Leaving Konoha

"Lord Hokage, Princess Tsunade stormed into the Hyuga Main Estate, saying she had taken a liking to Hyuga Neji's talent and wanted to take him as her disciple. She caused a huge disturbance at the estate. The Hyuga Clan's First Elder was seriously injured, and several Jonin were sent to the hospital. She has now taken people and left Konoha. The guards could not stop them and have allowed them to leave. How should this be handled? Please give your orders, Lord Hokage."

An ANBU suddenly appeared before Hiruzen Sarutobi, bringing news that left everyone dumbfounded.

"Tsunade? Hyuga Neji? How did those two get involved with each other?"

The Third Hokage froze for a moment, then asked in disbelief.

"ANBU does not know either. A few days ago, Lady Tsunade encountered Hyuga Neji on the street. She then took him back to the Senju Clan Compound, and Hyuga Neji did not leave until the next day. ANBU did not dare get too close, so we do not know what happened during that time."

"Why was this not reported sooner?"

Hiruzen's expression darkened as he barked the question.

"This... Hyuga Neji is only from the Branch House, and Lord Hokage, you said there was no need to pay Princess Tsunade too much attention. If anything came up, we were to accommodate her as much as possible, so..."

Though the ANBU kneeling on the ground had his face hidden by a mask, the tremor that ran through his body exposed his panic. He could only do his best to explain.

Hiruzen paused at those words, then drew a deep breath and slowly let it out. "If I remember correctly, Hyuga Neji is one of the most outstanding students among the recent batches from the ninja academy."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. Hyuga Neji possesses exceptional talent. Even disciples of the Hyuga Clan Main House are no match for him. It is said that Neji created a new Gentle Fist technique before he even enrolled in the academy. The latest intelligence is that he has independently mastered the Main House's Gentle Fist ultimate technique, Rotation!"

"What? Then even the title of genius is beneath him. Another monster, is he? What a pity he is from the Branch House!"

"Is he not the son of Hizashi, Hiashi's younger brother?"

The Third Hokage suddenly recalled something and asked again.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

"Hizashi's son! Tsunade! Hiashi! Kosuke Hyuga? What exactly is the connection between them? It should not be this way. Why would Tsunade accept a disciple from the Hyuga Clan Branch House?"

The Third Hokage murmured to himself. Answers surfaced one after another in his mind, only to be rejected one by one.

"Is the Hyuga Clan trying to latch onto Tsunade? Then they should have sent a disciple of the Main House. No matter what, it should never have fallen to someone from the Branch House!"

The Third Hokage muttered to himself.

"Let them go. Keep a close watch on their movements at all times."

Unable to find an answer, the Third Hokage spoke helplessly. He felt guilty toward Tsunade and blamed himself. Given Tsunade's current circumstances, he did not want to fall out with his own disciple again.

"Yes!"

Having received his orders, the ANBU hurriedly withdrew.

Meanwhile, Neji followed behind Tsunade and Shizune, with Xiao Xi keeping close at his side.

While Tsunade had unleashed her might, Neji had circulated his Inner Qi to slowly repair his internal injuries. In the end, Tsunade truly had not torn down the Main House Shrine. Had she done so, it would have become a fight to the death. Even Hiashi would not have been able to protect him then, because all of this had begun because of him!

Still, it did not really matter. Hiashi could not protect him now anyway. It was more reliable to find his own powerful backer!

After Tsunade had clamored about tearing down the shrine, the Main House had been forced to agree to a series of conditions, including but not limited to Neji's relative freedom and the gifts for his apprenticeship ceremony. From those gifts, Neji could tell that Hiashi had put some thought into it. At any rate, Tsunade's smile had bloomed like a chrysanthemum.

At last, Neji struggled to his feet. After briefly tending to his external wounds, he changed into a clean robe so Xiao Xi would not worry again upon seeing him. Then, ignoring the fire-spitting glares from the First Elder's faction, he bowed to Hiashi and took his leave. Hiashi seemed to want to say something, opening his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.

Tsunade openly and forcefully led the group out of Konoha.

Xiao Xi anxiously glanced around from time to time, still unable to recover from the day's upheaval.

She recalled her young master's instructions that morning: go find Lady Tsunade and tell her that the situation might change. Later, after returning to the clan compound, she had gone alone to the small courtyard to pack according to her young master's instructions. Not long after, a tremendous crash suddenly came from the Main House, and Lady Tsunade returned with her young master. Though he had tried his best to hide it, she had cared for him for so long. How could she not recognize the signs that he was injured?

