The Taste of Freedom

The Root ninjas had been tracking Hyuuga Nen for nearly a day. Throughout this time, he had noticed the absence of any other shinobi.

It seems that aside from Root and the members of the Hyuga Clan, everyone else has retreated.

Hyuuga Nen decided to repel the Root ninjas right here. Based on his judgment, if he could beat back this wave of pursuers, he should be able to temporarily escape the situation of being hunted.

With that thought, Hyuuga Nen stopped running, turned around, and watched quietly as the Root ninjas approached.

After a while, the Root ninjas caught up. "Why aren't you running anymore?" the leader of the Root squad asked in an icy tone.

"I'm a bit curious. You seem to think you can defeat me so easily. What are you basing that judgment on?" Hyuuga Nen posed his question to the Root ninjas.

"Don't underestimate us. You'll know our strength soon enough." The Root leader replied to Hyuuga Nen, then turned his head to look at the Hyuga Clan members beside him. "You lot fall back. You are not to interfere in this battle."

"Then I shall have a taste of your methods." Having said that, Hyuuga Nen charged directly at the three Root ninjas.

Boom.

The sounds of fists and kicks colliding, the casting of ninjutsu, and the screams of men echoed across the small battlefield.

Hyuuga Nen held the last Root ninja by the throat. "Your words were quite grand, but your strength is nothing more than this. Go reflect on it in hell."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hyuuga Nen exerted force, snapped the Root ninja's neck, and tossed him onto the ground.

In truth, the Root ninjas had caused Hyuuga Nen a fair amount of trouble.

One of the three was a member of the Aburame Clan; he had cultivated not only Kikaichū but also various poisonous insects. However, these bugs died shortly after coming into contact with Hyuuga Nen's chakra.

Another member could use the secret technique known as Super Beast Imitating Drawing. Through the battle with him, Hyuuga Nen discovered that Super Beast Imitating Drawing was a Yang Release secret technique.

It took great effort for Hyuuga Nen to find an opening, at which point he used a Lightning Release: False Darkness scroll to strike him down from the air.

It was only then that the remaining three members of the Hyuga Clan arrived, appearing before Hyuuga Nen and staring at him with looks of shock and uncertainty.

Hyuuga Nen looked at the three Hyuga Clan members before him and said indifferently, "You're far too slow!"

In reality, they hadn't been slow at all. Hyuuga Nen's battle with the Root ninjas had been a stalemate, but once he struck the user of the Super Beast Imitating Drawing from the sky, the tide of battle had turned in an instant.

Within a few breaths, Hyuuga Nen had killed all the Root ninjas.

The members of the Hyuga Clan looked at Hyuuga Nen with nervous expressions, yet they hesitated to make a move.

Hyuuga Nen noticed the Adam's apple of one of the Hyuga members bobbing repeatedly, while cold sweat broke out on the faces of the other two.

"What's wrong with you? Are you afraid to attack me? Is everyone in the Hyuga Clan like you?"

Hyuuga Nen looked at these three children, who were roughly the same age as Itachi Uchiha, and asked them in return.

"You are insulting the Hyuga Clan!"

One of the clansmen shouted loudly and charged at Hyuuga Nen. Seeing their comrade initiate the attack, the other two followed suit.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

In a very short time, the bodies of the three Hyuga clansmen were sent flying backward.

Two of them collapsed directly onto the ground, while the third, a young woman, fell to her knees. All three had their pressure points sealed by Hyuuga Nen's Gentle Fist, leaving them unable to move.

"Who exactly are you? That wasn't Gentle Fist!" the man who had attacked first asked.

"What is your name?" Hyuuga Nen asked.

"Hyuga Taka. My name is Hyuga Taka," the man replied.

Hyuga Taka? Isn't that my half-brother? Hyuuga Nen felt a surge of surprise upon hearing the answer, thinking to himself.

Hyuuga Nen walked over to Hyuga Taka and scrutinized his appearance.

