Truly Tired

"How is your Body Flicker Technique so fast?"

"Call me Flicker Yuzuru, the White Flash."

"Why does your Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm look different from everyone else's? Did you learn it wrong on your own?"

"This is Gentle Fist."

"Why does your Heavenly Turn feel a bit strange to use?"

"Pretending not to improve is also a difficult thing, Father."

Hizashi Hyuga discovered with horror—he seemed to be gradually unable to suppress Yuzuru Hyuga anymore.

Aside from dragging the fight into a war of attrition, using an adult's stamina and chakra reserves to wear him down, the battle had slowly drifted into a stalemate.

And this was built on the foundation of both father and son having an incredibly deep understanding of each other.

If a year ago, Hizashi Hyuga had fought the current Yuzuru Hyuga—who could be called a 'sudden mutation'—without any prior intelligence, he might even have capsized in a ditch, toyed with by that messy 'Hyuga Style Body Technique' of his.

When another day of special training ended.

Yuzuru Hyuga gasped for breath, lying on the ground too lazy to get up.

Hizashi Hyuga clasped his hands behind his back, turned away from Yuzuru Hyuga, looked up at the moonlight, and spoke calmly.

"My special training for you ends here. If we keep fighting, I won't be able to hold back."

Yuzuru Hyuga was about to throw out a few more taunts when he heard his father sigh softly at that moment.

"Starting tomorrow, the elders of the Hyuga Family will take over your training."

"You know what you can and can't do, right?"

Yuzuru Hyuga was silent for a moment, then nodded and sat up: "Don't worry, I know. Some things aren't ready to be exposed yet."

Hizashi Hyuga turned his head and glanced at him: "Your Caged Bird..."

The two occasionally bathed together in the bathhouse. Though Hizashi still wore a sour face and refused to give him a good look, he was happy to rub salt in his wounds—like scrubbing his back hard enough to make him wince and tear up from the pain.

A real picture of filial piety, that was.

And at the same time, he noticed the color of the Caged Bird on Yuzuru Hyuga's forehead growing fainter.

Yuzuru Hyuga lifted his black hair, which had grown a bit longer, a black headband temporarily replacing the forehead protector to cover his brow: "About ten more days."

"...Take care of yourself. Safety first."

After Hizashi Hyuga said this, he turned to leave, but Yuzuru Hyuga called him back: "Want to learn? I can teach you?"

"...Yeah, I think reporting you to Hiashi and sacrificing family for justice would be better, wouldn't it?" Hizashi Hyuga muttered under his breath.

The father and son ended their conversation with the 'black humor' they'd long grown used to. After parting ways, Hizashi Hyuga went to the bathhouse alone first, jumping into the pool ahead of time—as Yuzuru Hyuga put it, dirtying the bathwater.

Who knew when he'd gotten so childish? Probably starting from the time Yuzuru Hyuga stood in there with his hands on his hips, smugly claiming he was bathing in his father's leftover water.

Without realizing it, a smile crept onto Hizashi Hyuga's face. He didn't even notice that this smile had been absent from his expression in front of Yuzuru Hyuga for a long time.

But what puzzled him was that Yuzuru Hyuga seemed to be running a bit late today.

By the time he finished washing and was about to leave, he finally saw Yuzuru Hyuga arriving late, dirty as a mud monkey.

"The water temperature's just right today," Hizashi Hyuga said slowly, announcing that he'd already tested the pool's warmth for him.

Yuzuru Hyuga was indeed speechless. Watching his son push up his glasses with a look that said 'you're so childish,' Hizashi Hyuga couldn't help but want to laugh: Ha, trying to beat your old man? You've got a long way to go... Am I really okay like this?

When Hizashi Hyuga returned to his room, his movements froze.

A Sealing Scroll lay on his bed, and atop the scroll was a beautifully folded paper crane, with some bold and magnificent handwriting on it.

When he unrolled it, it turned out to be a sealing technique scroll—the kind that could activate a sealing technique directly upon channeling chakra. Unless the user had reached a masterful level with that sealing technique, it would be absolutely impossible to create such a scroll.

Hizashi Hyuga picked up the paper crane, hesitated for a long time, and slowly unfolded it.

['Dad, gently press the scroll against your forehead and then unfold it to use. Don't worry, this thing takes about a year to fully complete the technique, and as long as the seal isn't undone, the bird won't fly into the sky.']

Pretty cautious, huh? Bullshit!

You don't dare mention it outright in the text, but you dare put this on my bed?

If someone saw it, we'd both be screwed, you idiot!

Hizashi Hyuga's face went cold as he clenched the paper crane in his palm.

Then, he picked up the scroll.

After hesitating for a long time, he pressed it against his forehead.

