Funeral

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 gently.

"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 to Ning Qi were also wildly berating him. Their insults were hardly creative—things like "traitor," "damn you," and "you'll pay with your life," intimate words that only Ning Qi could hear.

Their expressions were vicious, much like Hyuga Hiashi before his spine had been broken.

If hinges had not locked down their bodies, they looked quite willing to bite a chunk of flesh off Ning Qi even with their hands broken.

8, 9, 10... 15.

Ning Qi silently counted the survivors in the room.

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

Most 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 is 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 wanted to demonstrate it for the elders," Ning Qi said.

Some elders looked surprised, while others directly sneered.

With so many important figures present, did he really think it was his turn to show off?

Who the hell did he think he was?

And it was only some second-rate genjutsu. Was the Hyuga Family's Gentle Fist not enough for him to study?

Yet before any such criticism could be voiced—

Ning Qi snapped his fingers.

—In an instant.

Heaven and earth transformed!

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

The once magnificent main hall seemed to have lost all its color, becoming dark and strange.

Cobwebs filled every corner of the room. Dust covered the floor beneath their feet, crawling insects scuttled everywhere, and something at the entrance—whether red paint or otherwise—had hardened into lumps. The entire room reeked of a fishy, acrid stench.

What unsettled Kyusaku even more was that the dignified elder colleagues beside him, including Clan Head Hiashi, had all become horribly grotesque.

Their hair and beards had grown long, as though they had gone a month without grooming. Hinges extended from the walls and sank into their ribs, so every movement they made came with the rattling of chains.

Their eye sockets were empty, and their faces were covered in clotted blood.

They tilted their ears and cursed viciously at Ning Qi in the center.

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

"Whoosh."

A flash of sword light vanished in an instant.

Kyusaku then noticed that both his hands had flown away.

Blood traced a beautiful arc through the air.

It was so fast that even his body had yet to react. He only felt a little coolness at the wounds.

Kyusaku raised his head blankly.

The scene before him felt utterly unfamiliar.

Someone cried, "This genjutsu is so powerful!" Then Ning Qi cut him down with a single stroke.

Someone else had his throat slit by Ning Qi before he even understood what was happening.

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

The screams continued without end.

Even the disheveled elders beside Kyusaku were no exception.

"Run... run..."

Kyusaku watched the other man keep growling at him.

Only after the last person fell did the room finally grow quiet.

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..."

"Yours is too realistic..."

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

Kyusaku kept urging Ning Qi to release the genjutsu. Killing their fellow clansmen was not a joke to be taken this far.

Ning Qi tilted his head at him, his gaze clearly puzzled.

He looked at the blood-dripping sword in his hand, then turned back to Kyusaku. After thinking for a moment, he reminded him, "Is it only your arms that have begun to hurt?"

"Have you not noticed that your neck has begun to hurt too?"

Kyusaku froze. As if sensing something, he nodded repeatedly.

"You mean... indeed, it does seem a little itchy..."

He rubbed his neck with his arm, but the more he rubbed, the itchier it became. The itchier it became, the harder he rubbed, until he rubbed his own head off his neck.

This time, Ning Qi did not encounter any worthwhile resistance.

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

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

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

It seemed that although they were somewhat doubtful of Ning Qi killing people, they still considered it part of the bizarre genjutsu he was demonstrating.

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

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

No one could have expected Ning Qi to slaughter his own clan, just as no one knew that the neatly dressed clan meeting they had attended was actually an afternoon spent sitting in a slaughterhouse—and that they themselves were the ones about to be slaughtered.

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

From the moment he drew his sword to the moment the final head hit the ground, only a few breaths had passed. Everything was already settled.

[Essence collected: 96.7%]

"Ning Qi, are you finished?" Hiashi asked from the seat of honor, tilting his ear as though he and Ning Qi were allies.

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

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

The process could not be called easy, but it had gone rather smoothly. Ever since he ambushed Clan Head Hiashi and seized the entire clan head's residence, a scene like today's had been a foreseeable future.

After setting up the Naraka of This Realm, Ning Qi possessed the power to leverage the entire Hyuga Family on this land by himself. But clearly, how to gather the Hyuga clansmen together, how to avoid Konoha's subsequent pursuit, and how to expand his interests as much as possible during the time he still remained in Konoha were the true priorities of Ning Qi's plans.

