struck the rock golem's wrists, elbows, and knees with unparalleled precision, each impact producing a heavy thud and sparks flying at the point of contact.

Gentle Fist's chakra penetrated through the hard rock, attempting to destroy the chakra node that maintained the puppet's movements.

Neji's staff formed a protective barrier around Hinata, firmly blocking the stone claws outside the circle. His movements were fierce and swift, yet possessed the precise penetrating power unique to Gentle Fist, each strike attempting to disrupt the energy flow within the puppets. Rock fragments fell in a rustling sound, and the movements of the three puppets visibly slowed, their joints emitting a strained grinding sound.

Almost at the same time Neji intercepted the puppet, another figure entered the battlefield at an even faster speed. Sasuke's figure was like a purple lightning bolt tearing through the night sky, leaping over the corridor railings and pouncing into the air towards Toneri, who was hovering in the center of the courtyard! His right hand was already enveloped in blindingly bright blue lightning, and the sharp, piercing cry of a thousand birds tore through the silence of the moonlit night, condensing into an indestructible lightning spear—the Thousand Birds Sharp Spear!
(End of this chapter)