Naruto: The Teaching System - 226

Chapter 226: Is Hizashi a Hero of Konoha?

"I didn't expect the Old Man would make such a decision," Jiraiya said, sitting on the sofa in the Hokage Office and looking at the materials just sent back.

In the letter, Hiruzen instructed Jiraiya to arrange a welcoming ceremony and notify the Hyuga Clan to prepare to receive the body. The letter mentioned that the Fourth Raikage had already returned Hizashi Hyuga's corpse first.

When Hizashi sacrificed himself to die in his brother's place, the Kumogakure people could only bring back his corpse, which made the Fourth Raikage very angry. He had originally set his sights on the Byakugan—what good was bringing back a branch family member's corpse?

At that time, he almost went to war directly with Konoha, but ultimately Shikaku persuaded him to give up. However, Hizashi's corpse was still taken by Kumogakure's research department for study, and now everything was clear.

It's just that the Caged Bird Curse Mark was too abnormal, resulting in no gains from the Byakugan.

"That Hyuga situation, ah," Jiraiya said, looking at the mention of Hizashi's corpse in the letter, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

He really looked down on the main family of the Hyuga Clan. After all, a family where everyone had the Byakugan would actually impose such restrictions on their own blood.

Although it was somewhat ridiculous, the Hyuga Clan had already had this tradition before joining Konoha. Even Hiruzen couldn't speak up about it, so he certainly couldn't make any moves.

"Forget it," Jiraiya shook his head and said while sitting on the sofa, "Go to the Hyuga compound and notify Hiashi to come here."

An ANBU figure directly appeared, kneeling on one knee and responding, "Yes!"

"Wait," Jiraiya seemed to remember something. It appeared that among Sawada's disciples, there was a Neji, who was Hizashi's son.

"Also, go to Sawada's training ground and have Neji come here."

"Yes!" After the ANBU responded again, he directly disappeared.

"Heh, Sawada really did something big!" Jiraiya leaned back on the sofa, looking at the ceiling and muttering to himself.

Directly defeating the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, making Kumogakure no longer as arrogant as before. Willing to humbly ally with Konoha—such a thing was enough to be called a hero of Konoha.

You must know that he, Orochimaru, and Tsunade back in the day couldn't accomplish such a thing. Moreover, the Old Man's intention in the letter was for him to begin spreading information about Sawada's actions throughout the entire village.

"Hokage, huh? That kid's in trouble," Jiraiya thought, and couldn't help but chuckle.

So he began thinking about how to quickly establish reputation. "Shikaku, come back soon!"

Shikaku, who had just finished discussing matters with Hiruzen, couldn't help but sneeze and rubbed his nose.

"Shikaku-senpai, please stay warm," Sawada said from the side. Although it wasn't too cold at the moment, there was already a hint of autumn in the air.

"I apologize," Shikaku replied somewhat awkwardly, then said, "Sandaime-sama, do you think we should bring back Hizashi's corpse first, or...?"

Hearing Shikaku's words, Hiruzen pondered for a moment, then asked Sawada beside him, "Sawada, what do you think?"

Sawada helplessly rubbed his temples. He really didn't want to handle such matters, but this concerned his disciple's father.

After thinking for a long time, he shook his head, "Master, I think we should stay with the convoy. After all, Hizashi also sacrificed himself for the village—"

Speaking of this, Sawada couldn't help but stop. After all, what Hizashi did was more for Hiashi and partly for the village, with the foundation of all this being his son Neji.

Hizashi did this mainly to ensure that his brother Hiashi and the village would understand Neji's spirit of sacrifice.

So, if we were to discuss whether Hizashi was a hero of Konoha... The definition of "hero" usually referred to ninja like Minato who sacrificed themselves for the village, as well as countless ninja in the Second and Third Ninja Wars.

However, Hizashi's actions were, in essence, more of a tragedy under institutional oppression, despite being his voluntary choice.

Hiruzen also nodded—this was exactly what he was considering. Hizashi's death couldn't really be called heroic, but Konoha had indeed avoided war with Kumogakure because of his voluntary sacrifice.

After a long while, Hiruzen said softly, "No, let Hizashi return to the village as a hero of Konoha, then bury him beside the memorial stone."

"Yes!" Shikaku nodded. Since Sandaime had decided, he wouldn't say more.

With Shikaku's departure, only Sandaime and Sawada remained in the carriage.

"Master, you really don't need to do this," Sawada said. After all, Hiruzen making such a choice was likely also because Neji was his disciple.

"Haha, I still have some authority. After all, he's your disciple's father. Isn't it good to let him have more recognition?" Hiruzen said with a smile. According to his reasoning, Neji was also his grand-disciple.

If he didn't fight for his own grand-disciple, who would he fight for?

Sawada solemnly thanked Hiruzen. Regardless, a large part of the reason was because of him.

Hiruzen patted Sawada's shoulder—everything didn't need too many words.

Outside the Hokage Building, Hiashi and Neji met in front of the building.

Hiashi saw Neji before him and was surprised, asking, "Neji, is that you?"

Neji bowed to Hiashi, then said calmly, "Jiraiya-sama sent someone to call me."

Hearing this, Hiashi's brow furrowed as he guessed the reason. But he said, "Then come with me. I also need to make a trip."

Neji nodded, then followed Hiashi's steps toward the Hokage Office.

"What!" Hiashi looked at Jiraiya in shock, his face full of disbelief.

Jiraiya sat on the sofa and nodded, "The Old Man just sent word. The day they return to the village—"

Jiraiya paused here, looking at Neji beside him, and said slowly, "Hizashi will be buried on the memorial stone as a hero of the village. So, I hope when you return, you can manage the people of the Hyuga Clan properly."

After the shock, Hiashi bowed deeply to Jiraiya, "Thank you, Sandaime-sama and Jiraiya-sama. I will definitely manage them properly when I return."

Neji, who had been stunned, looked at the bowing Hiashi, his fists clenched tightly.

Drip—

The clear sound of tears falling was particularly distinct in the Hokage Office.

Neji looked at the wet spot beside Hiashi's feet, momentarily stunned. Was he crying for his father?

Jiraiya watched Hiashi, who was still bowing his head expressionlessly, sighing inwardly. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Go now. I hope nothing goes wrong that day."

"Don't worry, Jiraiya-sama! I guarantee this as the head of the Hyuga Clan!" Hiashi raised his head, his eyes red, and promised.