The Debts of the Previous Generation

Hyuga Yue's family dinner was exceptionally lavish. Even Uchiha Jie had not expected Hyuga Yue's cool and beautiful mother to be such an excellent cook—and such a powerful ninja.

She cleanly and decisively chopped vegetables and chicken with a kitchen knife, yet did not leave a single mark on the cutting board. Her control over her strength was perfect. A deviation of even the slightest degree would either fail to cut through the food or split the cutting board apart.

The cooking that followed was even more pleasing to the eye, like a dance composed jointly by ingredients and flame. The seasoning and plating afterward were equally dazzling.

"So, so amazing..." Hinata stared wide-eyed. Her father had never cooked, nor had he ever tried to enter a kitchen. Every day, servants brought them food prepared by dedicated chefs.

Though there were plenty of varieties, none could compare to the dishes at Hyuga Yue's home. She caught the scent Yue had once smelled, and saliva immediately began spilling from her mouth uncontrollably.

It was not until Uchiha Jie smilingly handed her a tissue that she came to her senses, her face instantly flushing red.

"Um..."

"We can't eat it." Uchiha Jie seemed to have read her mind. He shook his head, dispelling Hinata's fantasy.

"My Genjutsu still needs practice. Under these circumstances, letting us smell what Yue smelled back then is already the limit." He answered with a smile.

"But perhaps Yue inherited her mother's talent too?" Uchiha Jie licked his lips. Even he craved food like that.

Dish after dish of different cuisine was prepared by Hyuga Yue's mother, while Hyuga Yue's father sat on the steps in the courtyard, producing secondhand smoke one puff after another. It seemed that the soul-hooking aroma of the food held not the slightest temptation for him.

Hyuga Yue, on the other hand, was very happy. Her mother had unexpectedly made such an abundant feast today. She narrowed her eyes and quietly sat before the dining table, watching her mother place one delicious dish after another before her as she waited for dinner to begin.

"You eat first."

But this was what she heard instead.

Hyuga Yue's mother placed chopsticks before her daughter, brought over the staple food she had prepared in advance, then washed her hands, pushed open the door, and headed into the small courtyard outside the house.

"Your father and I still have something to discuss," she said softly before closing the door.

"Come on, let's hear what they want to say."

Uchiha Jie tugged at Hyuga Hinata, who had started drooling again. He did not use much force, yet he somehow failed to pull her. She immediately snapped back to herself and awkwardly wiped her mouth with her hand.

At the instant Sister Yue picked up her chopsticks, Hinata actually tasted something in her mouth. It was faint, but so enticing—a flavor she had never experienced before.

Uchiha Jie frowned and smacked his lips. This taste felt especially familiar to him.

But business came first. He pulled Hinata into the courtyard and approached Hyuga Yue's parents.

The two sat side by side on the steps, their legs touching and their bodies pressed together as though they were leaning on each other, though their backs remained perfectly straight.

Their lips moved rapidly, as though they were arguing about something. However, their voices were not particularly clear and sometimes came through in broken fragments.

Hyuga Yue's ears had caught these sounds at the time, but she had not heard them clearly. Yet with the aid of the Genjutsu, the events of that day were now being traced back to their source.

"Tonight... is our daughter's day... Caged Bird..."

From Hyuga Yue's father's voice, they could tell that tonight was the day Hyuga Yue would receive the Caged Bird Seal.

"No..."

Hyuga Yue's mother spoke more softly. Only those two words could be heard clearly. After Hyuga Yue's father heard them, he fell silent, producing secondhand smoke puff after puff. His body no longer stood as upright as before.

Then he moved again, raising the arm that bore a knife wound. He stretched it out and wrapped it around Hyuga Yue's mother's shoulders. At some point, his forearm and palm had reached the back of her head.

With a hook of his finger, the forehead protector tightly tied behind her head came loose in an instant and fell into his hand.

Hyuga Yue's mother turned her head to look at her husband. Her gaze was as sharp as a blade and glinted with the cold light of one.

Once the forehead protector was removed, the blue mark exposed on her forehead added a trace of ferocity to that sharpness.

The ugly X-shaped scar startled Hinata as well. She covered her mouth and asked softly, "Th-that... what is that?"

"You'll know soon enough." Uchiha Jie gently patted her back.

Meeting his wife's gaze, Hyuga Yue's father slowly untied his own forehead protector as well, revealing the same ugly blue mark on his forehead.

"This is our fate, and our daughter's fate too... We can't escape it. We can't escape it, and neither can Yue."

His voice was hoarse and even carried a trace of a sob. He tightly held his wife's head, pressing his forehead against hers. Their marks fit tightly together without the slightest gap, and tears streamed from his eyes.

But Hyuga Yue's mother—his wife—pushed him away. Her cold voice rang out. "You know that I have never believed in fate."

"I know..." he said through tears. "When you were promised to me back then, that was what you said. You said this was not fate..."

"You told me that this was a shackle, a cage..."

"This is a shackle, a cage. It is my disgrace, and even more so the disgrace of the Hyuga Clan."

Hyuga Yue's mother took over from her sobbing husband and continued, "My former teammate, Uchiha Hayabusa, was brutally beheaded on the battlefield by Cloud Ninja, who dug out his eyes."

"I remember what the Uchiha Clan did. They sent three squads, nine people in total. Every one of them had Three Tomoe Sharingan. They killed the Cloud Ninja who had taken Hayabusa's Sharingan and brought his Sharingan back."

"They even brought the killer's corpse before me and asked whether I wanted to do something to vent Hayabusa's anger..."

"And when my father was captured alive, do you know what the clan did?" As she spoke, her white eyes became misty.

"They activated the Curse Mark and turned his Byakugan, along with his entire head, into a cloud of blood mist. Even now, all I can see is his lonely name on the Memorial Stone."

"And that was the very day I received the Caged Bird. I watched with my own eyes as the Elder activated the curse, and I even widened my eyes and curiously asked him what he was doing."

"The next day, I learned what had happened. So I swore—swore that I would break the shackles, crush the cage, and trample this disgrace beneath my feet."

"But..." Hyuga Yue's father said softly, "We... Yue... she's still so young."