Yes, the Hokage

"It's alright." Although she was extremely weak, Feng Lan appeared incredibly calm and relaxed. "As long as Minato is here, no one can hurt me."

His words were also a reminder to the old fogies of the Hyuga clan. Yes, although Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, didn't have much power, he was the legendary Yellow Flash!

If it really came down to a fight, even if the Third Hokage were here, he could easily wipe out his bunch of worthless bastards without much effort. Besides, how could the Third Hokage possibly allow them to attack the Hokage?

The elder glared at the fool who couldn't control his murderous intent, and stepped forward: "Then, bring that traitor over here, and I'll release him from his cage."

"Go ahead." Fenglan patted Rizashi on the shoulder.

The sir looked somewhat timid as he slowly walked to the center of the courtyard: "Elder, I..."

"Snapped--!"

A vicious slap landed on his face, swelling Hyuga's cheek and drawing blood from the corner of his mouth. The elder said harshly, "Shut up, you traitor! From this day forward... Hyuga and you... are completely estranged!"

Hearing this, Hizashi's last shred of hope was shattered. Instead, he straightened up, his earlier timidity gone: "Elder... no, I'll call you Father one last time. Is there really any gratitude or obligation between the Hyuga and the branch family?"

"You dare talk back?!"

A ferocious glint flashed across the elder's face, and his large palm slammed down again, but it missed the face of the savior.

Minato stepped between the two in time, grabbed his wrist, and his usually gentle face showed a rare cold and angry expression: "Elder, please don't forget that Hizashi is no longer a member of the Hyuga branch family, but is now a direct subordinate of the Hokage's chief advisor."

"That slap just now can be considered as him repaying your kindness in giving birth to me, but if I hit you again... don't blame me for punishing you for assaulting a subordinate of the Hokage."

The elder's face, as withered as tree bark, trembled violently, clearly enraged to the extreme. He abruptly flung away Minato's hand, unfurled a scroll, and continuously formed hand seals before finally pressing his palms against Hizashi's forehead.

The seal on the caged bird began to loosen, and the curse marks seemed to come alive as they slowly crawled and faded, eventually coalescing into a small dot between Hizashi's eyebrows.

"That's enough," the elder said coldly. "The Caged Bird Seal cannot be completely removed. This last bit will leave a blind spot for the Byakugan, and once someone dies, the Byakugan will also lose its effect. This is an absolute measure to protect the secrets of the Hyuga clan, and there is no way to break it."

A hint of sarcasm appeared on his old face: "Advisor Fenglan keeps saying that what he wants is Rishiya, so he probably won't care about such a trivial matter, right?"

The elder was quite pleased with himself, because he believed that Feng Lan's elaborate schemes were all for the sake of coveting the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan. Now that the Byakugan was still with Hizashi, it would become ineffective once he died, and Feng Lan's wishful thinking would fail.

As for Hyuga Neji? He didn't know that Neji was very talented, and it was uncertain whether a brat from the branch family could even awaken the Byakugan.

"Of course I don't care." However, in Feng Lan's eyes, this was simply a fool offering himself up to help him gain favor. In front of all the branch families, he laughed and said loudly, "As long as the daily life and death of the sirens are no longer controlled by the main family and they are no longer forced to obey, and they can make their own choices and have true freedom, that's enough."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the surrounding branch families lit up immediately, and some even couldn't help but take two steps forward, opening their mouths as if to say something.

"you dare?!"

The elder instantly activated his White Eyes, veins bulging on his forehead, and he coldly shouted through gritted teeth.

The main family had long held considerable power, and with the caged bird as a powerful weapon, the branch family member weakly lowered his head and retreated.

Even though many branch families kept their heads down, their eyes shone with an unprecedented light. Some young people even clenched their fists. That light made the usually aloof main family members very uncomfortable.

Therefore, with the intention of making an example of someone, the elder directly activated the caged bird. The branch family member who had just taken two steps forward immediately fell to the ground with a scream, clutching his head and screaming incessantly.

What an idiot!

The third generation felt a sudden twitch in his eyelids. The premise of making an example of someone is that you have the ability to control the whole situation. If you don't have this ability and just vent your anger indiscriminately, you will only become someone else's handle!

Ultimately, it's because the main family of Hyuga is used to being high and mighty and has never treated the branch family as human beings, so they act recklessly.

