Hyuga Rei

While Uchiha Mu and Tobirama Senju discussed teaching, Hyuga Lingnai followed the Branch Family members to the Hyuga Main Family's quarters. The elders and Clan Leader sat before her, and the elders all looked her over.

"You still have the nerve to come back? Since you left the Hyuga, have the Caged Bird Seal put on her," one conservative elder immediately demanded.

"Go ahead and try, if you want the Hyuga to become history." Hyuga Lingnai narrowed her eyes, seeing nothing wrong with using Uchiha Mu's power to throw her weight around.

"You!" The Grand Elder was furious, but he also realized something: they had no one as strong as Uchiha Mu. Hashirama would certainly back them up.

But Hashirama was not as young as Uchiha Mu. What would they do after Hashirama died? Their best option was not to provoke him. Earlier, the Grand Elder had simply been overwhelmed by anger.

A Hyuga woman sharing a man with an Uzumaki woman had disgraced them completely. Now that she stood before him, he naturally felt furious.

"And don't say I'm bullying you. Ninja settle things with strength, after all. Beat me, and you can carve whatever you want on this forehead." Hyuga Lingnai pointed at her smooth, unmarked forehead.

"Hyuga Lingnai, remember what you just said." The Grand Elder rose and took off his outer robe, his veins bulging. A moment later, he panicked.

"How do you have so much chakra?" The Grand Elder could not believe it. Hyuga generally did not activate their Byakugan within the clan compound, since seeing something indecent would be awkward. But now that he had activated his, its blind-spot-free vision quickly revealed Hyuga Lingnai's enormous reserves of chakra.

"Chōmei gave it to me. And there's this, too." As she spoke, Hyuga Lingnai vanished from the sight of those without their Byakugan active. The Main Family members hastily activated theirs, only for the sight before them to leave them drenched in sweat.

Several figures with seemingly identical amounts of chakra appeared before the Grand Elder. One good trick could take you a long way, and Hyuga Lingnai was proof of that. She had used this same move against the Branch Family when she first arrived.

"Rotation!" The Grand Elder used it without hesitation, but Hyuga Lingnai broke straight through it a moment later.

"Impossible." The Grand Elder stared at Hyuga Lingnai, utterly disheveled.

"I've fought Mu plenty of times. He told me long ago how to break our absolute defense." Hyuga Lingnai dusted off her hands. Wings sprouted from her back, and she flew straight into the air before diving toward the Grand Elder at tremendous speed and unleashing a Vacuum Palm.

"Stop!" The current Clan Leader countered with a Vacuum Palm of his own, but he had less chakra than Hyuga Lingnai, and she had the speed of her dive behind her. In their head-on clash, the Clan Leader was sent flying by her palm strike and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Grand Elder watched in alarm. Hyuga Lingnai had just been trying to kill him. How dare she? A moment later, however, he quieted down. Hyuga Lingnai unleashed the oppressive force of her chakra, pinning this Grand Elder, who hid behind the Branch Family, so thoroughly that he could not move.

"Ahem, Lingnai, if you still consider yourself a Hyuga, stop." The Hyuga Clan Leader wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"As long as they stop provoking me." Hyuga Lingnai lowered her hands and deactivated her Byakugan.

"What did you come to Konoha for?" Hyuga Tenka could not help asking.

"The Hokage invited us to a Shinobi World conference. It's probably to discuss peace." Hyuga Lingnai freely revealed her purpose.

"Then what did you come here for?" Hyuga Tenka felt a little envious. None of them were qualified to take part in such major village affairs, yet Hyuga Lingnai was.

"To take my former personal guard with me. That's fine, isn't it?" Hyuga Lingnai stated her purpose. Her guard had originally been a man from the Branch Family, but after the incident in which Uchiha Mu saved her life, she had replaced him with a woman who served as both her sparring partner and bodyguard. Her usual escorts when she went out had remained unchanged.

"Yes." The Hyuga Clan Leader made the decision without paying any attention to the others' silence.

"You understand what I mean about the Caged Bird Seal, don't you?"

"Rest assured, we won't activate it. You won't either, will you, Grand Elder?" The Hyuga Clan Leader looked at the Grand Elder.

"Yes, Clan Leader." The Grand Elder felt deeply humiliated, but he had just been defeated in an instant. They probably did not even need Uchiha Mu to get involved; Hyuga Lingnai alone was more than they could handle. Besides, it was only one Branch Family member. They could simply consider her dead. There was no need to care.

Moreover, after two or three generations at most, the descendants of Hyuga who married outside the clan would no longer be able to awaken the Byakugan. It could hardly count as leaking their kekkei genkai.

The other Branch Family members were terribly envious. This was the freedom they longed for. Even if they still had Hyuga Lingnai above them, it was more freedom than they had now. The more people lacked something, the more they wanted it.

Hyuga Lingnai headed toward her former guard's home. Along the way, the Main Family members looked at her as though she were a plague. Since she had no Caged Bird Seal, none of them came to provoke her.

She made her way to Hyuga Rei's door. In her memory, Rei had a wonderful figure and fair skin, but now she looked utterly wretched. Although Hyuga Lingnai had suffered no consequences for leaving, Hyuga Suzu had endured plenty of hardship as her personal guard.

Of course, nothing of that sort had happened. They were punishing a clan member, after all, not treating her the way Japanese devils treated their victims. But she had suffered for over a year, and only now that Hyuga Lingnai had returned to Konoha did she have a chance to rescue her.

"Young mistress..." Hyuga Rei looked at Hyuga Lingnai. Did she hate her? Perhaps at first. But now, she only hated the fact that she had been born into the Branch Family. Did being in the Branch Family mean she deserved to be bound, to become a slave to the Main Family?

"I'm late. I'm sorry." Hyuga Lingnai reached out. When Rei did not dare take her hand, she pulled her up herself. Looking at that pitiful face, she could hardly recognize the woman she remembered.

"Young mistress..." Hyuga Rei sobbed in Hyuga Lingnai's arms, not knowing why. She should have hated Hyuga Lingnai, hated her for recklessly following Uchiha Mu and causing her to suffer all of this.

But Hyuga Lingnai's sincere gaze and utterly genuine actions dissolved all of that, leaving only the hurt she had endured.

"Rei, it's all right now. Everything will be all right from now on. No one will ever activate the Caged Bird Seal again, and Mu will definitely be able to break this jutsu." Hyuga Lingnai patted Hyuga Rei's back and comforted her softly.

After pouring out all her pent-up hurt, Hyuga Rei asked, "Young mistress, have you come back to stay?"

"I'm leaving, but you're coming with me." Seeing Rei's expression change, Hyuga Lingnai hurried to finish.

"Can I?"

"They wouldn't dare activate it. If they do, I'll have my man wipe them out." Hyuga Lingnai raised her fist.

"Yes, young mistress." Hyuga Rei smiled through her tears and followed behind Hyuga Lingnai, cautiously watching the Main Family members. When she saw that none of them dared move, she edged closer to Lingnai. She hoped none of this was an illusion.

Even after they left the Hyuga Clan Compound, the Caged Bird Seal remained inactive, and no one came to stop them. She raised her head to look at the sky, her body trembling uncontrollably. Was this freedom? Even this much brought tears to her eyes.

"Young mistress, where are we going?"

"We'll stay in Konoha for a few days, then we'll go home." Hyuga Lingnai turned around, the wind stirring her hair as a beautiful smile spread across her face.