I will traverse countless worlds and become a god entirely on my own!

"But now you want me to return the land to you? The Hyuga clan will not just give it back to you like that!"

Hiashi Hyuga stared intently at Byakuya, his mind already leaning towards cooperating with him.

This is because it doesn't cause much loss to the Hyuga clan.

In the early stages, all we need to do is give the Uchiha clan lands that are not of much use to them in the first place.

Later on, they don't need to take sides or do anything. If Byakuya wins, they will share the spoils of victory. If Byakuya loses, the Hyuga clan will also be fine. On the contrary, the decline of the Uchiha clan will make them the number one clan in Konoha.

So no matter how you look at it, you're not at a disadvantage.

Watching Byakuya disgust Hiruzen Sarutobi, he felt a secret sense of satisfaction.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi had annoyed him quite a bit back then.

But there is still a problem ahead, and that is the face of the Hyuga clan!

“We’ll just pay for it. If I take it back for free, you’ll lose face. But if we pay for it, it’s just a transaction.”

Bai Ye had already thought it through before he came; if they paid for it, then the meaning would be completely different.

"can!"

Hiashi Hyuga pondered for a moment, then agreed: "However, I have one condition: you can't tell anyone right now. You must deal with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio before you can reveal this!"

"it is good!"

After thinking it over for a while, Byakuya agreed to Hiashi Hyuga's request.

Do you still care about saving face?

"Then let's draft an agreement. As for the follow-up, I will use a portion of the current clan land to compensate you, and I will make up the difference if it's not enough!"

Having dealt with the most difficult Hyuga clan, Byakuya was in a great mood.

The Uchiha clan has no shortage of money; anything that can be solved with money is no problem. Before coming here, Byakuya was prepared to fight.

After the two parties signed the agreement, Hyuga Hiashi prepared to leave with Byakuya. After what had just happened, he dared not let Byakuya leave alone.

A figure suddenly appeared around a corner, bumping into Bai Ye the next second: "Sorry."

"Hinata, why are you being so reckless?"

Hiashi Hyuga frowned and looked at the person who had bumped into Byakuya, his expression somewhat displeased.

At this moment, Hinata was no longer favored in his heart. She was a timid and submissive daughter whose talent was not as good as his younger daughter's, and he was beginning to consider giving up on her.

Looking at her serious-faced father and the stranger she had just bumped into, Hinata felt anxious. Her little face was filled with urgency as she tried to explain, and tears welled up in her eyes as if they might burst out at any moment.

In her panic, the more anxious she became, the less she could speak. Hiashi Hyuga, who was standing to the side, glanced at her and his dissatisfaction was palpable.

"Is this Hinata, the daughter of the Hiashi clan chief? She's quite pretty and looks pretty good. I wasn't paying attention just now, so don't blame her."

A gentle smile flashed across Bai Ye's face. He reached out and patted Hinata on the back of the head, then took out a piece of candy from behind his back and placed it in her palm, saying, "Don't cry, okay? If a child cries too much, their nose will get bigger."

"It made you laugh."

Hiashi Hyuga glanced at Hinata, then at Byakuya, and then said calmly.

"It's alright, I think she's quite cute, and the little girl is nice too. Speaking of which, the Hyuga clan's family traditions are really strict. I'll be going now, Clan Chief Hiashi."

"Then I won't see you off."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded, gazing at Byakuya's retreating figure, seemingly lost in thought.

Hinata, who had been timidly lowering her head, also looked up at Byakuya's departing figure, and unconsciously tightened her grip on the candy in her hand.

"Let's go back."

"It is Father."

Hinata followed Hiashi Hyuga's footsteps, carefully putting the candy into her pocket. Hiashi caught a glimpse of this, which made him even more disappointed.

My daughter has grown up, so why is she still the same as before?

"What a hassle! This is such a hassle!"

"Hey Lu Jiu, if Bai Ye comes looking for us later, should we give this back to him?"

The heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho family—Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Yamanaka Inoichi—are discussing their next steps at the Nara residence.

Although they are die-hard fans of Naruto, given the current situation, it seems that if they were to clash with the Uchiha clan, it would be the ones who suffer the losses!

"That's why I said it was troublesome. If we give it to them, it will be difficult to explain to the other side; if we don't, it will also be difficult to explain to the Uchiha!"

Nara Shikaku felt that he shouldn't have taken over this area in the first place.

Their family didn't need this part, but it was because Hiruzen Sarutobi split up the Uchiha clan.

The Uchiha clan originally occupied a large area in the center of Konoha.

Therefore, after the division, Hiruzen Sarutobi also connected the edge of this area with some ninja clans and tried to win them over, including the Hyuga and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

Originally, Shikaku had thought that if the Uchiha clan asked him for it back then, he would have given it to them directly, since the Nara clan was quite satisfied with their original territory.