To keep her young master from worrying, she pretended not to notice his injuries, so he would not be distracted at such a critical time. So be strong, Hyuga Xiao Xi. Xiao Xi held back her tears and encouraged herself.

She had never expected that, in the blink of an eye, she would leave the Hyuga Clan and Konoha with her young master. This was the first time in her life that she had stepped beyond Konoha's gates, so her mind was still a muddle. Yet whenever she looked at the profile of her young master's face as he strode ahead, endless sweetness welled up in her heart.

I can cultivate too, Xiao Xi. I must protect Young Master Neji! The girl silently encouraged herself as she hurried along, determined not to hold everyone back.

"Kid, you do not seem very surprised! Your injuries are strange too. You are recovering rather quickly! Man, you really have a lot of secrets. Forget it, I cannot be bothered to dig into them!"

Tsunade asked with a sidelong, carefree glance, then waved her hand as if she could not be bothered to care. Yes, that was very Tsunade.

"Didn't you give me the necklace the First Hokage left you, Sensei? You recognized me long ago, so I was not surprised at all that you appeared at the Hyuga Main Estate."

Neji replied with a smile.

"That's right. These past few days, Lady Tsunade has been talking about nothing but you, junior brother. It has even made me a little jealous. How are you going to compensate me, junior brother?"

Shizune said playfully. The little pig named Tonton in her arms cooperatively snorted twice.

"Senior Sister Shizune, please do not tease me." Neji smiled shyly, then continued, "From now on, if Senior Sister has any command for me, Neji will brave death a thousand times without hesitation!"

"Pah! Who wants you to die?"

Shizune's face flushed slightly. She stamped her foot and hid behind Tsunade.

"You brat, you are pretty skilled at sweet-talking girls. But let me tell you this: do not get any ideas about Shizune!" Tsunade glanced at the delicate-looking girl walking beside Neji and warned him protectively.

"You are joking, Sensei. I am still just a child!"

Neji said helplessly.

"A child? A child could not do the things you did. The Hyuga Clan has been in chaos these past few days, so do not tell me you had nothing to do with it. And a child would not be able to injure a Hyuga Jonin!"

Tsunade said with an expression that plainly said, Do you take me for a fool?

"Sensei truly sees everything. Sigh, it is all tears if I talk about it. Everything Neji did was merely for self-preservation. You should already know that I was assigned to the border. I learned that the moment I appeared there, they intended to make me disappear forever. That was why I had no choice but to strike first."

Neji calmly explained everything. He knew he could not hide it from Tsunade, especially since he had revealed quite a lot before her. Yet Neji was not afraid that Tsunade would do anything to him. It was a very peculiar intuition.

"Young Master Neji, how could this be? How could the Main House do something so cruel?"

Xiao Xi had not expected so many things she did not know about to have happened in recent days. Although the Main House had always ordered the Branch House around, she had never imagined that they wanted Young Master Neji dead. It was truly hateful.

"Sister Xiao Xi, you already know how the Main House treats the Branch House. Kosuke Hyuga hated me for defeating him, and his mind became twisted. Fortunately, it is all over now. You do not need to worry!"

Neji patted the hand Xiao Xi had tightly wrapped around his sleeve and comforted her.

"But the Main House controls the Caged Bird. What if they resent this and secretly activate the Caged Bird curse mark?"

Xiao Xi asked anxiously.

"They will not. Sensei has publicly acknowledged me as her disciple. If anyone dared do that now, they would have to endure Sensei's undying wrath. Those pampered fools in the Main House do not have that kind of courage!"

Neji's certainty put Xiao Xi at ease.

"Uh... are things within great clans really this brutal?"

Shizune, who had been listening from the side, was stunned.

"Senior Sister, where there are people, there will be conflicts. Across the Ninja World, suspicion, betrayal, and slaughter never cease for a moment. All we can do is press onward bravely. Besides, holding the power over another person's life and death breeds endless desire. I would not be surprised at all if someone from the Main House did such a thing. After all, has this not happened before?"

Neji said meaningfully.

"Ah? Oh!" Shizune nodded vaguely, then said firmly, "It will not happen again. If anyone bullies you in the future, I... Lady Tsunade will deal with them."

"Alright, then thank you, Senior Sister!" Neji promptly cupped his hands in thanks.

"Hehehe, no problem, no problem!" Shizune said with a hand over her mouth as she giggled.

For a time, the traveling group was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.