The Main Family's Ultimatum and the Branch Family's Despair

Time flew when you were busy.

The squad had worked for three days straight, their teamwork growing smoother and their strikes sharper.

In just three days, they had wiped out all fifty outposts.

They had killed nine Jonin alone, to say nothing of the Chunin and Genin. There were too many to count.

Night had fallen.

Deep in the forest stood a small, nameless mountain.

An inconspicuous cave lay tucked into a hollow, with little room inside.

A small campfire burned. Jin Uchiha and the other three ate a few mouthfuls of dry rations, then stared blankly at the flames.

"Well, I'd say our team acclimation mission is finished."

"Our coordination's gotten better and better over these three days."

"Once we get back, we'll have to take on the tough assignments."

Shisui Uchiha spoke with a cheerful smile.

These past few days had felt like a vacation to him.

And why wouldn't they?

He was still officially a Chunin, but his actual combat strength had long since surpassed that of an ordinary Jonin.

His usual missions were either mind-bogglingly complicated or pitted him against renowned fighters from the various villages.

To him, the work they had done over these three days really hadn't amounted to much.

Unfortunately.

Once Shisui finished speaking, all three of his teammates stayed silent.

Jin Uchiha and Kazama Nara went without saying. Those two only wanted to keep their heads down and survive the war in peace. But even Aya Hyuga was frowning, without a trace of happiness on her face.

Shisui froze.

He looked utterly baffled.

He had never encountered a situation like this before!

To be fair, it wasn't really his fault. He was Uchiha to his very bones.

His previous teammates had either been single-minded clansmen who charged ahead shouting about "Uchiha glory."

Or, when he teamed up with other Hidden Leaf ninja, they were carefully groomed, genuine elites.

The things on their minds were worlds apart from what Jin Uchiha and these others were thinking.

"Hey, what's with you three?" Shisui couldn't hold back any longer. "Aren't you even a little excited?"

Jin Uchiha rolled his eyes.

"What's there to get excited about? I just want to lie low here until the war's over."

Kazama Nara immediately nodded in agreement.

He opened his mouth in a yawn, looking as though his soul had wandered off.

That was only natural.

He was close to Jin Uchiha, but they had only banded together because they had been left with no other choice.

At heart, he was a Nara through and through.

He couldn't be bothered to get involved in anything. Unless he absolutely had to, all he wanted was to curl up at home and sleep.

Aya Hyuga spoke up as well.

"I actually hope this war drags on as long as possible."

"Preferably forever."

"Not being able to return to the village would be a relief."

Her voice was soft.

Her eyes were filled with hurt, and her tone was steeped in bitterness.

It was plain to see.

After three days together, she had gotten some sense of what her three teammates were like and had begun to trust them a little.

Especially now, with a battle just behind them. Once the tension eased, the words naturally began to slip out.

The corner of Shisui's mouth twitched.

Even now, he still couldn't understand what these three teammates were thinking.

People from the Nara Household were all hopelessly lazy.

Jin Uchiha's attitude was somewhat understandable, too.

If war hadn't broken out, his younger clansman could have kept his head down until the end of time.

But Aya Hyuga was another matter.

Why was she like this, too?

Yet when he saw the bleakness in Aya Hyuga's eyes, Shisui frowned. Could there be more to this?

After a little thought, he spoke first.

"Aya, are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Don't bottle it up. We're comrades now, after all. If there's anything I can do, I won't hesitate."

"Especially Kazama!"

"He's from the Nara Household. Surely you trust their brains?"

"He's bound to come up with something."

Shisui wasn't clueless.

As an Uchiha, how could he not know about the Hyuga Household's affairs?

Whatever she was facing, it almost certainly involved the Caged Bird.

Still, there was no telling.

Although there was no fundamental solution to that problem, a specific situation might have a way around it.

Everyone knew what the Hyuga were like!

Behind closed doors, they threw their weight around when dealing with the branch family. But whenever they had to face the whole Hidden Leaf, they immediately shrank back like bedraggled chickens.

Thinking of it that way.

Whatever mess Aya Hyuga had landed in didn't matter. As long as they found the right approach, resolving it might not be all that difficult.

Kazama Nara felt a little reluctant.

He really didn't want to waste any brainpower on something that had nothing whatsoever to do with him.

Still.

Aya Hyuga was a genuinely decent person.

The Caged Bird was branded on her forehead, and she came from the branch family.

To be perfectly honest.

There was nothing about her that made her worth the effort of winning over.

But they had at least grown somewhat close over the past couple of days. As long as it didn't interfere with his plans, lending her a hand wouldn't hurt.

With that thought, he smiled and answered.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Aya, if you trust me, tell us about it."

"If there's anything I can do, I'll do my part."

After the two finished speaking, Aya Hyuga instead fell silent.

Jin Uchiha narrowed his eyes.

He had paid some attention to Aya Hyuga.

But then again.

He still had plenty of his own messes to clean up. How could he spare the effort to deal with someone else's problems?

She was certainly beautiful, but under the present circumstances, romance hadn't even entered Jin Uchiha's mind.

Still, Shisui and Kazama had both offered their help, and the girl really was a decent person.

Thinking of that, he smiled and added his own words.

"Aya, tell us."

"We were lucky to end up together. None of us will hold back if we can help."

Unfortunately.

Even after all three spoke up, Aya Hyuga could only manage a bitter smile.

And so, the cave remained quiet for quite some time.

Only after a long while.

Did she let out a long sigh and begin to speak, as though she had finally made up her mind.

"Since you all want to hear it, I'll tell you. Consider it something to pass the time."

"You probably all know I was born into the Hyuga branch family."

"Last year, there was this piece of trash from the main family. My parents weren't watching where they were going and offended him once. With a single word, he had them killed."

"That, I could live with."

"That's the fate of the branch family. People like us have long since accepted it in our hearts."

"But this year, that piece of trash set his sights on me. He wants me to return to the village after this war and become his concubine."

"Sounds laughable, doesn't it?"

"He killed my parents last year, and now he wants to marry me into his household."

"It's just so pathetic."

"If it were only me, I could simply give up my life."

"But I have a younger sister!"

"To keep that animal from hurting her too, I have no choice but to swallow it."

All of them were stunned.

Even Jin Uchiha, who had read the original story, hadn't imagined the Hyuga main family could be this tyrannical.

This wasn't marriage. It was tormenting someone to death.

Shisui was the first to lose his composure, opening his mouth with a furious curse.

"The great Hyuga clan—have they no shame?"

"They're nothing but animals!"

"Kazama, can you think of anything?"

"Your Nara Household has the sharpest minds. You can definitely come up with a solution, right?"

"Aya's our teammate. We have to help her!"