The Lone Bird and the Stars

Hua Yue was truly at a loss for words regarding this disgusting teacher who had no concept of personal boundaries, especially since he had chosen to approach her disguised as a woman.

"Did I fail? I clearly relied on this face to lure the previous Eight-Tails Jinchuriki into losing control, or perhaps you prefer a slightly younger woman, Hua Yue-kun?"

As the skin peeled away, Orochimaru's cold, sharp features were revealed. His vibrant red lips faded into his usual thin, pale purple ones, and the smile at the corners of his mouth was filled with curiosity.

"How exactly did you please the White Snake Sage to leave Ryuchi Cave unscathed—a place only madmen would visit, despite the countless people seeking the power of the Sage's cavern?"

"Could it be that you have obtained the power I have always longed to master—the power of the Sage?"

Under Orochimaru's inquisitive gaze, Hua Yue smiled without a word. After a long silence, she asked a profound question in return.

"Ah, la la, isn't Teacher Orochimaru's dream to learn every technique in the world? By the way, the Sage Mode mastered by the three great sacred sites are all quite different from one another."

"Human life has its limits. Even if one exhausts their entire life, it is but a hundred years. Even if one learned a forbidden technique every month, one could only master twelve hundred in a lifetime."

"Not to mention the ninjutsu, secret techniques, and forbidden arts that have vanished throughout the long river of time. Your goal is obvious to anyone with eyes."

The wind whistled as the binding genjutsu slowly dissipated. Orochimaru stared deeply at the young man who rested his chin on his hand, seemingly tireless and never revealing a single flaw.

A rare flicker of excitement appeared in his snake-like slit pupils—a look of insight that did not exist among the common fools.

This was a disciple who truly understood him, one who walked a similar path, whom he had always treated with gravity but could never fully see through.

"Then..."

"Do not misunderstand. Just as you could never die for the sake of the village, I have no interest in becoming a stepping stone on someone else's path to immortality."

"Now then, let us end this idle chatter between master and disciple. What exactly did you come here to find me for?"

Cold, ruthless, and leaving no room for negotiation, the excellent disciple seemed even more like a cold-blooded creature than himself. Orochimaru gathered his thoughts and spoke slowly.

"Konoha Village's current defensive capabilities are extremely hollow. The task entrusted to you by Teacher Sarutobi... by the Third Hokage, is to contain Onoki of the Two Scales."

This time, it was Hua Yue's turn to twitch her lips. It was truly a Mangekyo-level request; to have her deal with the prototype of the Imperial Release: Nine-Clan Detachment Technique—the Third Hokage really had a way with things.

"The user of the Kekkei Tota, the Dust Release, Onoki of the Two Scales? Should I marvel at the Third Hokage's trust in me, or should I pray to the gods right now that I never encounter him?"

"Hehehe, my proudest disciple, with that deeply hidden power of yours, even if the opponent is the Third Tsuchikage, you cannot be said to have no chance of victory. I hold an unimaginable amount of trust in your strength."

For once, Orochimaru did not depart by way of his snakes, as if he had merely come to see how Hua Yue had escaped the White Snake Sage and to relay the village's mission.

Has the Tsuchikage entered the war? In other words, as the war between Konoha and the Land of Earth draws to a close, the Third Shinobi World War is also nearing its end...

The malice that was previously fixed tightly upon Obito has also vanished without a trace. As expected, he is already prepared to choose a successor for his will.

The night rain fell in silence, and the dim, hazy starlight filtered through the clouds.

Meanwhile, in another key area in the central district of Konoha Village, within the main residence of the Hyuga clan's head family.

The members of the Hyuga head and branch families were gathered together. Everyone's expression was grim, and faced with those accusatory glares, the branch family members remained silent.

"Why must there be a distinction between the head family and the branch family? The distinction exists to prevent the Hyuga clan's Kekkei Genkai from falling into the hands of outsiders, yet what has happened now?"

"You branch family members failed to fulfill your duties, causing the head family's Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, to fall into the hands of the Mist Hidden village!"

Sitting in the center, the Hyuga clan elder, Hyuga De'en, spoke in a deep tone, and many members of the head family cast looks of suspicion.

"Wait, it was that fellow Hyuga Menfeng who acted recklessly and on his own initiative, causing many clansmen to die on the battlefield..."

The elder struck the floor hard and turned to scold them.

"Silence! Regardless, the responsibility lies with your branch family. Why did you not keep an eye on him, allowing the Byakugan to fall into the hands of the Mist?"

One by one, the members of the Hyuga branch family dared not speak out despite their anger, and they could only cast pleading looks toward their current branch family head, Hyuga Hizashi.

"Hyuga Menfeng's death was his own doing. The seven branch family members tasked with protecting the head family all died in battle, and the Byakugan was lost. It was he who failed to fulfill his duty as a member of the head family."

"Anything can happen on the battlefield. Are you suggesting the entire branch family should have gone to protect him, ignoring the mission assigned by the Third Hokage?"

Hyuga Hizashi argued his case, but he was met only with the elder's cold and heartless words.

"If you could retrieve that lost Byakugan, it would be worth it even if you all died. That is the responsibility of the branch family: to guard the precious Kekkei Genkai!"

Suppressed dissatisfaction and hatred could only be stored within their hearts, and the curse mark engraved on their foreheads—which sealed away their freedom and light—ached faintly, though they dared not show it.

"Since things have come to this, I have no choice but to ask the Hokage and the experts of various clans to kill that detestable Mist Hidden jonin, Ao, and reclaim the precious Byakugan."

"You branch family members remember: in the coming war, you must not lose a second Byakugan, even if it costs the lives of the entire Hyuga branch family..."

The discussion ended on a sour note. The current head of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hiashi, looked at his brother, who had been born only moments after him, and fell into silence.

After the meeting dispersed, the members of the Hyuga branch family gathered, their eyes bloodshot and faces twisted. Seven of their own had died in that battle, including a boy who had not yet reached adulthood—was this not worth mourning?

Was it truly acceptable for their entire branch family to be wiped out just for the sake of a reckless head family member who had sought his own death?

In this silent atmosphere, the group remained speechless for a long time. Hyuga Hizashi kept his mouth shut, and after the others had dispersed, he walked aimlessly through the streets alone.

At some unknown hour, on a training ground used for drills at the edge of Konoha, Hizashi slowly looked up at the figure in black robes, a person who seemed to possess no presence at all, and frowned.

"What do you intend to become?"

The figure turned his head. The Three-Eyed Demon Fox, woven from red and white, looked like a ghost wandering through Konoha, aimless.

"Become what?"

"A lonely bird with broken wings, imprisoned in a cage, or a star that tears through the night with fangs and blood, burning with the fire of blood?"

"What do you intend to become?"