Caged Bird

"Damn it, don't mess with me."

Miyoshi flinched and instinctively wanted to run back.

He couldn't help it; he felt this little Uchiha was a bit "persistent."

In the morning, he was silenced by Uchiha Yan, and then he kept stalling. After school, he plunged into the forest, hoping to shake off Uchiha Yan and downplay the matter.

Who knew it would directly enrage Uchiha Yan. He had underestimated the determination of an Uchiha person.

As expected, all Uchihas are extreme. Ah, inherently evil Uchihas!

Never mind this bullshit Blood Sorrow. Miyoshi was dragged into it by the Execution Department using this excuse in his past life.

Bullshit Blood Sorrow. A normal person wouldn't do something like this.

If he doesn't get an answer, he'll camp out at his house? Is this something a normal person would do?

But he's an Uchiha. Thinking of it that way, Miyoshi felt everything became normal.

Besides, this is his home, why should he run?

Even if he's scared, it should be this Uchiha loli in front of him who's scared, right?

Could he, a super Ninja World person with dual bloodlines, be afraid of a little girl?

In an instant, Miyoshi understood and stopped his instinctive action.

Yan, standing at the door, turned her head when she heard the noise. Seeing it was Miyoshi, she smiled and said.

"Miyoshi-kun, we meet again."

"Have you thought about what happened this morning?"

"Mm."

"Does this mean you agree?"

"..."

Miyoshi walked towards his front door expressionlessly, as if he had given up and didn't want to acknowledge Yan's actions.

"Sorry to have disturbed Miyoshi-kun's life."

Seemingly sensing the mistake in her actions, Yan apologized with a voice full of regret and left.

"I didn't get to make friends with Miyoshi-kun. Next time."

Yan seemed a little disappointed, but she quickly cheered herself up and became spirited.

A person walked towards the path that was gradually darkening.

"She's really leaving?"

At this moment, Miyoshi poked his head out from the yard, looking at the pitch-black path.

Seeing Yan walking on the road, although there were streetlights dotting the dark path, it still gave people a sense of chill.

Seeing this lonely figure, Miyoshi seemed to be faintly touched.

Perhaps it was an impulse, or perhaps a past resonance, Miyoshi inexplicably walked out.

Yan also turned her head upon hearing the movement behind her, light falling on the girl's shoulders.

"I don't have much free time, but it's not impossible to occasionally take out some time to chat with you."

Looking at Yan in the light, Miyoshi opened his mouth as if wanting to say something more, but in the end, he said shyly.

In Miyoshi's opinion, Yan was just a character who hadn't appeared in the original plot.

She was insignificant, and it didn't matter even if he chatted with her, and it could also plant a seed for future research into the Uchiha Clan's bloodline.

Killing two birds with one stone, why not?

In any case, it couldn't be that he suddenly empathized with Yan just now.

"It's getting late, you should go back early."

After speaking, he returned home, not caring about Yan's expression.

"So gentle, Miyoshi-kun."

Under the moonlight, Yan let down her long hair, silver light scattering on her soft purple hair, and Yan's face was bathed in bright moonlight.

Returning home, a strange emotion spread for three seconds, Miyoshi quickly shook his head, then turned on the light and picked up a medical book to read.

The cool moonlight cast specks of silver light, shining through the window onto Miyoshi's face.

He reached out his hand, as if trying to grasp the moonlight.

The moonlight tonight seemed exceptionally bright.

Early in the morning, Miyoshi got out of bed, washed up, casually ate a bite of food, and then walked out of his house onto the road to the Ninja Academy.

However, at the entrance of the street, a petite purple-haired loli stood in the bright sunlight and smiled at him.

"Damn it, that hateful Uchiha!"

One month passed.

Yayoi and Yan made an agreement: Yan could observe him every day, but she couldn't disturb him while he was reading.

As for what she observed, Yayoi didn't care. If you stand straight, you don't fear a crooked shadow. He had no embarrassing secrets.

