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"I've already said it— we're all one family. Why do we have to kill each other?"
"Think carefully about what I told you before. Accepting the Caged Bird curse and becoming the head of the branch family… that's still a path you can choose."
"And then you can continue living with your relatives, friends, lovers, and brothers… just like before, right?"
"I guarantee, in the name of the Great Elder, that as long as you don't rebel, the clan will never activate the Caged Bird again."
"Well? What do you say?"
The Great Elder and the other clan elders looked at Hizashi, Neji, and the rest of the branch family with mocking smiles—expressions more hateful than devils.
Hiashi's hands were clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms, bright blood dripping between his fingers.
Pfft!
Behind him, Hinata Iwamoto——collapsed to his knees in the crowd with a sharp bang! His forehead struck the ground, his cries raw with despair and fury.
"Great Elder! Please… please let my wife and parents go!"
"I—I'm willing to accept the Caged Bird curse again!"
His voice, loud at first, soon became thin and trembling.
Hearing it, the Great Elder and the main family ninja exchanged satisfied glances.
"Not bad. Very good. You were one of the most troublesome branch members. I didn't expect you to be the first to crawl back today."
"A stray dog who finally remembers its home is still a teachable dog."
The Great Elder's venomous mockery burned through Neji, Hizashi, and the other branch ninjas' hearts.
So vicious.
So absolutely vicious.
Yanmen——stumbled through the crowd. In front of everyone, he knelt before the Great Elder again, lifeless eyes lowered, pride crushed beneath his forehead.
The Great Elder placed his palm on Yanmen's forehead, and a sickly green chakra flared.
"AAAHHHHHHH!!!"
The agony of having the Caged Bird carved into his flesh made him howl. Childhood nightmares surged back—years of torment pressing in, as if the month of freedom he'd experienced had all been a dream.
Minutes passed. The cursed seal's pattern was nearly complete.
But then—Neji's voice echoed in his mind.
This mission is extremely dangerous. You might die. Your family might die.
But if it succeeds… the Caged Bird will disappear from the Hyuga forever.
Something ignited in Yanmen's chest.
A flame.
Freedom.
A refusal to die on his knees.
"The desire for freedom… will never stop!!!"
He bit through his own tongue. Pain exploded through him, awakening every dying nerve. Blue chakra roared into his palm—he thrust it straight into the Great Elder's chest!
BOOM!!
The Great Elder was caught completely off-guard. He twisted at the last second, avoiding a fatal strike, but Yanmen still shattered two of his sternum plates. Only his chakra armor kept his lungs intact.
"Kill them!!!"
"Kill all these traitors!"
"Or I'll activate the Caged Bird and watch you all die!"
At the Great Elder's order, the loyalist branch ninjas hidden nearby rushed forward. Tears streaked their faces. Many were already sobbing—but to survive, they had no choice.
Despair swallowed the Hyuga compound.
Then—
Time itself seemed to stop.
The chakra in the air thickened until it felt like liquid, crushing every body under its weight. Stronger shinobi fell to their knees; most simply collapsed.
Only Hiashi and a few main family elders managed to remain half-upright—but even they bowed under the pressure.
They all lifted their heads toward the sky.
And saw him.
A man in a dark blue combat uniform, the red-and-white Uchiha fan emblazoned on his back, stepped through the sky as if gravity were beneath him. Long black hair whipped in the wind. Light-purple eyes, marked by three rings and a unique pattern, glowed with raw killing intent.
Uchiha Hikaru.
Hiashi gasped.
The elders went pale.
Even the Great Elder trembled.
"This… this is the Hyuga clan's internal matter!! Even as the Hokage's advisor—you have no right to interfere!!"
Hikaru descended in silence, landing before the Great Elder. His eyes were cold, disdain dripping from every breath.
"Trash.
Who allowed you to speak to me while standing?"
His voice hit like a sledgehammer.
"Kneel."
The suffocating chakra—thicker than any Hyuga had ever felt—shifted instantly, flowing away from the branch members and concentrating on the main family like an obedient serpent.
Elders collapsed face-first, their bodies pressed deep into the earth. Bones cracked.
Only the Great Elder struggled to stay upright, spine buckling, teeth grinding, pride refusing to die.
"You… you dare disrupt the Hyuga clan today… the other clans will—"
Hikaru crushed the sentence—and his dignity—with a single step, grinding the elder's head into the ground.
"You think I care about your Hyuga politics?"
His voice was ice.
"But you crossed a line."
"You touched my people."
"You dared to lay a hand on my disciples."
A flash of violet lit his eyes.
He kicked the Great Elder's body into the air—
and raised his right hand toward the drifting soul.
"Human Path: Soul Absorption."
The Great Elder's transparent soul appeared, screaming silently as Hikaru's fingers gripped its skull-like form.
Then—
crunch.
It dispersed into the wind.
Hikaru turned toward the other six elders—each already choking on fear.
"You all deserve to die."
Six kunai left his hand in a single silent motion.
Six throats slit open.
Six bodies fell, gasping, clawing at the air, drowning in their own blood as they died with horror frozen in their eyes.
Hikaru didn't spare them another glance.
"Sword," he murmured calmly, calling out his Mangekyō ability by its correct name, "help those two."
A black mist poured from his wrist, forming a shadowy figure—Sword, the Mangekyō manifestation.
Sword approached Hinata and Hanabi, still unconscious. She cut their bonds, placing a hand on each forehead.
A simple curse was nothing to her.
She devoured it whole.
A minute later, she dissolved into mist and returned to Hikaru's wrist.
Hiashi rushed forward, lifting Yanmen in his arms and carrying him to Hikaru.
"Hikaru—he—"
Before Hiashi finished, Hikaru placed a hand over Yanmen's mouth. Soft green chakra radiated from his palm.
After a moment, he exhaled in relief.
"He's fine. He didn't bite off too much of his tongue, and the bleeding didn't block his airway."
A tiny smirk lifted Hikaru's lips.
"He might talk funny for a while, though
(￣▽￣*)ゞ."
...
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