Neji

At that moment, everyone heard a childish voice.

"Father!"

The childish voice came from behind the crowd, and the people automatically parted to make way.

Four-year-old Hyuga Neji was led over by a Branch Family member, stumbling as he ran. His face still carried the confusion and lingering drowsiness of sleep. He had clearly been brought here in a hurry.

He broke free from the Branch Family member's hand and staggered toward his father.

"Father, what happened? Why is everyone looking at us like that?"

He looked at the crowd. For some reason, everyone was gazing at him with pity. The feeling made him deeply uncomfortable and vaguely uneasy, as though something terrible was about to happen.

Hizashi Hyuga lowered his head and looked at his son's young face. At last, a trace of tenderness appeared on his usually stern, unreadable face, though it held a deeply buried reluctance and pain. He slowly crouched down and gently stroked Neji's hair with unusual tenderness.

"Neji," he said in a low, steady voice, as though he were merely leaving on a long journey. "Raise your head and look at me."

Following his father's words, Neji raised his head to look at him, only to freeze. In his memory, his father had always been imposing, solemn, and unsmiling. Yet now, he saw tenderness in his father's eyes.

That discovery made him even more uneasy.

"Listen carefully to every word I say next, and remember them."

Hizashi Hyuga's tone became incomparably solemn.

"I am not going to die because of an order from the Main Branch."

Neji's eyes flew wide open, and his small body began to tremble slightly.

The word "death" was far too heavy and terrifying for him.

Yet Hizashi paid no attention to Neji's expression and continued calmly, as though he had already accepted the fate awaiting him. At the same time, he was making a declaration to every silent Branch Family member.

"I chose to accept this fate in order to protect my elder brother, Hyuga Hiashi, to protect the Hyuga Clan, and to protect Konoha—to avoid an unnecessary war."

His voice was strong, heavy, and resonant, like a massive hammer striking hard against Neji's heart.

His fingertip lightly touched Neji's smooth forehead, where the Caged Bird seal had long been engraved—the mark used to bind him.

"And, more than anything... to protect you, Neji."

Those words completely shattered Neji's emotional defenses. On the verge of breaking down, he asked his father,

"Why...?" Tears finally spilled uncontrollably from Neji's eyes, his voice choked with sobs. "Why does it have to be Father...?"

For his final question, he threw back his head and roared at the sky, demanding an answer from the Main Branch as well.

Why my father? Why did it have to be my father? The father who called me a genius? The father I admired and loved?

Was it simply because he was Hiashi's younger brother?

Faced with that question, Hizashi gave his answer. Neji's reflection was mirrored in his eyes, and his gaze was filled with reluctance.

"This is my... fate... the path I chose for myself."

Hizashi Hyuga's voice remained calm, yet it carried an unquestionable strength. "Do not hate anyone. Especially... the Main Branch."

After saying those final words, he gave Neji one last deep look, as though he wanted to imprint that sight into his mind and into the deepest part of his soul.

Then, after that single look, he resolutely rose to his feet, turned around, and left without looking back.

His back was no longer as straight as before, and his steps were no longer as solemn and steady as Neji remembered. Instead, they were hurried.

He did not dare look back, afraid that he would regret it.

Following the person who had come to lead him away, he walked step by step toward his final end. His back looked exceptionally desolate in the morning light, lonely and resolute beyond measure.

Neji's heart-wrenching sobs echoed through the oppressive clan compound. He wanted to chase after his father, but an adult beside him held him back tightly.

The surrounding Branch Family members remained silent, but beneath that silence lay grief, indignation, and an overwhelming sense of helplessness that was on the verge of bursting forth.

Not long afterward, the Main Branch used the Caged Bird to knock Neji unconscious on the spot before taking him away.

Ning Xue stood beside his father. Watching this scene, he felt deeply distressed as well.

As he watched that figure resolutely walk toward death, he was struck harder than ever before. He had long known the cruelty of this world, but witnessing such a blunt and cold sacrifice with his own eyes—especially one made in the name of protection—shook him to his core.

He touched the Caged Bird seal beneath the bandages wrapped around his forehead. Its weight made him remember this even more deeply.

The sound of the Main Branch's gates closing made the Branch Family members present feel even heavier.

If the Hyuga Clan was a birdcage, then was Hizashi, who was about to meet death, not a bird flying out of that cage?

The people gradually dispersed from beneath that heavy atmosphere, every one of their steps incomparably weighty.

Back home, the doors and windows were tightly shut, yet they could not shut out the oppressive feelings in their hearts.

Hyuga Ning sat silently in the corner, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Hyuga Yuki could only silently prepare a simple meal as she watched her husband like this.

Ning Xue sat on his small cushion with his head lowered, his little hands unconsciously rubbing the bandages on his forehead.

Beneath them, the Caged Bird seal seemed to have come alive, radiating an icy chill that constantly reminded him of everything he had witnessed today.

This was not a story, nor was it some tragedy recounted by a friend. It was reality, happening before his eyes, within his clan, to a Branch Family member who, like him, possessed the Byakugan and bore the Caged Bird.

He decided to hide his strength and hide his talent.

Otherwise, he feared that he would be the next scapegoat.

He finally understood his friend's words.

The Hokage's son would still become Hokage. The scapegoat's son would still be a scapegoat.

But at least for now, Hyuga Neji was still the son of Hyuga Hiashi's younger brother.

He was not.

The scene returned to Hyuga Neji.

When he woke up, the sky had already begun to darken, but he did not care what time it was.

He still could not move on from losing his father. His mind was filled with the words his father had said to him that morning.

"And, more than anything... to protect you, Neji." He touched his forehead.

"This is my... fate... the path I chose for myself. Do not hate anyone, especially... the Main Branch."

Neji clutched his head in pain as he recalled those words, then muttered to himself.

"Father, how can you expect me not to hate them?" He slowly lowered his hand.

The veins at the corners of his eyes quietly bulged. His face was twisted with anguish as he spoke, one word at a time.

"I will prove that I am stronger than the Main Branch... and I will remove the Caged Bird. There will be no distinction between Main and Branch."

At only four years old, Neji had solidified his ninja way in that moment and resolved to break these rules in the future.