Bird in a Cage

Bird in a Cage

Hyuga Yuto clasped his hands in salute and stood with his arms at his sides before the two prodigies of the main family.

Even the strictest, most old-fashioned elders of the Hyuga Clan would not have been able to find the slightest fault in his manners.

"Hyuga's Jade..."

Hinata Shinji murmured. The shadows of the leaves covered most of his face, breaking the young main-family member's expression into fragments.

"Worthy of being Hyuga's Jade. I'd heard long ago that someone remarkable had emerged from the branch family, but I didn't believe it at first. After seeing you fight tonight, though... you truly are formidable." He paused, and his voice suddenly sharpened. "But the branch family cannot bear the title of Hyuga's Jade. That is the responsibility and glory of our main family! Hyuga Yuto, you have overstepped your bounds!"

You think I want to bear the Hyuga name? Yuto inwardly sneered. A bunch of parasites without ambition. Yet none of it showed on his face as he calmly replied, "It is merely the praise of my fellow villagers. Yuto is untalented and shallow in learning; naturally, I cannot represent the Hyuga Clan."

"It's good that you know that." Shinji's expression eased slightly.

"The technique you used to defeat Uchiha Shota tonight—did you create it yourself?"

"Yes."

"Hand it over to the secret arts chamber of the clan academy." Hinata Shinji's expression was as casual as if he were saying, "Let's have grilled meat tonight." "As a member of the Hyuga Clan, everyone has a duty to strengthen the clan's foundation. By the rules, if a branch-family member submits a supreme technique they have developed, they will receive the rewards they deserve. At the next clan assembly, you may kneel behind me, or even behind an elder of the main family, and listen in. As long as you continue to render meritorious service, there will be plenty more opportunities like this. How about it? Why not hand it over to me now..."

If the atmosphere had not been so wrong, Hyuga Yuto truly would have burst out laughing.

After countless days and nights of painstaking thought, after enduring loneliness and pain to develop a secret technique, you think you can take it with a single word? And the reward is kneeling beside you?

Of course I know that at clan assemblies, the closer branch-family members are to the main family, the higher their status. But take a good look at me—do I really look that much like a dog?

Hyuga Yuto blinked, hoping to brush aside the trouble before him.

"My apologies, Young Master Shinji, but the time Lord Hokage set for us to regroup is approaching..."

Hinata Shinji's face darkened completely.

"Hyuga Yuto, do you dare defy clan rules?" He stepped forward, veins bulging at the corners of his eyes. "The main family are the masters of the Hyuga Clan, while the branch family are the main family's shields and swords... It seems you truly have forgotten the duties of the branch family."

As though sharing his thoughts, the main-family girl Hyuga Miko activated her Byakugan as well and stared coldly at Yuto.

Hyuga Yuto frowned, sensing trouble. He had drawn too much attention tonight and wounded their pathetic pride.

Before he could think of a countermeasure, a rustling sound of footsteps on grass came from behind him.

His Byakugan activated instantly. Without turning around, Hyuga Yuto saw Hyuga Naoto forcefully approaching from behind through his three-hundred-and-sixty-degree field of vision.

What an obedient dog, Hyuga Yuto sneered inwardly.

One against three. Hinata Shinji, Hyuga Miko, and Hyuga Naoto were no weaklings. If they truly fought, he would have to go all out.

The main family's rules? Ridiculous. Was he supposed to offer his face for them to trample? Hyuga Yuto was not that lowly!

The solitary youth remained expressionless, but chakra roared through his body at high speed, and Lion's Fang quietly emerged.

However, the fierce battle Hyuga Yuto had anticipated never came.

In the dark garden, Hinata Shinji raised one hand to his lips and sneered at Hyuga Yuto.

That smile was so frivolous, as though he were crushing an insect beneath his foot.

The next instant, endless pain erupted from the depths of Hyuga Yuto's eyeballs.

Starting from his eyes, spreading to his optic nerves, then throughout his entire brain, it was as though a rusty pair of scissors were flaying his flesh and nerves from the inside out. Needle pricks, cleaving blades, scorching fire, gouging swords... no pain could compare to this torment.

Unable to resist in any way, Hyuga Yuto clutched his head and curled up in agony.

A hand suddenly appeared before him. It was Hyuga Naoto. He clamped it tightly over Hyuga Yuto's mouth, his nails digging into flesh. He cared nothing for the battered body of this branch-family kinsman and would not allow him to make a single sound.

After an unknown amount of time, Hyuga Yuto stopped struggling.

Hyuga Naoto released him and shook off the clots of blood on his hand—the blood from Hyuga Yuto's tongue, which he had bitten apart in pain.

Hyuga Yuto's mind was hazy. Supporting himself, he desperately forced his eyes open wide, only to discover that everything before him had turned blurry.

"Can't see clearly, can you?" Hinata Shinji walked over and studied Hyuga Yuto's bloodshot eyes with interest. "Bird in a Cage is a curse mark perfected over more than a thousand years. Not only can it automatically destroy the recipient's brain and eyes after death, but it can also be controlled through secret commands, actively damaging brain tissue according to the main family's will... Of course, no matter how perfect something is, it has flaws..."

The main-family youth lowered his head, his snow-white eyes filled with lofty malice.

"For example, once Bird in a Cage is activated, the recipient often suffers varying degrees of visual impairment. Some recover after a few days, while others are irreversible. Perhaps you'll become blind in the future..."

A sudden gurgling sound came from Hyuga Yuto's throat.

Shinji leaned closer and listened for a while, but could not make out what he was saying. He could only straighten up in disappointment.

"You bit your own tongue to pieces, didn't you? You really can endure... But even if you can endure it, even if your bones are hard, what does it matter? You are still only branch family."

"Hyuga Yuto, listen carefully. I will say this only once tonight."

Shinji pointed at himself, then at Yuto's forehead protector.

"The Hyuga in me and the Hyuga in you are different!"

"For a ninja, the most important thing is being born right."

After saying that, he did not spare Yuto another glance. Together with Miko and Naoto, he left.

Only the immobile Hyuga Yuto remained where he was.

The handsome branch-family youth gripped the soil desperately, trying with all his strength to stand and chase after them.

He no longer cared about plans or waiting for the right opportunity. He only wanted to use Lion's Fang to tear out those three bastards' throats and drench himself in the blood of vengeance.

Sadly, no matter how long he tried, he could not succeed.

Once activated, Bird in a Cage was one of the most brutal tortures in the ninja world.

Moonlight slowly spilled across the dark garden. Only after a long time did Hyuga Yuto regain a little strength.

Trembling, he pulled hemostatic ointment from his waist pouch and viciously smeared it over his tongue. The irritating pain of the medicine tormented his nerves, but it was far less severe than the agony of Bird in a Cage, and even less than the fiery rage and hatred burning in the youth's heart.

Rustle, rustle.

Footsteps sounded from behind him. Someone had unexpectedly come here.

"...You look terrible, kid."

A woman's voice reached Hyuga Yuto's ears in the darkness.

The branch-family youth turned around.

A blonde woman stood there, carrying a jar of wine upside down in one hand. She was drunk, somewhat bold yet a little languid. The vigorous vitality unique to the Senju Clan and her sunlike chakra seemed to drive away some of the night's chill.