Escape from Konoha

Since his demands had been made and his goal of intimidation achieved, Neji did not linger. He left the Hyuga Clan Compound.

It was already late at night. There were few pedestrians on the streets, and the slightly dark roads stood in stark contrast to their bustling midday appearance.

The sunset had faded, leaving behind only a heavy darkness!

As the saying went, "A single thought leads to heaven, a single thought leads to hell." Neji had handed the choice to the Hyuga Clan. Whether they chose "peace" or "war," Neji would accept it. He would take it as drawing a final line under the old Neji.

From now on, he would live an entirely new life!

If you treated me with peace, I would give you peace. If you treated me with war, I would give you destruction!

This was the first passive choice of his life. Hopefully, it would also be the last!

After returning home, he stored away some important materials and called Sasuke and Haku over.

Sasuke seemed to sense that something was wrong and asked, "What happened?"

Neji did not hide it from him. He removed his headband and revealed his forehead.

Sasuke stared at the completely blank forehead in astonishment. Born into a great clan, he naturally knew that every member of the Hyuga Branch Family had the "Caged Bird" Curse Mark carved onto their foreheads. This Curse Mark was extremely stubborn; over the past century, countless Branch Family members had tried, yet not a single one had broken free from it!

But now, Neji had done it!

Based on Sasuke's understanding of Neji, it was normal that Neji would find a way to break the Caged Bird Curse Mark. In Sasuke's eyes, Neji had never been someone willing to let others control him.

But at the age of twelve, he had solved something that more than ten thousand Hyuga Branch Family members, generation after generation over a hundred years, had failed to break!

Sasuke was utterly shocked. What a monster. Even so-called geniuses were nothing more than this. Compared to Neji, they were simply dull and colorless!

But when he thought of another grave issue, cold sweat instantly ran down Sasuke's back.

Neji breaking the Caged Bird Curse Mark was equivalent to exposing the Hyuga Clan's deepest secret. The Hyuga Clan would never tolerate such a thing. Neji was in great danger now! Even Konoha's higher-ups might take action themselves, helping the Hyuga Clan eliminate this "heretic" in order to maintain the so-called "stability" and "balance" they valued so highly!

Seeing Sasuke's increasingly complicated expression, Neji knew that Sasuke had roughly guessed what was going on.

It was not difficult to guess. Neji had not intended to hide it either. He needed Konoha and the Hyuga Clan to state their position so that he could completely make up his mind and choose the road he would walk from now on.

If he did not force himself, he might truly end up adapting to Konoha's superficial peace!

Walking over to the experimental equipment, Neji stored some of Hyuga Hiashi's blood that he had obtained during the battle. At the same time, he casually said to Sasuke, "I've already taught you everything I can teach you. At your current rate of growth, you should reach Jonin-level strength in about a year. The road ahead will be yours to walk."

Neji paused before continuing, "Leave this place today. If I'm still in Konoha after this period passes, you can keep coming here. If I'm gone, cultivate on your own."

After saying that, Neji pointed at Haku. "Take him with you."

Without waiting for Sasuke's reply, he headed straight for the underground laboratory!

Leaving behind Sasuke, who wanted to speak but hesitated, and Haku, who was still standing there blankly, unable to make sense of the situation.

Neji placed the processed vial of Hyuga Hiashi's blood into a sealed box filled with blood-storage vials. Inside were the blood samples of more than a hundred Hyuga Clan members.

He had collected this blood through various channels ever since deciding to carry out the "Gene Completion" plan seven years ago. With blood samples from more than a hundred clan members, it should cover all of the Hyuga Clan's genetic information. If that still was not enough, he could only make a trip to the moon.

He packed up the important experimental materials and samples, sealing them all into a space scroll.

After finishing everything, Neji returned to the home his father had left him. He lay in his room and quietly waited for the situation to develop!

The outcome did not make Neji wait long. By noon the next day, ninjas had already surrounded the outside of Neji's residence. Most of them were difficult to identify as either Anbu or Root, with several Hyuga Clan ninjas mixed among them.

Some of the nearby residents had already been evacuated, while the rest were still being evacuated. It seemed they wanted to capture him—or kill him outright—at the smallest possible cost!

That really is Konoha's style of handling things, Neji thought with malicious amusement.

Since both the Hyuga Clan and Konoha had given him a clear answer,

Neji instead felt much more relaxed. He muttered softly to himself, "Dad, and Neji... it's not that I wanted to rebel against Konoha or the Hyuga Clan. I just wanted freedom. That isn't too much to ask, right? But they refused to give it to me no matter what, and they insist on forcing me down a dead end!"

"If you know this in the afterlife, you wouldn't want me to come see you while I'm still so young, would you?"

