Chapter 168: The Fate of the Branch Family

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: The Fate of the Branch Family

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

During that month, the village held three major rounds of negotiations with the Kumogakure delegation. In the end, all the terms were finalized, and an official signing ceremony for the peace treaty was held.

At the same time as the signing ceremony, the village also held a grand celebration of peace.

On that day, nearly every villager took to the streets, reveling in the joy that peace had brought. The streets were packed with people, and the entire village overflowed with laughter and celebration.

Yet within the Hyuga Clan compound, home to one of Konoha’s most prestigious clans, the atmosphere was gloomy and oppressive, without the slightest trace of cheer.

Led by Hyuga Hizashi, a group of Hyuga Branch Family members arrived solemnly before the Main Family’s residence.

Looking at his elder brother, Hyuga Hiashi, who stood quietly before the residence, and at the Main Family’s young heiress, Hyuga Hinata, who hid behind Hiashi with a timid expression and an evasive gaze, Hizashi said indifferently,

"Lady Hinata is three years old now. Congratulations."

Hiashi gave his younger brother a faint nod.

"Mm."

At that moment, Neji whispered to his father, Hizashi,

"Father, Lady Hinata is so cute!"

Hizashi looked at Neji with an indescribably complicated expression.

Confused, Neji asked, "Father, what’s wrong?"

Hizashi turned his head away.

"N-Nothing."

Watching this scene from the side, Hyuga Kagami gently shook his head.

Clearly, even now, Hizashi had yet to tell Neji everything about the Caged Bird Seal. It was obvious that, deep down, he desperately rejected the moment that was about to come.

Hiashi either failed to notice Hizashi’s attitude or simply didn’t care. He said calmly,

"Leave Neji with me."

Hizashi bowed.

"Yes."

As he watched the Main Family slowly leave with the young Neji, Hizashi’s expression darkened.

No matter how much he rejected it, no matter how much he resisted it, this moment had finally arrived—and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it.

Suddenly, at the corner at the far end of the street, a Hyuga clansman in a wheelchair appeared.

His face was deeply weathered, making him look as though he were in his forties, and he calmly gazed in their direction.

Hyuga Kagami asked Hizashi beside him,

"Who is he?"

Still somewhat distracted, Hizashi glanced back.

"His name is Aoki. He’s also a member of the Branch Family."

"Aoki!?"

Hyuga Kagami froze for a moment. The name was extremely unfamiliar to him; he had barely ever heard any of the clansmen mention it.

Seeing Kagami’s confusion, Hizashi explained, "It’s normal that you’ve never heard of him. He was imprisoned for a long time and was only recently released."

Kagami asked curiously, "What did he do?"

"He failed in his duty!" After a brief pause, Hizashi continued with a somber expression, "During the Third Shinobi World War, he and his younger brother, Aoba, served as personal guards to a member of the Main Family. But on the battlefield, the enemy managed to take one of that Main Family member’s Byakugan. As a result, his younger brother Aoba was executed for dereliction of duty. Aoki had lost both of his legs in the battle, so he was spared the death penalty and imprisoned instead."

Hearing Hizashi’s explanation, Kagami immediately remembered that Kirigakure had indeed managed to obtain a Byakugan on the battlefield.

However, the incident was regarded as a disgrace by the Hyuga Clan, so it was rarely ever mentioned within the clan. Kagami had also been quite young at the time, so he knew virtually nothing about these old affairs.

By the time Kagami came back to his senses, Aoki’s figure had already disappeared from the corner at the end of the street.

That afternoon, Hiashi had Hizashi and Neji, as well as Hyuga Kagami, remain at the Main Family residence.

Inside the training hall.

Hiashi was instructing Hinata in the Hyuga Clan’s Gentle Fist, while Hizashi, Neji, and Hyuga Kagami sat off to the side in a row, quietly watching.

"Your footwork is too sloppy..."

"At that speed, you’ll never hit the enemy..."

"What are you hesitating for? There can be no hesitation when you strike..."

Hiashi’s stern reprimands continuously echoed through the training hall.

Like a strict Sensei, he pointed out each and every one of Hinata’s shortcomings.

The young Hinata could only respond softly between light, breathless pants.

Neji watched Hinata diligently practicing in the training hall, a faint smile appearing on his face. From the very first time they met, he had already taken a liking to this shy and bashful little sister of his.

Hizashi glanced at Neji, whose forehead was now wrapped in bandages, and sighed softly.

"Neji, listen carefully. You were born to protect Lady Hinata—to protect the Main Family. That is the fate you must bear for the rest of your life!"

Neji failed to hear the heaviness in Hizashi’s voice. His eyes remained fixed on Hinata.

"Yes, Father!"

Neji’s straightforward answer only deepened the guilt in Hizashi’s heart, and the expression with which he looked at Hinata gradually turned cold.

In Hizashi’s eyes, Hinata, despite being the heir of the Main Family, was inferior to his son Neji in every respect.

And yet, simply because Neji had been born to an incompetent father like him, he had been branded with the Caged Bird Seal, a curse he could never escape for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, a mediocre Main Family child like Hinata could openly enjoy the authority to control the Branch Family simply by virtue of her birth.

At that moment, an overwhelming sense of resentment erupted from the depths of Hizashi’s heart.

He didn’t even realize it himself, but driven by instinct, the Byakugan in his eyes unconsciously activated.

"Killing intent!"

Almost simultaneously, both Hiashi and Hyuga Kagami sensed the chilling killing intent emanating from Hizashi!

Hiashi immediately identified its source and barked at Hizashi,

"Seal!"

In an instant, Hizashi’s activated Byakugan was forcibly sealed, while the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead began glowing with an eerie blue-green light.

"Argh..."

As waves of blue-green light pulsed from the Caged Bird Seal, Hizashi clutched his head with both hands and collapsed to the floor, writhing and screaming in agony.

The panicked Neji immediately threw himself toward his father.

"Father, what’s wrong!?"

Although he had no idea what had happened, that didn’t stop Neji from realizing just how much pain his father was suffering. Two streams of tears immediately ran down his cheeks.

Hyuga Kagami, standing off to the side, did nothing. Instead, he calmly observed the scene before him.

"It can be activated instantly without any complicated hand seals?"

This was Kagami’s first time witnessing the Caged Bird Seal being activated.

In practically an instant, Hiashi had used the Caged Bird Seal to effortlessly suppress Hizashi’s activated Byakugan.

In other words, even if a member of the Branch Family possessed strength equal to that of a member of the Main Family, they would still have absolutely no ability to resist them.

"To make a shinobi like Hizashi scream in agony like this... As expected, the Caged Bird Seal acts directly on the nerves of the brain!"

For an elite Jonin like Hizashi, ordinary physical pain was nothing worth mentioning. Only something like the Caged Bird Seal, which directly affected the nerves of the brain, could reduce him to such agonized screams and completely rob him of his ability to fight.

Hiashi stopped the Caged Bird Seal and said indifferently,

"Go home. Today is the only time I’ll forgive a fool like you. You of the Branch Family must never forget your fate!"

With that, Hiashi led the frightened Hinata out of the training hall...