The Purpose of the Caged Bird

At this moment, he was going all out, even risking punishment from his uncle with the Caged Bird; he was determined to seize this opportunity.

Whether it was Hyuga Hiashi, Tsunade, or Hiruzen Sarutobi, they all saw Neji's reaction and were all astonished. They couldn't understand the thoughts of such a genius as Neji Hyuga.

After witnessing his father being punished by the Caged Bird Seal, Neji Hyuga understood that he would never be able to escape the Caged Bird and gain freedom in his lifetime.

When he witnessed his father die in place of his uncle, his heart was filled with utter despair. He seemed to see his own future, that he might also die protecting Hyuga Hiashi or Hinata Hyuga.

Now that an opportunity to escape his Caged Bird has suddenly presented itself, Neji Hyuga is determined not to let it slip by.

Hirubu Junichi laughed heartily, stepped forward, picked up Neji Hyuga, and said, "Of course it's true."

No one present was a fool; they were all shrewd and calculating. How could they possibly hide the thoughts of a child like Neji Hyuga? There was no need to ask further; the answer was obvious.

Then Hirubu Junichi looked at Tsunade and Hiashi Hyuga Hiashi and asked, "Lord Hokage, clan head Hiashi, am I right?"

Tsunade's face turned ashen, while Hyuga Hiashi activated his Byakugan, glaring fiercely at Hirubu Junichi.

After a long silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi said stiffly, "Since Neji has made his own choice, we will keep our promise and will not use the Caged Bird Technique on Neji."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade and uttered two words: "That's right."

Finally, it was Hyuga Hiashi. He stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi for a few seconds before saying, "Neji is my younger brother's son, so naturally I won't use the Caged Bird."

"Haha." Hirubu Junichi smiled broadly, then said to Tsunade, "Hokage, in order to end the misunderstanding with Konoha as soon as possible, I plan to take Neji back to the village now. I request that the Hokage send a few Anbu to protect him."

Tsunade at Hirubu Junichi, then turned and headed towards the Hokage Building, leaving behind only the words, "Fine, see you out."

The matter Neji Hyuga Hirubu Junichi had imagined.

He was actually somewhat puzzled as to why Neji Hyuga would choose to betray Konoha and the Hyuga Clan. After all, the Iwa ninja had played a part in driving his father to his death.

What Hirubu Junichi didn't see was the way the other members of the Neji Hyuga Branch Family looked at Neji Hyuga when he was taken away.

Those eyes didn't look at a traitor; they only held envy. Although Neji Hyuga hadn't truly escaped the Caged Bird, he had at least gained Hyuga Hiashi's promise.

Gao Fei's temporary success was the envy of the other branch families.

For all the branch families, being able to break free from the Hyuga Clan is a liberation, not a betrayal.

As for betraying Konoha, the Hyuga Clan's education has never placed the village above the clan. If the clan has already betrayed them, what is there to care about the village?

In the eyes of the branch family, the Konoha High-ranking officials leadership might still Hyuga Main Family, since the Hyuga Main Family often assigns branch family members to carry out various missions for Konoha.

Thus, amidst the astonishment of Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the embarrassment and anger of Hyuga Hiashi, Neji Hyuga made an unbelievable choice for them.

Whether it was Hyuga Hiashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi, or Tsunade, they never really considered what the Hyuga Branch Family was thinking.

Hyuga Hiashi likely views the branch family as the property of the Main Family. Neji Hyuga might feel differently from Hizashi Hyuga with Hyuga Hiashi. However, Neji would certainly not consider things from Hiashi's perspective as a member of the branch family.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was actually quite good; he treated the Hyuga Branch Family as ordinary Konoha ninja. Otherwise, he wouldn't have talked about the Will of Fire with Neji Hyuga.

To be fair, Hiruzen Sarutobi has done quite well to achieve this. He did not look down on the Hyuga Branch Family and still treated Hyuga Branch Family as normal ninjas.

But if Yichen were here, he would say it's not enough. If you haven't truly considered the situation from the perspective of the Hyuga Branch Family, then no matter what you do, you won't gain their genuine approval.

Because what you believe is right, they see as unfair and exploitative.

From the perspective of Konoha and thinking like the Hokage, the Caged Bird is definitely a good thing.

However, no one ever asked the Hyuga Branch Family: "Do you want to join the Caged Bird?" No one gave them a choice. Therefore, all the branch families rejected the Caged Bird.

If Konoha could explain the situation clearly and let the Hyuga Branch Family choose to add the Caged Bird themselves, then the Hyuga Branch Family would certainly not be so resistant.

However, these are all just Yichen's theoretical ideas from the perspective of an onlooker. If Yichen were the Hokage, Yichen wouldn't have the intention to change the Hyuga Clan's Main Family and branch family system.

Yichen waited at the border for only a few days Hirubu Junichi Yichen appeared before him with Neji.

