Favored by Fate?

The night air carried the chill of winter.

Whoosh~

Neji hung his head low, his arms wrapped around his knees, his face hidden beneath his long black hair.

Although his father had kept trying to counsel him, he still did not understand. He did not understand the purpose of the [Caged Bird].

Was it to protect the white eyes?

Then why did the Uchiha Clan not have the [Caged Bird]?

"The Uchiha are a pack of mad dogs. If their Sharingan is stolen, they will gather the strength of their entire clan to kill the thief."

His father had once said that the Uchiha Clan had no sense of propriety and were violent and unruly by nature.

But...

The Underground Black Market had once put out a bounty on the Sharingan as well.

And when the Uchiha's previous clan head heard about it, he directly tortured and killed every thief, crippling even the people in charge of the black market.

Although he was later condemned by the Konoha High-Ranking Officials and the black market, it was nothing more than impotent outrage that did not hurt him in the slightest.

From then on, no bounty for the Sharingan ever appeared in the Underground Black Market again.

The Uchiha could use their uncompromising attitude and overwhelming strength to block every covetous gaze.

Then why could the Hyuga, also one of Konoha's great clans, not do the same?

If the white eyes were stolen, then they should gather the entire clan to take them back and kill the thieves.

If the clan's strength was not enough, then they should gather the strength of the entire village.

Wasn't Konoha's purpose to protect its residents from harm?

Perhaps the Caged Bird did serve to protect the white eyes.

But did those branch family ninja killed by the Caged Bird curse deserve to die silently, without dignity, at the hands of their own people?

What had they done wrong?

Why did the village do nothing?

Neji did not believe that the Third Hokage and those Konoha High-Ranking Officials were unaware of this.

Yet those people who harmed their comrades...

They still sat atop the branch family, accepting everything with a clear conscience, calling it "fate."

All kinds of chaotic thoughts kept surfacing in Neji's mind.

In a daze, he heard the Masked Man's meaningful words again.

"Neji, the value of a life cannot be measured by numbers."

He had once seen with his own eyes how the Masked Man had used only a few lines of song to instantly trap his father in a genjutsu.

And the words the Masked Man had spoken before he lost consciousness had once left him confused and puzzled.

But now, he understood...

His father wanted to die in place of Hyuga Hiashi, the Main House Clan Head.

To trade his own life for Konoha's peace, and...

A brief moment of freedom.

"Father, was your sacrifice really worth it?"

Since when did freedom need to be traded for?

And since when did one need to sacrifice one's life to have it acknowledged?

"Is the value of one life really lower than that of hundreds or thousands?"

Thinking of the strange looks from those villagers, along with their vicious words...

The negative emotions in Neji's heart, the urge to shatter everything, grew more and more intense.

He hated the Main House, those parasites, and he despised this weak village as well.

"If Konoha needs to sacrifice an individual's life to win forgiveness from another village, then what meaning is there in such a weak, easily bullied village continuing to exist?"

And somewhere he could not see, within the shadows beneath a tree in the courtyard.

"Neji..."

Hizashi Hyuga's expression was incomparably complicated.

The thing he feared most had still happened.

And it looked even worse than he had imagined.

If this continued, Neji would inevitably walk down that path of rebellion.

"But the lives of birds in a cage have always been held in the hands of the Main House."

The outcome of resistance was nothing but a bloodied head—or total destruction.

Just as Hizashi was about to step outside.

"Even though you survived, you're not very happy now, are you?"

The familiar voice that suddenly appeared beside him made Hizashi freeze, every hair on his body standing on end.

He turned around.

Though he was missing an arm, it was undeniably that masked man.

"Why are you here again?!"

Was the Leaf Village a sieve? Could anyone come and go as they pleased?

And this was the Hyuga clan...

"Didn't I tell you?"

There was amusement in Menma's voice. "We would meet again soon."

"Meet again?"

Hizashi frowned deeply. "Who exactly are you? What is your purpose in approaching me again and again?"

As he spoke, veins bulged around his eyes.

Hizashi had already made up his mind.

No matter what this guy wanted to say, he would do everything in his power to keep him here.

Someone who could enter both the Leaf Village and the Hyuga clan without a sound posed far too great a potential threat.

But Menma paid no attention to his vigilance and said calmly, "Didn't I tell you? I want to release the birds from their cages."

As the words fell, he formed a hand seal with one hand, and a ripple spread from his body.

"Ahhh!!"

The next second, it felt as though a hand had forcibly plunged into his head and twisted twice.

The intense pain made Hizashi scream. Clutching his head, he collapsed to the ground.

The sudden scream drew Neji's attention.

He raised his little tear-streaked face and looked toward Menma and Hizashi.

"Father! You..."

Thud!

Before he could say anything, Menma moved, appearing behind him in an instant and knocking him unconscious with a single strike.

"At this hour, children should be asleep."

Menma stepped aside with a smile, allowing the little brat to fall to the ground.

Hatred was indeed a driving force for moving forward.

But letting hatred blind one's eyes was not a good thing.

Let the little brat sleep well and calm down.

By then, Hizashi, who had only been briefly struck by the pain, had recovered his senses.

"How is this possible?!"

Hizashi's face twisted in pain, but he was even more terrified and shocked. "You can actually use the Caged Bird Curse Mark?!"

The Main Family?!

No!!

An outsider who could use the Caged Bird Curse Mark!!

That meant an outsider held the lives of the Branch Family in his hands!!

What kind of joke was this?!

Only the Grand Elders and Clan Heads of each generation knew how to use the Caged Bird Curse Mark. It was not even recorded on scrolls. There was absolutely no possibility of it being leaked.

"Whether you want my Byakugan or intend to use this to threaten me for information, I will not let you have your way!"

As he spoke, Hizashi Hyuga began gathering Chakra, intending to strike the Caged Bird Curse Mark within his brain.

The Caged Bird Curse Mark possessed a self-protection mechanism.

Once someone branded with the curse mark tried to forcibly break its restrictions, it would activate directly, destroying both the Byakugan and the brain.

"Fool. Before the user of the curse mark, you caged birds can only dream of even death."

Sensing the turbulent Chakra within Hizashi, Menma formed another one-handed seal, instantly making Hizashi scream again.

The Chakra he had gathered became chaotic and scattered.

"Pitiful man, did you think you survived because fate had favored you?"

Menma looked down at Hizashi and sneered. "A man who keeps the curse of fate on his lips—did you really believe fate would cast a caring gaze upon you?"

Survived...

Hizashi's pupils trembled. Gritting his teeth hard, he said in disbelief, "You!! You were the one who appeared on the Moon Valley Battlefield?!"