Caged Bird

Caged Bird

Year 58 of Konoha, Ninja Academy.

"Winner, Neji Hyuga."

Following the school teacher's whistle, the duel was declared over, and Hyuga Ling collapsed to the ground clutching his chest, staring at Neji with a gaze full of fury and disbelief.

As a member of the Hyuga Main Family and two years older than Neji, Hyuga Ling had thought this was just a simple training match. Before the duel, he had even put on the airs of the Main Family, publicly declaring that he would properly mentor Neji and make him watch and learn carefully... Yet, in the end, he had actually lost to this branch family brat in front of everyone?!

The one who had been mentored turned out to be him, Hyuga Ling?!

"Sorry, Lord Ling."

Neji moved to pull Hyuga Ling up, but his outstretched hand was directly swiped away by the other.

"Spare me that act! You, mere Hyuga Branch Family... Where did you learn that taijutsu you used to defeat me just now?!"

"Why has nobody in my Main Family ever taught it?"

Hyuga Ling had never seen such taijutsu. It clearly had the shadows of the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist, but it differed from the Gentle Fist's external softness and internal hardness. Instead, it channeled chakra outward through acupuncture points to form beast fangs like a lion—hard, fierce, and immensely rigid. The moment their fists clashed, Hyuga Ling had felt as though his arms were about to fracture.

He believed this was the only reason Neji had been able to win.

Seeing Hyuga Ling fly into a rage out of humiliation, completely lacking the bearing of a fellow kinsman, Neji also withdrew the smile he had deliberately put on to show friendliness. Ever since his father Hizashi had been forced to commit suicide, he held not a shred of goodwill toward any member of the Main Family.

He said flatly:

"That is Gentle Fist: Lion Fang, taught to me by my brother, Ning Qi."

"Ning Qi? That Hyuga Ning Qi, one of Konoha's Twin Prodigies, is your brother?" Hyuga Ling frowned.

Konoha's Twin Prodigies was the title given to Konoha's two current geniuses.

Namely, Ning Qi Hyuga from the Hyuga clan, and Itachi Uchiha from the Uchiha Clan.

Ning Qi and Itachi were born in the same year, graduated from the Ninja Academy in the same year, and even passed the Chunin exams in the same year.

They were regarded as the glory of their respective clans, representing the competition between the younger generations of the Hyuga clan and the Uchiha Clan in Konoha.

From the moment they entered the Ninja Academy, their only remaining rival was each other. While others were still bitterly practicing the Clone Technique and worrying about graduation, these two had already graduated from the Ninja Academy ahead of schedule by mastering advanced ninjutsu, leaving their peers to watch only their backs.

Because both were overflowing with natural talent and possessed special backgrounds, every duel between them was imbued with extra meaning and attracted widespread attention.

The so-called Konoha's Twin Prodigies was an evaluation made by Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi after witnessing the brilliant performance of the two in the Chunin exam arena, and from then on, this reputation spread throughout Konoha.

"Yes." When speaking of Ning Qi, Neji raised his head slightly, with a trace of pride.

Ning Qi's rise might not be the pride of the Hyuga clan, but it was definitely the pride of their Hyuga Branch Family!

Neji's dream was to become a ninja as outstanding as his brother Ning Qi.

In his view, the more outstanding he and his brother—born to the branch family—became, the more it would prove the failure of the Hyuga clan's Caged Bird System, and the more it would show that the Hyuga Main Family, having lost their sense of crisis, were the unenterprising birds trapped in a cage.

"So Ning Qi actually belongs to the Hyuga Branch Family..." The surrounding Ninja Academy teachers whispered among themselves, revealing astonished expressions.

Ning Qi, one of Konoha's Twin Prodigies, was naturally known to everyone in Konoha, but precisely because of his superb strength and massive prestige, many people naturally assumed that Ning Qi came from the Hyuga Main Family, serving as a new-generation leading figure who had received resource bias and focused attention from the Hyuga Family.

Hyuga Ling's expression was unsightly. Compared to those outsiders, he was naturally much clearer about Ning Qi's branch family background. Because of this, he had never felt proud of Ning Qi's outstanding performance; like all members of the Hyuga Main Family, what they felt was... immense humiliation!!