"Then I can only live the rest of my life according to my own wishes!"

After steadying himself, a slightly wild smile appeared on Neji's face. It was the first time he had shown such an expression, and it was also the first time he would completely abandon his former personality and become a truly "free person," unrestrained and without any attachments!

Then his first small goal would be to blow up the Hokage Building!

Having made his choice, Neji was no longer passive. He liked to keep the power of choice firmly in his own hands and move according to his own rhythm.

Without any hesitation, Neji smashed nearly twenty kilograms of sealed Natural Energy containers inside his home. In an instant, an extremely dense mass of Natural Energy spread outward from his old house in every direction!

This was one of the backup measures Neji had prepared for himself. Within an environment saturated with Natural Energy, his strength would increase by at least twofold. His Senjutsu Chakra recovery would also double.

And that was the capital he needed to confront Konoha head-on.

The more than one hundred ninjas surrounding Neji's home instantly became alert when they saw the unknown mist rapidly spreading from inside. They held their breath, fearing it might be poisonous gas.

But before they could make another move, an elegant yet indifferent voice came from within the house. "Sage Art: Eight Trigrams: 256 Palms!"

The Eight Trigrams Formation, enhanced by Senjutsu Chakra, covered an area nearly three hundred meters wide, instantly enveloping and heavily suppressing every ninja surrounding him!

The dozens of ninjas positioned in the direction of the Hokage Office Building instantly fell into despair, because they were not only suppressed by the Eight Trigrams Formation, but also faced the Senjutsu Chakra-enhanced Eight Trigrams: 256 Palms head-on.

Overwhelming tangible chakra palms swept toward those dozens of ninjas at incredible speed. Although some quick-reacting ninjas managed to use defensive ninjutsu in time,

under suppression, what difference was there between barely using defensive ninjutsu and having no defense at all? Their defenses were shattered in an instant, and they were smashed into pulp!

Neji did not waste time. Before the main force could completely encircle him, before the villagers had all been evacuated, and before the Natural Energy he had released fully dispersed,

he pushed off with his feet and shot out of his home in an instant, charging straight toward the Hokage Office Building.

Since his home was only five hundred meters from the Hokage Office Building, after breaking through the encirclement, Neji sprinted at full speed toward the Hokage Building. By the time he was only fifty meters away from the Hokage Office Building, no one had managed to intercept him.

But Neji did not intend to get any closer, because a figure had already taken a stand atop the Hokage Building, staring straight at him with immense pressure.

Yet Neji felt no fear at all. He even wanted to laugh wildly. This is the outcome you wanted. I'll give it all to you!

Facing the Hokage Building, Neji planted his feet and began rapidly gathering chakra in both hands. A violent, spinning mass of Wind Release chakra quickly formed in his palms.

The surrounding ninjas were about to encircle Neji once more, while the Third Hokage atop the building directed the Anbu to surround him. If necessary, he would personally make a move as well.

But in only a few moments, Neji had completed his ultimate ninjutsu, Sage Art: Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, and hurled it directly at the Hokage Office Building without hesitation!

The Third Hokage, still standing atop the Hokage Office Building, finally lost his composure after clearly seeing the enormous spinning chakra shuriken flying toward him. An intense sense of mortal danger radiated from it, making him realize that he could not withstand Neji's ninjutsu. He had to retreat!

The moment the Third Hokage retreated, he regretted it. The Hokage Building was behind him! But there was no longer time for him to choose again, because the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken had already slammed viciously into the Hokage Office Building.

For an instant, the entire world seemed to fall silent. Then a terrifying boom erupted from the Hokage Office Building, followed by continuous explosions, the sound of bulldozers plowing through earth, and dust filling the sky!

When the noise finally stopped and the smoke cleared, Konoha's iconic Hokage Office Building had vanished. All that remained was a massive crater nearly two hundred meters wide and thirty meters deep.

And the culprit behind it all was already riding atop a giant thunder roc, charging toward Konoha's outer barrier.

As every Konoha ninja prayed that the barrier would stop this demon, they heard Neji say calmly, "Sage Art: Gentle Fist: Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!"

Neji instantly gathered all the Senjutsu Chakra in his body into his palms, compressed it, and released it, forming violent Senjutsu Chakra fist imprints that blasted into the barrier.

The barrier before Neji was torn apart as easily as paper, and at the same time, so were the hearts of Konoha's ninjas!

Having done all this, Neji did not hesitate any longer. He rode the Black-Winged Thunder Roc out of Konoha and soared into the sky!

From this day onward, Neji would break free of Konoha's restraints and grow freely beneath the vast heavens!

From this day onward, Neji would begin a new chapter and forge his own glory!

From this day onward, the sea would be wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky high enough for birds to soar!