Naruto: The Primal Hyuga Pierces the Shinobi World.

"Tap...tap..."

In the courtyard, the startled deer rhythmically tapped the stone slabs, producing a series of crisp sounds.

After chatting for a long time with Hyuga clan elder Hyuga Shin in the front yard, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki finally entered the courtyard under Hyuga Shin's guidance.

This is a separate courtyard used by the Hyuga family to receive guests. There are skilled members of the branch family guarding the courtyard to prevent outsiders from getting close. Inside the courtyard, there are several small houses and a pavilion.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze, and the others were first led by Shin Hyuga to a small house where they drank a cup of warm water and tidied themselves up before arriving at the waiting pavilion in the courtyard.

After waiting for a while in the waiting pavilion, Hyuga Hiashi, the host, brought Shinichi to greet Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others. Under Hyuga Hiashi's guidance, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Minato, and the others went to a spring in a corner of the courtyard to wash their hands and rinse their mouths.

Then he returned to the front of the tea room and entered the tea room through a small door on the side.

Upon entering the tea room, Hiruzen Sarutobi led the Minato couple to admire the calligraphy and paintings, some exquisite handicrafts, and the kettle for boiling water that the Hyuga clan had prepared in advance, before finally kneeling down to sit.

The elaborate seating process is just a small part of the Hyuga family's traditional tea ceremony...

The strict rules of the Hyuga clan not only constrain every member of the clan, but also allow everyone who interacts with the Hyuga clan to feel the clan's strict hierarchy and rigidity.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly not a first-time visitor to the Hyuga clan. The older man seemed to appreciate the art of tea ceremony, and after taking his seat, he watched with a smile as Hiashi Hyuga lit the first charcoal for the tea ceremony.

Although Minato Namikaze is young, his personality is gentle and mild. Although he comes from a humble family and has little experience with tea ceremony culture, his personality and cultivation allow him to remain calm in the face of these strict rules.

As for Kushina, who was traveling with him, I originally thought that she would be extremely uncomfortable with this tea ceremony culture because of her fiery personality and dislike of restraint. However, to my surprise, Kushina behaved very well, and even her familiarity with this ancient tea ceremony was greater than Minato's.

After a moment's thought, Shinichi quickly understood.

Although Kushina Uzumaki was an orphan, she was different from Minato, who came from a commoner background. The Uzumaki clan was also a prestigious family, and after entering Konoha, the young Kushina received the protection and guidance of Mito Uzumaki.

Kushina's fiery personality, which she sometimes displays, is merely a protective shield.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat on the tatami mat, his gaze sweeping over Shin Hyuga and Hiashi Hyuga. Then, his eyes fell on Shinichi Hyuga, who was sitting next to Hiashi and carefully observing the Minato couple.

After a brief glance at the handsome young boy, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face also revealed a gentle smile:

"This child is your son, Hiashi, isn't he?"

"I didn't realize he'd grown so big. I remember his name was Shinichi?"

With the help of Shinichi Hyuga, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally opened up.

Hiashi, who was pouring tea for the guests, straightened his back instinctively when he heard Hiruzen Sarutobi mention his son.

"I didn't expect that you, Third Hokage, would still remember this kid's name."

"Shinichi, aren't you going to greet these guests?"

The presence of children can ease the serious atmosphere of the tea ceremony to some extent. Upon hearing this, Shinichi bowed to Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Minato couple.

"Welcome, Grandpa Hiruzen! Welcome, Brother Minato! Welcome, Sister Kushina!"

Unlike Hiashi's way of addressing the Third Hokage and others, Hyuga Shinichi's way of addressing Hiruzen and Minato was much more affectionate. Hearing his son's way of addressing those people, Hiashi raised an eyebrow, subtly observing the expressions of the three men, before feigning anger and saying:

"Shinichi, that's so rude!"

However, Minato, who had been silent until now, waved his hands repeatedly, looked at Shinichi with a gentle smile, and smoothed things over, saying, "Hiashi, there's nothing impolite about it."

"That's a nice way to address someone."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with a smile, clearly pleased with Shinichi calling him "Grandpa."

The Hyuga clan... one of the largest bloodline limit clans in Konoha. Even as the Hokage, Hiruzen often felt immense pressure when facing the Hyuga clan.

