The So-Called Fate

The winding path stretched ahead. The quiet street lay serene beneath the moonlight. The air carried the fresh scent of grass. May's breeze embraced the earth.

Standing beneath the moonlight, Uchiha Chen gradually let the smile fade from his face. "Go on. What did you want with me, Hyuga Himeji?"

Hyuga Himeji lowered her eyes slightly. "Do you know about the Hyuga main family and branch family?"

So it really was about this.

As descendants of the Otsutsuki Clan, the Hyuga Clan naturally possessed ancient traditions of their own. Yet as time passed, such traditions became complicated conflicts. If those conflicts remained unresolved, they would eventually erupt.

The Hyuga Clan's current conflict was centered on the main family and branch family.

Uchiha Chen's understanding of the Hyuga Clan was limited to what he had seen in the manga.

"I'm listening." Uchiha Chen turned serious.

Hyuga Himeji began slowly, "The Hyuga Clan is an ancient clan, and the Byakugan is famous as one of the three great dojutsu. But the Byakugan is different from the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan."

"During the Warring States Period, many ninja tried to transplant Sharingan. All of them failed. Those without Uchiha blood found it difficult to unleash the Sharingan's true power, and they suffered severe rejection as well. It placed an immense burden on their bodies."

"But the Byakugan is different. As long as the Byakugan is intact, it can be transplanted and used. It also does not cause the severe rejection that the Sharingan does."

Uchiha Chen recalled that the Hidden Mist Village did indeed have such a ninja later on.

Hyuga Himeji continued, "So, during that war-torn era of the Warring States Period, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan drew the covetous eyes of many surrounding ninja clans. The ninja coveted that power."

"Later, the Hyuga Clan Head formed a marriage alliance with the Uzumaki Clan and took an Uzumaki princess as his wife."

"To solve the problem of the Byakugan, the Uzumaki princess developed a curse mark based on Sealing Jutsu. This curse mark perfectly resolved the issue. That curse mark, capable of sealing one's bloodline, was called—the Caged Bird Seal."

"To protect the Byakugan, the clan was divided into the main family and the branch family. Every branch family member was branded with the Caged Bird Seal."

"From then on, the Hyuga main family became the true inheritors of the Hyuga Clan. They bore the responsibility of protecting and carrying on the Hyuga Clan."

"The branch family, meanwhile, became the protectors of the Hyuga main family. They lived in pain, burdened with the duty of protecting the Hyuga main family."

Uchiha Chen asked in confusion, "Then as the eldest daughter of the main family, you shouldn't have this concern, should you? You couldn't possibly be branded with the Caged Bird Seal."

Hyuga Himeji nodded. "I won't be."

"But my second brother will."

"Every system, as time goes on, develops all kinds of problems," Hyuga Himeji continued.

"Branch family members branded with the Caged Bird Seal can be controlled by the main family through the curse mark. Through the Caged Bird Seal, the main family can destroy the branch family members' brain nerves, thereby controlling them. The curse mark can only be lifted after death."

"Moreover, this curse mark can seal the Byakugan, greatly preventing it from falling into outsiders' hands."

"Such a practice naturally provoked extreme dissatisfaction among the branch family. Although the curse mark could control their lives and deaths, it could not control the resentment in their hearts."

"Then one day, rebellion finally erupted within the clan. Some dissatisfied branch family members joined forces with ninja from outside clans and launched a surprise attack on the main family."

"Although the rebellion was quickly suppressed, the Hyuga Clan was severely weakened as a result."

"So, in order to maintain the relationship between the branch family and main family and ease the conflict between them, someone in the Hyuga Clan proposed a new system."

"That was, the Main Family Head and the branch family head had to be very closely related by blood. At the very least, they had to be within three generations of each other, and they had to be close relatives who grew up together."

"So every two or three generations, a child would be selected anew from the main family. That chosen child would be branded with the Caged Bird Seal and inherit the position of branch family head."

Hyuga Himeji's voice grew colder.

"This method did indeed calm the branch family's anger to a great extent. After all, even the clan head's close relative would be branded with the Caged Bird Seal and become a branch family member. What else could the branch family complain about?"

"And no matter how dissatisfied the branch family might be, the branch family head, as a close relative of the Main Family Head, would have considerations of their own. They would sincerely consider the main family's interests. At the very least, they would not rebel again."

By this point, Uchiha Chen understood. As expected of a great clan with a thousand-year legacy.

Hyuga Himeji clenched her fists, and her voice rang out again. "And now, in our generation, it is time once more to choose a child to inherit the position of branch family head."

"The next head of the Hyuga main family has already been decided—my eldest brother. And my second brother, his twin, was chosen by the Council of Elders to become the branch family head."

"I see." Uchiha Chen finally understood. He had never understood why Hizashi Hyuga, the younger brother, would become the branch family head. If only one person in each generation of the Hyuga Clan belonged to the main family while everyone else was branded with the curse mark, then there would be far too few members of the main family.

Now, he finally understood.

It had to be said that whoever devised this method had an utterly terrifying grasp of human nature. As the younger brother, even if Hizashi was dissatisfied with Hiashi, he would endure it.

Hiashi was his biological older brother, after all.

That bond of blood was impossible to sever.

But if the branch family head were someone separated from Hiashi by several generations, that person would never consider Hiashi in everything they did.

Hyuga Himeji became somewhat agitated.

"Why? Why do members of the same Hyuga Clan have to bear something like this?"

"Ninja are ninja because they are often forced to make cruel choices. Is this the choice that branch family members are supposed to make?"

Hyuga Himeji's Byakugan had unconsciously activated.

"Clan, clan—these people only care about the clan. But they never consider the feelings of the branch family. Don't branch family members also bear the Hyuga name? I feel sorrow for such a clan. Is this the fate of a ninja?"

Hyuga Himeji looked at Uchiha Chen. "My second brother will soon be branded with the Caged Bird Seal. What should I do to change all of this?"

"You told me to grow stronger. Then if it were you, Uchiha Chen—if it were you, what would you do?!"

Faced with Hyuga Himeji's question, Uchiha Chen fell silent.

Rather than how to do something, it was more like a Ninja Way, or the meaning of life itself.

In the world before Uchiha Chen's rebirth, bringing up something like that would only have made people mock you mercilessly.

But in the world of the Hokage, even those who were unaccustomed to seriousness—even people as thick-skinned as Jiraiya or Naruto—would genuinely think about such things.

After all, this was a real and cruel world.

"Himeji, you're too obsessed with something as insignificant as a clan. That's why you've overlooked what truly matters—power. Right now, you lack power, so you're bound by rules, premonitions, and imagination."

"Weakness is the original sin. If you want to change the Hyuga Clan's future, then you must break free now and strengthen yourself."

"Years from now, your eldest brother will definitely become the head of the Main Family. And your second brother will take the position of Branch Family head, only to die in some mission or war while protecting your eldest brother."

"If he's lucky, perhaps your second brother will survive. But his child will still be branded with the Curse Mark, then die on some mission for someone from the Main Family. Isn't so-called fate simply walking along a predetermined track?"

"If you want to change that fate, then all you need to do now is become stronger. Stronger. Then, if you can become Hokage, or gain absolute power, the Hyuga Clan will change because of you. Won't it?"

"Hokage?"