Chakra activated the scroll, and the sealing technique began to take effect. Black sealing patterns spread from his forehead and vanished in an instant.

Hizashi Hyuga gasped in disbelief, his emotions an indescribable mess. For a moment, he felt dazed, his strength draining from his body.

Was it really this simple?

The cage that had bound him for decades...

Was it really this simple?

For a moment, a storm of feelings churned within him, and the rims of his eyes reddened.

Countless memories surfaced—those gray and black images he had once deliberately tried to forget came flooding in.

"Remember this, Hizashi. From now on, you must wholeheartedly help Hiashi, protect him with your life!" Those were his mother's words.

"The Caged Bird hurts so much!" That was the first time he had personally experienced the Caged Bird's activation, the soul-shaking agony.

"If you continue like this, even if Hiashi is unwilling, I will activate the Caged Bird and make you understand the duty of the Branch Family. Understood?" That was the elder responsible for his instruction.

"Hiashi, you! Ah..." That was the scene of him collapsing to the ground in pain the first time Hiashi personally activated the Caged Bird.

Was it over?

Just like that, was it over?

Hizashi Hyuga, clutching his forehead, repeatedly questioned his true feelings in his heart, but no matter what, at this moment, he felt a freedom and happiness he had never known before.

Mother, just because I was born fifteen minutes later, I was relegated to the Branch Family. I also want to live for myself, to hold up a sky for my own son, not to kneel on the ground for them, shaking my head and begging for scraps from that brother who was born only fifteen minutes before me!

Hizashi Hyuga lowered his head, forcing back tears, unwilling to let them fall. He looked at the paper crane he had torn open in his hand, but unexpectedly discovered that there seemed to be writing on the back of the paper.

He turned the paper over.

[Actually, you don't have to point the scroll at your head. After all, the Sealing Technique's target automatically locks onto the curse mark. Dad is so smart, he wouldn't really be foolish enough to point the scroll at his own head, would he? Right!?]

"Creak."

An ordinary piece of paper, yet it could be crumpled into a creaking sound by a human hand.

One could imagine—Hizashi Hyuga's grip strength was astonishing!

The tears welling up in Hizashi Hyuga's eyes slid down his cheek in a strange manner, but to be honest, he no longer wanted to cry, nor did he have the emotion to cry. The tears fell purely because he had been building up to it just now, and when he relaxed, he couldn't hold them back.

And at that very moment, he suddenly realized something else.

The writing said "Papa," not "Father."

This annoying little brat.

Hizashi Hyuga covered his forehead, a complex smile spreading across his face.

Taking out a mirror, he silently stared at his own forehead. His Chakra could clearly sense that the Sealing Technique, like a white flying bird, was slowly devouring his Caged Bird.

The reflection in the mirror made his smile grow brighter and brighter, until finally it turned into an unrestrained, hearty laugh.

"Hahaha. Hahahaha!"

"Dad, keep it down." A sudden voice from the window instinctively made Hizashi Hyuga's cheerful, hearty laugh stutter, turning into a short "Gah?"

Hizashi Hyuga, nearly choking on his own saliva, glared with murderous eyes at Yuzuru Hyuga, who had a towel on his head and was still steaming with hot air.

Yuzuru Hyuga just smiled gently and blinked playfully: "The good days are still long ahead."

"Your good days are numbered." Hizashi Hyuga wasn't buying any of it.

That sudden sentimental line was definitely this little bastard's way of changing the subject.

This bastard absolutely jumped out on purpose right when he was laughing, absolutely!

Dad really did know him too well. Maybe no matter how much time passed, it would be much harder to have this kind of fun with him again—Yuzuru Hyuga thought regretfully, his mischievous smile unconcealed: "I'll write down the Sealing Technique's training method for you tomorrow."

"No, you do it yourself."

Hizashi Hyuga refused decisively, not just out of simple spite.

Standing by the window, he said irritably: "I'm not about to take favors on your behalf, you little brat."

"At my age, wouldn't the effect be worse?" Yuzuru Hyuga frowned slightly.

After all, he was still young. If he were the one to carry out the Caged Bird removal plan, how many people would be willing to follow him onto that pirate ship without hesitation?

"Don't worry," Hizashi Hyuga said with a meaningful smile. "Once you've tasted freedom, you can never go back. Besides, you're the hope of the Branch Family, a genius even the Main Family acknowledges, aren't you?"

"So when I told you a year ago that I could do it, you didn't believe me, and you weren't willing to try." Yuzuru Hyuga couldn't help but say, vindicated.

Hizashi Hyuga slammed the window shut.

You little shit.

Today, he really didn't want to hit his son anymore—he was truly exhausted.

PS: Everyone is welcome to speak up. Whether you find typos or bugs, I will sacrifice my hair to work hard on corrections.

(`)~