The Caged Bird

The cheerful celebration ended on a sour note with the young man's arrival. After Zi Xu had left him speechless, the young man with the Byakugan fled as if his tail were on fire.

"Thank you." Chino let out a quiet breath once she had calmed down and softly thanked Zi Xu, but her expression had returned to its former coldness. Hatsumi and Zi Xu didn't know what to say. From the young man's words, it seemed to be an internal problem within their clan, and they had no idea how to respond.

"Let's call it a day. We've all eaten our fill, so we should go home and get some rest..." Zi Xu waved it off, signaling that it was nothing to worry about. Since Chino didn't seem inclined to explain, he didn't intend to pry.

Only then did Hatsumi feel the oppressive atmosphere around them begin to lift. She breathed a sigh of relief and hurried off to pay.

The three parted ways outside the barbecue restaurant. On his way home, Zi Xu once again sensed the contradictions lurking in Konoha.

"The Main House and the Branch Family? The conflict between the two factions seems severe. The Main House must be in a position of absolute authority. If I dare to speculate, might the Branch Family be expected to give their lives to protect the Main House in a crisis? And there are different factions within the Branch Family, too..." Based on the exchange between that man and Chino, Zi Xu speculated to himself.

"But didn't the Hyuga Clan join Konoha from the very beginning, alongside the First Hokage? Did the Main House and Branch Family system exist back then, or did it only appear after the Third Hokage took office?" Zi Xu felt that he shouldn't think too deeply about this. The further he dug, the more likely he was to uncover Konoha's darkest roots.

"Anyway, I should focus on practicing the Clone Technique first. With my current abilities, knowing about this probably won't do me any good. Once I've mastered the Clone Technique, I'll be better prepared..." Zi Xu pushed the jumble of thoughts out of his mind and got ready to practice.

He had a bold idea. There were all kinds of strange Demon Fruits in the system's prize pool, many of which he had never seen before. If he managed to draw a few, could he feed them to his clones and gain several abilities by proxy? If the idea worked, he could also adopt different disguises, and that would give him far more options.

Unfortunately, he definitely couldn't do that with the Clone Technique he currently knew. He had only dared to try after asking the system and learning that he wouldn't explode and die. Maybe it had something to do with Chakra energy? He wasn't sure.

"The Chakra's moving along the right path. Now for the hand seals." Zi Xu deftly formed one seal after another in his room, then gave a low shout. He felt only an almost imperceptible amount of Chakra leave his body, but something seemed different from when he had used the technique before.

"Clone Technique!"

He had never managed to perform the Clone Technique before, perhaps because of everything that had happened. But now he succeeded. A puff of white smoke appeared beside him, and a figure identical to him in appearance and build stood at his side.

Though the figure looked just like Zi Xu, he felt that something was missing. The clone looked insubstantial, like a painting missing its finishing touch. It was obviously fake.

Zi Xu punched the clone, and it dispersed on impact.

He waved his unharmed fist and sighed.

"As expected, the ordinary Clone Technique is just for show. It only creates an illusion, not a solid body. It can only be used to fool enemies or scout... Actually, it can't even scout..." He had heard Chino and Hatsumi say that Konoha also had the Shadow Clone Technique and Multi Shadow Clone Technique, developed by the Second Hokage. Shadow Clones had solid bodies and grew stronger as the user did. Compared to the Shadow Clone Technique, this ordinary Clone Technique was more like a controllable illusion.

"I'll have to find a way to learn the Shadow Clone Technique. And there's Chino's situation, too. Maybe that's why she opposes the Will of Fire..." Zi Xu continued practicing the Clone Technique, occasionally pounding his body with a hammer. He had recently discovered that subjecting his body to repeated blows could increase his Fusion Level. The progress was slight, but every little bit counted.

The next day, Zi Xu and Hatsumi came to class as usual, but Chino, who had never missed a day before, was nowhere to be seen. Takeshi Goda said she had taken the day off, prompting Hatsumi and Zi Xu to discuss it.

"Hatsumi, do you think it's right for Konoha to have the kind of conflict between the Main House and the Branch Family that Chino's clan has?"

"Of course it isn't, but the Hyuga Clan joined when the First Hokage founded the village, so there must be..." Hatsumi tried to defend it, but her voice grew weaker and weaker.

"Is that right? Does it fit the essence of the Will of Fire?" Zi Xu pressed on.

"N-no... It doesn't..." Hatsumi replied softly.

"If it's wrong, why do they keep doing it? If they can't treat one another equally and kindly within their own clan, how can they achieve equality and peace in the village, or across the entire ninja world?" Zi Xu asked again.

"The Hyuga Clan has been this way since the village was founded. It's never changed, not even once..."

