The Caged Bird Bond Quest

That night, Zuo Hao went to Konoha Back Mountain.

He had only meant to take a walk and get some training in while he was at it.

With his hands in his pockets, Zuo Hao strolled along a forest path, turning the Chunin Ninja Exams over in his mind.

Orochimaru would disguise himself as a Grass Ninja to infiltrate the exams. There were the Sand Ninja's plan, the Sound Ninja lying in ambush, and the Third, whom he had to kill with his own hands.

As he thought, the muffled sound of fists and feet cutting through the air came from a clearing ahead.

Zuo Hao stopped. The Sharingan appeared in his eyes almost by instinct. Its Three Tomoe turned slowly as he traced the sound through the layers of trees.

A boy in white stood in the clearing, his long, dark brown hair tied into a neat ponytail. A Konoha Forehead Protector was fastened across his brow.

He was practicing the Gentle Fist alone beneath the moonlight. Each strike carried the distinctive chakra of the Hyuga Clan, and the air compressed into visible white swirls wherever his palms passed.

Neji Hyuga.

Zuo Hao recognized his face.

He was the genius of the Hyuga Branch Family, the top student in the previous Ninja Academy Graduation Exam, hailed as the most gifted young member in the Hyuga Clan's history.

Of course, that "most gifted" label needed a question mark now. Zuo Hao knew what the Caged Bird Seal on Neji's forehead meant.

No matter how brightly a Branch Family genius shone, he was still the Main Family's dog.

The son of a sacrificial pawn was destined to be another sacrificial pawn...

Neji abruptly drew his palms back and spun in midair with near-perfect precision. Chakra burst from all 361 of his tenketsu at once, forming a spherical barrier around him.

Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin.

An absolute defense.

Zuo Hao narrowed his Sharingan slightly, recording the flow of chakra through the technique in the depths of his eyes.

The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist and Heavenly Spin both demanded extraordinarily precise chakra control. Only with the Byakugan's powers of perception and long-range vision could they reach their full potential.

Even if an ordinary ninja got hold of the Gentle Fist's training methods, they would get nowhere. The Byakugan Kekkei Genkai was the foundation of it all.

Just as Zuo Hao was about to turn away, a system notification rang out in his mind.

[Ding! Key character detected: Neji Hyuga!]

[Caged Bird Bond Quest triggered.]

[Quest description: He is a once-in-a-century genius of the Hyuga Clan, yet birth into the Branch Family branded him with lifelong shackles. A bird in a cage, a man trapped within it—his fate was written from the beginning. But you know better than anyone that so-called fate is nothing more than a lie the strong use to enslave the weak.]

[Quest objective: Get to know Neji Hyuga and help him break free of his predetermined fate during the Chunin Ninja Exams.]

[Quest rewards: Link with Neji Hyuga, Pseudo-Byakugan, Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.]

Zuo Hao stopped in his tracks.

Pseudo-Byakugan?

The Gentle Fist?

Those were both valuable rewards, especially the Byakugan, though he had no idea how much weaker the imitation was than the real thing.

But as someone who had crossed over into this world, Zuo Hao knew the Byakugan was a dōjutsu of the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Its potential was immense, certainly no less than the Sharingan's.

He turned back, his gaze passing through the trees to the boy in white standing in the clearing.

Caged Bird Seal.

Zuo Hao repeated the name silently.

It was the sealing technique the Hyuga Main Family used to control the Branch Family. Anyone branded with it lived under the Main Family's control from birth until death.

Once the seal on their forehead was activated, a Branch Family member suffered pain worse than death as their brain was attacked directly. At best, they would lose consciousness. At worst, they would die on the spot.

Crueler still, the Caged Bird Seal automatically sealed the Byakugan after death, ensuring no outsider could obtain the Kekkei Genkai from a corpse.

In the Main Family's eyes, a Branch Family member was nothing but a tool from birth to death.

A tool while alive. Worthless once dead.

Zuo Hao stepped out of the shadows.

His footsteps were light, but in the stillness of the night, the rustle of fallen leaves beneath them was clear enough.

Neji looked up almost at once. His pale eyes had an almost translucent sheen in the moonlight.

The Byakugan.

The Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai.

It granted a nearly 360-degree field of vision that could see through objects and perceive the flow of chakra through the body's network. Its range far exceeded the Sharingan's.

"Who's there?"

Neji's voice was quiet but steady, carrying a composure beyond his years.

He straightened, his hands settling naturally into the Gentle Fist's opening stance.

Zuo Hao made no attempt to hide.

Hands still in his pockets, he walked unhurriedly out of the shadows. Moonlight fell across his face, illuminating his crimson Sharingan.

Three Tomoe.

Neji's Byakugan swept over Zuo Hao, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

It wasn't because of the Sharingan. It was because of the amount of chakra he saw.

Twelve years old. A Genin. Yet Zuo Hao held so much chakra that Neji could barely gauge it.

That was Kage Level chakra!

And its color was purple, threaded with streaks of red.

It was the color of Indra's Chakra mixed with Nine-Tails Chakra.

Neji frowned almost imperceptibly.

"Uchiha... Zuo Hao?"

A trace of uncertainty entered Neji's voice.

He had seen Zuo Hao's name in the Ninja Academy records: first place in this year's Graduation Exam, one of the Uchiha Clan's surviving orphans.

But the records were clear. Zuo Hao's performance at the Ninja Academy had been unremarkable. He was no genius. His younger brother Sasuke was supposed to be the real prodigy.

"You know me?" Zuo Hao wore an easy smile as the Three Tomoe slowly turned in his eyes. "That saves me an introduction."

"Neji Hyuga, right? Top student in last year's Graduation Exam. The Hyuga Clan's genius."

Neji's frown deepened.

He lowered his hands and stood straight, his pale eyes resting calmly on Zuo Hao.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing." Zuo Hao shrugged. He walked over to a large rock at the edge of the clearing and sat down, hands still in his pockets. Crossing one leg over the other, he looked as relaxed as if he were sitting in his own yard. "I was passing by, saw someone practicing the Gentle Fist, and thought I'd watch for a bit."

Neji watched him in silence.

A member of the Uchiha Clan appeared alone on the back mountain in the middle of the night, found a Hyuga Branch Family genius practicing, then sat down and claimed he only wanted to watch.

Who would believe that?

Neji said nothing more and turned to leave.

Zuo Hao watched him, then suddenly spoke. "There's a flaw in your Heavenly Spin."