Neji did not make another move. He slowly straightened up and calmed the roiling blood stirred by the fierce battle.
To be fair, Hyuga Hiashi was not weak. Below Kage-level, he could be considered among the strongest. If Neji had not used Sage Chakra in the end, he might not have been able to defeat this Clan Head on his own strength alone.
His Eight Trigrams Formation had been ineffective at the start and had even shown signs of being suppressed by Hiashi's formation. Only by relying on his greater Chakra reserves and faster recovery had he gained a slight advantage in their Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms exchange.
But before that advantage could accumulate further, Hiashi's Mountain Crusher Palm had evened things out. Neji had even been forced to use Lightning Great Rotation for defense.
Even the Fourth Hokage's Great Ball Rasengan, a ninjutsu infinitely close to S-rank, had only ended in a draw against Hyuga Hiashi's Great Mountain Crusher Palm.
In the end, Neji could only mobilize Sage Chakra to bring the battle to a close.
Neji had also wanted to reveal his strength gradually. Otherwise, if he had followed his usual style and unleashed his ultimate move right from the start, this match would probably have been much easier.
A moment later, Hyuga Hiashi had recovered as well. Both sides had exercised restraint in this battle, and neither had suffered much injury. They had merely expended Chakra.
Looking around at the ruined training ground, Hyuga Hiashi's feelings were extremely complicated.
Before this, he could never have imagined that his nephew, Hyuga Neji, could have grown to such a level at such a young age. He was simply too monstrous!
And another grave problem lay before him. During that life-and-death crisis, Hyuga Hiashi had tried to sense and activate the Caged Bird. Yet, to his horror, he could sense nothing at all, just as his Byakugan could not see through Neji's Chakra.
The Caged Bird Seal that he controlled through his mind had not reacted in the slightest either!
The sky was about to change! The Hyuga Clan was about to change!
Taking a deep breath, Hyuga Hiashi forcibly calmed himself. Neji had clearly had the chance just now, yet he had not delivered a killing blow. There should still be room for negotiation. He had to remain calm.
Seeing that Hyuga Hiashi had adjusted himself, Neji spoke. "Clan Head, would it be convenient for us to continue talking? To deepen our mutual understanding?"
When Hyuga Hiashi saw Neji take the initiative and request a discussion, he felt somewhat relieved. He truly feared that Neji might act on impulse and do something irreparable. That would likely be a disaster for the clan, Konoha, and himself.
Hyuga Hiashi raised his head and looked deeply at Neji. "Follow me!"
After tidying themselves up a little, the two arrived in a secret chamber and took their seats. Neji spoke first. "Clan Head, Neji recently completed his Sage Jutsu training and used Sage Chakra to remove the Caged Bird Seal from himself!"
Neji raised his eyes to stare at the Clan Head. Seeing that Hiashi did not react too intensely, he continued, "Neji has no intention of becoming an enemy of the Hyuga Clan or Konoha. I merely wish to pursue my own personal 'freedom.' I hope Clan Head can understand and grant it!"
Hyuga Hiashi sighed softly. "About a hundred years ago, the Hyuga Clan faced a major crisis. Clan members would disappear every few days. When the missing members were found again, they had died horribly, their eyes gouged out. At first, the clan members were angry, but it was only anger. Then, nearly one-third of the clan members had their eyes gouged out and died miserably in the wilderness. Their emotions shifted from anger to fear. This fear of the unknown could no longer be restrained, and the clan stood on the verge of collapse."
"To survive that crisis, all the clan's Jonin and Chunin gathered and discussed the matter for nearly a month! In the end, they came up with three plans. The first was a lockdown policy.
"Before the crisis was resolved, all clan members would cease all unnecessary outings! Everyone would gather at the clan hall, eat together, and live together." "The second plan was to seal the Byakugan. The clan gathered all ninjas proficient in Sealing Jutsu and paid a tremendous price to hire sealing experts from the Uzumaki Clan. Together, they studied Sealing Jutsu in an effort to seal the Byakugan. That research lasted five years. Finally, through everyone's combined efforts, they developed the present Caged Bird Seal. At the time, the clan called it the Protective Seal, meaning that it protected the clan and the Byakugan."
"The third plan was the Seed Plan. Because the second plan succeeded, it was never implemented."
"At first, the Protective Seal was not rejected by everyone. Once it was engraved, it did place a certain restraint on the Byakugan, but it could eliminate the risk of being captured, having one's eyes gouged out, and being killed. Compared with those dangers, a slight restraint on the Byakugan was nothing."
"So, at the time, nearly every clan member wanted the seal engraved on themselves. But because the Curse Mark had only recently been developed, even its researchers did not know whether it would have side effects. In the end, everyone agreed to leave a small number of people unmarked, while the rest would receive the Curse Mark."
"Because this small group bore the risk of having their eyes gouged out by unknown enemies, the clan granted them greater authority and the duty of engraving the Curse Mark upon the others."
"After the clan survived that crisis, time passed, and the Hyuga Clan gradually evolved into the present Main House and Branch Family system!"
"The Main House did not receive the Curse Mark. They possessed the authority to govern the clan and engraved the Curse Mark on every Branch Family child of the appropriate age. The Branch Family did not participate in the clan's major decisions. The vast number of Branch Family members formed the foundation of the Hyuga Clan and handled the operation of its various affairs!"
"At first, there was no problem with this system. But when the external danger was gone, the original generation of clan members grew old, and a new generation was born, the system began to be questioned. Some Branch Family members were filled with indignation. Why were we born into the Branch Family, forced to accept the Main House's control, and forced to receive the Curse Mark from them? Those voices grew louder and louder, showing signs of stirring internal conflict within the clan once again."
"Until someone from the Main House modified the Protective Seal and added a control function to it. From then on, everything seemed to return to peace. No Branch Family members stepped forward in opposition again, and they became 'obedient.'"
"The name Protective Seal was never mentioned again. It came to be called the Caged Bird Seal instead."
"Because I am a beneficiary of this system, I cannot criticize or judge whether it is right or wrong. But as Clan Head, all I can do is restrain the Main House as much as possible, strictly forbid practitioners from activating the Caged Bird Seal except when absolutely necessary, improve the Branch Family's treatment, and give them a measure of freedom."
"But I know very well that no matter how much I do, I cannot conceal the fact that the Branch Family's fate is controlled by the Main House!"
Hyuga Hiashi spoke with great sincerity. Neji could also tell that he was not lying. Over the past decade, it had indeed become difficult to see the Main House activating the seal to punish Branch Family members. The Branch Family had also gained a certain degree of freedom.
But the essence had not changed. Everything Hyuga Hiashi did was merely "whitewashing," whitewashing the shackles the Main House had placed upon the Branch Family!
When shackles were covered in flowers, some people might find them beautiful. But Neji would not forget that they were still shackles. So he broke them apart and crushed them!
Neji remained silent. Although Hyuga Hiashi had said a great deal, he had not directly answered Neji's question. Neji only wanted to know whether the clan would choose "peace" or "war"!
Seeing Neji remain silent, Hyuga Hiashi knew that he could no longer treat him like a child. He faced the issue directly. "This matter is of great importance. I need to gather the Elder Council for discussion before giving you an answer."
"I hope you will remain patient during this time. I will do my utmost to secure your freedom," Hyuga Hiashi solemnly promised Neji.
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