"Snapped--!"

Sure enough, the next second, the elder's wrist was gripped tightly by Minato, whose face was cold and stern, and he looked genuinely angry.

"Fourth Hokage," the First Elder retorted, his anger rising, "this kid isn't the Hokage's subordinate. Are you going to interfere when the Hyuga clan disciplines their own member?"

"Even if he's not my subordinate, he's still a member of Konoha, someone I must protect!" Minato swung his arm forcefully, causing the usually aloof Grand Elder to stumble.

The surrounding elders roared in unison upon seeing this, but before they could react, they heard Minato coldly say, "I am quite concerned about the loyalty and moral standards of the Hyuga clan. From today onwards, all members of the Hyuga clan will be temporarily suspended from their duties pending investigation. They will be reinstated once the investigation is completed without any issues."

Upon hearing this, the elders, who were used to being arrogant and domineering, felt a chill in their hearts. Those who could rise to mid-level positions in the village were all members of the main family!

They hurriedly looked at the third generation, hoping he could say a word for them, since he was the one who helped them get those positions back then.

However, the Third Hokage closed his eyes, clearly acquiescing to the matter. Firstly, he still had Orochimaru's weakness in Fenglan's possession, and secondly, how could he save you bunch of idiots who made such a mess of things?

It seems that these old guys have been living a life of ease for too long thanks to my connections, to the point that their brains have started to deteriorate. It wouldn't hurt to use Minato's hand to give them a wake-up call today.

Seeing that their savior, the Third Hokage, remained silent, the group of old men truly panicked and stammered, "Lord Minato, is there really no way to turn this around?"

Minato turned away with a cold face, while Fenglan interjected at the opportune moment: "Unless you can remove the Caged Bird Seal on the foreheads of all the branch families."

"What?!" The old fogies jumped up as if their butts had been burned by a fireball. "Absolutely impossible!"

Having broken all the caged bird spells, without these members who are ostensibly part of the family but are actually slaves serving them, are we supposed to expect them, who are high and mighty, to do everything themselves?

More importantly, without the support of the branch family, how can the main family demonstrate its nobility?

"The Fourth Hokage gave you an opportunity, but since you didn't seize it..." Feng Lan snorted coldly, her voice weak yet carrying a hint of murderous intent, "you might as well drown in your old rules!"

After saying that, he turned around and followed Minato's footsteps, while Shisui and Itachi glanced at the group of old guys with contempt... In the Uchiha clan, there are no elders who bully their clansmen like this.

Without hesitation, Hizashi followed Fenglan's footsteps. However, just as he was about to step out the door, a trembling voice called out from behind: "Hizashi..."

Hiji stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around: "Brother... take care."

After saying that, he strode through the gate of Hyuga. At that moment, Hizashi was so excited that he trembled all over and couldn't help but open his arms to welcome his new life.

The caged bird... is finally free.

Chapter 31 Unofficial History of Konoha

After leaving the Hyuga clan's residence, the group began to discuss Hizashi's accommodation.

“I think you should just live next to Fenglan,” Minato suggested enthusiastically. “My house is to the left of Fenglan’s house, and if you live to the right of Fenglan’s house, that would be fine too…”

“Minato,” Feng Lan said helplessly, “I have to remind you, that apartment building doesn’t belong to the Hokage. You can’t just let someone move in with a word.”

"Oh, I see." Minato scratched his head awkwardly. "But I remember there were no guests to your right."

“Indeed, no one has moved in.” Feng Lan shrugged. “Actually, I bought the entire apartment building, including the one you live in. It’s just that I haven’t asked you for rent.”

"What?!" Minato exclaimed, giving the same expression as the old man on the subway with his phone. "When did you do this?"

“While you’re using the money you earn from missions and wars to help civilians… I haven’t been idle at all.” Feng Lan spread his hands. “I’ve used all the money I’ve earned to invest, buy real estate and manage finances. To put it bluntly, my family may look poor, but we’re actually much richer than you, the Fourth Hokage.”

It was clearly a very impolite remark, but not only was Minato not angry, Shisui and Itachi also covered their mouths and laughed.

"Anyway," Feng Lan returned to the main topic, "the Riza family can stay to the right of my house for now. The place may be a bit small, but after the standing new army is established, I will build a large apartment building for everyone to solve the housing problem."

