By the time they left the Sarutobi residence, it was already afternoon.
Tsunade and Orochimaru walked side by side along the streets of Konoha.
The late autumn sun was no longer scorching. It fell warmly over them.
"The old man... really has gotten old."
Thinking back to their time at their teacher's home, Tsunade could not help sighing, a trace of indescribable melancholy in her voice.
The man who had once been so high-spirited, who could suppress all three of them, now looked like nothing more than an ordinary old man.
All the sharpness in him had been worn away by time.
"Hmph. He merely recognized reality."
Orochimaru sneered, unconcerned.
"Orochimaru!" Tsunade stopped, glaring at him in displeasure. "Show some respect. He is still our teacher!"
"Yes, yes, our teacher."
Orochimaru replied perfunctorily, apparently lost in thought.
Yet his eyes studied their surroundings with great interest.
Tsunade also fell silent and began observing the village she had been away from for nearly a year.
The streets were much cleaner than she remembered.
The shops on both sides were almost all open, and business seemed fairly good.
She even saw many civilians inside the butcher shops, something that had been rare in the past.
Several women carrying vegetable baskets chatted excitedly as they walked, talking about who had received funding from the daimyo.
Along the way, Tsunade heard discussions like that everywhere.
Suddenly, she stopped.
A few children were chasing one another and playing ahead of her, their little faces overflowing with joy.
She did not even know how long it had been since she had last seen a scene like this.
The entire village seemed to brim with vitality.
That feeling was even stronger than when they had defeated the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.
Yet the one who had created all this was not the Hokage.
It was a so-called daimyo she had never met.
Standing amid the bustling crowd, Tsunade felt confused for the first time about the Will of Fire she had believed in without question since childhood.
Protecting Konoha...
What exactly were they protecting?
The Hyuga Clan compound was always so quiet.
So quiet that it felt as if time itself had slowed here.
The wind chimes beneath the eaves did not move, the courtyard's waters were still, and even the air was thick with oppressive solemnity.
This was one of Konoha's oldest great clans.
And rules were everything here.
The corridor stretched deep into the compound, sunlight sliced into strips by the latticework and spread across the polished floor.
Hizashi Hyuga knelt beneath the corridor.
Before him lay a neatly packed set of traveling clothes and a cash box filled with brand-new banknotes.
These were the Guardians of the Twelve uniforms and first month's salary that Daimyo Manor had just issued.
The cash box had not been opened, but he knew the amount inside was substantial.
Yet he merely knelt there quietly, his back ramrod straight and utterly motionless.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the Main Family's clan head, his twin brother, Hyuga Hiashi.
As a member of the Branch Family, even if he had become one of the Guardians of the Twelve, he could not leave on his own authority.
He had to receive permission from the Main Family.
Footsteps came from the depths of the corridor, neither hurried nor slow.
Hizashi Hyuga did not look up, only lowering his head even further.
Hyuga Hiashi stopped before him and looked down at his younger brother.
He wore the Main Family's pure white robes. His face was identical to Hizashi's, but his expression was indifferent.
"Leaving?"
Hiashi spoke calmly, without any discernible emotion.
"Yes, Clan Head Lord." Hizashi answered respectfully, his voice equally flat.
In the Hyuga Clan, Branch Family members had to address the Main Family with "Lord."
Even if they were blood brothers.
"Have you packed everything?"
"Yes."
"You will be staying in the Land of Fire Capital for ten years. You represent the Hyuga Clan's honor, so do not grow lax."
"Yes. Hizashi understands. I will not fail the clan's trust."
The conversation was brief, like a routine procedure.
Hiashi's gaze fell upon the cash box.
"Daimyo Manor certainly is generous." His tone was complicated.
Once upon a time, the Branch Family's fate, income, and lives had all depended on a single word from the Main Family.
Now, an order from Daimyo Manor had easily granted them wealth and status that even the Main Family could not provide.
It left Hyuga Hiashi irritated.
After a moment of silence, Hiashi took out a money pouch from his robes and placed it before Hizashi.
