Defection

Kimimaro and Sasuke charged at Naruto. By then, Naruto's condition had deteriorated badly. Kimimaro and Sasuke, with his Cursed Seal activated, were more than capable of keeping him occupied.

Orochimaru turned his gaze away from the battlefield.

He had watched the entire fight. Naruto's attempt at mutual destruction had essentially used the sealing power within his body to force Shukaku inside himself.

Only the Uzumaki Clan possessed such an ability.

But Naruto's aptitude was limited. His control over that sealing power lacked finesse, so he had failed to completely extract Shukaku's chakra.

Naruto's identity was no secret to the Konoha High Command. In fact, any powerful figure in the shinobi world who heard the name "Naruto Uzumaki" could deduce his circumstances from his surname and origins alone.

Thinking of the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu, Orochimaru turned to Neji Hyuga beside him and asked again.

"Neji-kun, the choice is yours."

"First, Sealing Jutsu. It will lock down your body's chakra, making it completely impossible for the Caged Bird Seal to trigger its backlash."

"Second, overwrite it with a Cursed Seal."

At this, Orochimaru's lips curled into a cold smile. He would much rather Neji choose the second option. That would give him another research subject.

"Overwriting it with a Cursed Seal means forcibly covering it with senjutsu chakra.

It will replace the ordinary chakra within your body and seize control of the Caged Bird Seal's activation pathways."

"The drawback is obvious."

"Even I cannot guarantee that it will prevent the Caged Bird Seal from activating."

"Which will you choose?"

Neji's gaze was resolute. He did not hesitate in the slightest.

He looked up at Orochimaru, his voice hoarse but utterly firm.

"Orochimaru, you were once a ninja of the village, too."

"Living trapped in a cage isn't living at all."

"If I fear death, I'll never escape the Hyuga's shackles for as long as I live."

"So I choose the second option!"

Neji untied his forehead protector, exposing the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead.

Orochimaru gave a low chuckle, his smile chilling.

"Interesting. Just what I'd expect from the Branch Family's genius!"

"If you really do die, you'll still have contributed an excellent specimen to my Cursed Seal research."

"In return, I'll settle every grievance, every hatred you carry. I'll take revenge on the Main Family and the Hyuga Clan for you."

With that, Orochimaru said no more. He formed hand seals with one hand, then transformed his palm into a white snake.

The white snake opened its jaws, lunged straight at Neji, and bit into his forehead.

The power of the Cursed Seal had been extracted from Jugo's body and refined countless times by Orochimaru. Orochimaru called it a Cursed Seal, but in Jugo's village, Jugo's transformed state was called Sage Mode.

This was a power beyond chakra.

Even the Sage of Six Paths had only mastered Sage Mode after training at Mount Myōboku. Jugo, however, was a Natural Sage.

Throughout the process, Orochimaru deliberately avoided the markings of the Caged Bird Seal on Neji's forehead.

He only infused the Cursed Seal's senjutsu energy layer by layer, letting it seep in and wrap around the outer edges of the Caged Bird Seal's markings.

The Cursed Seal's power forcibly covered, crowded out, and blocked the Caged Bird Seal's activation pathways. Finally, it merged with some of those pathways, creating shared channels.

The process was agonizing!

Senjutsu energy clashed and ground violently against itself within Neji's forehead.

Veins bulged around Neji's eyes. His entire face twisted hideously, cold sweat soaked his clothes, and he clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his gums.

Neji never made a sound. Through sheer determination, he endured the bone-deep agony!

At last!!

Hum!

A pitch-black, three-tomoe Cursed Seal fully took shape.

It perfectly overlaid the Caged Bird Seal passed down through the Hyuga Branch Family, with three tomoe appearing in the empty spaces of its X-shaped pattern.

"It's done!"

Orochimaru withdrew his hand, his voice somewhat weak. Clearly, he had spent a considerable amount of chakra. Giving Neji a Cursed Seal was far more troublesome than giving Sasuke one.

"This Cursed Seal will not activate on its own."

"It will only trigger in response to the Caged Bird Seal's activation, forcibly counteracting it, intercepting it, and seizing its activation pathways."

"From here on, it depends on your luck."

Neji knelt on one knee, clutching his eyes in pain. The moment the Cursed Seal was planted, he had lost any path of retreat.

Just then.

Jirobo and Sakon and Ukon quickly regrouped, dragging the grievously wounded, paralyzed, and barely breathing Kidomaru and Tayuya with them.

Sasuke and Kimimaro were still fighting the badly wounded Naruto. Sasuke wanted to knock Naruto unconscious outright, but even seriously injured, Naruto remained difficult to handle. Sasuke did not know a single Sealing Jutsu, so he could only keep fighting him.

Orochimaru surveyed the battlefield and spoke.

"The mission is over. Kimimaro, Sasuke-kun, it's time to leave."

Sasuke still wanted to subdue Naruto first, but Kimimaro hurriedly urged him on.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"I know."

Even with his Cursed Seal active, he still could not deal with Naruto.

