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It was already afternoon when they left Sarutobi's residence.
Tsunade and Orochimaru walked side by side on the streets of Konoha.
The late autumn sun was no longer scorching. It felt warm and pleasant on their bodies.
"Sensei... he's really old."
Recalling her teacher's home earlier, Tsunade couldn't help but sigh. Her tone carried an indescribable melancholy.
The man who was once so spirited and could suppress the three of them now looked like an ordinary old man.
All his sharpness had been worn away by time.
"Hmph, he just recognized reality, that's all."
Orochimaru scoffed dismissively.
"Orochimaru!" Tsunade stopped, looking at him with displeasure. "Show some respect. He is our teacher after all!"
"Yes, yes, our teacher."
Orochimaru replied perfunctorily, lost in thought.
His gaze, however, was curiously surveying his surroundings.
Tsunade also fell silent, beginning to observe the village she had been away from for nearly a year.
The streets were much cleaner than she remembered.
The shops on both sides were almost all open, and business seemed to be good.
She even saw many civilians in the butcher shop, which was a rare sight in the past.
Several women, carrying vegetable baskets, walked along, chatting cheerfully about who had received funding from the daimyo.
Along the way, Tsunade heard such discussions constantly.
Suddenly, she paused.
Ahead, several children were chasing and playing, their small faces beaming with joy.
She didn't even know how long it had been since she had seen such a scene.
The entire village exuded a vibrant energy.
This energy was even stronger than when they defeated the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.
However, the one who created all this was not the Hokage.
Instead, it was a so-called daimyo whom she had never met.
Standing on the bustling street, Tsunade, for the first time, felt a sense of confusion about the Will of Fire, which she had believed in unwaveringly since childhood.
Protecting Konoha... what exactly was she protecting?
The Hyuga clan's territory was always so quiet.
So quiet that it felt as if time itself slowed down here.
The wind chimes under the eaves were still. The garden's landscape was undisturbed. Even the air was filled with a sense of dullness and solemnity.
This was one of Konoha's oldest noble clans.
And rules were everything here.
The long corridor was deep. Sunlight, cut into strips by the lattice, lay on the polished floor.
Hyuga Hizashi knelt under the corridor.
In front of him was a neatly folded set of travel clothes and a money box filled with brand new banknotes.
These were the uniform and the first month's salary for the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, just issued by the daimyo manor.
The money box was unopened, but he knew the amount inside was substantial.
Yet, he simply knelt silently. His back was straight, not moving an inch.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the clan head of the main family, his twin brother, Hyuga Hiashi.
As a member of the branch family, even after becoming one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, he could not leave without permission.
He had to obtain permission from the main family.
Footsteps came from deep within the corridor, neither fast nor slow.
Hyuga Hizashi did not look up. He merely lowered his head further.
Hyuga Hiashi stopped in front of him, looking down at his younger brother.
He wore a pristine white main family robe. His face was identical to Hizashi's. His expression was indifferent.
"Leaving?"
Hiashi spoke. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
"Yes, nii-sama," Hizashi replied respectfully. His voice was equally calm.
In the Hyuga clan, branch family members addressing the main family had to use respectful terms.
Even if they were biological brothers.
"Are your things packed?"
"Yes."
"Going to the capital, you will stay for ten years, representing the face of the Hyuga. You must not be negligent."
"Yes, I understand. I will not fail the clan's trust."
The conversation was brief, like a formality.
Hiashi's gaze fell on the money box.
"The daimyo manor is quite generous," he said. His tone was complex.
Once upon a time, the fate, income, and life and death of the branch family were decided by a single word from the main family.
Now, an order from the daimyo manor easily granted them wealth and status that even the main family could not bestow.
This made Hyuga Hiashi feel annoyed.
After a moment of silence, Hiashi took out a money pouch from his robe and placed it in front of Hizashi.
"Take this money."
"You'll need it on the way."
Hizashi's body stiffened slightly.