Neji's arrival pleased Yichen greatly. Although he was trapped in the Caged Bird, there was still hope of breaking free. Wasn't Orochimaru researching the Caged Bird?

Yichen still trusted Orochimaru's research abilities. Once Orochimaru succeeded, he would find an opportunity to make a deal with him.

Neji Hyuga is in our hands, and we've received the payment from the Cloud ninja. There's no point in keeping him on the front lines any longer.

So Yichen and Ikura led the army back to the village.

Instead of flying back directly, Yichen had his three disciples follow the army back slowly, while he used his Porcelain Release to carry little Neji through the ranks.

Yichen plans to brainwash Neji before returning to the village.

"Hello, Neji Hyuga. My name is Yichen, and I am the Fourth Tsuchikage of Iwagakure." Yichen reached out and patted Neji Hyuga's head as he spoke.

Neji didn't dodge, but his expression towards Yichen was somewhat cold.

Yichen didn't care; in fact, he felt a little guilty. Because, in a sense, he was the murderer who killed Hizashi Hyuga.

Perhaps in other people's eyes, Yichen was just forcing Konoha, at most to make Hyuga Hiashi die, and Hizashi Hyuga only committed suicide for his brother.

But Yichen knew that he was targeting Hizashi Hyuga, and that he chose to pressure Konoha because he knew Hizashi Hyuga would commit suicide.

However, no one else knew that Hizashi Hyuga would commit suicide. In fact, very few people knew that Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga looked exactly alike.

"Neji Hyuga, you know that the Caged Bird restricts your Hyuga Branch Family and allows the Main Family to control your lives. But do you know the true purpose of the Caged Bird?"

Neji Hyuga remained silent.

Yichen beckoned to one of the people in the group and said, "Senior Hu, come here for a moment."

Upon hearing this, Elite Jonin of the Anbu who had transplanted the Byakugan, immediately went to Yichen's side as he was flying.

Yichen is good at using his Byakugan, so he's been using it all these years. Neither Yichen nor Ōnoki has any intention of replacing him.

However, the Byakugan of the Byakugan is now sealed with a Summoning Jutsu. If the Byakugan is impacted, the Summoning Jutsu will automatically activate and summon the Byakugan back to Iwagakure.

Hu glanced at Neji, then bowed to Yichen and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, is there anything I can help you with?"

Yichen said, "Activate the Byakugan."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, Hu immediately Hand Seals and activated his Byakugan.

Yichen pointed at Hu's Byakugan and said to Neji, "See that? That's the Byakugan of your Hyuga Clan."

"This Byakugan belonged to your grandfather during the Third Shinobi War. At that time, your Hyuga Clan only had your grandfather and your uncle as the Main Family."

"Your uncle was in the village, and your grandfather was on the front lines. So his Byakugan Mist ninja eye of the Mist ninja, who ambushed your grandfather and obtained one of his Byakugan. I got lucky and got the other one."

After saying that, Yichen pointed to Hu's left eye.

Neji visibly trembled upon seeing this; he felt somewhat incredulous that the Main Family's Byakugan had been stolen?

Yichen dismissed Hu and continued, "The Byakugan's power is too great, especially in large-scale warfare. However, transplanting the Byakugan carries no risk. Therefore, without the Caged Bird, your Hyuga Clan would be assassinated by ninjas throughout the entire Ninja World."

"Some will choose to gouge out your eyes and kill you. Others will choose to keep you like livestock, making you bear their children and then Byakugan."

"I know you harbor deep hatred for the Caged Bird. While this hatred is a good thing for our Iwagakure, I still hope you can truly understand the Caged Bird and then speak to me calmly."

After saying this, Yichen jumped off the flying Porcelain Platform, leaving Neji to think.

As soon as Yichen left Neji, Uzumaki Riori approached him and whispered, "Teacher Yichen, who is that little boy?"

Yichen glanced at the curious Uzumaki Riori, thought for a moment, and then said, "This little boy is an orphan; his father just passed away. If you'd like, you can go and comfort him."

"Huh? Isn't that the same as Sister Mu and the others?" Uzumaki Riori was taken aback.

Yichen knew that the "Sister Mu" she mentioned was one of the Uzumaki Clan members who had been rescued by Ōnoki back then. However, unlike Uzumaki Riori, who had both parents, she was also an orphan.

Yichen nodded in agreement.

Uzumaki Riori thought for a moment, then ran to Atsumi Akino's side, and the two whispered to each other for a while.

Then Yichen saw Uzumaki Riori carrying a bag of something and walking towards Neji, Yichen didn't pay much attention to it.

Neji is perceptive, and he is wary of ninjas like Yichen who clearly have ulterior motives. Only someone as naive and innocent as Uzumaki Riori can better gain his trust.

Sure enough, a short while later, Uzumaki Riori and Neji were eating and chatting together on the Porcelain Platform.

It was through Uzumaki Riori that Neji heard about Iwagakure that was different from what he had originally imagined.