"Just because it's always been that way, does that make it right?" Those words were the final straw for Hatsumi. She had always been timid and compliant, accepting whatever came her way, but now she finally faced the truth: Konoha wasn't as wonderful as she had thought.

"Hatsumi, we need to change Konoha's future. You don't want the Hyuga Clan to go on like this forever, do you? And if even a great clan like the Hyuga can end up this way, who's to say our own clans won't suffer the same fate?" Zi Xu's words were like those of a devil in hell, filled with a seductive power that could lead anyone astray.

"Huh? Chino?" Hatsumi felt flustered, but then she spotted Chino, who was supposed to be absent, walking toward them with her schoolbag. As if she had found a lifeline, she hurried over to Chino.

"Chino? Fat Tiger said you were taking the day off," Zi Xu asked with concern. The two girls had gotten used to him calling Takeshi Goda Fat Tiger.

"It's nothing. Just a little thing. Here." Chino yawned, took a bag of medicinal herbs from her backpack, and tossed it to Zi Xu. He caught it and put it in his Sealing Scroll.

"Chino, are you sure you're all right? Do you need our help? We'll definitely help you!" Influenced by what Zi Xu had just said, Hatsumi wanted to do something to change the situation.

Chino returned to her seat and folded her hands, scrutinizing Zi Xu and Hatsumi. At last, she sighed softly and spoke in a tired voice.

"After school."

Zi Xu had more or less figured out the curriculum at the Ninja Academy. Aside from general subjects, it was all basic ninjutsu. The day's lessons ended quickly. It was no exaggeration to say that, apart from ninjutsu and Taijutsu, the other classes were all subtly indoctrinating them.

After class, the three went to the place where they usually trained. It was their secret base, unknown to anyone else. Of course, by anyone else, they meant other people from the Ninja Academy, not professionals like the Anbu.

Chino stood facing Zi Xu and Hatsumi, slowly removing the dark red forehead protector from her head. Beneath it was a fluorescent green mark. At the center of her forehead was a cross-shaped symbol, with a sideways hook on either side, facing in opposite directions. It looked like a butterfly trapped in a spiderweb.

"What is that?"

"The Caged Bird Curse Seal. The Main House places it on us to restrict our Byakugan. It only disappears when we die. The Main House can also use it to destroy the brain tissue of anyone bearing the seal at will..." Chino let out a long breath, her emotions far from calm.

"In other words, I have no control over my own life. If I do anything that goes against the Main House, they can kill me with a single thought..." Chino spoke quickly, making no effort to hide the hatred in her eyes.

Chino continued, as if she wanted to vent all the frustration and anger that had built up inside her over the years. Her explanation gave them a clear picture of the Hyuga Clan's general structure.

The Main House was the true inheritor of the Hyuga Clan, bearing the responsibility of protecting and advancing the clan.

The Branch Family served as the guardians of the Hyuga Main House, bearing the responsibility of protecting it.

In short, the Branch Family protected the Main House, while the Main House lived in comfort.

There could only be one heir to the Main House. If there were several descendants in the same generation, only one could be chosen as the heir, while all the others became members of the Branch Family.

In other words, there could only be one person in the Main House in each generation. Even after a thousand years, the Hyuga Clan still had only one Main House, while the Branch Family remained its guardians. The Branch Family's numbers kept growing, and it had split into factions: the Pro-Main Faction, which had become the Main House's dogs, and the Independence Faction, which opposed the Main House's rule and demanded independence for the Branch Family.

All members of the Branch Family had the Caged Bird Curse Seal carved into their foreheads when the eldest son of the Main House turned three. The Main House could use the seal to control and destroy the brain nerves of Branch Family members, thereby controlling them. The seal could only be removed upon their death.

According to the Main House, the seal could restrict the Byakugan's abilities and completely destroy the eyes and brain of its bearer if they had their eyes removed or died. They claimed this was to keep the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan from falling into outsiders' hands and to prevent their combat power from being exposed. But looking at the situation, the policy was watering the Main House's flowers with the Branch Family's blood. It confirmed Zi Xu's earlier guess: whenever the Main House was in danger, the seal forced the Branch Family to risk their lives to save its members, whether the Main House wanted them to or not.

And if anything happened to the Main House, the Branch Family members responsible for protecting it would all have to die.

"H-how could this happen? Th-this is simply..." Hatsumi covered her little mouth, her eyes full of shock and disbelief. Zi Xu finished what she couldn't bring herself to say.

"It's just like slavery..."

Zi Xu looked at Chino, whose eyes were slightly red, and felt a chill run through him at the thought of Konoha. Though he had seen through Konoha's true nature long ago, at that moment he felt a sudden, inexplicable anger.

"The Will of Fire?" Zi Xu narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold smile spreading across his lips.