Caged Bird Seal

"Eh?"

Far away in Otogakure, Orochimaru looked at the test subject standing respectfully before him, trembling with fear. His brow furrowed. "The Mangekyō Sharingan awakened, but how... can it only control iron?"

"What's the difference between that and trash?"

Orochimaru shook his head in disappointment and turned to leave.

Hyuga Clan.

Hyuga Neji had trained until he was drenched in sweat when he suddenly thought of something. He stopped. "I'm still too young. I can't push my training too hard; I need to take it step by step."

Just then.

He caught sight of a figure walking in and quickly bowed. "Clan Head!"

Hyuga Hiashi merely glanced at him, which counted as a greeting.

But then, a boy's cautious voice sounded behind him. "Uncle, I've already learned the Sixteen Palms. Can... can you teach me the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?"

The Sixteen Palms was not a proper Eight Trigrams Palm technique, but a simplified version of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Every member of the Hyuga Clan could learn the Sixteen Palms, but the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms required the Main Family's approval.

Hyuga Neji believed that although he was from the Branch Family.

His father had died for his uncle, and he was his uncle's nephew. His uncle would surely teach it to him.

At that thought.

Hyuga Neji wore a respectful, hopeful, affectionate look.

Bang—!

With just a wave of Hyuga Hiashi's hand, Neji was sent flying by a crushing force before he could even see the attack. He slammed into the wall, pain exploding through his internal organs!

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Hyuga Hiashi's gaze was icy, filled with condescension and indifference. "Before Branch Family members come of age, they are not qualified to learn the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Put away those thoughts you should never have had!"

"The Branch Family will always be the Branch Family!"

Hyuga Neji got to his feet, his face pale. In the end, he lowered his head. "I... I understand."

So in the end, he was nothing more than a member of the Branch Family.

A bird in a cage.

He gave a bitter laugh, his eyes vacant. "Father, what meaning did your sacrifice have back then?"

As the sky darkened, he walked out of the Hyuga Clan grounds in a daze.

At that.

Hyuga Hiashi looked on coldly. Then a petite figure emerged, her voice timid yet urgent. "Neji... what did Brother Neji go out to do? It's already so late."

She had not seen what had happened earlier.

"Hmph! Don't worry about him. The Branch Family should have the awareness of the Branch Family."

Hyuga Hiashi said coldly, "As for you, how is your Sixteen Palms training going? Why haven't you learned it yet?"

Hyuga Hinata immediately lowered her head, her little face turning deathly pale.

Meanwhile.

"Is dying in place of the Main Family truly the reason the Branch Family exists?"

Hyuga Neji did not know how far he had walked. When he raised his head, everything before him felt unfamiliar. "This... where is this?"

Lush, towering trees surrounded him. Hundreds of houses stood in their midst, with countless vines and flowers growing freely throughout the area. Yet there was not the slightest sense of disorder, as though someone carefully tended the place at all times.

Only when he looked closely did he realize that the houses had long since been abandoned.

Yet the natural atmosphere here was exceptionally relaxing.

"There's actually a place like this in the village?"

Hyuga Neji climbed into the treetops to look around, his eyes filled with defeated grayness. "So I've already reached the edge of the village? But no matter how far I go, I'll ultimately have to return to that cage."

There had always been hope in his heart before.

But now, he felt that everything had lost its meaning. He had no spirit left for anything.

"Eh? What's that?"

His expression froze as he headed toward the center of the hundreds of houses. On the roof of a three-story building, someone was actually sunbathing?!

Hyuga Neji found it absurd.

Someone was sunbathing in this abandoned place? Was that person insane?

He was about to leave when a soft chuckle came from behind him. "Neji, in the beginning, the Main Family existed so that the clan could continue, while the Branch Family existed to make the Main Family safer."

"The Branch Family and Main Family watched over one another. That was the reason the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family existed."

"There was nothing wrong with this system in principle."

Hyuga Neji froze in place. He could not help walking over, his expression stunned. "You are... Uchiha Akira?"

He had heard that name from the Uchiha clansman who had come to summon Uchiha Akira.

"But why is the Branch Family now, the Branch Family..."

He did not know how to describe it.

"But why is the Branch Family now like dogs before the Main Family, whose names can be stripped away at any time?"

Uchiha Akira chuckled and voiced what Neji was too ashamed to say.

Hyuga Neji fell silent.

That silence was also an admission.

"The system itself isn't wrong."

Uchiha Akira explained, "Without the Branch Family system, every member of the Hyuga Clan would become the first targets to be slaughtered on the battlefield, while ordinary Hyuga clansmen simply do not possess sufficient strength."

"But."

A trace of mockery appeared in his eyes. "Systems are dead, while people are alive. To those who hold power, it is best if everyone beneath them is a dog."

It was like Hashirama Senju distributing the Tailed Beasts.

His intentions had been good, but he had not brought about peace. Instead, after his death, even the Tailed Beasts became tools of war.

"H-how could this be..."

Hyuga Neji's mouth fell open. He had been intelligent since childhood, and once the key point had been laid bare, everything became clear to him.

But that could not resolve his predicament.

Instead, it plunged him into even greater confusion.

He said angrily, "Must such a mistake continue forever?! In other people's eyes, the Hyuga Branch Family are nobles, but in our own eyes, we are worse than commoners!"

"At the very least, commoners can decide whether they live or die!"

And they.

Just as Uchiha Akira had said, were merely a pack of dogs kept in captivity!

"Don't wallow in self-pity."

Uchiha Akira understood a young man's mindset very well. "Neji, in the end, all your anger comes only from your own lack of strength. The Branch Family's cage is not impossible to break."

Then he casually changed the subject. "I once read an ancient text."

"It recorded that beyond the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, there is an even higher realm. Once you break through to it, the so-called Caged Bird Seal will naturally cease to exist."

The so-called Caged Bird Seal was, plainly put, a seal that used the Byakugan as its medium and the body itself as a cage to imprison the Branch Family.

But once the Byakugan evolved.

The Caged Bird Seal would most likely become ineffective.

"What?!"

Hyuga Neji was stunned, hope bursting forth in his eyes. "Are you telling the truth? Once one reaches a realm beyond the Byakugan, the Caged Bird Seal can be undone?!"

"Most likely."

Uchiha Akira had never claimed to lie.

He had merely given Neji hope.

Hyuga Neji asked cautiously, with anticipation in his voice, "Can... can you help me?"

[Ding! Oh great Lord Hashirama, please answer the most sincere wish of a villager and help Hyuga Neji find a way to undo the Caged Bird Seal!]

[Quest Reward: Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!]

Uchiha Akira's lips curled upward, his smile incomparably radiant. "Of course I can!"