Studying was Yayoi's bottom line; other things weren't as important.

After all, living in a world where war could break out at any moment, he really needed to ensure his own survival.

Medical knowledge was the foundation for his future research, the cornerstone. Nothing could go wrong with it.

However, they occasionally spoke, as if they had returned to the past, but with a bit more intimacy. Yayoi felt Yan was different from the typical Uchiha.

Putting aside prejudice, she was clearly a gentle person. Most importantly, Yan gave Yayoi a sense of maturity. They were arguably the only classmates who could hold a conversation.

The remaining one, Rin, was too aloof. Although he knew her cold heart hid a reasonable person, they simply had nothing to talk about. Moreover, Yayoi didn't have that much time to study a loli.

Yayoi continued his uneventful ninja academy life.

He still devoted himself entirely to his books, presenting the image of a complete bookworm.

Generally, such people were usually bullied by mischievous children, both in his past lives and this one. What's more, his physical condition in the Ninja World was stronger than in his previous two lives.

But Yayoi had never been bullied. Although he looked easy to bully, no one had ever mentioned bullying him.

Perhaps subconsciously, they all felt he was not someone to be trifled with. Besides, he wasn't cold towards others. He smiled when he should, but he just wasn't very social.

It was his friendly interactions with Yan that made others look at them sideways.

Even the usually cold Rin occasionally observed the two of them as they spoke in low voices, unsure why their relationship had suddenly become so good.

The plain and simple life continued, until today.

It seemed something different had happened.

During the second class, a truant student suddenly returned.

"I'm sorry, teacher, I'm late."

A little boy with a headscarf and pure white pupils walked in, his eyes seemingly still teary.

This caused a stir in the classroom, and the children were stunned.

Why was he crying?

"Go in."

Seeing the boy's eyes and then his forehead, the teacher seemed to understand what had happened. Without a word, she waved her hand, letting the boy enter.

The class continued afterward, but few people were paying attention.

Children of this age are at their most curious, their gazes fixed on the boy.

But these harmless gazes felt like knives at this moment, cutting the boy. He dared not look up, tucking his head tightly under the table.

Yayoi seemed to recall something.

"People of the Hyuga Clan, at this age, what happened?"

Yayoi tried to recall past memories, but too much time had passed, and he couldn't quite remember.

At this moment, he suddenly looked towards Rin. As someone from the Hyuga Clan, she should know about this.

"Rin, what's wrong with Raikou?"

This was the first time Yayoi had actively asked someone at the same table.

Rin's expression was also strange. Seeing Raikou's state, her eyes were vacant, holding some unknown emotion.

"Raikou is from the Hyuga Branch Family. It's a family tradition."

Rin's emotions were off. After answering Yayoi's question, she looked out the window by herself. Noticing Rin's abnormality, Yayoi didn't ask further.

"What's wrong with Raikou? Yan, do you know?"

Yayoi asked cautiously.

"The Caged Bird, of course."

Yan rested her chin on her hand, looking uninterested.

"It's a tradition for the branch family, seemingly carved at the age of six, like a name. Their future freedom and lives are like birds in a cage, controlled by the Main Family."

Yan was very disgusted by this tradition, so her description of the Caged Bird was devoid of emotion. Her cold tone was like the cage of the Caged Bird.

Despair could be glimpsed from the words alone.

"Slavery?"

Yayoi sensed something was wrong and felt a sense of irony.

Wasn't this a village where people loved each other with the Will of Fire?

How could they not even maintain appearances?

He also understood the reason for Rin's emotions.

It seemed this cold Hyuga girl was likely also a Caged Bird, just not yet confined. Seeing Raikou now was like seeing her future self, struggling within the despair of a Caged Bird, only to be wounded all over by the cold cage.

"Class dismissed."

As the dismissal bell rang, all the sadness was washed away by the children's energetic voices.

However, some of the deepest sorrows could not be washed away. They would only be buried in the earth with the washing of the rain, take root, and sprout.