Funeral (Two-in-One)

When he pushed open the door, everyone in the main hall turned to look at him.

"Oh, Ning Qi. It's so noisy outside. What happened?" one of the elders asked kindly.

"Can't you see we're in a meeting? Why did you barge in?" someone else asked with a frown.

Of course, several elders who had long since fallen under Ning Qi's control were also frantically berating him, though their insults were hardly creative—nothing but "traitor," "damned bastard," and "you'll pay for this," the sort of intimate words only Ning Qi could hear.

Their faces were twisted viciously. Their appearance could be compared to Hyuga Hiashi before his spine had been broken.

If not for the shackles restraining their bodies, even with their hands broken, they looked more than willing to tear a chunk of flesh off Ning Qi with their teeth.

Eight, nine, ten... fifteen.

Ning Qi silently counted the survivors in the room.

Three elders, twelve representatives of the Main Family and Branch Family.

Most of them possessed Byakugan of extremely high purity.

Very good.

As expected of the backbone of the Hyuga clan, those qualified to sit in the main hall and hold meetings.

Ning Qi smiled in satisfaction.

"Everyone's asking you a question." Kyusaku frowned. This genius of the Hyuga Branch Family was being far too disrespectful.

"Oh, it's like this. I recently developed a new genjutsu, and I wanted to demonstrate it for the elders," Ning Qi said.

Some of the elders looked surprised, while others directly snickered.

With so many important people present, was it his turn to show off?

Who the hell did he think he was?

And it was some worthless genjutsu, at that. Was the Hyuga Family's Gentle Fist not enough for him to study?

Yet before such criticism could be voiced—

Ning Qi snapped his fingers.

—In an instant.

Heaven and earth changed!

Hyuga Kyusaku and all the other survivors in the room suddenly froze.

The once magnificent main hall seemed to have been drained of all color, becoming dark and eerie.

Cobwebs covered every corner of the room. The floor beneath their feet was thick with dust, crawling insects were everywhere, and something at the doorway—perhaps red paint—had already congealed into clumps. The entire room reeked of a bloody, rancid stench.

What unsettled Kyusaku even more was that the dignified elder colleagues beside him, including Clan Head Hiashi, had all taken on horrific appearances.

Their hair and beards had grown long, as though they had not been groomed for a month. Shackles extended from the walls and embedded themselves in their ribs, so that every movement they made was accompanied by the clatter of chains.

Their eye sockets were empty, while their faces were covered in bloody clots.

With their heads tilted, they were cursing viciously at Ning Qi in the center of the room.

Before Kyusaku could make out what they were saying, he saw Ning Qi silently draw his blade.

"Whoosh."

A flash of sword light vanished in an instant.

Kyusaku then noticed that both his palms had flown away.

Blood traced a graceful arc through the air.

The strike had been so fast that even his body had yet to react. He only felt a chill at the wounds.

Kyusaku raised his head blankly.

The scene before him felt utterly unfamiliar.

Someone cried, "This genjutsu is so powerful!" and was cut down by Ning Qi.

Someone else had their throat slit by Ning Qi before they even understood what was happening.

This loyal guardian, the strongest spear protecting the Hyuga Main Family—Ning Qi—pulled his blade from the back of a Main Family member's skull, then swiftly charged toward another person in the room.

Screams continued to ring out.

Even the disheveled elders beside Kyusaku were no exception.

"Run... run..."

Kyusaku watched the other man repeatedly growl at him.

Only when the last person fell did the scene finally fall silent.

Kyusaku looked dazed. He opened his mouth slightly and forced out a trembling, miserable laugh.

"Ning Qi... that's enough. You can dispel the genjutsu now..."

"This is too realistic..."

"I... I, my arms are starting to hurt..."

Kyusaku kept urging Ning Qi to release the genjutsu. Killing fellow clansmen was no joke.

Ning Qi tilted his head at him, clear confusion in his eyes.

He looked at the blood-dripping sword in his hand, then turned back to Kyusaku. After thinking for a moment, he reminded him.

"Only your arms have started hurting?"

"Haven't you noticed that your neck has started hurting too?"

Kyusaku froze. As if he had sensed something, he nodded repeatedly.

"What you said... yes, it does seem a little itchy..."

He rubbed his neck with his arm, only for it to grow itchier the more he rubbed. He rubbed harder and harder, until he rubbed his own head off his neck.

This time, Ning Qi encountered no worthwhile resistance.

Reality truly was not something everyone had the courage to face.

When Ning Qi dispelled the illusion, most of the fifteen mid- and high-ranking Hyuga clansmen in the room had not even reacted.

—They stared blankly at the abruptly changed surroundings, watched Ning Qi kill people, watched him walk toward them after killing others, and then watched him kill them.