"Take this money."
"You may need it on the road."
Hizashi's body stiffened slightly.
Without looking up, he said softly, "Thank you for Clan Head Lord's reward."
The money pouch was thin, like charity.
More like the Main Family's final, hypocritical attempt to control the Branch Family.
Hiashi gave a quiet grunt and crouched down until they were eye level.
On the face identical to his own, the only difference was the green Caged Bird Seal on Hizashi's forehead.
He reached out, intending to pat his younger brother's shoulder.
But his hand stopped halfway. In the end, it landed on the luggage, gently smoothing out a wrinkle.
"Once you reach the Land of Fire Capital, be careful in all things."
"The Guardians of the Twelve are all elites from their respective clans. Competition is inevitable."
"But remember, you are a Hyuga."
Hizashi still kept his head lowered. "Yes. For the Hyuga Clan."
For the Hyuga Clan.
Those four words were another seal carved into his soul.
Because of those four words, his son Neji would one day bear the same humiliation when he grew older.
Because of those four words, despite possessing talent no less than his brother's, he could only become a shadow, a shield for the Main Family.
Seeing his obedient appearance, Hiashi felt an inexplicable surge of frustration.
He stood.
"Go say goodbye to Neji."
"Yes."
Hizashi finally raised his head, but his gaze avoided his brother's face and settled on the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard.
"Neji... is still young."
"In the future, I ask Clan Head Lord to look after him."
Hyuga Hiashi's eyes flickered.
He knew what his younger brother wanted to say.
"Neji is also a member of the Hyuga Clan. The Main Family will make its own arrangements," Hiashi replied.
Rules were rules.
Sometimes, even as clan head, he could not break them.
Hizashi's lips moved, but he said nothing more.
He lowered his head again, pressed his forehead to the floor, and performed a formal bow.
"Then Hizashi shall take his leave."
With that, he slowly rose, picked up his luggage and cash box, then turned and silently walked out of the corridor.
He did not look back.
Nor did he offer a single unnecessary farewell.
His back looked lonely as he walked, step by step, out of the courtyard that had oppressed him for half his life.
Hyuga Hiashi watched his younger brother's back in silence.
He watched him walk from the light into the shadows, then from the shadows toward the sunlight beyond the corridor.
He watched as that figure was about to vanish around the corner.
Then he suddenly spoke.
"Hizashi."
Hizashi stopped.
He did not turn around.
Hyuga Hiashi stared at that stiff back, his throat bobbing as he spoke in a tone unfamiliar even to himself.
"You're free."
The air froze in that instant.
Free?
How laughable.
From the day he had been born, from the moment the seal had been branded onto his forehead, those words had had nothing to do with him.
A long silence followed.
Just as Hyuga Hiashi thought he would not answer, Hizashi turned around.
His face bore a flawless smile.
Yet there was not a trace of mirth in those pure Byakugan eyes. They were like a bottomless, frigid pool.
"Brother Lord must be joking."
His voice remained calm.
"My freedom belonged to the Main Family from the moment I was born."
"Now, like my life, it belongs to the great daimyo."
"It was never mine."
"So how could I speak of freedom?"
Having said that, he bowed slightly once more, his smile unchanged. "I should go fulfill my duties, Clan Head Lord."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and left without another pause.
Hyuga Hiashi stood frozen where he was.
That final look from his younger brother, those few words, pierced through his facade and tore apart his hypocrisy as an elder brother.
Freedom?
Yes.
How could someone branded with the Caged Bird Seal possibly be free?
Those words that had slipped out instead sounded more like a curse.
Hyuga Hiashi suddenly felt a chill.
That supreme daimyo had used only an order, an edict, to let Hizashi leave the cage that had imprisoned him his entire life.
And Hiashi himself had personally written it.
But what about him?
He, the head of the Hyuga Clan, was trapped forever inside the larger, more magnificent cage of the Hyuga Main Family.
Who, exactly, was the true prisoner?
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle!
A gust of wind swept through, and the wind chimes beneath the eaves let out a clear yet desolate cry.
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