The Taste of Freedom

Root ninjas had been tracking Hyuuga Nen for almost a day. During that time, Hyuuga Nen had discovered there were no other ninjas around.

"Judging by this, everyone except the Root and the Hyuga Clan must have withdrawn."

Hyuuga Nen decided to defeat the Root ninjas right here. By his reckoning, if he could shake off this wave of pursuers, he should be able to escape the hunt for a while.

With that in mind, Hyuuga Nen stopped running, turned around, and quietly waited for the Root ninjas to arrive.

A while later, the Root ninjas caught up. "Why did you stop running?" the Root leader asked in a chilling tone.

"I'm a little curious. What makes you think you can defeat me so easily? What are you basing that judgment on?" Hyuuga Nen asked the Root ninjas.

"Don't underestimate us. You'll see what we can do soon enough." The Root leader answered him, then turned to the Hyuga Clan members beside him. "Stand back. You're not allowed to interfere in this fight."

"Then I'll see what you can do." With that, Hyuuga Nen charged straight at the three Root ninjas.

Rumble.

The sounds of fists and feet clashing, ninjutsu being unleashed, and people screaming echoed across the small battlefield.

Hyuuga Nen held the last Root ninja by the neck. "You talk a good game, but your strength is nothing special. Reflect on that in hell."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hyuuga Nen tightened his grip and snapped the Root ninja's neck, then threw him to the ground.

In truth, the Root ninjas had caused Hyuuga Nen some trouble.

One of the three belonged to the Aburame Clan. He had not only raised Kikaichū but also bred venomous insects. However, after coming into contact with Hyuuga Nen's chakra, the insects died a short while later.

Another member could use the secret technique Super Beast Imitating Drawing. Through their fight, Hyuuga Nen discovered that Super Beast Imitating Drawing was a Yang Release technique.

Hyuuga Nen had finally found an opening to use a Lightning Release: False Darkness jutsu scroll and knock him out of the sky.

Only then did the remaining three members of the Hyuga Clan arrive. They came before Hyuuga Nen and looked at him with uncertainty.

Hyuuga Nen looked at the three people before him and said mildly, "You're awfully late."

They hadn't actually been late. The fight between Hyuuga Nen and the Root ninjas had been at a stalemate until he knocked the ninja using Super Beast Imitating Drawing out of the sky. Then the tide had turned in an instant.

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

The Hyuga Clan members watched Hyuuga Nen nervously, but they still hadn't made a move.

Hyuuga Nen saw one of them repeatedly swallow, while cold sweat ran down the other two's faces.

"What's wrong with you? Are you afraid to attack me? Is this how all members of the Hyuga Clan are?"

Hyuuga Nen looked at the three children before him, who seemed to be about the same age as Itachi Uchiha, and asked them.

"You're insulting the Hyuga Clan!"

One of the clan members shouted and charged at Hyuuga Nen. Seeing him attack, the other two rushed forward as well.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

In a very short time, the three Hyuga Clan members were sent flying.

Two of them landed on the ground, while the remaining girl fell to her knees. Hyuuga Nen had used Gentle Fist to seal all the chakra points in their bodies. Now they couldn't move.

"Who are you? That wasn't Gentle Fist!" the man who had attacked Hyuuga Nen first demanded.

"What's 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 thought, surprised by his answer.

Hyuuga Nen walked up to Hyuga Taka and studied his appearance.

"He doesn't look much like me. Maybe he takes after our father more. I remember Kuromaru saying I look more like my mother. If that's the case, all the better."

"That was Gentle Fist. Isn't the fact that you're helpless before me the best proof?"

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

"I've never seen Gentle Fist like that. It's completely different from the Gentle Fist used by our Hyuga Clan." Hyuga Taka looked unconvinced.

"What I use is true Gentle Fist. As for you, you're too weak, so you obsess over its techniques."

"The essence of true Gentle Fist lies in Gentle Fist chakra. You must have noticed the difference between us during that fight."

"Uh..." Hyuga Taka was at a loss for words.

Hyuuga Nen didn't explain any further. He had his own ideas about what to do with the three of them.

Hyuuga Nen walked over to the girl. "What about you? What's your name?"

The girl said nothing and only lowered her head.

Seeing her reaction, a smile appeared at the corner of Hyuuga Nen's mouth. Her behavior would make what he did next go more smoothly.

Hyuuga Nen pinched the girl's chin and made her raise her head. She met his gaze with defiance.

With his other hand, Hyuuga Nen pulled the Forehead Protector from her head, revealing the blue Cursed Seal engraved on her forehead.

"Is this the Caged Bird? I'd only heard about it before. This is the first time I've seen one. I hear it's a mark reserved for slaves in the Hyuga Clan."

Hyuuga Nen stared into the girl's eyes and deliberately spoke in a mocking tone.

The girl's expression changed drastically when her Forehead Protector was removed. The defiance in her eyes gave way to fear and vulnerability, but she couldn't move, so she could only close her eyes.

"Open your eyes and answer my question!" Hyuuga Nen ordered in an unmistakable tone.

Hearing him, the girl opened her eyes, but the whites of them had turned red.

"I... I'm Kaoru Hyuga."

"That's enough. Stop humiliating us. Just kill us!" Hyuga Taka shouted at Hyuuga Nen.

Hyuuga Nen ignored Hyuga Taka and looked at the last member of the Hyuga Clan.

"My name is Daimon Hyuga." Seemingly afraid Hyuuga Nen would expose his own scar, Daimon Hyuga gave his name without hesitation.

"Good. I won't kill you. After all, we're clanmates." Hyuuga Nen released the girl's chin and spoke.

The girl lowered her head again. Hyuuga Nen saw large tears fall from her eyes and drop to the ground.

Hyuuga Nen raised the girl's chin again so all three could see what he was doing. Right in front of them, he touched his forehead.

"You people from the Hyuga Branch House have probably never tasted freedom, have you? I'm being hunted by you right now, but I think I'm still better off than you are, because I'm free."

"No, you must have experienced freedom once, when you were very, very young. But do you still remember what it felt like?"

"From our fight, I found out you only know the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. You can't do anything else. So you're nothing but pet dogs for the Main Branch."

"What would be the point of killing people like you? I'll spare your lives and let you go back to being pet dogs for the Main Branch."

Hyuuga Nen delivered a long string of cutting remarks.

All three of them looked deeply troubled by his words. They didn't even dare look at his forehead.

After a long while, it seemed Daimon Hyuga's will to live finally overcame his shame. He asked, "Is that true?"

"Of course it's true. I can let you go right now." As soon as Hyuuga Nen finished speaking, he began using Gentle Fist.

Hyuuga Nen stood where he was and watched Hyuga Taka and the others gradually walk away. Although he had agreed to let them go, he had temporarily sealed their chakra. So he wasn't worried that they could use the Byakugan right now.