As for the act of Ning Qi killing people itself, although they all had some doubts, they still considered it part of the bizarre genjutsu Ning Qi was demonstrating.

Perhaps only when the blade entered their bodies did they suddenly realize that something was wrong.

But clearly, by the time the blade entered their bodies, it was already too late.

No one could have expected Ning Qi to suddenly slaughter his own clansmen, just as no one would know that the clan meeting they had attended in fine clothes was actually an afternoon spent sitting in a slaughterhouse—and that they themselves were about to be slaughtered.

The gap between illusion and reality was too vast, their layers too distinct. The tremendous difference in circumstances made them lose their sense of the real world, while Ning Qi's clean, decisive movements gave them no time to react.

From drawing his sword to the final head hitting the ground, only a few breaths passed. Everything had already been settled.

[Byakugan Essence collected: 96.7%]

"Ning Qi, are you done?"

From the seat of honor, Hiashi asked with his head tilted, as though he and Ning Qi were allies.

"Done." Ning Qi was digging out his spoils.

This operation alone had raised Ning Qi's Byakugan Essence progress to 96.7% with Branch Family members. Afterward, he would only need the essence from a few pairs of Main Family Byakugan to evolve his eyes to their final stage.

The process could not exactly be called easy, but it had gone fairly smoothly. From the moment he ambushed Clan Head Hiashi and took control of the entire clan head's residence, a scene like today's had already become a foreseeable future.

After setting up the Naraka of This Realm, Ning Qi possessed the power to leverage the entire Hyuga Family by himself while standing on this land. But clearly, how to gather the Hyuga clansmen together, how to avoid Konoha's pursuit afterward, and how to expand his own gains as much as possible during his remaining time in Konoha were the true focus of Ning Qi's plans.

"You have completed a great revolution for my Hyuga clan. Though the methods may have been somewhat bloody, these were necessary sacrifices. I believe our ancestors will understand. After all, from this day onward, the Hyuga clan will no longer be bound by the Caged Bird Seal," Hiashi said with a sigh.

Ning Qi knew that Hiashi wanted to define this operation as a revolution rather than rebellion. He had already made his thoughts clear before. Political creatures had always valued the legitimacy of their cause.

Though Ning Qi himself did not care, in terms of his goals, he truly had no intention of allowing the Caged Bird to revive under his rule.

[ ]

—It might get a new name.

Caged Chicken, Caged Duck, or something like that.

Of course, it would not be for preserving the clan either. It would only be for controlling others.

The targets of control would expand from merely Hyuga clansmen to everyone.

Ning Qi was very generous and magnanimous.

He did not seek to make others slaves and servants for generation after generation, lifetime after lifetime.

Compared to the Main Family and Branch Family system brought about by the Caged Bird, the form would be entirely different. It could indeed be considered progress.

"Has the war between the Uchiha and Konoha begun outside?" Hiashi asked. Ning Qi had already told him about it.

"Yes. The Uchiha have no chance of winning," Ning Qi said indifferently. He hoped the Uchiha Clan could at least serve some purpose. It would be better than having helped them stop Itachi Uchiha and survive the Night of the Clan Massacre.

"Neither does Konoha." Hiashi shook his head. This could only be a battle where both sides lost. "After this battle, Sarutobi may want to step down, but he will still have to remain in that position. Once the Fourth Shinobi World War erupts, a figure with great prestige who can coordinate all sides will be necessary. This is not self-praise, but Konoha, having lost both the Uchiha and the Hyuga, has already fallen into an unprecedented state of weakness. The other hidden villages will certainly seize this opportunity... This will be a life-or-death crisis that determines whether Konoha survives."

Ning Qi glanced at him. It was not difficult to infer, but for someone who had been confined to this room for an entire month, being able to form such a clear judgment of the situation from only a few words was already quite remarkable. That was the sensitivity of a political creature.

Unfortunately, it was useless.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I simply feel fortunate that you will leave Konoha. So even if Konoha is destroyed, my Hyuga clan will not perish." Hiashi certainly had a lot to say.

Ning Qi seemed to think of something and nodded slightly.

"So... like you, Fugaku has probably already arranged an escape route. Whether the Uchiha lose or Konoha loses in the Fourth Shinobi World War afterward, Konoha is no longer a safe place. So even if Sarutobi does not wipe them out completely, Fugaku must have already sent at least one group of Uchiha clansmen away from Konoha."

"Yes. That is clearly the common thinking of most ninja clan heads. The continuation of the clan is more important than anything else." Hiashi nodded as if in approval.

Konoha was a ship with a hole in it, and that hole had been carved out by Ning Qi and the Uchiha together.

