A Bird That Wants to Fly Out of Its Cage

Hyuga Miyuki steadied her eyes with her hands, feeling the stinging pain radiating from them.

Suppressing her excitement, she cleaned up the traces she had left at the scene, steered the clues toward the Yamanaka Clan, and left directly without paying any mind to the corpses.

The Caged Bird of the Hyuga Branch Family destroys a ninja's neural tissue, making it difficult even for the Yamanaka Clan to extract information from the bodies of branch family members.

Furthermore, many members of the Military Police Force were temporary recruits, leaving gaps in their patrol coverage.

Thus, relying on the advantage of her Byakugan, Hyuga Miyuki had attacked ten people without being discovered.

That's right, ten!

She had now absorbed the ocular power of ten pairs of Byakugan!

Initially, absorbing ocular power had merely increased her chakra and improved her physical constitution, accelerating the growth of her strength.

But this tenth pair of Byakugan felt like a qualitative change.

It was a surge of energy she had never felt before!

"Byakugan, activate!"

Back at home, Hyuga Miyuki waited for the pain to subside before activating her Byakugan.

Hum!

The air vibrated.

The desks and wooden chairs in the room emitted a slight tremor, as if subjected to immense pressure; cracks even appeared on the surface of the fragile wooden chair.

"The field of vision for the Byakugan has increased to a diameter of three kilometers, and my chakra has tripled!"

Hyuga Miyuki was enveloped in dense blue chakra, a sense of joy flooding her heart.

If she could only trade blows with a Jonin before, now, even against an elite Jonin, she could attempt a fight!

It took a long while for Hyuga Miyuki to collect herself; she walked to the table, picked up a mirror, and scrutinized her eyes.

Her originally pure white eyes now carried a hint of sky blue.

When the Byakugan was activated, the protruding veins around her eyes also became less noticeable.

"It seems I will need to use the Transformation Technique to cover them up in the future; sky-blue Byakugan are too conspicuous."

Hyuga Miyuki reined in her joy.

Suddenly, her gaze sharpened.

"Who is it?!"

A light breeze drifted in from the window, but her Byakugan field of vision showed no one nearby.

"An illusion?"

Hyuga Miyuki shook her head, refusing to believe her senses were wrong.

She had definitely felt the sensation of being watched.

"Is the first change triggered at ten pairs?"

Hyuga Hane recorded silently.

"Chakra increased by nearly three times and condensed by twofold; the increase in Byakugan vision is unclear, somewhat like the evolution of the Sharingan into the Mangekyo."

"However, unlike the powerful ocular techniques brought by the Mangekyo, the Byakugan's evolution enhances the foundation."

"Hyuga Hane's chakra is now incredibly refined; if she uses the Gentle Fist, its power will multiply—she is at the level of an elite Jonin..."

Recording up to this point, Hyuga Hane noticed Hyuga Miyuki's vigilance and stopped using his Byakugan to observe, continuing to write.

"Naturally, the enhancement of the Byakugan won't be explosive like the Sharingan, which would directly elevate her to the level of a Kage."

"But the Byakugan has its advantages; without ocular techniques that consume massive amounts of ocular power, it only enhances the ninja's foundation. It likely won't lead to the loss of sight like the Mangekyo."

"Stability... that is indeed the most fundamental characteristic of the Byakugan."

Because the Byakugan is the foundation of the Otsutsuki clan, was it designed this way on purpose?

With some conjectures in mind, Hyuga Hane put away his research notes and stored them in his Special Scroll.

After observing for a while longer, if Hyuga Miyuki's Byakugan showed no issues, he would need to take action himself.

The evolution of the Byakugan had enhanced Hyuga Miyuki's Yin Release chakra, and even her soul strength had increased, making her intuition much sharper.

Simply observing with the Byakugan wouldn't suffice; he would need to make personal contact later.

And that wouldn't work unless he possessed the strength to crush her.

Hyuga Hane chuckled softly.

"We cannot let this continue, Hiruzen!"

Danzo said in a cold voice: "Eleven members of the Hyuga Clan have died recently, and the culprit has even created various misdirections. If I hadn't controlled the public opinion, rumors would have already been rampant throughout Konoha!"

"Let's place the Hyuga Branch Family under control; the culprit is very likely among them!"

"No, the new Caged Bird is complete, and we are scheduled to re-mark the Branch Family soon," Sarutobi Hiruzen insisted. "I will be responsible for the oversight!"

"Hiruzen, you!" Danzo glared at Sarutobi Hiruzen in fury, unable to fathom what he was so insistent about. "The village is short-handed right now, and members of Root and Anbu are out on the battlefield gathering intelligence."

"We have no manpower to waste on the internal strife of the Hyuga Clan!"

"It is you who does not understand, Danzo."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face showed signs of exhaustion. "How many people in the Hyuga Branch Family do you think harbor hatred for the Main Family?"

Danzo's brow twitched. "Are you implying that..."

"Just before you came to see me, more people were murdered—three in total... including one... Main Family ninja!"

"This is truly... an unexpected harvest."

Hyuga Hane watched the panicked, unstable youth before him, recalling the scene from moments ago.

Inside the room, an old man lay sprawled on the floor, his face twisted in terror and despair, the blood pooling from his neck.

Hyuga Meijian, an elder of the Hyuga Main Family, had been killed by this very youth!

"Why did you strike?"

The voice, calm as water, caused the youth to gradually settle down.

If not for the clansman before him lending a hand, he would have been captured by the guards who had arrived on the scene, would he not?

Thinking of this, he whispered, "My younger sister turns five this year. I had hoped that the recent turmoil would spare her from being branded with the Caged Bird..."

"But, as expected, it was impossible."

The youth offered a self-deprecating smile.

"You can understand, can't you? The village and the Main Family treat us like dogs—useful dogs that wag their tails for a few scraps of benefit!"

"I hate them, but I lacked the courage to resist them! But now, someone has finally made the first move!"

He bit his lip hard and said in a low voice, "I don't know who he is, but everyone he kills is a ninja close to the Main Family. It has left the Main Family in a state of panic, forcing them to dispatch their own personal guards to investigate."

"What is the Main Family without their guards? What does the Caged Bird matter then?"

"It is the Branch Family who tends to their daily needs! It is the Branch Family who prepares their food! Is it really that hard to poison or assassinate them?"

"They have no experience, no ability; they have long since forgotten everything about being a ninja in their life of luxury! If not for those traitors in the Branch Family, would it be difficult for us to slaughter a bunch of Main Family trash?"

The youth's bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Hyuga Hane.

"A bunch of high-and-mighty trash—by what right are they our masters!"

"If the village cannot change the Hyuga Clan, then why not just kill every last member of the Main Family!"

A faint smile suddenly appeared on Hyuga Hane's calm face.

"Killing them all is meaningless; you would still be a bird in a cage."

The youth's agitated expression stiffened.

"But it does not matter. I know where you can find a way to fly out of that cage."

"While the Caged Bird technique is being improved, research into breaking the Caged Bird has also been put on the agenda."

"Your strength is not yet enough, and your companions are not yet enough."

Watching the youth's pupils dilate, Hyuga Hane whispered, "Can you become a bird that flies out of the cage?"