Chapter 226: The Hyuga Clan's Apprenticeship Ceremony

Hinata Hiashi has been anxious for a long time.

As the first ninja to show goodwill to Aoba, Hyuga Hiashi always had a glimmer of hope in his heart, hoping that Aoba would eventually change his mind.

Because Kamikawa Aoba is not a lonely person. He has a family, disciples, and will have his own children in the future. If he wants, he can build an unprecedented ninja clan.

But it didn't.

After a long period of observation, Hyuga Hiashi finally determined one thing: Kamikawa Aoba really didn't want to establish his own ninja clan.

He really wants to usher in a new era.

The Hyuga clan's position in Konoha is very delicate.

After the Uchiha clan was destroyed, they naturally inherited the title of Konoha's number one ninja clan.

But in fact, Hyuga Hiashi knew very well in his heart how weak their so-called No. 1 ninja clan in Konoha was.

In addition to the lack of top-level combat power, the internal problems of the Hyuga clan are much more serious than those of the Uchiha clan.

Although the Uchiha clan had many internal conflicts, they were mostly caused by different attitudes towards the outside world. In other words, at least the Uchiha clan admitted that they were Uchiha clans.

But what about Hinata...

Hinata Hiashi often didn't dare to think too deeply. Behind the peaceful coexistence between the main family and the branch family, there was resentment like a volcano.

To this day, the issue of caged birds has become a dead end.

Hyuga Hiashi wanted to abolish the caged bird from a long time ago. This decision will definitely be supported by the branch family. But at the same time, he will definitely part ways with the main family.

It might even lead to the division of the family. The most important point is that he was firmly opposed to abolishing the caged bird when he was in power for three generations.

There was no other way. The Sandaime was considering this from the perspective of the village. The Byakugan had extremely high strategic value, so the Sandaime had to be wary of this weapon falling into the hands of the enemy.

In this way, wavering between the two, Hinata Hiashi still could not make up his mind.

As time goes by, this problem becomes more and more unsolvable, because the resentment is getting deeper and deeper, and has reached an irreconcilable level.

To be honest, Hinata Hiashi had had the same nightmare countless times. In the dream, the bird in the cage was released for some reason.

As soon as the bird in the cage was released, all the branch families attacked the main family without hesitation.

Although the individual combat power of the main family was better than that of the branch family, there was nothing they could do. There were too many people in the branch family. In the group fight, the entire main family was wiped out.

Every time he woke up from a nightmare, Hyuga Hiashi wanted to push forward the plan to abolish the caged bird, but he had no idea how to do it.

He is the head of the family, and abolishing the caged bird is a betrayal of his own class. Throughout human history, there are very few people who can truly transcend their own class. Hinata Hiashi is obviously not such a person.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally set his sights on Kamikawa Aoba.

It was still a dinner for only two people. It was very personal, but it also showed his importance to Aoba. Because Hiashi had learned from the side that Aoba didn't like to eat with people he didn't know well.

The only difference was that this time, the people serving tea and water were not waiters, but Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga.

"Aoba's killing of the Raikage and defeating the Kumogakure army has already shocked the ninja world. Some people are now calling you the strongest ninja of the modern era."

"The strongest? They are still lying to themselves. Whether it's Uchiha Madara or Black Zetsu's existence, the major ninja villages should have known about it by now. But they still pretend that none of this happened."

"Haha, I have to quote what you said about this phenomenon, Aoba. You can never wake up those who pretend to be asleep. And I believe that for you, these are actually nothing."

"It's still worth something. But it's definitely not big."

Hinata Hiashi gently placed the Gongfu tea in his hand in front of Aoba.

"The village is changing so fast nowadays that we old guys can hardly keep up."

"Change represents vitality. This shows that Konoha Village is full of vitality and is thriving."

"That being said, we old folks from the old days are still a little uneasy. Aoba, I am here to ask you a question as a friend. Where should we, the ninja clan, go?"

Hinata Hiashi finally asked the most confusing question in his heart. There was no way, he could clearly feel the decline of the status of the Hyuga family.

This kind of decline is not due to the rise of a certain force that suppressed them, but... their role has become smaller.

The greatest value of the Hyuga clan is the Byakugan, and the Byakugan's strongest point is reconnaissance.

But now the Konoha Research Institute has launched a variety of blades that assist perception. The effect is naturally not as good as the Byakugan, but for most ninjas, it is enough.

At least now almost all the ninjas in Konoha can reach the level of the previous regular perception class. This alone has caused the status of the Hyuga clan to plummet.

Of course they still have the Gentle Fist. But no one knows the Gentle Fist better than Hiashi. When the ninja clan was separated from the civilian ninja.

Civilian ninjas do not have ninjutsu in their hands. Gentle fist is a high-level physical skill. I don't know how many civilian ninjas envy it.

But now, after the opening of the Konoha Advanced Ninja Academy, a large number of ninjutsu have spread out, and civilian ninjas already have enough ninjutsu to practice. They no longer have the energy and time to pay attention to niche things like Gentle Fist.

What is the most obvious sign of a ninja clan's decline? When people around you no longer pay attention to you.

That's right, in Konoha now, few people pay attention to the Hyuga family. They still exist, but their presence is no longer felt.

This phenomenon frightened Hyuga Hiashi. He knew what to do, but he couldn't do it on his own.

"In my heart, the ninja clan will not be destroyed. But the ninja clan of the future will not be maintained by blood, secret techniques, and other things.

Since the Warring States Period, the entire ninja world has been led by the major ninja clans. So strictly speaking, the history of your ninja clan is actually the history of the ninja world.

But from now on, it's not the same anymore. I have no intention of completely wiping out the ninja clan. Because you are part of history. But if you can't keep up with the times, you can't blame anyone else."

Hinata Hiashi felt bitter in his heart. He naturally understood what Aoba meant. But the problem was that he didn't know how to keep up with the times. Or rather, he knew how to do it, but he couldn't do it.

After a long time, Hinata Hiashi finally made up his mind.

"Ningji, Hinata, you two come forward." Aoba glanced at the two children and understood what Hyuga Hiashi meant.

"Qingye, I hope you can accept these two children as your disciples. Don't rush to refuse, this is their gift for becoming your disciple."

Hinata Hiashi took out a scroll and placed it in front of Aoba. On it was written "The True Explanation of the Gentle Fist".