He doesn't look much like me. Perhaps he takes after our father. I remember Kuromaru saying I look more like Mother. If that's the case, all the better. This thought crossed Hyuuga Nen's mind.

"What I used was indeed Gentle Fist. The fact that you are now lying there at my mercy is the best proof of that."

Hyuuga Nen looked at the three of them and said softly.

"I have never seen a Gentle Fist like that. It is completely different from the Gentle Fist used by our Hyuga Clan," Hyuga Taka said, looking unconvinced.

"What I use is the true Gentle Fist. As for you lot, you are only obsessed with the forms of the technique because you are too weak."

"The essence of the true Gentle Fist lies in the Gentle Fist chakra. Through the battle just now, you should have realized the difference between me and you."

"This..." Hyuga Taka was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say.

Hyuuga Nen didn't offer them any further explanation; he had his own ideas about how to deal with the three of them.

Hyuuga Nen walked over to the girl. "And you? What is your name?"

The girl remained silent, keeping her head bowed.

Seeing the girl's reaction, a smile tugged at the corner of Hyuuga Nen's mouth. Because of her behavior, his next actions would be even easier to carry out.

Hyuuga Nen pinched the girl's chin, forcing her to look up. She met his gaze with a defiant look.

With his other hand, Hyuuga Nen tore off the girl's forehead protector, directly revealing the forehead branded with the green curse mark.

"So this is the Caged Bird? I had only heard of it before; this is my first time seeing it. I hear this is a mark reserved only for the slaves of the Hyuga Clan."

Hyuuga Nen stared into the girl's eyes, intentionally using a mocking tone.

After the forehead protector was ripped away, the girl's expression changed drastically. Her previously defiant gaze immediately became evasive and fragile, but since she couldn't move, she could only squeeze her eyes shut.

"Open your eyes and answer my question!" Hyuuga Nen commanded the girl in an unquestionable tone.

Hearing his words, the girl opened her eyes, though her pearly-white Byakugan were now bloodshot.

"I—I am Kaoru Hyuga."

"Enough! Stop insulting us and just kill us already!" Hyuga Taka shouted loudly at Hyuuga Nen.

Hyuuga Nen ignored Hyuga Taka, turning his gaze instead to the last member of the Hyuga Clan.

"My name is Daimon Hyuga." Seemingly terrified that Hyuuga Nen might expose his scars, Daimon Hyuga stated his name without hesitation.

"Very good. I won't kill you; after all, we are clansmen." Hyuuga Nen released his grip on the girl's chin and spoke.

The girl lowered her head again, and Hyuuga Nen watched as large, heavy tears fell from her eyes, splashing onto the ground.

Hyuuga Nen tilted her chin back up so that all three of them could clearly see his actions. Right before their eyes, he reached up and touched his own forehead.

"You members of the Hyuga Branch House have likely never tasted the flavor of freedom, have you? Although I am currently being hunted by you, I believe my situation is better than yours, because I am free."

"No, wait—you must have enjoyed freedom once, when you were very, very small. But do you even remember what it tastes like?"

"From the battle just now, I discovered that you only know the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and nothing else. That is to say, you are nothing more than guard dogs for the Main House."

"What point would there be in me killing the likes of you? I will spare your lives and let you go, so you can return to being the Main House's guard dogs."

Hyuuga Nen delivered a long string of stinging words.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the three grew incredibly unsightly. They didn't even dare to look at Hyuuga Nen's forehead.

After a long while, Daimon Hyuga's desire to survive seemed to overcome his shame, and he asked, "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course I am. I can let you go right now." Having said that, Hyuuga Nen began to execute the Gentle Fist.

Hyuuga Nen stood in place, watching as Daimon Hyuga and the others gradually walked away. Although he had promised to release them, he had temporarily sealed their chakra. Thus, he was not worried, even though they were still capable of using their Byakugan.