Hot spring hotel--
Ning Xue was silent for a moment, and then sighed softly.
What was supposed to come finally came.
He stood there and did not look back at the Byakugan line of sight. Instead, he bent down and took out a scroll from his backpack.
His fingertips rested on the scroll for a moment, then he clenched it tightly and put it into the ninja bag at his waist.
He stood up and walked towards the empty Earth Flow outside the woods without looking back. At the same time, he said something to Sasuke and the others behind him.
"A friend came over and I'll go take care of it."
Sasuke's hand that was sorting the map paused slightly, and he raised his head and glanced at Ning Xue.
He didn't ask who it was, but a hint of understanding flashed in those black eyes.
It was probably Konoha's people who were chasing after them. After all, the battle last night was so big that Konoha couldn't possibly have no reaction.
Suigetsu was sitting cross-legged on the ground wiping Kubikiribōchō. Hearing this, he was stunned for a moment, then raised his head, his tone was a little surprised, as if he had seen some treasure.
"Friends? Do you still have friends?"
"Brother, I thought your personality was only suitable for ice cubes like Sasuke."
Ning Xue did not answer him, nor did he stop.
Jugo remained silent, without any expression.
Karin frowned and felt the threat for the first time.
She immediately closed her eyes and began to feel the Chakra fluctuations around her.
However, it was not until the figure of Ning Xue disappeared at the entrance of the woods that her perception captured a Chakra several kilometers away.
Karin opened his eyes, his face looked a little ugly, he bit his lip and muttered softly.
"That guy's perception ability... is actually much faster than mine..."
The uneasy feeling of being "replaced" came up again in her heart, but in front of Sasuke, she didn't have the nerve to get angry. She just glared fiercely in the direction where Ning Xue disappeared.
On the other side, when Neji saw Ning Xue coming towards him, his speed slowed down unconsciously.
He landed on a thick branch, his white eyes reflecting the approaching figure.
Three years.
Three whole years.
He thought that he had accepted the fact that the other party was dead, and thought that those memories had been sealed deep in his heart and would never be brought out again.
But when the figure walked through the mottled light and shadow in the forest and walked towards him step by step, he realized that all his "thinking" was just self-deception.
The figure got closer and closer, passing through the last bush and stopping less than ten meters away from him.
Ning Xue.
At this moment, he was not wearing a mask, only a pair of black contact lenses, covering his iconic Byakugan.
His expression couldn't be called surprise or indifference, only a deep sense of complexity.
Three years.
He has changed a lot. He is taller and his shoulders are wider. He has lost the immatureness of a young man three years ago and has become more mature.
But his eyes were still calm, as calm as they were three years ago.
Neji's breathing completely stopped at this moment.
His pupils slowly dilated, his hands were shaking slightly, his knuckles were clenched so hard that they almost dug into his palms.
His face was full of shock, disbelief, pain and dissatisfaction at having been deceived for three years.
Neither of them spoke first.
The woods were so quiet that only the sound of the wind and the faint chirping of birds could be heard in the distance.
The air seemed to be frozen, so heavy that it was breathless.
After a long time, Ning Xue spoke first.
"Neji, long time no see."
His voice was more mature than three years ago, calm, but with a hint of hoarseness.
It was this sound that made Neji completely unable to hold his nerve.
"Why--"
Neji's voice was suppressed and trembling, and his fists were gradually clenched.
"You are obviously still alive! Why don't you tell me!"
His voice gradually changed from a suppressed whisper to an uncontrollable roar, echoing in the empty woods and startling a few birds resting on the branches.
"Aren't we friends?"
When he said this, his voice suddenly dropped, with a kind of choking that even he himself was not aware of.
Ning Xue looked at Neji, who had never been so out of sorts before, and was silent for a long time.
He lowered his head slowly, his eyes falling on the soil covered with fallen leaves at his feet, and his voice was low.
"Yes, we are friends."
He paused.
"But then, as a dead person, I was better."
Neji Hearing this sentence, his body froze as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head.
"Then why don't you come back?"
He finally found his voice, and most of the anger in his tone had receded, replaced by a deep sense of confusion.
"You know."
Ning Xue raised his head and looked directly into Neji's eyes. Something was surging deep in the pupils covered by contact lenses.
"The moment I chose revenge, I was destined to be Konoha's enemy sooner or later."
Neji's body shook violently.
He instantly remembered that day during the Ninja Academy period.
Remember that evening.
I also remembered Ning Xue's father.
Hyuga Ning, why did he die?
Neji was silent.
His fists slowly unclenched and then clenched until his knuckles turned white.
Indeed.
If Ning Xue chooses to take revenge on Konoha, it would be better for him to be a dead person.
A dead person will not lead to pursuit, will not implicate the people around him, and will not make anyone suspicious.