"So... where do you think that group of Uchiha clansmen would go?" Ning Qi asked.

Hiashi did not ask what Ning Qi intended to do. He merely pondered for a moment. If he were the Uchiha clan head, then...

"The Land of Tea, or the Land of Waves. They are far from the war zones and have no ninja yet. The Uchiha have also always had ambitions to establish their own ninja village and lead it independently."

"Is that so?" Ning Qi remembered those two places. After digging out the last pair of Byakugan, he raised his head. "I'm done with my business. Do you have anything else to say?"

Ning Qi felt that Hiashi still had some potential left to squeeze out, emphasizing the words "to say."

"Indeed, I nearly forgot one more thing."

"Come out, Hinata. Bring the clan head's ring as well," Hiashi called loudly.

At the sound of his voice, the small side door opened, and Hinata emerged from within. Her eyes were tightly shut, which should have been Hiashi's instruction. It was unclear whether he feared she would see the bloody scene around her or Ning Qi's face.

Because of that, she nearly tripped over a corpse.

But Hinata still successfully made her way to Ning Qi and held up a ring high in both hands.

Ning Qi had no interest in inheriting the Hyuga clan, so he did not take the ring. Instead, his gaze settled on Hinata's forehead.

"What does this mean?" he asked.

He did not need this kind of arrangement.

Hiashi clearly knew what Ning Qi meant, so he smiled.

"I told the elders that Hinata lacked talent, so I decided that Hanabi would inherit the position of clan head in the future. By custom, Hinata had to become part of the Branch Family... In the past, even if the elders had forced me, I would never have done this. They are both my precious daughters. But now... this is a form of protection."

Indeed, a fresh Caged Bird Seal was now branded on Hinata's forehead. It had been applied by one of the elders who had died beneath Ning Qi's blade.

This also meant that the formerly noble eldest daughter of the Main Family had become a Branch Family member like Ning Qi.

Though after today, the Hyuga clan might no longer have any distinction between Main Family and Branch Family.

The Caged Bird would cripple a clansman's potential, but Hiashi clearly did not expect Hinata to unleash any astonishing potential.

He had arranged for an elder to brand the Caged Bird onto Hinata only because the seal could shatter the Byakugan at the moment of its bearer's death, directly reducing the possibility that outsiders coveting the Byakugan would cause Hinata harm.

"You really don't want that ring?"

"I don't need it."

"Fine. Hinata, since he doesn't want it, take it back and seal it away."

Hinata staggered away.

"I'll give you a quick death." Ning Qi raised his long blade.

"Wait until my daughter has gone a little farther..." Hiashi pleaded.

Ning Qi was not short on time, so he nodded.

One slash.

The head and shackles hit the ground at the same time.

Ning Qi walked with his blade in hand across a red carpet paved in blood, stepping into the sunlight.

The trees in the courtyard flourished, growing upward as death nourished them.

The vacant-eyed Neji stepped over the corpses scattered across the ground and wandered past him.

Due to the effects of the This-Realm Naraku Technique, he did not notice Ning Qi passing by him. Hanabi beside Neji, however, seemed to sense something and turned to glance in Ning Qi's direction.

Ning Qi stepped over the corpses beneath his feet and continued all the way to the entrance of the residence, when a burst of laughter suddenly rang out.

He turned around.

The phantom Byakugan on the roof slowly transformed into a large funeral character.

A grand funeral was being held inside the clan head's residence.

Only the deceased's clothes and ceremonial cap were placed inside the coffin.

Hizashi's black-and-white photograph hung at the very top.

At a certain moment.

The boy at the front row suddenly began laughing uncontrollably at the funeral.

An elder could no longer stand it and rebuked him.

"Ning Qi, your father has died. What are you laughing at?"

Even so, the boy's laughter did not stop.

The laughter echoed all the way to the present, four years later.

Ning Qi, what are you laughing at?

Me?

I'm laughing because the Great Dao has fifty paths, yet Heaven takes only forty-nine.

Fate has actually left me with one final chance at survival.

Though it is difficult.

But beneath this vitality would lie your piled-up bones.

The cage of slavery passed down through generations would be split apart by my sword.

A family with a thousand-year legacy would be overturned in a single day.

The gate leading to the sky, tightly shut.

—And at last, I had obtained the key.

Ning Qi smiled, withdrew his gaze from his younger self, and stepped toward a new staircase.

The image of Hizashi's funeral from his memories also shattered and withered behind him as the This-Realm Naraku Technique faded away.

As the illusion receded, what lay beneath this twilight was the funeral of the entire Hyuga clan.

Birdsong rang out, accompanied by the boy's laughter at the funeral four years ago, lingering without end.