"You have completed a great revolution for my Hyuga clan. Although your methods may have been somewhat bloody, these were necessary sacrifices. I believe our ancestors can understand, for 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 so-called revolution rather than treason. He had made his thoughts clear before. Political creatures had always valued having a righteous justification.

Although Ning Qi himself did not care, in terms of purpose, he truly would not allow the Caged Bird Seal to revive under his rule.

[ ]

—He might change its name.

Caged Chicken, Caged Duck, something like that.

Of course, this would not be for preserving the continuation of the clan. It would merely be for controlling others.

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

Ning Qi was very generous and broad-minded.

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

Compared to the Main Family and Branch Family system created by the Caged Bird Seal, this was completely different in form. It could indeed be considered a kind of progress.

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

"Yes. The Uchiha have no chance of winning," Ning Qi said casually. He hoped the Uchiha Clan could at least be somewhat useful. That would be better than him having helped them stop Itachi Uchiha and endured the Night of the Clan Massacre.

"Konoha doesn't either." Hiashi shook his head. This could only be a battle where both sides lost. "After this battle, Sarutobi may wish to step down, but he will still have to remain in that position. When the Fourth Shinobi World War erupts, there must be someone of high prestige who can coordinate all sides. This is not empty boasting, but without the Uchiha and Hyuga, Konoha has fallen into an unprecedented state of weakness. The other shinobi 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 hard to guess, but for someone who had been confined to this room for an entire month, it was already remarkable to make such a clear judgment about the situation's development from only a few words. 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 had quite a lot to say.

Ning Qi seemed to think of something and nodded slightly.

"So... like you, Fugaku has probably already arranged a way out. Whether the Uchiha lose, or Konoha later loses in the Fourth Shinobi World War, Konoha is no longer a good place to remain. So even if Sarutobi does not wipe them out completely, Fugaku must have already sent at least one group of Uchiha clansmen out of Konoha."

"Yes. That is obviously the shared thinking of most shinobi clan heads. The continuation of the family is more important than anything else." Hiashi nodded approvingly.

Konoha was a ship with a hole in it, a hole carved out jointly by Ning Qi and the Uchiha.

"So... where do you think that group of Uchiha clansmen will 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 shinobi yet. Besides, the Uchiha have always wanted to establish their own shinobi village and lead it independently."

"Is that so?" Ning Qi stored those two places away in his mind. After digging out the last pair of Byakugan, he raised his head. "I'm finished. Do you have anything else to say?"

Ning Qi felt Hiashi still had a little more potential to squeeze out, emphasizing the words "anything else to say."

"There is indeed one more thing I nearly forgot."

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

At his voice, a small side door was pushed open, and Hinata emerged. Her eyes were tightly shut. That 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.

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

Ning Qi had no interest in inheriting the Hyuga Family, 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 sort of arrangement.

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

"I told the elders that Hinata lacked talent, so I decided Hanabi would inherit the position of clan head in the future. By tradition, 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."

Yes. At that moment, a fresh Caged Bird Seal was imprinted on Hinata's forehead, carved by one of the elders who had died beneath Ning Qi's blade.

This also meant that the once high-born eldest daughter of the Main Family had become a Branch Family member just like Ning Qi.

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

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

He had arranged for the elders to carve the Caged Bird Seal onto Hinata only because it could shatter the Byakugan upon a clansman's death, directly reducing the chance that outside coveters of the Byakugan would cause Hinata's death.

"You really don't want that ring?"

"I don't need it."

"Very well. Hinata, since he does not 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 fell.

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

Ning Qi walked across a red carpet paved with blood, sword in hand, beneath the sunlight.

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

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

Under the influence of the This-Realm Naraku Technique, he did not notice Ning Qi brushing past him. Hanabi beside Neji, however, seemed to sense something and turned to glance in Ning Qi's direction.

Ning Qi stepped over the bodies 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 rooftop slowly transformed into a large funeral character.

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

Only the deceased's clothes and personal effects rested inside the coffin.

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

At a certain moment.

The boy in the front row suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter 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.

That laughter carried on all the way to the present, four years later.

Ning Qi, what are you laughing at?

Me?

I am laughing because the Great Dao has fifty, while Heaven holds only forty-nine.

Fate has actually left me a single chance at life.

Though it is difficult.

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

The prison of generations enslaved would be cleaved apart by my sword.

A family with a thousand years of heritage would be overthrown in a single day.

It was a gate tightly locked against the sky.

—And at last, I had obtained the key.

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

The scene of Hizashi's funeral in 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.