Neji blurted out his innermost thoughts in excitement, without even half a second of hesitation.
To Neji now, freedom was—right here, right now!
His heart, which had long grown numb, surged to life in his chest once more. It suddenly accelerated, contracting and expanding without pause, until he could hear that scorching heartbeat himself.
Hiashi first calmed Neji down.
He had spent the entire afternoon experimenting and practicing on Konoha's death-row prisoners. Even though he had reluctantly placed seals on more than a hundred children from the branch family.
Although his control over Chakra had reached an extraordinary level, he still could not help feeling afraid—terrified.
What if... what if he failed? What would happen to Neji?
That afternoon, he had placed the Caged Bird mark on five death-row prisoners, then removed it using the Pure Eye Seal.
Because of mistakes in his operation, the first two had suffered consequences. One lost his sense of taste and occasionally lost control of his body. The other's visual nerves had been damaged; his left eye had gone completely blind, while a murky black haze appeared in the vision of his right eye...
He could not imagine what Neji would become if he failed while performing the Pure Eye Seal on him...
"Neji, this technique carries risks. The nerves in the brain and eyes are extremely vulnerable to injury."
"If I make a mistake, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"Don't let a moment of emotional excitement cloud your judgment. Think it over carefully."
"If you're worried about the risks, I can practice for a while longer..."
The tension in his voice made Hiashi speak somewhat hurriedly, and his body began to tremble faintly.
Though he had repeatedly assured himself before setting out tonight that he would surely succeed, when the moment truly arrived,