The Hunt

Lunch break...

He habitually made his way to the rooftop.

To his surprise, someone was already there. Hyuga Neji was leaning against the railing, seemingly waiting for him.

Seeing Ning Xue arrive, Neji turned around, his white eyes fixed on him with a calm gaze. He spoke directly, "I heard about what happened in the classroom."

Ning Xue did not respond. He walked over to the shaded spot he usually frequented, sat down, took out the bento he had prepared, and opened it in silence.

Neji walked over and sat down beside him, opening his own bento as well. The silence between them was customary, yet today, it felt heavier than usual.

After a few bites, Neji broke the silence again. His voice remained calm, but carried a hint of inquiry. "Your eyes... have they awakened?"

Ning Xue's hand paused mid-motion as he picked up some food, but he quickly returned to normal and gave a faint, "Mn."

"Because of what happened to Uncle Hyuga Hizashi?" Neji continued to ask. His observational skills had always been sharp, especially when it came to Ning Xue.

This time, Ning Xue remained silent for much longer. He looked up toward the distant Hokage Rock, his newly awakened Byakugan appearing exceptionally clear yet chillingly cold under the sunlight.

"...You could say that."

"My apologies."

He then shifted the tone of the conversation, taking the rare initiative to ask a question.

"Neji, tell me... what is the difference between sacrificing oneself to protect something important, and being sacrificed as a tool to be discarded at will?"

Neji was taken aback by the question. Looking at the coldness and confusion in Ning Xue's eyes, he found himself momentarily unable to answer.

He vaguely sensed that the death of Ning Xue's father was likely not a simple case of dying in the line of duty.

And Ning Xue, it seemed, had already learned the cruel truth.

After deliberating for a moment, Neji replied.

"One is to protect what one loves, the other is to be a mere tool."

As he finished the sentence, he thought of his own father, Hyuga Hizashi, who had taken the blame to protect the Main Branch and ensure the peace of the Hyuga Clan. He had been branded with the Caged Bird and died like a sacrificial lamb.

How similar that was to the discarded tool Ning Xue spoke of!

He fell silent.

Then, a long-dormant, almost suppressed and forgotten sense of anger and resentment quietly ignited a small flame in the depths of Neji's heart. Since he was a child, he had been told that it was his father's destiny, the fate that the Branch Family was bound to bear.

He had accepted it, pouring all his energy into becoming stronger to prove that the Branch Family was no weaker than the Main Branch.

But now, Ning Xue's experience made him wonder: is it truly fair that more Branch Family members must endure such a fate? Why are we, the Branch Family, destined to be tools from the moment we are born?

"Tools... why must we be tools?... What if we don't want to be tools?" Neji muttered to himself, his fingers turning white from the pressure of his grip.

"Then we need the power to break it," Ning Xue picked up where he left off. His voice remained cold, but it carried a hint of resonance. "Power enough to shatter the shackles, power enough to make those who view us as tools... pay the price."

Although he spoke lightly, his goal of vengeance would require him to pay a heavy price.

Danzo... was a behemoth standing in the shadows of Konoha's power. Seeking revenge against him was undoubtedly to make an enemy of the entire Root, and perhaps even Konoha itself.

But he had already prepared himself mentally.

Neji let out a heavy breath, as if trying to exhale all the pent-up frustration in his chest.

He looked into the distance, his gaze seemingly piercing through the walls of Konoha to see the Caged Bird that bound the fate of every Branch Family member.

"Caged Bird... Caged Bird," he whispered the name of the curse seal. His tone was no longer one of compromise, but of confusion over whether it could be broken, which then shifted into certainty.

"Perhaps, it is not unbreakable."

In that moment, the two boys stood on the rooftop, their hearts connected by shared pain and the cruel reality of their loved ones being sacrificed like tools.

Ning Xue had planted the seeds of vengeance against Danzo, while Neji had reignited his determination to defy fate and shatter the shackles of the Caged Bird.