Because of the Hyuga clan's cursed seal, the Caged Bird Seal, the main branch ninjas have absolute control over the branch branch ninjas. This means that the branch branch ninjas' influence over the Hokage system is far less than that of the main branch ninjas.

Simply put, even after the Hyuga clan's ninjas entered the Konoha system and joined the Anbu, squad leaders, reconnaissance squads, and so on, they still centered around the main clan, giving it a kind of "country within a country" feel.

Furthermore, due to the Byakugan bloodline limit, the Hyuga clan's probability of producing outstanding ninjas is far greater than that of ordinary ninjas.

Even as Hokage, Hiruzen and Minato often needed to consult with the main branch of the clan when they wanted to order ninjas from such powerful clans to do things.

Now, Shinichi Hyuga's humble and friendly demeanor easily won the favor of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze, quickly closing the distance between them.

"Clan Chief Hiashi, Elder Shin, we have come to the Hyuga clan this time because we have important matters to discuss with you."

After a few casual words, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Minato a look, and the latter understood, finally getting to the point.

"Fourth Hokage, it's too polite to talk about discussing it. Whatever the village requests, the Hyuga clan will do its best to cooperate."

Hiashi's expression turned serious, and his words lacked the arrogance often associated with members of powerful clans. For Hiashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze held slightly different positions in his heart.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi was active in the ninja world, he was still a young man and didn't really have any real feelings about Hiruzen Sarutobi, the "strongest Hokage".

However, Minato Namikaze was different. They were from the same generation and were both key figures who experienced the Third Shinobi World War. Minato's strength and character were recognized by Hiashi. In fact, the Hyuga clan provided some assistance to Minato when he became Hokage.

From the perspective of strength and prestige, Minato is qualified to become Hokage; from the perspective of the Hyuga clan, the fact that someone with Minato's background and personality became Hokage would not affect the Hyuga clan's status and power in the village.

Therefore, the Hyuga clan is not concerned about making things easy for Minato.

"Thank you, Chief Rizu."

"This time, I'm afraid we really need to trouble the Hyuga clan."

"To be honest, my wife, Kushina, is pregnant."

"As you all know, she is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. During the birthing process, the seal within a Jinchuriki's body weakens, and at that time, Kushina's control over the Nine-Tails also weakens."

"For the Jinchuriki and for Konoha, the weakening of the Nine-Tails seal means a huge risk. If the enemy finds out about this and attacks Konoha during Kushina's delivery, it could bring about Konoha's annihilation."

"To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, the Third Hokage and I have secretly decided on the production location for Kushina. It is far from the core area of ​​Konoha, so that even if something unexpected happens, the impact on Konoha can be minimized."

"At the same time, we are also preparing to form a special operations team to protect Kushina's production."

"The Hokage's direct ANBU are a given, and I also hope that the Hyuga clan ninjas with Byakugan can lend us a hand."

"It is thanks to the Hyuga clan's ninjas that we can ensure absolute success!"

The fact that Kushina was pregnant and gave birth was an absolute secret within Konoha, and very few people knew about it.

However, it wouldn't be a problem to inform the higher-ups of the Hyuga clan about such a secret.

Even though Shinichi was present, Minato didn't try to hide it. The reason was simple: Shinichi was the main branch of the Hyuga clan and was destined to become the leader of the Hyuga clan in the future.

Hiashi Hyuga and Shin Hyuga listened quietly to Minato's words. When they heard that it was just a "simple escort mission," they couldn't help but exchange a glance and breathed a sigh of relief.

This is a small thing that's easy to do and not an unreasonable request.

It's unexpected that the two Hokage would come all the way just for such a "trivial matter".

However... what the Hyuga clan considers a small matter is a major event that could bring destruction to Konoha in the eyes of the Third and Fourth Hokage. It concerns the Jinchuriki, and there can be no relaxation whatsoever.

The Hyuga clan focuses on its own internal affairs, so their understanding naturally differs from that of the Hokage.

Hyuga Shinichi, who was standing nearby, also had a glint of light flash in his eyes when he heard Minato's words.

The Hyuga clan was even involved in the escort mission that Kushina was producing!

In this way, the information that Shinichi Hyuga possessed not only had a use, but also had a legitimate reason to be exposed.

Ha! Obito Uchiha's mask, could it possibly block the Byakugan bloodline limit?!

Let's open the box for him on the spot!

..................