But so many years have passed, and he thought the matter was finally settled.

As a result, after a new clan leader was appointed, this matter was brought up again.

"We can't give it to them, after all, it would be difficult to explain to the Hokage later, given the current tense relationship between the village and the Uchiha clan!"

Yamanaka Inoichi frowned as he looked at Nara Shikaku, and then voiced his concerns.

In his view, if he chose to give it at this point, it would seem like he wouldn't be able to explain it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"What about the Uchiha clan? If he could do something like this, he must have made preparations. Looking at what Byakuya has done since taking power, although he hasn't done much, every single thing he's done has a purpose. He will definitely take it back!"

"So, our stance is actually what the Hokage wants to test. If we don't give it to him, then we have to stand firmly on the Hokage's side, but the price is that we may have to join forces to deal with the Uchiha clan later."

If we give it to them, then this matter won't have much to do with us. Ultimately, this is a problem between the Uchiha clan and their higher-ups, not a personal grudge against us. We have many business dealings with the Uchiha clan, so why would it be troublesome?

It's rare for Shikaku to say so much at once, because this matter is really troublesome!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 19, what's up? You want to go head-to-head with someone? (Please read on, 4K long chapter)

"We have always been deeply tied to the Hokage lineage, so we definitely cannot return it."

Choza Akimichi scratched the back of his head. After listening to Shikaku Nara's words, he also stated his position.

Since joining Konoha, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio have been bound to the Hokage lineage.

"But we also have business dealings with the Uchiha clan. Does that mean we have to cut ties from now on?"

Yamanaka Inoichi suddenly felt a little troubled. Konoha was a community of shared interests, and after so many years, everyone had some kind of business dealings with each other.

Especially for large clans like the Uchiha, the Akimichi clan's barbecue restaurants and soldier rations, the Nara clan's medicinal herbs, etc., are mostly sold to large ninja clans, and the Uchiha clan is the biggest buyer.

In the past, it was always Konoha and the Uchiha clan that went head-to-head.

These families don't need to get involved at all, so their businesses are naturally unaffected.

But things are different now, and I don't know how Bai Ye came up with this method.

The pressure now extends directly to the ninja clans themselves, meaning that hiding behind the village no longer eliminates the need to worry about relations with the Uchiha clan.

"What can we do? Shiku, what do you suggest?"

Choza Akimichi thought about it and agreed; it didn't seem like a good idea to sever ties with the Uchiha clan directly.

My thought just now was a bit extreme.

So he decided to see if Nara Shikaku had any other way to influence everything without affecting the current situation.

"There's no solution. At the very least, I need to know what the other party's attitude is, so we need to meet with him."

A glint of light flashed in Nara Shikaku's eyes. After he finished speaking, someone outside reported that Byakuya had arrived and asked if they should invite him in.

The three exchanged glances and then said, "Let's go to the reception room, let's all go over there!"

After Bai Ye was seated in the reception room, Nara Shikaku and his two companions quickly arrived there.

Looking at Byakuya, who was sitting quietly waiting for the three of them, Nara Shikaku raised his eyes and a hint of emotion flashed in his eyes. He was really young but had a lot of courage!

Back when Fugaku Uchiha was in power, Shikaku Nara foresaw that if the Uchiha clan continued down this path, their space for survival in the village would only shrink.

After Bai Ye took the stage, he seemed to have found a way.

But that alone isn't enough.

Nara Shikaku looked at Byakuya and said directly, "You should have already dealt with the Hyuga clan, right?"

"what?!"

Choza Akimichi, who was standing to the side, was instantly dumbfounded.

No?

Do you know what you're saying?

Will the Hyuga clan really return the land to the Uchiha clan?

"As expected of the head of the Nara clan!"

A hint of appreciation flashed in Bai Ye's eyes. He even knew that. However, he was still very curious about how Nara Shikaku knew.

"If you fail, you won't come looking for us, because you know it's impossible for Hyuga to accept it if they won't budge."

Nara Shikaku explained why he made that guess.

In his view, if Byakuya hadn't dealt with the Hyuga clan, it would have been virtually impossible for him to come looking for them.

After all, if they can't even defeat Hyuga, then they've already failed from the start.

"Since that's the case, I won't hide it anymore. The Hyuga side has agreed, so I'm going to ask you to take back the land that originally belonged to us. Of course, you can also pay to buy it back, since this land isn't of much use to you anyway."

The real lion's share was taken by the Konoha F4.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio received similar scraps to the Hyuga trio; they were just leftovers, and asking them to give them up wouldn't feel like a huge financial loss.

"Bai Ye, you are a smart person, you should know our difficulties."

Shikaku looked at Byakuya, then let out a long sigh, unsure how to answer him.

This matter put them in a very difficult position.