You Don't Hate Them?

"Stay alert. Let's investigate further."

Quickly composing himself, Uchiha Kotaro glanced at Hyuga Hane but didn't ask him to use his Byakugan.

The three Hyuga shinobi were almost certainly dead. They hadn't even been able to escape, which meant their enemy clearly had a way to counter the Byakugan.

Perhaps they had Sensory Ninjutsu that could detect people from farther away than the Byakugan. Or perhaps they were powerful shinobi like the Yellow Flash, skilled in speed and the Body Flicker Technique.

Trusting the Byakugan too much now might cost them the initiative.

They kept close enough to support one another and carefully searched the forest. At one point, Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone briefly disappeared from their sight. Moments later, the real Hane quietly rejoined the group.

He was the shinobi responsible for sensing threats in the squad. It was far too easy for him to fool everyone.

Hyuga Hisanobu had already been knocked unconscious and sealed in a scroll that could store living things. Once this mission was over, Hane could officially begin his research.

Eventually, after finding another sign of battle several kilometers away, they found nothing else. With no choice, they returned to the commander's camp to report.

After hearing Uchiha Kotaro's report, the black-haired man looked toward Hyuga Hane.

A single Byakugan falling into enemy hands wouldn't affect the bigger picture. But if a Hyuga from the Main Family fell into the hands of a hostile force, the consequences would be dire!

Hyuga Hane, Uchiha Kotaro, and the black-haired man all understood this.

"I'll report this to the Hokage. Notify every Hyuga Clan shinobi immediately and tell them to be cautious on the battlefield. If we confirm the enemy has learned the Caged Bird Seal, all Hyuga shinobi are to withdraw from the Mist Village Battlefield at once!"

"Yes, sir!"

As the two vanished with the Body Flicker Technique, the black-haired man suddenly smiled.

The old man was probably going to chew him out for such a massive blunder.

But you got what you wanted, didn't you, Hane?

Drip. Drip.

The sound of water echoed through the dark space. Hyuga Hisanobu woke to the faint noise. He tried to open his eyes, only to realize that he couldn't feel his body, and his eyes wouldn't open either.

But the faint sounds around him and the smell of disinfectant told him that the man had to be here.

"Hyuga Hane, you traitor! How dare you attack the Main Family!"

His hoarse voice came out barely above a whisper, but Hyuga Hane heard him as he focused on preparing a chemical solution. A faint smile crossed his face.

"Don't put it like that. I've been waiting for this for a long time. A member of the Main Family comes to the battlefield with only two Jonin guards—what a perfect opportunity. It would've been a waste to let it pass."

"My whereabouts... You... revealed them... to the Mist?" Hyuga Hisanobu asked haltingly.

"That's right. Though I didn't expect them to send three Jonin. Fortunately, those two Branch Family Jonin held them off. Otherwise, they might have left behind some traces."

After finishing the solution, Hyuga Hane approached the table where Hyuga Hisanobu lay and spoke in a low voice.

After arriving in this world, he had trained using the Shadow Clones left behind by his deceased parents, and his progress had been astonishing.

With his foreknowledge, he had also earned Might Duy's trust and received the Eight Inner Gates. By the age of fourteen, he had reached the level of an Elite Jonin.

He could deal with several Chunin without much trouble, taking them out quickly. But if the enemy included a Jonin, things got troublesome.

"Do you... hate... the Main Family? Hate... the Caged Bird?"

Hyuga Hisanobu murmured, "Is that why... you're taking revenge... this way?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Hyuga Hane's face. He chuckled. "Revenge? Maybe I would've considered it before today. But now..."

"Why should I care?"

His indifferent tone made Hyuga Hisanobu's heart sink.

He wasn't afraid of Hyuga Hane seeking revenge. With the Caged Bird, all it would take was one slip caused by his hatred, and death would be waiting for him.

Hane had caught him off guard this time because they were on the battlefield. After learning from this mistake, the Main Family shinobi would only become more cautious.

But Hane's calm, unconcerned tone made it clear that he truly didn't care.

