Caged Bird

A small grove.

Metal sliced through the air with a sharp, shrill whistle.

Shuriken came spinning from different angles, like a flock of birds competing for food. Hyuga Shingetsu, their target, swiftly swung her arms.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—

Her kunai traced graceful arcs, batting away the shuriken flying through the air and sending up a string of sparks.

It looked like an impressive defense, but Akashi frowned slightly.

Something was off. There was too much hesitation in her movements.

She seemed distracted.

A shuriken was aimed right at a vital spot. The usual Shingetsu would have had no trouble blocking it, but today she was clearly a beat too slow.

"Look out!" Akashi shouted.

Shingetsu jolted, realizing she was in trouble. Her hands were already too slow to keep up.

She instinctively turned her head to dodge.

The metallic ring skimmed past her ear, lifting a few strands of hair.

Then both of them froze.

The Forehead Protector bearing Konoha's symbol clattered to the ground, exposing her smooth forehead and the conspicuous—

Caged Bird Seal.

Shingetsu stared blankly for a moment, then hurriedly picked up her Forehead Protector and tried to put it back on. But with the strap half cut through, she couldn't tie it properly, and she looked flustered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." Akashi hurried to apologize.

"It was my carelessness."

Shingetsu held the Forehead Protector in one hand and covered her forehead with the other. Unlike her usual cool, proud self, she suddenly seemed very vulnerable.

A bold idea came to Akashi. Maybe he could win this girl over!

He didn't move closer, leaving them a comfortable amount of space to talk.

At times like this, it was important to be tactful. A torrent of consolation wasn't necessarily helpful.

Sure enough, Shingetsu didn't pull away. "You saw it, didn't you?"

"Huh?"

"That..."

"Yeah, I know. It's a tradition of the Hyuga Clan." Akashi nodded. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. You get used to it." Shingetsu smiled faintly.

She sat on a rock, gazing blankly at the sky. Her eyes were as clear as the sky itself.

The Caged Bird Seal was etched onto the foreheads of the Hyuga Branch Family. It was a mechanism to protect the Branch Family's Byakugan—a time-honored tradition and a responsibility passed down through generations.

But while it protected the Branch Family, it also became a form of confinement.

Gifted young people couldn't grow into eagles soaring freely through the sky. They had to be kept in a birdcage, forced to become the Main House's attack dogs.

They lived for the Main House and died for the Main House.

They rejoiced for the Main House and grieved for the Main House.

The Branch Family had to give up everything for the Main House, while the Main House could use the Cursed Seal to control and damage the Branch Family's brain nerves, giving them the power to decide who lived and died.

No matter what kind of person inherited the position of clan head, this method allowed them to rule by force. Protection and persecution gradually became one and the same.

There were benefits and drawbacks.

It was true that the seal reduced the chance of the Byakugan falling into the wrong hands, but it was also true that it stripped the clan members of their freedom.

"Is it ugly?" Shingetsu suddenly asked.

"Not really," Akashi answered honestly.

"I heard that Uchiha say earlier that those of us in the Branch Family are dogs of the Main House. I can't stop thinking about it. Actually, when I was little, I didn't understand. People are all the same, so why did my parents have to bow to the Main House?

"Later, after they branded me with this seal, I realized we weren't the same.

"At first, I couldn't accept it. I cried for a long time, but my parents told me that everyone went through the same thing. There was only one Main House, but countless members of the Branch Family.

"Eventually, I came to terms with it. The Hyuga Clan had endured for so long and become the strongest in Konoha because sacrifices were necessary. If others could make sacrifices, why couldn't I? Maybe that was what they called fate."

Shingetsu kept smiling, but a trace of sadness showed in her clear eyes.

"Are you really willing to make that sacrifice?" Akashi asked.

"I..." Shingetsu rested her chin on her hand and pressed her lips together. "What difference does it make whether I'm willing or not? Our clan has always been this way."

"Just because it's always been this way, does that make it right?"

Akashi's question struck like a thunderclap.

Shingetsu froze.

"Fate is something you're supposed to fight against."

Akashi took the opportunity to move closer and sat beside Shingetsu. "The more you submit, the deeper you sink into it, until you're completely under its control."

They sat side by side, chatting as casually as friends.

Their voices were gentle, but every word carried weight.

The memories Akashi had stirred up and the resentment Shingetsu had suppressed gathered inside her, building into a force ready to burst free.

"You mean those of us in the Branch Family could stand as equals with the Main House?"

"At the very least, we should try."

Akashi knew that the basic structure of the Shinobi World was absurd. The daimyo and clan heads were like mountains of air pressing down on everyone's heads.

They were weightless, yet somehow impossible to lift away.

"When people have been on their knees for too long, it's hard to stand up again. I think figuring out how to stand is more important than trying to find a more comfortable way to kneel."

Shingetsu seemed shaken by his words. She had never considered anything so heretical.

Resist the Main House?

Give me a break.

There had been people who tried to resist throughout history, including plenty of geniuses. But what had become of them? In the stories told by her parents and elders, they had all failed, held up as cautionary examples for the next generation.

The moment the Caged Bird Seal was branded on them, the Branch Family lost the right to speak up.

"You don't understand us. Besides... besides, the Caged Bird Seal protects us."

"Then your friends, your children, and your children's children will keep suffering the same fate. The Caged Bird Seal doesn't protect the Branch Family. It protects the Byakugan."

Akashi spoke slowly. His voice was quiet, but every word struck home.

"You fear the Caged Bird Seal, but the Main House is afraid of you. If none of you feared the seal anymore, what could the Main House do? Kill you all? Without the Branch Family, the Main House wouldn't be the Main House."

"You're saying something insane."

Shingetsu shook her head slightly. She acknowledged Akashi's concern, but that was all.

As an outsider, he could never truly understand them.

Akashi pressed on, demanding an answer. "Your freedom, your dignity, your dreams—are you willing to give all of them up? To become a servant who obeys every order, reads other people's moods, and accepts the submissive mindset that's been drilled into you since childhood? Can you really accept that?"

Shingetsu bit her lip, her eyes clouded with uncertainty.

Those deeply rooted ideas had long been planted in her heart, but what Akashi had said today was nothing like any of the lessons she'd heard before.

There was no talk of sacrifice, no talk of fate, no claim that it was in her blood.

He was talking about the self.

What was I living for? Shingetsu couldn't help wondering. Was I destined to be nothing more than a tool for the Main House to achieve its dreams? Had every step of my growth been arranged by someone else?

She had always excelled at everything. Why should she have to be someone else's subordinate?

"Have you never suffered over what happened to you? Where did your resentment from a few years ago go? Why forget how you feel? Why are you afraid to question them? What gives them the right? What gives them the right?"

"Stop! You don't understand anything!" Shingetsu suddenly raised her voice.

Her fists clenched.

"Good. You're angry. See? You're furious, aren't you?"

"Sorry..."

After that brief burst of courage, Shingetsu sank back into gloom.

Akashi continued, pushing harder. "You're not wrong. You don't need to apologize. The ones at fault are the Hyuga Clan, Konoha, and this whole world."

He'd already said it, so he didn't care whether it sounded childish or not.