Hearing Neji's answer, Naruto did not respond immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Hinata, who stood quietly to the side, and asked calmly, "Hinata, do you think the Hyuga Clan's current system is fair?"
Caught off guard by the question, Hinata visibly froze, a trace of panic and confusion appearing in her pale eyes.
She looked at Neji's eager expression, then at Naruto as he waited for her answer, unsure how to put her thoughts into words.
"It's okay, Hinata." Naruto's voice was encouraging. "Just say what you truly think. You don't need to consider anything else."
Feeling the trust and support in Naruto's gaze, Hinata took a deep breath and tried to calm her quickening heartbeat.
She recalled everything she had experienced growing up, especially how, after Neji's father died, Neji had been branded with the Caged Bird and forced to protect her for the rest of his life.
At the time, Hinata had felt especially miserable and stifled. She had run away from home, and that was when she met Naruto.
Thinking of this, Hinata gathered her courage, raised her head slightly, and said frankly, "Naruto... I think the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird system really... really turns the Branch Family and the Main Family into two different kinds of people."
"There are deeper things that I may not fully understand yet... but I know that the Main Family can freely control the life and death of the Branch Family using nothing more than the excuse of 'protecting the Byakugan'... That is wrong."
After hearing Hinata's words, Naruto nodded slightly, then looked at Neji again and said evenly, "When the Hyuga Clan established the Caged Bird and the Main Family-Branch Family system, their original intention was to prevent the Byakugan from falling into outsiders' hands. That intention itself