Talking About the Hyuga Clan

"Anything else? If not, I'm going to train." Sasuke's face was cold.

"One more," Neji said.

"Then write faster. You've already wasted a lot of my training time," Sasuke said irritably.

Neji couldn't help laughing. Sasuke really was an awkward person.

The Yin Seal? A Sealing Jutsu related to Yin Release? Sasuke guessed after seeing the name.

As Neji continued writing, Sasuke realized it was a composite Sealing Jutsu. Combining Medical Ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu, it was an exceptionally complex medical seal.

"This seal is too complicated. It's even more involved than the Four Symbols Seal." One look at how much Neji had written on the Scroll told Sasuke this was no simple technique.

Writing out the Yin Seal took Neji quite some time. Tsunade's masterpiece was extraordinary.

The Sealing Jutsu portion was not especially extensive, but the Medical Ninjutsu portion was another matter.

"This is a seal that can store Chakra?" Sasuke looked at Neji and voiced the idea that had struck him once he understood its purpose. "If I master the Yin Seal, what if I fill it with a Tailed Beast's Chakra instead of my own? What do you think, Neji?"

Neji looked at him in surprise, as though a light bulb had gone on over his head. "Sasuke, not bad. You seem a lot sharper lately."

"Don't underestimate the Uchiha!" Sasuke raised his head proudly.

"That idea is worth trying." After a moment's thought, Neji agreed.

Filling the Yin Seal with his own Chakra would take ages. A Tailed Beast's Chakra would be much faster.

"But the Yin Seal looks incredibly difficult. Who knows how long it'll be before I can actually try it?" Sasuke shook his head.

Neji looked at the dizzying mass of writing on the Scroll and felt a headache coming on. The Yin Seal was powerful, but its complexity matched its effects.

Preserving youth, speeding recovery and strengthening the body were all impressive effects.

"Maybe I can try simplifying it someday. Strip out the Medical Ninjutsu parts and keep only the ability to store and release Chakra," Neji said.

Sasuke reminded him, "You should learn the Five Elements Seal and the Four Symbols Seal first. Those matter most to you. The Yin Seal isn't as urgent."

"I know that without you telling me," Neji said.

"Hmph. I was just reminding you." Sasuke snorted.

"Then thank you," Neji said with a chuckle.

"Hah." Seeing Neji put down his pen, Sasuke handed over the Scroll he had written.

Neji shook his head. "I already recorded it with my Byakugan. I don't need the Scroll. Almost everyone in the Hyuga Clan has the Byakugan, so bringing it back would make it easy to discover."

"Suit yourself. I have to say, your Hyuga Clan has far too much nonsense going on. You all share a name, yet you insist on dividing yourselves into a Main Family and a Branch Family and ranking one above the other. As if that weren't enough, you put a Cursed Seal on Branch Family members and control whether they live or die." Sasuke finally said what he had been holding back.

"You're wrong about one thing, Sasuke," Neji said.

Sasuke stared at him in surprise. That didn't sound like something Neji would say. Frowning, he asked, "What?"

Neji gave a cold smile. "To the Hyuga Clan's Main Family, Branch Family members aren't people. They're slaves who obey orders, not kin who share the same blood, as you put it.

"As far as the Main Family is concerned, only the handful of people born into it count as human. Most Branch Family members are nothing more than livestock and slaves.

"The Main Family's thinking is peculiar. They're afraid the Branch Family will be too weak to protect them, but they're also afraid it might grow strong enough to turn on them. So they've divided the Gentle Fist teachings as well. Only the Main Family can learn the Hyuga Clan's true core techniques."

"I..." Sasuke was at a loss for words. He hadn't imagined things in the Hyuga Clan were worse than he'd thought.

"In the Hyuga Clan, a Branch Family member will always be a Branch Family member," Neji said pointedly. "That's decided the moment you're born."

"Your Hyuga Clan is sick..." Even Sasuke Uchiha, with all his own issues, thought the Hyuga Clan was deeply disturbed.

"The Uchiha Clan never had anything like that. Sure, there was bullying, but no one would openly treat their own clansmen as slaves." As Sasuke spoke, he recalled the warmth of those days.

Back then, there had been plenty of children his age in the clan. As the Clan Head's second son, he hadn't played with them, but he had never gone out of his way to bully them either.

Sasuke could hardly imagine how stifling life in the Hyuga Clan must be.

"Your family didn't have maids or anything like that, did it?" Neji asked.

Sasuke paused. "Of course not. The Uchiha Clan would never make servants of its own people. Besides, we're a Shinobi Clan, not nobles. Servants are pointless."

"Well, since we've come this far, I might as well tell you. Every member of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family has a young maid to look after them. And if they aren't satisfied with her service, they can have her killed whenever they like!" Neji's voice dripped with scorn.

Sasuke blinked. His eyes suddenly felt dry. What was wrong with the Hyuga Clan?

"And a Shinobi Clan like that dares to stand alongside the Uchiha Clan? It disgraces our name!" Sasuke said coldly.

It was shocking to learn. Sasuke had never felt much of anything about Hinata Hyuga, the Hyuga Clan's young lady in his class who was always so shy. Now he found himself disliking her for no clear reason.

At last, Sasuke truly understood why Neji was so desperate to gain his freedom.

If Sasuke had lived in that kind of environment, he would have clashed with the so-called Main Family long ago.

"That's the Hyuga Clan," Neji said at last.

Neji had never felt any sense of kinship from the Hyuga Clan. He had encountered gloating, scorn and mockery, but never ordinary human compassion or warmth.

Sasuke could only sympathize with Neji in silence.

"That's enough talk. I'm going to study the Sealing Jutsu you gave me and see how they work." Neji stood and left.

Sasuke let him go. He gathered the five Scrolls Neji had just written, then used Summoning to call Orange Flame Ninja Cat and had him take them to the Uchiha Clan's safe with the Ninja Cat Clan.

He wasn't foolish enough to leave those things in Konoha.