Soon, Naruto, Neji, and Karin first went to the Yamanaka Clan, and after finding no one there, they headed to the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
Before even entering, they could hear the crisp laughter and chatter of girls coming from inside.
Clearly, Hinata, Hanabi, and Ino were inside.
When Naruto pushed open the shop door, leading Neji and Karin—who followed closely behind him—inside, the warm and peaceful atmosphere of the flower shop seemed to hit a pause button.
Yamanaka Rino, who was arranging flowers behind the counter, was the first to see them, and a warm smile immediately appeared on her face: "Oh, Naruto is here, and Neji... and this is?"
Her gaze fell upon the red-haired girl behind Naruto, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
Almost simultaneously, the back door was pulled open, and Ino, hearing the commotion, poked her head out first: "Naruto? You've come at just the right time, we were just... huh?"
Her voice came to an abrupt halt.
Following closely behind her, Hinata and Hanabi also squeezed out.
The three girls' gazes simultaneously focused on Naruto and the strange girl beside him—the one with vibrant red hair who was clutching his sleeve with her head bowed.
Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds.
Ino was the first to react, her emerald eyes widening instantly.
Her gaze swept back and forth between Naruto and Karin; seeing Karin's clearly dependent posture toward Naruto, her gaze suddenly became sharp.
The moment Hinata saw Karin, her fair cheeks turned pale in an instant.
She instinctively covered her mouth, her pure white eyes widening slightly as her gaze moved frantically between Naruto and Karin.
Especially upon seeing Karin huddled close to Naruto, even clutching his sleeve, a sudden pang of sourness and tension gripped her heart.
She opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound, only unconsciously wringing her fingers.
Hanabi first narrowed her eyes and then curiously sized up Karin, especially her red hair, tilting her head: "Big Brother Naruto, who is this older sister? Her hair color is so unique!"
"Her name is Karin."
He stepped aside so that everyone could see Karin more clearly.
"I rescued her from those bad guys in Kusagakure yesterday."
After a pause, he specifically emphasized her key identity, his gaze sweeping over Ino and Hinata:
"She is a member of the Uzumaki Clan."
"Uzumaki Clan?"
Ino and Hinata whispered the words almost simultaneously, the expressions on their faces shifting subtly in an instant.
Most of the sharpness and hostility in Ino's eyes faded, replaced by a complex look of shock and realization.
This red-haired girl... is Naruto's clansman?
A trace of color returned to Hinata's pale cheeks.
That's fine then.
Yamanaka Rino looked at Karin with a beaming smile.
She hadn't expected any members of the Uzumaki Clan to still be alive; if Kushina's spirit in heaven knew that Naruto had found an Uzumaki Survivor, she would surely be very happy.
Neji stood a bit further away, his pure white eyes quietly watching everything.
None of this had anything to do with him, yet it was like a mirror, reflecting the turmoil currently in his heart.
His gaze finally landed on his two cousins.
Seeing Hinata's face instantly lose color because of Karin's appearance, only to soften slightly because of her "clansman" identity; seeing Hanabi's carefree and simple curiosity toward a new companion.
Neji's heart was filled with a mix of emotions.
Just late last night, in that tea room soaked in blood and conspiracy, after his uncle Hyuga Hiashi personally ended the lives of the four elders, he had handed the blood-stained dainichi gatsukiri to him.
His uncle's voice had been cold and resolute, like a tempered blade: "Neji, the last one is yours."
It was that old fellow who had tried to shift all the blame and even maliciously tried to redirect the trouble toward Naruto and his two cousins.
Holding that blade and looking at the Sixth Elder shivering and weeping at his feet, the blood flowing through Neji's body seemed to be both frozen and ignited at the same time.
Hatred, anger, the memory of his father, the resentment toward past injustices... all emotions reached their peak at that moment.
He knew that this one strike was not just for his father, or for the Branch House members who were bound by the "Caged Bird Seal" and exploited by the rules of the Main House, but also to make a complete break from his own past.
He did not hesitate.
The blade fell.
Blood splattered.
In that moment, he seemed to hear the sound of an invisible shackle that had imprisoned him for over a decade let out a crisp cracking sound.
Hiashi looked at him, and in those pure white eyes, the usual majesty and distance were gone, replaced only by a deep, almost weary sense of relief and entrustment.
He patted Neji's shoulder and said in a low voice:
"The cage of the caged bird has been opened; the bird that yearns for freedom will eventually spread its wings."
It wasn't an order or an expectation, but a statement of fact.
"You have experienced the pain brought by the Caged Bird Seal; I hope you can ensure that the Hyuga no longer has a distinction between the Main House and the Branch House."
At this moment, although Neji still wore the forehead protector symbolizing a Konoha Ninja on his forehead.
Beneath the protector, that Caged Bird Seal—which once caused him pain and humiliation, constantly reminding him of his "Branch House" fate—had already become a mere formality.
It hadn't physically disappeared, but the meaning it represented, the constraints it imposed, and the pain it brought had been completely severed and reconstructed by last night's blood and fire, and by the authority and responsibility personally handed over by his uncle.
It was still there, but it could no longer decide his fate or bind his soul.
From now on, it was merely a mark, a piece of history to be remembered and transcended, rather than a sword hanging over his head.
What made Neji's heart even harder to calm were his uncle's subsequent instructions.
Hiashi explicitly told him that he would not interfere in his two daughters' marriages.
Of course, he also encouraged Neji to pursue love freely.
Hinata and the others could freely choose their own paths and partners, unlike their ancestors who, in order to maintain the so-called "purity" of the Main House bloodline, were forced into intra-clan or even consanguineous marriages, binding them within the seemingly glorious but actually decayed cage of the Hyuga Clan.
"The future of the Hyuga does not need to be continued in such a distorted way anymore."
This meant that Hinata and Hanabi's futures were open and belonged to them.
And the future of the Hyuga Clan was entrusted to Neji's hands.
He had become the heir of the Hyuga Clan.
This realization weighed heavily on Neji's heart, far heavier than any weapon he had ever held.
This was not the "Main House" status he once resented and rebelled against, but a completely different kind of responsibility.
The responsibility to break old rules, lead reform, and protect the true future of the clansmen.
He looked at Hinata's gentle and kind profile and at Hanabi's lively and bright eyes.
They would possess the "freedom" he had once dreamed of but never dared to hope for.
While he would shoulder the heavy burden of the entire clan's innovation, walking a path covered in thorns that was destined not to be smooth.
There was relief, there was weight, there was uncertainty about the future, and there was a faint expectation for the vast sky after emerging from the cocoon.
These were the myriad of unspeakable feelings surging in Neji's heart at this moment.
He stood there in silence, like a statue quietly undergoing a metamorphosis—calm on the outside, but with a world-shaking change occurring within.