"No, it's already very good." The tough side that Hizashi had shown at the Hyuga family home finally crumbled at this moment. "Being able to live freely with my family... is better than anything else."

"In that case, Itachi, you should take Mr. Hizashi over first, and help them move while you're at it." Fenglan took out a bunch of keys from his pocket and tossed them over. "Shisui and I are going to the police station."

"Why are you running around instead of going back to the hospital to rest?" Minato frowned.

"Orochimaru is still locked up there. I have to go check on his situation." Feng Lan waved his hand impatiently.

"I'll go as well."

"Are you sick in the head?" Feng Lan cursed. "Go do your job as Hokage properly! You're always complaining about having too much work and not having time to spend with Kushina. Of course you don't have time while you're wandering around. I don't see any risk for Orochimaru becoming a prisoner, especially with Shisui following him around."

Minato: "..."

"Alright," he said, slightly annoyed. "Then I'll go back to my office."

……

After sending Shui Men away, Feng Lan went straight to the garrison's office building, where the prison cells were located in the underground secret room.

People of Orochimaru's caliber are naturally imprisoned in the deepest part of the cell, where they are heavily guarded, watched by Sharingan users 24 hours a day, and have all sorts of prison shackles stuck in their bodies.

"Please rest assured, Lord Fenglan." Shisui activated his Sharingan and carefully observed the situation before opening the cell door. "His chakra has stopped recovering and there is no possibility of it flowing again. There is no possibility of a sudden surge."

Even so, he still stayed by Feng Lan's side closely, remaining vigilant and alert. He had already failed to protect Obito due to carelessness before, and he absolutely could not make the same mistake again.

"Hey, how's your life behind bars here?"

Feng Lan plopped down opposite Orochimaru, who was bound like a dumpling, his eyes even covered, and his mouth and ears were also bound, but Feng Lan had Shisui remove them first so that he could talk to him.

Given that this guy's specialty is spitting out all sorts of strange things, Feng Lan sat quite far away from Orochimaru and even hid slightly behind Shisui.

"Hehe..." Although he couldn't see it with his eyes, Orochimaru could tell from his hearing that Feng Lan was cautious. "Is the advisor so timid that he has to stay so far away from me, who is powerless to even kill a chicken?"

"Provocation won't work on me," Feng Lan said calmly. "You're a shameless snake who's good at talking, and I'm an old man who's so weak. To avoid getting involved with any strange things, it's better if we keep our distance."

It seems that Orochimaru has sorted out his thoughts during his day of imprisonment. He no longer curses or loses his composure because of Feng Lan's sarcasm. He chuckles softly and says, "Feng Lan, let's make a deal. I'll exchange my freedom for a shocking secret... a secret that's enough to bring down Sarutobi-sensei."

"Don't even think about it!" Zhi Shui shouted immediately.

"Don't rush," Feng Lan waved her hand to stop her, "Tell me first."

Logically speaking, Orochimaru also had feelings for this teacher. Although he is now a prisoner, it is unlikely that he would betray his teacher for personal gain. But... trying won't hurt, so he might as well listen first.

He had expected Orochimaru to try and negotiate first, but to his surprise, the other party went straight to the point: "You must be very familiar with Tsunade, right?"

"I wouldn't say we're very close," Feng Lan said, pursing her lips. "When Obito was being treated, it was mainly Minato who did the work, but she didn't even give Minato any face. In the end, Minato had to ask Jiraiya to come. That woman only agreed to go back to the village to treat Obito because of Jiraiya, but she left very quickly after the treatment."

"Do you know why she became like this?"

"Hmm... I'm not too sure about that." Actually, Feng Lan knew, but he didn't have much interaction with Tsunade, so he said it like that on purpose. Otherwise, wouldn't it seem suspicious to spill out all the information about her?

“Because she suffers from hemophobia.” Orochimaru chuckled sinisterly. “This is fatal for a medical ninja, and it basically means the end of her ninja career. I think she probably didn’t even do the treatment herself when she was treating Obito; she was just instructing Shizune from the sidelines.”

“That’s true.” Feng Lan frowned, seemingly having already fallen for the trap.

"The culprit that caused her to develop hemophobia was the death of Tsunade's younger brother Nawaki and her lover Dan Kato during the Second Shinobi World War. She watched as she did everything she could to treat them but to no avail, which left her with great psychological trauma."