How could a Branch Family shinobi, whose life was controlled by the Main Family, be so indifferent?

"You... aren't afraid... of the Caged Bird?"

"I haven't figured out how to remove the Caged Bird completely, but there are plenty of ways to limit it or make it ineffective."

Hyuga Hane placed two bottles of solution beside Hyuga Hisanobu's head and smiled. "Besides, haven't you already brought me the means to get rid of the Caged Bird for good?"

"What... do you mean?"

Hyuga Hisanobu felt a sense of foreboding.

"Today, a Hyuga from the Main Family fell into Mist Village hands. He knows the hand signs for activating the Caged Bird."

"If he can't withstand Mist Village's torture and betrays the village, telling the enemy how to activate the Caged Bird Seal, what do you think will happen?"

The Main Family would be left in name only!

Hyuga Hisanobu wasn't stupid. He immediately understood what Hyuga Hane was planning, and a chill ran through him.

If Mist Village learned how to activate the Caged Bird, what would Konoha's High Command do?

They would force the Main Family to find a way to undo the Caged Bird Technique!

They might not even need the Hokage and the others to intervene. The Main Family would have no choice but to act, either undoing the Caged Bird or changing how the seal was applied.

Because then Mist Village would have effectively become another Main Family, able to decide the fate of the Hyuga Branch Family with ease!

The Main Family needed a Branch Family member within sight to activate the Caged Bird. If the hand signs fell into enemy hands, any Branch Family member who saw the enemy would be killed!

This was the Third Shinobi World War. Konoha was under attack from multiple villages, and the Hyuga Clan was an indispensable part of Konoha's strength. They couldn't afford to lose them.

The Main Family and the High Command would have to find a way to make the enemy's knowledge of the Caged Bird useless!

"How... could this... happen? How... could this... happen..."

Hyuga Hisanobu's face drained of color as he repeated the same words over and over.

All because of his own selfishness, the Caged Bird Technique—the very foundation of the Hyuga Clan's rule over the Branch Family—might disappear?!

What would the Branch Family do then? What would become of the Main Family?

If the Caged Bird were gone, he couldn't even imagine what kind of retribution the Main Family would face.

That was why Hyuga Hane didn't care... Who would care about a bunch of dead men?

He hadn't considered what would happen if Hane failed to obtain the hand signs for activating the Caged Bird, because that had never been necessary.

Just like the false report that he had been captured by Mist Village, Hane only needed to fake a few deaths among the Hyuga Branch Family and make them look like the Caged Bird had killed them. The High Command and the Main Family would have no choice but to consider undoing or improving the Caged Bird Technique!

And with Hane's abilities, that wouldn't be difficult.

"It's all your fault! This is all because of you!"

Hyuga Hisanobu said resentfully, "You're destroying the Hyuga Clan. Without the Caged Bird, the clan is doomed. You have no idea what enemies the Hyuga Clan is facing..."

"The Otsutsuki on the moon?"

Hyuga Hisanobu's face stiffened.

"I'm not their match yet, that's true. But why do you think the Caged Bird will stop them from attacking? Like this time, they could attack only the Main Family and obtain the hand signs for activating the Caged Bird. The Hyuga Clan would still be wiped out, wouldn't it?"

Ignoring his shock and hatred, Hyuga Hane injected him with a sedative. Once he had calmed down, Hane put on gloves and removed his eyes.

How ridiculous. A technique that controlled the life and death of most of a clan's members could be used by every member of the Main Family, with no restrictions at all.

Didn't that practically tell everyone that anyone could learn how to activate the Caged Bird?

Once the hand signs were exposed, anyone could control the lives and deaths of the Hyuga Branch Family.

And even if the Main Family could guarantee that the hand signs stayed secret while they were alive, what then?

The Shinobi World had techniques for controlling the dead. Reincarnating a Hyuga from the Main Family with Impure World Reincarnation wouldn't be difficult.

Hyuga Hane paused and gazed toward the exit on his left. A figure walked in.