The next day.
Outside the Forest of Death, Hizashi Hyuga and his son arrived, looking nervous.
Before them lay the Shinobi World's Fourth Sacred Land, where even the ANBU were forbidden to enter.
A lot had happened yesterday, but thankfully, they had come through unharmed.
Kazan's words, "I'll be very unhappy," had been more effective than anything else.
Even though the Hyuga Clan's Old Clan Leader and Elders Council had been itching to activate the Caged Bird Seal and torture Hizashi to death.
But at the thought of the training ground cracking under the force of Kazan's chakra, they hadn't dared do anything. They had flung their sleeves and left.
"Neji, once you're with Lord Kazan, you must work even harder at your training!" Hizashi Hyuga looked at his son beside him, his eyes full of love.
Summoning the courage to defy his clan for the first time yesterday might have been the best decision he had ever made.
"Yes, Father!" Neji Hyuga nodded firmly.
He was still very young, only a year old, not yet two.
But everything he had seen and heard yesterday had left a deep impression on him.
Yesterday, he had finally seen the truth about the Main Family members he had once respected so deeply.
Once their hypocritical masks came off, all that remained was cold arrogance.
Then he thought of the man who had stepped out from among those heartless faces.
Dressed in pure, almost sacred white, he had approached Neji like the first light of dawn and held out his hand.
"Become my disciple!"
His voice hadn't been loud, but it had carried strength.
Neji would probably never forget that face for as long as he lived.
Just then, birds beat their wings and took flight within the forest, and a terrifying creature