A Second Talk with the Clan Head

Looking at the devastated courtyard, the house with a missing corner, and the surrounding wall, Neji suddenly felt like he'd "Fucked up." In a moment of impulse, he'd forgotten he was in his own backyard!

Furthermore, Neji sensed several chakras rapidly approaching. This complicated matters. He wasn't sure if he could talk his way out of it. He'd play it by ear!

Several patrolling ninja arrived at Neji's courtyard first, staring at Neji and asking, "Who are you? What happened here?"

Neji currently stood nearly 1.7 meters tall, and his presence wasn't weak. He no longer looked like a child, so the patrolling ninja didn't underestimate him too much, and their attitude was decent.

However, because Neji sensed two other presences were close to arriving, he didn't rush to answer the patrolling ninja, choosing instead to wait until all three parties arrived before speaking.

But Neji's inaction caused the patrolling ninja who had spoken to frown, feeling his authority challenged. Still, this was the Hyuga Clan's territory, so he didn't dare to push too hard, especially since, from the looks of it, there were no casualties.

A moment later, the other two presences arrived at the courtyard.

To Neji's surprise, one of them was the Clan Head himself, Hyuga Hiashi!

Neji no longer dared to delay and immediately approached the Clan Head, bowing and saying, "Greetings, Clan Head!"

Before Hyuga Hiashi could reply, Neji continued, "I was just sparring with my classmate, Uchiha Sasuke, in ninjutsu. In a moment of impulse, I couldn't control the power of my ninjutsu and disturbed you, Clan Head. I am deeply ashamed."

With these few simple words, Neji intended to frame the incident as a friendly spar. Although it was indeed a spar with a classmate, and no one was injured.

At this point, Sasuke also stood up, standing beside Neji, indicating that this was indeed the case.

Hyuga Hiashi scanned the now dilapidated courtyard, staring at the twenty-meter-wide crater, the neatly cut ravines on the ground, and the wall struck by Raikiri! He was inwardly shocked!

However, Hiashi was the Clan Head, and he didn't dwell on the matter. He turned to the patrolling ninja and said, "This is the Hyuga Clan's territory. My clan member, Hyuga Neji, and his classmate were sparring ninjutsu in their own yard. They did not damage Konoha's public facilities, nor were there any casualties. I apologize for troubling the three members of the Guard Division for nothing. We will handle this ourselves."

The message was clear: sparring ninjutsu within their own clan grounds and home, with no injuries and no damage to public property, was not the Guard Division's jurisdiction. They were asked to leave!

The three members of the Guard Division were extremely displeased but didn't dare to show it. Although they knew this matter wasn't simple, they could only say it was fine and leave! Before leaving, they kept glancing back at the exaggerated battlefield.

After the three members of the Guard Division departed, Hyuga Hiashi instructed a Hyuga clan member beside him to clean up the courtyard and invited Neji to his home for a chat.

Neji had no choice but to refuse. He asked Sasuke to rest first and that he would find him later. He also notified the researchers underground that they could have the day off. After making these arrangements, Neji followed Hyuga Hiashi to the reception room of the Clan Head's residence.

Once they were seated, Neji didn't hold back. Before Hyuga Hiashi could ask, he stated, "Reporting to the Clan Head, Neji has mastered the clan's secret technique 'Rotation,' the Gentle Fist technique 'Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms,' and Hatake Kakashi's signature ninjutsu 'Chidori'."

Seeing Neji's frankness, Hyuga Hiashi was taken aback. He had prepared a whole speech but suddenly didn't know what to say. It was true, Neji hadn't done anything wrong; he was simply too talented. The word "genius" could barely describe Neji at this moment.

He was only eleven years old, not to mention mastering the clan's secret technique 'Rotation' and the Gentle Fist technique 'Eight Trigrams'!

He thought that with a genius like this in the family, compared to Hatake Kakashi becoming a Jonin at twelve, Neji shouldn't be any worse. This junior deserved greater attention!

He sighed inwardly, thinking that if his brother Hizashi were still alive, he would surely be very comforted to see Neji's excellence.

After composing himself, Hiashi said to Neji, "Neji, you've done very well. To achieve this at your age, there are probably very few people in the entire clan, or even the entire Konoha, who are more outstanding than you."

After a pause, Hiashi continued, "From now on, you have free access to the clan library. Each year, the clan will provide you with additional funds for your training. If you have any questions during your practice, you can come to me anytime for guidance. I will teach you wholeheartedly."

Neji was quite surprised by Hiashi's words. In the original story, Hiashi had indeed treated Neji well. Due to Hizashi's death, Hiashi always felt guilty towards Neji. During the Chunin Exams, he had even been willing to trade his own life for Neji's forgiveness.

Although he didn't know how sincere it was, for the head of a great ninja clan, this was quite commendable.

Honestly, Neji didn't blame Hyuga Hiashi. He hadn't done anything wrong. From birth, he was designated as the heir of the Main Family. The decision to place the Caged Bird Seal on the Branch Family members wasn't Hiashi's decision either. Even if Hiashi wanted to change things, it was unrealistic for him alone to dismantle a traditional system that had been in place for hundreds of years.

Even some Branch Family members had completely adapted to the existence of the Caged Bird, viewing it as a form of protection. With it, no one would covet their Byakugan! This way of thinking wasn't entirely wrong.

One could only say that a sparrow could not comprehend the ambition of a swan!

When you have tasted freedom and then lose it, it's entirely different from those who have never known freedom. They are two different worlds, unable to communicate!

This was why Neji's goal from the very beginning was to liberate himself, not to "save" the Branch Family or "destroy" the Hyuga Clan!

After thanking the Clan Head, Neji chatted with him for a while longer before returning to his residence.

Ninja were quite efficient. In just this short time, Neji's courtyard had been mostly repaired, and the obvious traces of battle were no longer visible. It would probably be finished in another hour or so.

He found Sasuke in the living room and led him to the basement, preparing for an in-depth discussion with Sasuke!