Konoha's Twin Prodigies, leading figures of the Hyuga clan's new generation... Were these honors something this group of lowly branch family members were qualified to bear?

Even toward the instigator who had put out the rumor of the "Konoha's Twin Prodigies"—Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi—the Main Family members harbored extremely malicious speculations.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, those two old fellows operating in the light and dark respectively, had always been the steadfast leaders of the "pruning the vassals" policy. They were wary that the interests of Konoha's major clans might affect the operation of the entire village—whether it was relocating the Uchiha Clan from their clan lands to the peripheral locations of Konoha, promoting more civilian ninjas to hold important positions in the ninja village, or restricting children of major clans from taking the Legendary Sannin and other Hokage candidate key figures as masters, the leadership of Konoha had never changed their guiding principles and policies of limiting the influence of major clans.

Similarly, Ning Qi's rise was viewed by the Hyuga Main Family as another attempt by ambitious figures in high positions within Konoha to strike at the Hyuga clan.

Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga clan, had even expressed dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi during an internal family meeting, feeling that Hiruzen designating Hyuga Ning Qi as one of the "Twin Prodigies" was interfering in the internal affairs of the Hyuga Family and deliberately driving a wedge in the relationship between their Main and Branch Families.

"So this set of taijutsu was created by Ning Qi?"

Seeing Neji nod, Hyuga Ling's unsightly expression slowly returned to plainness, the corners of his mouth even hooking into a slight curve.

Neji was somewhat baffled by this.

The two performed the reconciliation seal.

"Next is Rock Lee versus Tenten!"

After school in the afternoon, Neji was surrounded by a group of people on his way home and subsequently led into a secluded forest path.

"Lord Ling, what do you want?" Neji frowned as he looked at Hyuga Ling before him. The other five Hyuga branch family retainers brought by him had already quietly sealed off the surrounding paths for Neji's escape.

"What do I want? I was ambushed by you at the Ninja Academy, which is why I lost. This time, I want to have a serious match with you." Hyuga Ling explained with a plain expression.

"I see." Neji glanced at the other five people beside him, his fists clenching.

These lackeys...

"We won't be needing them to make a move." Hyuga Ling smiled and waved his hand. "Back away."

Thus, a space large enough for the two of them to spar was cleared in the middle.

"Come on." Hyuga Ling curled his finger.

Neji was startled, a trace of goodwill toward Hyuga Ling suddenly welling up in his heart.

Although he had brought people with him, he was not bullying the weak with numbers.

If it was simply because he refused to admit defeat, then there was nothing wrong with that; Neji did not feel that the other party could win if they fought again.

Gentle Fist: Lion Fang!

Chakra gathered into two deep-blue sharp fangs. Neji set his stance, then charged straight at Hyuga Ling like a hunting lion!

Faced with the move that had defeated him earlier, Hyuga Ling was not only unafraid, but the expression on his face also gradually morphed into a sneer. He raised his hand high, then slammed it down abruptly!

The next second.

"Ah!"

Neji suddenly let out a miserable cry and collapsed onto the ground.

Cyan patterns that even his headband could not conceal lit up on his forehead; this was the Caged Bird mark.

The patterns spread, from his forehead to his cheeks, then to his eyeballs, and finally penetrating deep into his entire brain. Neji's vision went completely pitch-black. With a ferocious expression, he felt as though a steel blade was cutting away the flesh and skin on his face inch by inch. The pain was unbearable, the itch agonizing, to the point that he even wanted to gouge out his entire eyeballs!

The surrounding branch family members all watched this scene with plain expressions.

Hyuga Ling stepped on Neji's head, his flippant smile as if he were stepping on a mouse.

"The Caged Bird is a curse mark passed down within my Hyuga clan for a thousand years. Not only can it automatically destroy the brain and eyeballs of the receiver upon their death, but it can also be activated through a secret command to achieve a disciplinary effect."

"Neji Hyuga, listen well."

"This Hyuga that I am, and that Hyuga that you are, are not the same."

"Don't think that just because you have a brother who is one of the Twin Prodigies you can act arrogant in front of me."

"For a ninja, the most important thing... is reincarnation!!"

"As long as I obtain the secret command, even if your brother Ning Qi is standing right in front of me, he will have to kneel!!"