Thinking of this, his mood calmed down a little, and then he thought of another even more incredible question.
"How did you solve your Caged Bird...?"
This question was something he had been unable to figure out for the past few weeks.
Ning Xue was silent for a moment after hearing this question.
Then, he slowly raised his hand and began to untie his turban.
"I did not solve Caged Bird."
"But..."
Having said this, he paused and said in a slightly unnatural tone:
"It was a friend of mine who helped me isolate it."
The moment the voice fell, the headscarf was taken off, revealing the blue-black Cursed Seal under the forehead.
Caged Bird still exists under his skin, and those fine lines are clearly visible, no different from anyone with the Hyuga Branch Family.
But Neji can clearly see that the flow of Chakra of Cursed Seal has been completely isolated.
Main Branch's sealing power cannot penetrate, as if it is surrounded by a prison.
Neji stood there and witnessed all this with his own eyes, feeling a huge shock in his heart.
Throughout the history of the Hyuga Clan, this may be extremely rare, or even unprecedented.
Caged Bird Seal has been established to restrain Branch Family, and no one has ever been able to crack or isolate it.
But Ning Xue did it.
But the man in front of me not only survived, but also found a way to solve Caged Bird.
Neji's mind couldn't help but pictures from the past emerged.
In the past, it can be said that he hated Main Branch very much.
Hated their superior attitude, hated them for using Cursed Seal to restrain Branch Family, hated them for using him and his father as tools.
But under long-term oppression, he finally gradually accepted it all, began to believe in fatalism, and told himself "Branch Family people should be like this."
But Ning Xue rekindled his rebellious heart.
After Ning Xue's "death", he embarked on his own path, no longer bound by the Hyuga Clan's path, but his own path.
He must work hard to break this shackles and prove that Branch Family can break free from the shackles on his own strength.
But now, there is a person in front of him who has truly achieved this and is his best friend.
At this moment, his heart was very complicated.
There is relief and joy that a close friend is still alive, but there is also envy and yearning.
Ning Xue tied the headscarf again to cover the brand on his forehead.
"Since you're here, I want to give you something."
After he finished speaking, he took out a scroll from the ninja bag on his waist and threw it towards Neji.
Neji subconsciously reached out to catch it, his movements still a little dazed.
He looked down at the scroll in his hand, then looked up at Ning Xue. He was a little confused, but he slowly unfolded the scroll.
His pupils gradually contracted as he glanced at the fine words and patterns on the scroll.
There is a complex structure diagram of the technique drawn on it, with fine lines and markings densely covering the entire scroll.
Neji's hand trembled slightly, and he suddenly raised his head and looked at Ning Xue.
"This is...Cursed Seal?"
"Yes."
Ning Xue's voice is calm.
"I hope you can learn it next time we meet."
Neji's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and his fingertips tightened slightly on the edge of the scroll.
He did not ask what Cursed Seal it was, nor where he got Ning Xue. He just carefully put the scroll into the ninja bag at his waist.
Ning Xue saw this and was silent for a moment, then took off the thin silver chain hidden under the turtleneck sweater from his neck.
A gray pocket watch hangs at the end of the chain, its cover glowing warmly in the sunlight.
He glanced down at the pocket watch, gently rubbed the cover with his fingertips, then raised his hand and threw the pocket watch in the direction of Neji.
Neji reached out and caught it. The moment he took it, it felt smooth and warm to the touch.
The pocket watch had obviously been worn close to the body for a long time, and body heat still remained on the cover.
He took it in his hand and looked at it carefully, and found that the workmanship was quite fine.
A small cherry blossom pattern is engraved in the center of the watch cover. The petals are clearly visible, and there is a circle of fine patterns inlaid around the edge.
"This is?"
"A gift from my friend."
Ning Xue said, there was no emotion in his tone, but his eyes covered by contact lenses seemed to droop slightly.
"Help me put this pocket watch into that box."
Neji was silent for a moment after hearing this request.
He put away the pocket watch and the scroll, raised his head again, looked at Ning Xue, and was about to speak.
There was no one left in the open space in front of me.
Neji's pupils shrank suddenly.
He quickly turned on Byakugan, his vision penetrated the shadows of trees and rocks, and captured an afterimage that was rapidly disappearing away.
The figure was flying towards the distance at an extremely fast speed, so fast that it almost escaped the capture of Byakugan.
Neji stood there, looking at the back getting further and further away, and was silent for a long time.
He looked down at the ninja bag behind his waist, where there were two things.
A scroll and a pocket watch.
He raised his head again and looked in the direction where the figure disappeared.
"So fast..."
He whispered to himself, with a hint of inexplicable emotion in his voice.
(I recently made a setting diagram, if you are interested, you can take a look.)