The Mad Hyuga Branch Family

"Rika, I love you." With that, the man kissed her on the cheek.

Hyuga Shun watched Rika sleeping soundly, pulled up his pants, and slipped out of the house under cover of darkness. He stood motionless in the night, lost in thought.

After quite some time, Hyuga Shun finally moved. He was holding something like a cup. He set it down in front of himself and frowned, then threw it to the ground.

He formed Hand Seals and used Fire Style, burning the cup to ash. Then he dealt with the ashes and dirt, making sure no trace remained on the surface.

This clone is running low on chakra. I need to finish things quickly and make sure Rika doesn't notice anything strange. Otherwise, I won't be able to carry out my plan. Hyuga Shun thought to himself, then turned and went back inside.

The next morning, Hyuga Shun and Rika packed their belongings and continued toward the capital of the Land of Waterfalls. They had set out from the Land of Grass and spent this time carefully avoiding all kinds of questioning and inspections. It had taken them a great deal of effort to finally reach the Land of Waterfalls.

A few days later, Hyuga Shun and Rika arrived in the capital. Hyuga Shun paid for and helped arrange a shop for Rika, so she could continue working as an herbalist.

That night, Rika leaned against Hyuga Shun's chest, and he held her with one arm. His eyes stared unfocused into the distance, as if he were thinking about something.

That was right: Hyuga Shun belonged to the Hyuga Branch House. When he was very young, he had been branded with the Caged Bird Seal. From that day on, he had been like a bird trapped in a cage, stripped of his freedom.

The lives of the Branch Family were in the hands of the Main Branch.

Through the Caged Bird Seal, the Hyuga Main House could destroy the brains and Byakugan of those in the Branch House. They claimed this was to prevent outsiders from coveting the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan Kekkei Genkai. In truth, the Hyuga Branch House were slaves to the Main House!

The current clan head of the Hyuga Clan had twin sons. Because they had been born only a short time apart, one became the clan head's heir, while the other was branded with the Caged Bird Seal and made part of the Branch House.

Hyuga Shun had been only a few years older than the brothers. He had watched clearly as their fates changed because of this decision, which was as arbitrary as a child's game.

Hyuga Shun saw the younger brother, who was only three, change from a cute, cheerful child into someone cautious, meek, and pitiful—just like him.

Though Hyuga Shun felt a deep resentment and hatred toward the Caged Bird system, he never showed it on the surface. Instead, he played the part of a Branch House member fiercely loyal to the Hyuga Clan.

But Hyuga Shun had never given up trying to break the Caged Bird Seal. He studied Sealing Technique with great effort, but never found a way. The Main House disapproved of his studying Sealing Technique, but given how he usually behaved, they had no excuse to punish him.

Most members of the Branch Family dared not speak out against the Caged Bird system, despite their anger. They looked down on Hyuga Shun for his "loyalty" to the Main House, and privately called him "the Main House's dog."

The Main House's wariness, the Branch Family's contempt, and the despair of failing to break the Caged Bird Seal—caught between all these feelings, Hyuga Shun was being driven nearly mad!

Until he met Rika.

"Shun, what are you thinking about? You seem so lost in thought." Rika's voice came from beside Hyuga Shun.

Hyuga Shun came back to himself and spoke to Rika in a gentle tone. "I was thinking about everything we've been through lately. Being with you makes me feel so much more at ease. If only I weren't a ninja, if only I were just an ordinary person! The happiest times of my life are the ones I spend with you."

Hearing Hyuga Shun's words, Rika smiled sweetly and buried her head against his chest.

Seeing how happy Rika looked, Hyuga Shun felt a pang of shame. It was all a lie! Hyuga Shun didn't love Rika at all. He only wanted to use her.

Near the end of the Second Shinobi World War, Hyuga Shun had collapsed from severe injuries in front of Rika's village. Rika, who was a doctor, had saved him.

As he spoke with Rika, Hyuga Shun remembered that, on an earlier mission, he had passed through this village and happened to save Rika and the villagers from bandits.

Rika had fallen for Hyuga Shun back then.

When he saw the way Rika looked at him, exactly like the way his fiancée looked at him, a wild idea suddenly sprang into Hyuga Shun's mind.

He would have a child with Rika—a child with the Hyuga Clan's blood, a child without the Caged Bird Seal. That child would take his place and help him break the Caged Bird Seal.

Hyuga Shun hadn't just thought about it; he had acted on it. In the period right after the war ended, the clan's attention had shifted elsewhere, and his plan had gone smoothly. He had already completed half of it.

Thinking of this, the slight guilt in Hyuga Shun's eyes turned to resolve. "I'm sorry, Rika. I hope you won't blame me," he said silently to himself.

Hyuga Shun thought of his fiancée again. She looked at him in exactly the same way. His fiancée was also a member of the Hyuga Clan, but Hyuga Shun didn't love her either. The only thing in his heart was the Caged Bird Seal.

Hyuga Shun's fiancée had already resigned herself to her fate. She accepted the Main House's oppression without resistance, like most members of the Branch Family.

Whenever Hyuga Shun thought that he might end up just like his fiancée and most of his clan, he felt utterly despairing. If he had to live like a walking corpse, he might as well die.

Hyuga Shun knew his actions were extremely risky. If he were discovered, he would have no chance of survival, and innocent people would be dragged into it. But he did it anyway.

Maybe I've already gone mad.

The next day, Hyuga Shun said goodbye to Rika, making her a false promise that he would come visit her often.

Rika was an ordinary person and knew little about ninjas. And under the influence of what she believed was a passionate romance, she didn't notice anything off about Hyuga Shun's words.

At last, Hyuga Shun said to Rika, "Rika, I really have to go. Now that Taro is here to protect you, I can leave with peace of mind."

After speaking, Hyuga Shun turned and glanced at the large yellow dog standing beside them.

Rika looked at Taro, then gazed at Hyuga Shun with reluctance. In the end, she could only nod.

Hyuga Shun left. After walking some distance, he turned back to look at Rika. She stood there for a while, lost in thought. It was quite some time before she came to herself and began tending to her shop.

Watching Rika, Hyuga Shun wore a complicated expression. He went somewhere no one could see him and formed Hand Seals. With a puff of smoke, the clone disappeared.