A dull ache throbbed in his forehead, and a surge of anger rose in Hizashi Hyuga's heart. This Caged Bird, which shackled his freedom, could only be broken by death.
The gap between him and his older brother had been enormous, despite the difference being only a few seconds. Their abilities were practically equal, so was the difference between the Main Family and the Branch Family really that vast?
Veins bulged around his eyes. His all-seeing Byakugan fixed on the figure before him. The presence—or rather, the complete lack of one—beneath the Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask made Hizashi's pupils contract.
"Which clan are you from? You have no presence at all. You don't even have chakra or a chakra network. What are you trying to say?"
"A caged bird, trapped behind bars, living only to die for someone else. What do you want to become?"
"A lone bird with its wings broken, imprisoned in a cage? Or a star that tears through the night with fangs and blood, burning with the flames of war?"
The phantom vanished. The hazy morning mist quietly lifted, and the first rays of sunrise appeared on the distant horizon, dispelling the fog around him.
The strange figure disappeared with the mist. Hizashi stood there for a long time, his thoughts in turmoil.
"A genjutsu? That strange feeling... A lone bird imprisoned in a cage, a star burning with the flames of war. Burning blood and battle?"
"Can a Branch Family bound against its will really set the impossible fires of war ablaze against the Main Family?"
Hizashi stared into space, silent. Just who was that child?
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Uchiha Clan's territory, in Uchiha Hanazuki's home.
Resting his cheek in one hand as he flipped through a book with the other, Hanazuki's eyes flickered with thought.
"Destroying the optic nerves and sealing away the light, yet the Mist Village still managed to steal a Byakugan. The Hyuga Clan—a twisted, deformed, heartless clan that exploits its own kin. Is that what they are?"
"A Cursed Seal that specifically targets the optic nerves. If the victim simply dies and is then brought back to life, can the Byakugan still not be protected? What a troublesome Cursed Seal."
Beside the tea table lay an urgent, gold-lettered wanted notice issued by the Hyuga Clan and delivered by a Konoha Anbu operative. Ao's name stood at the very top.
"To preserve the purity of their bloodline, they have no choice but to marry within the clan, ensuring their Kekkei Genkai is passed down. That's how all the great clans with Kekkei Genkai do it."
They married outsiders, mingled their bloodlines, and had their children marry within the clan. That was how the great clans operated. A case like Hinata's—born into the Hyuga Main Family and married into another clan—wasn't unheard of, but it was exceedingly rare.
After all, they couldn't have the Seventh Hokage change his surname to Hyuga. Compared to this enslavement of their own kin, the arrogant and conceited Uchiha Clan was leagues ahead of the Hyuga in unity.
As Hanazuki's thoughts wandered and he examined himself, his gaze drifted toward the doorway.
"So, what brings you to see me, Obito?"
The Uchiha Obito who usually wore a sunny smile and was about as sharp as a fool gave him a mischievous look, then set the three gifts he'd been carrying down beside Hanazuki.
Each gift had a note in elegant handwriting attached. After glancing at the signatures, Hanazuki understood why Obito had hurried over so excitedly.
"This is wartime. The village could send us to the battlefield as soon as tomorrow, and we don't even know where we'll die. If you're a man, what's there to hesitate about?"
"Choose! Kurenai? Anko? Or that slightly shy girl named Yugao?"
"Damn it, I still can't accept this! Why do so many girls like you, while I can't even confess successfully? Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
The boomerang he'd thrown had come right back and hit him. Hanazuki pretended to think for a moment, then slowly shook his head under Obito's expectant gaze.
"What do you mean? Didn't you just say that if you're a man, there's no reason to hesitate?"
Under Obito's baffled gaze, Hanazuki put away the notes one by one and replied with righteous conviction.
"I'm an attack helicopter. I can also be a Walmart shopping bag, or an adult... I can choose none of them, or I can have them all. But you probably wouldn't understand even if I explained."
At Hanazuki's pitying, "poor fool" expression, Obito's face stiffened. He loudly denounced such immoral behavior.
"Just because you're a genius, you can do whatever you want? Damn it, once I awaken my Sharingan, I'll make Rin change her mind! Damn it..."
Completely crushed, Obito stormed off to train. Hanazuki clicked his tongue, his eyes full of rueful admiration.
The poor guy. At an age when he couldn't even control his own fate, he was trying to grasp a love that even adults couldn't reach. Was that another glimpse into the cruel world they lived in?
"Lord Hanazuki, the Third Hokage has ordered you to proceed immediately to the border of the Land of Earth. The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales, has mobilized."
"Sho? Even you, the elite Anbu Captain assigned to protect the Third Hokage, have come. I take it you're not just here to deliver the order. You're also here to keep an eye on me, aren't you?"
"You misunderstand. It's just that our opponent is the Third Tsuchikage. In Konoha, the only ones qualified to fight him are the Sannin and Lord Minato, and—"
Before he could finish, Sho noticed the small hand motioning for him to stop.
"Spare me the pleasantries. The Flying Thunder God Technique isn't a Space-Time Ninjutsu without flaws when faced with Dust Release."
"Tell the Third Hokage that I can only stall him for a while and tie down part of his forces. I'm afraid I can't help with anything else."
His presence vanished. When Sho looked up again, Uchiha Hanazuki was already gone, along with the equipment pouch and Kunai on the cabinet nearby.
"What an incredible Body Flicker Technique. No wonder the Third Hokage specifically assigned him to hold off the Third Tsuchikage. A prodigy of the Uchiha Clan, huh?"
Sho's expression shifted repeatedly beneath his mask. In the end, he chose to leave, as though he deeply distrusted this utterly ordinary little house.
Meanwhile, the Hyuga Clan, the Aburame Clan, the Uchiha Clan... the great clans of Konoha were summoned by the Hokage and headed for the battlefield one after another.
Though the forces gathered on the battlefield were all elite, Iwagakure still had the advantage in numbers. The balance of victory gradually tipped in its favor.
At the border of the Land of Earth, yellow earth and rocks stretched across the landscape. Gusts of wind swept sand over the desolate land. Though the Land of Earth was one of the Five Great Nations, its strength surpassed that of the Land of Wind and the Land of Water.
But this prosperity had been built by shifting its internal conflicts onto smaller nations and using war and civil unrest in other countries to its advantage.
Ōnoki of Both Scales. The name praised the Third Tsuchikage's exceptional diplomatic skills. It also stood for the Kekkei Genkai passed down through the Land of Earth: Dust Release.
Near the border, numerous Iwagakure shinobi in crimson uniforms and Forehead Protectors stood on guard, awaiting orders from the short, red-nosed old man at their head.
"I never thought these old bones of mine would have to go to the battlefield in person. I wonder if I'll ever again get the chance to meet Sarutobi Hiruzen in the Land of Fire... Who's there?"
"Even in your old age, you're still the Third Tsuchikage, a force to be reckoned with. But I doubt you'll get to see the Third Hokage. Not everyone has your conviction and personally heads to the battlefield, after all."
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