Thereās something quite incredible that happens with Hinata stans and their constant defense of her character, over and over, they use the same two arguments to defend her, so I shall break them down:
1- āShe was disowned and/or was too young to do anythingā: While both of these statements are true, particularly on the first part when this issue is introduced, and Iām sure many anti-fans complain about her inaction, the fact that the only thing pro-fans take for āactionā is to stand against Hiashi is very telling of their bias.
Hinata taking a stand against the slavery of her clan is just as easy as showing uneasiness with the situation (something she did not, never, at any point), or by understanding Nejiās resentment. Instead, she acknowledges Nejiās anger only to quickly brush it off: paraphrasing, it will be something like āOh, youāre annoyed because youāre a slave, you should get over it because I had it rough tooā -the fact that she canonically knows the problem it presents to enslave people, yet believes it to be something to āget over withā, itās the thing weāre often pointing out.
Itās not only with Neji, the same happens with her interaction with Ko during Painās arc; he expressively tells her he will be "never forgiven" (implying that he will get a punishment) should she get injured, still, she jumps in to āsaveā Naruto (yet she does nothing in order to do that), not caring about Koās destiny at the hands of the Main Branch.
Letās add something here, Ko would have been punished non-other than Hiashi and Hanabi Hyuga, meaning that her sister, who is five years younger -eleven/twelve years old at this Arcās time- is already aware of her position and the branch family members' (lower) place, and takes immediate action over that difference: So either her [young] age has nothing to do with her (in)action on the matter, or Hinata isn't as smart as Hanabi as to understand how her clan works.
Furthermore, to claim āthey were raised differentlyā has no hold other than in fandom mentality, for they differed at the beginning simply on training:
Hiashi trained Hanabi while Hinata trained with Kurenai, but that only seemed to happen after her graduation as gƫnin, for all we know, and for what is pointed out in Hanabi's entrance in the First Databook, Hinata was raised as the Hyuga heir until her first graduation when she proved to be not in the standards expected for someone her age. Even back then, Hanabi wasn't "officially" Hiashi's successor.
2- āShe was afraid of Hiashi, since he was/is her abuserā. While itās true that Hiashi downgraded her and psychologically mistreated her when constantly demoting her value and, in exchange, raising Hanabiās, there are few things to say about this:
a- Itās established in the Databook that she had a pleasant childhood, and while having carefree infancy doesn't exactly contradicts the idea of Hiashi being verbally abusive to her, it does clash with the idea of her being absolutely (that is, completely) scared of him rather than sad for the degradation.
b- The relationship between Hinata and Hiashi dramatically changed during the second part of the manga (after the ChĆ¼nin Exams, sheās seen smiling and bringing tea to both Hiashi and Neji), to the point where even when ādisownedā she got no Cage Bird Seal (meaning, she still was part of the main family and therefore still possessed the privileges that came with it) and how Hiashi, even when away, went out of his way to ensure her safety (such as forcing Ko to protect her). To claim that she was āstill afraidā of her father when thereās not only a single indication of her uneasiness but thereāre quite obvious displays of their good-terms relationship, itās grasping at straws to defend something that doesn't exist.
c- Itās correct to point out what she had to go through, surely having such enormous pressure on her shoulders at such young age and not being able to deliver is harsh on everyone, but pointing out her position as a victim is often done either to dismiss her implication and endorsement on her clanās slavery system and/or to downplay Nejiās own experiences with the abuse of the Main Family. Not only did he have to endure the same type (well, actually worse, since his life in itself was considered less important than anyone from the Main Family) of degradation from Hiashi, but also the threat of physical torture shall he disobey, something that Hinata canonically never was hinted to suffer from.
It could be reasonable to spare Hinata from any responsibility on the matter during the first part (I, personally, since she displayed enough knowledge about the matter and what it entailed, donāt think so), but during Shippuden -when sheās not young anymore by shinobi standards and her relationship with Hiashi is shown to be better, the arguments in her favor collapse completely.
In the real world exists a phrase often used in the feminist movement that applies perfectly here: Those who see abuse/harassment and do nothing about it might as well be endorsing it.
To simply claim āoh, well, the real villain is Hiashi because heās performing the bad deedsā without taking into account those who are in power and decide not to intervene (every single Hokage, including now Kakashi and Naruto, who changed nothing), and those who know what the system entails yet also display no discomfort/do nothing (Hinata might not have āreal powerā but she still is part of the Main Family and keeps quiet when she could easily reach to her sister and speak about her discomfort with the matter), itās simply looking at the superficial reflections of the issue -instead of taking care of the roots.
And truthfully, the fact that somehow Hiashi is the villain for enslaving his people (as Iāve said, they put the entire weight of the Hyuga clanās problems solely over his shoulders despite the existence of a political system that supports him), yet his words during the war are taken by her stans as inexorably proof of the change that apparently Hinata (alongside Neji) brought itās quiteā¦ striking, to say the least. More considering that he was a character already proven to lie/hide important truths from clan members before.
In addition, the Branch Family still possess the Cage Bird Seal, while the main branch doesnāt: which means that, first, thereās still a distinction between both families that goes beyond political positions inside Konoha and goes into a physical difference: ones are marked while others arenāt -and second, whether Hiashi still performs torture or not doesnāt deny the quite real possibility of him re-incurring in such behavior, the threat of physical violence still stands for the branch family. Taking care of the seal is also a task quite easy to do, should they truly want to take care of it, Iāll put here some ways to resolve it at the top of my mind:
1. Thereās no canon proof nor mention that the Cage Bird Seal canāt be removed. Neji states that the seal disappears when those with the mark die, yet, he might not know if it can truly be erased or not, since with that knowledge many branch members might seek freedom.
2. Even if we take Nejiās words as truthful, and we believe the Seal canāt be removed, thereās absolutely no evidence to state that the seal canāt be counteracted by another seal (a technique similar to the one Orochimaru used against Minatoās seal against Naruto).
3. The main family could easily get the seal so the Byakugan gets sealed when any member dies and the threat of someone torturing another member through it gets ānullifiedā.
Nothing of this is shown in the manga nor brought up by these individuals.
Why is Naruto claiming this, if the Hyuga changed already? It's true that he was away for a long time, but are the changes Hiashi spoke about so little or subtle that Naruto wasn't able to see them during the duration of Shippuden? Which character are we calling a liar then, Hiashi, or Naruto?
And Iāll add this here, for good measure: Hinata might as well be endorsing it (she is, in fact, canonically endorsing it), and it will be fine from the narrativeās point of view because the manga ended with these issues not only not resolved, but accepted as the ālesser of all evilsā; the problem here are her stans trying to save her from the implications of condoning such actions -when thereās no substance for their claims.
She either agrees with the Hyuga practices or she doesnāt, in this specific case, thereās no middle, no gray areas, because even ignoring the matter (despite knowing its existence), makes her an accomplice. You can still like her and very much enjoy her, that doesnāt mean sheās free from problematic characterizations, as every single character introduced by Kishimoto.
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