  We show a way to unifiedly understand the origins of the repulsive core of
baryon-baryon interaction and the universal repulsion of three-baryon
interaction needed to avoid dramatic softening of the equation of state of
neutron stars due to hyperon mixing. For this aim we adopt the string-junction
model which embodies the essential aspects of the confinement in the baryon
system confirmed by recent lattice QCD calculations. Key concept of this study
lies in the recognition that baryonic short-range repulsion appears as the
latent effect implying the energy necessary for full overlap of baryons, for
the confinement to persist at such situation. Numerical results are shown and
related problems are discussed.
