Preparations

Neji had no idea how much time had passed before he heard Hyuga Hiashi's icy voice. "Let this be a lesson. Now you'll know the difference between the Main Family and the Branch Family!"

With a cold snort, Hyuga Hiashi turned and left with the maid.

Neji gasped for breath as he struggled shakily to his feet. The pain from this activation of the Caged Bird Seal had been nowhere near as bad as the previous times.

His body trembling, Neji made his way back to his quarters, one step at a time. Some of the people he passed looked pleased at his misfortune; others showed no expression at all. They stopped to watch, but no one dared help him.

Neji didn't care. That was how things were for the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family. Bound by the Caged Bird Seal, they had to tread carefully in everything they did, afraid of provoking the Main Family.

More than one or two members of the Branch Family had been executed with the Caged Bird Seal.

In the nearly year since Neji had arrived in this world, the Main Family had executed five Branch Family members, most of whom had been responsible for tending to its daily needs.

If Neji's father hadn't been the current Clan Head's younger brother, Neji's fate after defying the Main Family's orders probably wouldn't have been any better.

Hmph. The Hyuga Clan... Neji sneered inwardly.

He stepped up to a mirror mounted on the wall, removed the Forehead Protector from his brow, and carefully studied the blue-green Caged Bird Seal mark there.

"The mark's a little fainter." Neji noticed the difference at first glance.

Compared with before, the mark on his forehead was much paler, like a faint blue-green trace.

Looking at it, Neji couldn't contain his joy. I knew it! Evolving the Byakugan toward the Tenseigan is a way to break the Caged Bird Seal! I'm on the right path.

Once he knew he hadn't chosen the wrong path, a weight lifted from his heart.

Now I just need to keep an eye on Danzo's side and find an opening, Neji thought.

It wasn't until two days later that Neji left the Hyuga Clan compound and rejoined Team 3.

It wasn't that Neji needed two days to recover. He simply didn't want to do those boring, low-level missions. Besides, it would help throw the Main Family off. Hyuga Hiashi had kept the Caged Bird Seal active for quite a while; recovering too quickly might arouse unnecessary suspicion.

"Neji, are you all right?" As the four members of Team 3 walked down the street, Tenten looked at Neji with concern.

When Neji hadn't appeared at Team 3's gathering two days earlier, the whole team had gone to the Hyuga Clan compound to find out what had happened. But the gate guards had stopped them and refused to let them in.

In the end, they'd had no choice but to leave.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." Neji shook his head.

Might Guy seemed to understand something and, for once, said nothing about burning youth. He just patted Neji on the shoulder, gave him a thumbs-up, and smiled encouragingly.

"Thank you, Teacher Guy." Neji smiled back.

"Lee, don't bother Neji for the next few days," Might Guy said quietly as he walked over to Rock Lee.

"Teacher Guy?" Rock Lee looked at him in confusion, unsure why he'd said that.

"Just listen to me, Lee." Might Guy had no intention of explaining.

Telling his innocent student about the Hyuga Clan's affairs would only sully his mind. There was no point telling Rock Lee what Neji was going through when none of them could do anything about it.

"I understand, Teacher Guy." Rock Lee didn't, but he agreed anyway.

"Too bad. That means fewer matches with Neji," Rock Lee muttered.

Might Guy laughed. "Haha! Lee, I'll spar with you for the next few days! Let me see how brightly your youth burns."

After completing a quick D-rank mission, Team 3 dispersed to train on their own.

Neji went straight to a secluded spot and began watching the shifts of personnel guarding the Root Base.

He couldn't afford to be careless with his preparations. If the plan was exposed, he would have to take the worst option and run.

Yes, Neji had already considered the possibility of exposure. If Root Ninjas pinned him down inside the Root Base, the Hyuga Clan might spot him. Once its ninjas arrived, they would undoubtedly see through his identity.

If that happened, Neji would have only one choice: flee far away from Konoha and out of sight of the Hyuga Main Family.

If he came within sight of the Hyuga Main Family after that, they could activate the Caged Bird Seal and instantly leave him unable to fight.

The Caged Bird Seal had a limited range. Beyond a certain distance, the Main Family could no longer control the lives of Branch Family members, and the seal would cease to work. It wasn't as if the Main Family could activate the Caged Bird Seal in Konoha and make a Branch Family member in another country drop dead on the spot.

So, in theory, a Branch Family member could defect as long as they fled far enough and avoided being found by Konoha or the Hyuga Main Family.

Pulling chestnuts out of the fire, Neji thought with a sigh.

That afternoon, Neji found Sasuke.

As soon as they met, Neji said, "Let me sign a Summoning Contract with the Ninja Cat Clan. And get me a few Storage Scrolls."

"What are you planning?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm going to pull off something big." Neji didn't mind Sasuke knowing.

"Something big? You're going to kill the entire Hyuga Clan?" Sasuke said, half joking.

"Heh..." Neji gave a dry laugh. "Could you be realistic? You've never felt what the Caged Bird Seal is like. The pain alone could kill someone."

"Then what are you planning? You want Storage Scrolls and a Summoning Contract with the Ninja Cat Clan. Did your Byakugan spot something valuable?" Sasuke was curious now.

"I'm going to raid Root and take a few things," Neji said calmly, as if he were talking about going out for barbecue later.

"Huh?" Sasuke wondered if he'd misheard. "What did you just say? You're going to raid Root?"

"Just heading to the docks for some fries. Happy?" Neji had already made up his mind, and he was even in a fairly good mood.

Sasuke was speechless. This guy still had the nerve to joke around? Raiding Root—only Neji would come up with that.

Sasuke gave Neji a suspicious look. "Do you have a death wish?"

"You may be the Uchiha Clan's king of taking punishment, but don't underestimate other people's resolve," Neji snapped.

Sasuke ignored the bit about being the king of taking punishment, though he could tell it wasn't a compliment. He frowned at Neji. "If you really want to die, you'd be better off finding a chance to ambush a few members of the Main Family. With your strength and the element of surprise, I'm sure you could kill a few."

Hearing the concern in Sasuke's voice, Neji smiled and said with complete seriousness, "Don't worry. As long as there's even a sliver of hope, I'll try to seize it. I won't give up easily."