It must be said that although Orochimaru is disgusting, he still has a certain charm as a villain. At this moment, he used his hoarse voice to tell his past stories in detail, with a touch of the sentiment of someone who had experienced them firsthand. For a moment, even Shisui was captivated by what he heard.

"The story is exciting, but what does it have to do with bringing down our beloved Third Hokage?" Feng Lan shrugged.

"Don't rush, now for the main point." Orochimaru revealed a sinister smile. "Kato Dan... I was the one who actually killed him."

"what?!"

This time, Feng Lan was truly stunned. What the hell was this Konoha unofficial history? Unofficial history can be unofficial, but it can't be real shit!

"Wait a minute." After a moment of absurdity, he immediately realized a possibility. "Could it be that you mean..."

“That’s right, it was Sarutobi-sensei who ordered me to carry out the assassination.” Orochimaru grinned. “How about that, is this information enough…”

"You're talking nonsense!" Shisui rarely lost his composure. "How could the Third Hokage possibly... how could he possibly!"

"Heh, brat, you've been brainwashed by the Will of Fire. How much darkness in Konoha do you even know?" Orochimaru scoffed disdainfully. "Feng Lan, I think you can guess the reason."

"Because he... threatens the position of Hokage?" After a moment of silence, Feng Lan frowned and spoke.

The Second Shinobi World War was about ten years after the Third Shinobi World War. At that time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was in his prime, wielding great power and harboring great ambitions. Dan and Minato were different; Dan was not the successor in his eyes, but rather... an enemy who threatened the position of Hokage!

Of course, these conclusions can only be reached by thinking in the darkest and most conspiratorial directions. Fenglan personally thinks that it is true that the third generation manipulates power, but they should not be capable of doing such a thing.

"That's right!" Orochimaru laughed maniacally. "If Dan is wrong in any way... it's that he was born too early. If he were of the same generation as Minato, he would be much safer!"

Feng Lan remained silent, pondering the possibility that this matter was true. After a long while, she slowly spoke: "This is all your side of the story."

"Do you know why the teacher turned a blind eye to many of my actions, and even risked turning against me last night to save me? Of course, it's because I have evidence!" Orochimaru stuck out his snake-like tongue and licked his lips. "At the time, I was on a mission on the other side of the front line when I received a secret letter from Sarutobi-sensei, ordering me to infiltrate Tsunade's side and assassinate Kato Dan."

"That secret letter bears Sarutobi-sensei's signature and the Hokage's seal, which is enough to serve as evidence to bring him down!"

"Where is the secret letter?" Feng Lan's gaze sharpened.

“I’m not a fool, Fenglan,” Orochimaru sneered. “This is a deal. I need to see your sincerity first. Only when I’m certain that I can safely regain my freedom will that letter be handed to you.”

[Hmm... Does this guy still have anyone he can trust in the village? Danzo definitely doesn't count. Could it be Mitarashi Anko?]

Feng Lan fell into thought, but quickly realized: [Wait, why am I worrying about this? Does the existence of this secret letter even matter?]

Upon realizing this, he suddenly understood: "I need to think about it carefully first."

As he spoke, Fenglan waved his hand, and Shisui stepped forward to put Orochimaru's torture devices back on.

That's right. Whether or not the Third Hokage ordered Kato Dan's killing is not important. It is very likely that this was a smokescreen thrown out by Orochimaru to divert his attention and take the opportunity to escape or buy time for other schemes.

The important thing is that I can use this incident to trick Tsunade into coming back, and then find a way to get a lot of benefits from her.

For example... I haven't been able to use ninjutsu for the past three months, so my chakra is just sitting idle. I might as well store it up for use in a critical moment. Tsunade's Yin Seal seems to have that effect...

"grown ups……"

Just as Feng Lan was pondering, he heard Zhi Shui calling him. He turned around and saw that Zhi Shui, who was usually calm and reliable, had a childlike look of confusion on his face.

It was only then that he realized that although the other party was the number one ninja of the Uchiha clan, he was still just a teenager.

"What's wrong? Are you struggling because of Orochimaru's words?" Fenglan saw through Shisui's mindset at a glance.

"Um……"

“That thing is most likely not real.” Feng Lan shrugged. “Leaving aside whether the Third Generation would do such a thing, given his level of caution, he wouldn’t leave behind a secret letter as leverage for others to use against him.”