He didn't look up, saying in a low voice, "Thank you for your generosity."
The money pouch was thin, like a handout.
It was more like the main family's final, hypocritical control over the branch family.
Hiashi grunted, then squatted down, meeting Hizashi's gaze.
This face, identical to his own, had only one difference—the blue Caged Bird Seal on the forehead.
He reached out, wanting to pat his brother's shoulder.
His hand, however, stopped in mid-air, finally resting on the travel clothes, gently smoothing out a slight wrinkle.
"When you reach the capital, be careful in all things."
"The Guardian Shinobi Twelve are all elites from various clans. Competition is inevitable."
"But remember, you are a Hyuga."
Hizashi still kept his head down. "Yes, for the Hyuga."
For the Hyuga.
These four words were another seal carved into his soul.
Because of these four words, his son, Neji, would also be marked with the same disgrace when he grew older.
Because of these four words, he, despite having talent no less than his brother's, could only be a shadow, a shield for the main family.
Seeing his submissive appearance, a wave of inexplicable vexation rose in Hiashi's heart.
He stood up.
"Go say goodbye to Neji."
"Yes."
Hizashi finally looked up, but his gaze avoided his brother's face, turning instead to the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard.
"Neji... he's still young."
"In the future, I entrust him to nii-sama's care."
Hyuga Hiashi's eyes flickered.
He knew what his brother wanted to say.
"Neji is also a member of the Hyuga clan. The main family has its own arrangements," Hiashi replied.
Rules are rules.
Sometimes, even as clan head, he could not break them.
Hizashi's lips moved, but he said nothing more.
He lowered his head again, touching his forehead to the ground in a standard deep bow.
"Then, I take my leave."
With that, he slowly rose, picked up his travel clothes and money box, turned, and silently walked out of the corridor.
He did not look back.
There was no extra word of farewell.
His back was solitary, step by step, walking out of this courtyard that had oppressed him for half his life.
Watching his brother's retreating figure, Hyuga Hiashi remained silent.
He watched him walk from light into shadow, and then from shadow towards the sunlight outside the corridor.
Watching that figure about to disappear around the corner, he suddenly spoke.
"Hizashi."
Hizashi's footsteps halted.
He did not turn around.
Hyuga Hiashi looked at that stiff back. His throat tightened, and he said in a voice he himself found unfamiliar, "You are free."
The air, in that instant, solidified.
Free?
How ridiculous.
From the moment he was born, from the moment the seal was branded on his forehead, these two words had nothing to do with him.
A long silence followed.
Just as Hyuga Hiashi thought he wouldn't answer, Hizashi turned around.
On his face was an impeccable smile.
But in those pure Byakugan eyes, there was no trace of a smile, like a bottomless cold abyss.
"Nii-sama is joking."
His voice was still calm.
"My freedom, at the moment of my birth, belonged to the main family."
"Now, it, like my life, belongs to the great Daimyo-sama."
"It has never been mine."
"So how can one speak of freedom?"
With that, he bowed slightly again. His smile remained unchanged. "I must go fulfill my duties, nii-sama."
As his words fell, he turned and left, without another pause.
Hyuga Hiashi stood stiffly in place.
His brother's last look, those few words, pierced through his disguise, tearing apart his hypocrisy as an elder brother.
Freedom?
Yes.
How could a person with the Caged Bird Seal branded on his forehead ever be free?
That impulsive remark, instead, felt more like a curse.
Hyuga Hiashi suddenly felt a chill.
That supreme daimyo, with just an order, a decree, allowed Hizashi to leave the cage that had imprisoned him his entire life.
And it was a decree he himself had written.
But what about himself?
He, the head of the Hyuga, was forever trapped in the even larger and more magnificent cage of the Hyuga main family.
Who, in the end, was the true prisoner?
Ring! Ring! Ring!
A gust of wind blew, and the wind chimes under the eaves let out a crisp and lonely lament.