The negotiations began. This was a war without blades.
Once this war ended, the two great shinobi villages would enjoy a period of peace.
Before that, however, one side would inevitably have to sacrifice its interests.
Night shrouded Konoha. Tetsuya stepped onto the balcony and gazed into the distance from his high vantage point.
"So it begins. Tonight is when the gears of Neji's fate start turning."
In the Hyuga Clan compound, Hizashi Hyuga of the Hyuga Branch Family soothed his son Neji to sleep.
Seeing his gifted son branded with the Caged Bird Seal broke Hizashi Hyuga's heart.
Once the Caged Bird Seal was applied, the Byakugan was no longer complete. Even a genius like Neji could not overcome the limitations it imposed.
"Neji, your father has failed you."
Hizashi sighed, then turned and left Neji's room.
Living in a clan like the Hyuga, who wasn't a caged bird?
And it wasn't just the Hyuga. Wasn't all of Konoha an even larger birdcage?
Hizashi had barely taken two steps out of Neji's room when he noticed something amiss.
A dark figure was racing toward the outside, carrying something in his arms.
"That's... Hinata!"
The Kumogakure ninja carrying Hinata also widened his eyes when he saw Hizashi.
"Damn it! Why is someone here at this hour?"
He immediately tried to turn and flee.
"You're not getting away!"
Hizashi darted forward and struck one of his fatal pressure points.
The Hyuga Clan's taijutsu specifically targeted the body's vital pressure points. Killing someone with a single blow was all too easy.
Hinata's kidnapper died just like that. Hizashi thought nothing of it, believing he had merely killed a criminal attempting to abduct the Hyuga Clan's young heiress.
Little did he know that his own life, too, was about to come to an