Bird in a Cage

After the Elder finished speaking, the entire courtyard fell silent, with only the night wind rustling through it. Hyuga Hiashi and the Hyuga Clan Elder stared at each other with their Byakugan, while everyone else lowered their heads without saying a word.

At some point, Uchiha Jie had picked up Hyuga Hinata. She wiped away her tears, her face streaked with them. Though she was a ninja trainee and had prepared herself to witness death,

she had always thought the first death she witnessed would be that of a villain, an enemy, someone who deserved to die. She did not know what Sister Yue's parents had done wrong, or why that kindly Elder claimed they had betrayed the clan.

They had clearly done nothing. They had not killed anyone, nor had they even hurt anyone. Just moments ago, everything had been so warm, yet now they had silently lost their lives before her eyes.

That Elder, who had always seemed so kind, actually had such a face. The twisted expressions of Hyuga Yue's parents, along with the Curse Mark on their foreheads that was gradually fading away, made Hinata too afraid to look up.

After an unknown amount of time, perhaps a few seconds, perhaps a minute, while Hinata was still sobbing softly, the young Hyuga Hiashi suddenly sighed.

He crouched down again, picked up Hyuga Yue, who had taken sleeping medicine and was still unconscious, then handed her to his younger brother.

"Hiashi, you cannot take her away."

The Elder finally spoke as well. Pointing at Hyuga Yue in Hyuga Hiashi's arms, he said gravely.

"She has been unconscious the whole time. She knows nothing." Hyuga Hiashi shook his head and spoke softly.

"Besides, from what I know, she is highly talented. She can even suppress the Uchiha in her class."

"You all know what the Uchiha Clan is like now. Their strength is growing greater and greater, and more and more of them possess the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Every ninja clan is being ridden roughshod over by them."

He turned his head and glanced at his younger brother.

"The village's situation is not good right now. War could break out between the ninja villages and nations at any time."

"So whether Main Family or Branch Family, every member of the Hyuga Clan is extremely important now. She is no exception."

The surrounding members of the Hyuga Branch Family nodded in agreement under Hizashi Hyuga's lead. Even the few people standing behind the Elder quietly nodded.

The Elder's expression gradually softened, wrinkles gathering across his face. He chuckled softly, though the sound was scarcely better than crying.

"Ha ha, you are right, Hiashi. Our Hyuga Clan truly lacks powerful combat strength right now, but she is still only a child attending the Ninja Academy."

He gave a dry laugh, but Hyuga Hiashi's final words left him speechless.

"Enough. I will personally place the Caged Bird Seal on her shortly." Hyuga Hiashi turned away from the Hyuga Clan Elder and instead looked at Hyuga Yue, asleep in Hizashi Hyuga's arms.

"Hizashi, I will leave her to you from now on. Get a taste of being a father in advance. What do you think?" He gave a dry laugh, teasing Hyuga Yue by touching her little nose before asking softly.

"Brother, I can do it." Hizashi Hyuga nodded solemnly, then stepped back to stand behind his brother, blocking the Hyuga Clan Elder's gaze.

Though he had become part of the Branch Family, Hiashi was still his brother. At this time, when his brother had just become the Main Family head, he had to support him unconditionally. This was extremely important to both the Main Family and the Branch Family.

He had known the two clan members involved in tonight's incident for a long time. The woman had once been one of the Hyuga Clan's finest, possessing Jonin-level combat ability and completing missions quickly and efficiently.

Until a certain tragedy occurred, she had withdrawn into silence.

The Branch Family head at the time had arranged a marriage for her. She devoted herself to being a full-time housewife and gave birth to an adorable little girl.

No one could have imagined that something like this would happen today.

"Why... why is this happening?"

Hinata finally stopped crying. Tear streaks still marked her little face, and she still could not understand why this had happened.

"You will know soon enough."

Uchiha Jie set her down, took her hand, and followed Hyuga Hiashi's group. Hyuga Yue's parents lay upon the cold ground, with only two Branch Family members who knew them well standing silently beside them.

Hyuga Hiashi led the others to where they should have been tonight: the place where the Caged Bird Seal was engraved.

This was the Hyuga Clan's old residence. No one lived there anymore, and normally only servants came to clean it. Yet whenever a Branch Family member was to receive the Curse Mark, everyone gathered here.

Hyuga Yue remained unconscious, her eyes tightly shut. Hizashi Hyuga laid her on a table while Hyuga Hiashi stood beside her and activated his Byakugan.

Some of the Branch Family members watching clenched their hands, some lowered their heads, and some simply turned away. Meanwhile, the Main Family Elder watched Hyuga Hiashi gather chakra and carve the Curse Mark onto Hyuga Yue's head, the smile at the corner of his lips growing ever more unrestrained.

The colors around them gradually faded. Soon, Uchiha Jie and Hyuga Hinata stood in a white void. Hinata looked up at Jie, the only one who still had color, her voice trembling slightly.

"W-What is that?" she asked.

Uchiha Jie motioned for her to sit cross-legged, then sat down himself. The tomoe in his Sharingan began to turn once more, and a cyan pattern, the one just carved onto Hyuga Yue's forehead, appeared before them.

"This is a kind of Curse Mark."

He explained:

"No one can verify who developed it, but knowledge of how to use this technique has always remained in the hands of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family."

"At the beginning, the Main Family told the Branch Family members marked with it that it was a safeguard to prevent the Byakugan of their clan from being leaked. When they died, it would automatically destroy their Byakugan."

"But the Main Family never placed this Curse Mark upon themselves."

"And just as you saw, its function has changed without anyone noticing. It is no longer a technique triggered passively. It can be actively used to harm the Hyuga Branch Family members marked with it."

"The degree of harm ranges from causing headaches to killing someone outright."

"It could be said that the Hyuga Branch Family members marked with the Curse Mark were completely controlled by the Main Family. They did not voluntarily shoulder the responsibility of protecting the Main Family. Rather, if they wanted to die after the Main Family, the Main Family would curse them to death first."

"Such a thing naturally deepened the division between the Hyuga Main Family and Branch Family. By your father's generation, that division had nearly reached its peak."

"So the previous generation's Main Family Elder came up with a good idea. He had Hyuga Hiashi's younger brother, your Uncle Hizashi, receive the Caged Bird Seal and join the Branch Family, becoming its head."

"The Elder who cursed Sister Yue's parents to death in Hyuga Yue's memories just now was the one who came up with that idea. In the end, he was also the one who decided before the Third Hokage that Hizashi Hyuga would die in your father's place."