Seeing Sasuke hesitate, Orochimaru prepared to intervene himself. Just then, however, he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye...

On the sand.

Miki Yūya, all four limbs broken and his body a bloody wreck, had long since been rendered helpless. Suddenly, his fingertips twitched!

Only that mangled, twisted hand moved with difficulty, pointing stubbornly toward an empty direction.

His middle finger stood defiantly upright!

When your body could no longer hold out, your will would carry you through the encirclement. As long as you were not completely dead, your defiance would guide you to challenge someone stronger.

The moment Miki Yūya's middle finger appeared, it signaled the arrival of the strong.

"That fellow..."

Orochimaru immediately sensed something was wrong.

Hum-!!

Several thick, sturdy wooden trunks erupted from underground, piercing the spot where Orochimaru had just stood. Stones flew, and the ground burst apart!

They had missed his body by the narrowest margin.

Orochimaru's pupils contracted slightly. Grabbing Neji, he leaped backward and landed safely out of range.

At the same time, a figure rushed onto the battlefield and split the entire fight apart with a single punch. The sand caved in beneath the blow, and the earth underneath shattered.

Sasuke and Kimimaro were hurled away by the shock wave. Tsunade pinned the rampaging Naruto down with one hand as Nine-Tails chakra continuously ate into her body.

At the same time, her body kept repairing those wounds.

"Orochimaru!!"

Tsunade raised her head and looked toward Orochimaru.

Just then, Hyuga Hiashi landed beside her.

"Neji!!"

Orochimaru looked over everyone on the battlefield.

Miki Yūya's middle finger pointed toward Tsunade and Hyuga Hiashi. On the flank stood Konoha's only current "plant man"-Yamato.

"You arrived rather quickly."

Looking at these familiar faces, Orochimaru's gaze first settled on Yamato.

"Long time no see, Yamato?"

Yamato stiffened slightly at those words.

Tsunade had no time for old grudges. She barked in a low voice:

"Yamato! Suppress the Nine-Tails' rampage at once and stabilize Naruto's chakra!"

"Understood!"

Yamato returned to Tsunade's side and formed hand seals. Several pillars rose from the ground, firmly suppressing Naruto's chakra.

Konoha's reinforcements took complete control of the battlefield.

Hyuga Hiashi stepped forward, stared at Neji, then turned to Orochimaru and angrily demanded:

"Orochimaru!

Why have you manipulated a young member of my Hyuga Clan and stirred up conflict between the Main and Branch Families!"

Orochimaru looked at Hyuga Hiashi.

"Manipulated?"

"Hiashi, I have no interest in doing anything of the sort."

"What you see is merely a caged bird yearning for freedom, breaking out of its rotten cage on its own."

"Would you rather he end up like Hizashi Hyuga?"

"Trapped by the Caged Bird Seal his entire life, unable to control his own fate, and dying for nothing?"

"Heh. What difference is there between living like that and being dead?"

Orochimaru's cold mockery struck directly at the Hyuga Clan's deepest wounds.

Hyuga Hiashi trembled slightly. He turned to the expressionless Neji, his voice carrying a trace of exhaustion and anguish.

"Neji, do you hate me that much? Are you truly going to betray the clan?"

Neji looked up, his eyes holding nothing but cold indifference.

"You were never the only person I hated."

"And I'm not betraying the clan. The clan betrayed us!"

"The entire rotten Hyuga Clan deserves to be overthrown."

"You don't understand anything!"

Hyuga Hiashi snarled.

"You have no idea what choice your father made back then, or that he sacrificed himself to protect the clan and the village!"

Neji challenged him in a clear voice.

"You're right. I don't understand."

"I don't understand why the Inuzuka Clan doesn't carve the Caged Bird Seal onto their ninja dogs' heads to protect their clan and Konoha, yet the Hyuga Clan needs to..."

Those words left Hyuga Hiashi speechless. He could find no excuse.

Orochimaru spoke at just the right moment, looking toward the grim-faced Tsunade.

"Tsunade, this is where we part ways."

"Naruto has exhausted his chakra, and that villager is critically wounded."

"You cannot afford to delay."

Tsunade scanned the battlefield, her gaze finally settling on the figure lying in the sand. He's still fucking giving me the middle finger?! That bastard!

"Orochimaru, Konoha will remember what happened today."

Tsunade spoke angrily.

"Everyone, retreat!"

Orochimaru smiled faintly. Rather than prolong the confrontation, he waved for Sasuke, Kimimaro, and the Sound Four to turn and withdraw.

The instant the group turned around!

Behind them, Hyuga Hiashi's voice suddenly rang out again, filled with boundless anguish and resolve:

"Neji!"

Neji stopped and slowly turned back.

Hyuga Hiashi's eyes held a mixture of regret, helplessness, and ruthlessness. His hands had already quietly formed the seals for a forbidden technique!

"I'm sorry, Neji."

"I know your resentment. I know your frustration."

"But all of this is for the Hyuga Clan, and for Konoha."

Boom-!!!

The instant his words fell!

The Caged Bird Seal on Neji's forehead suddenly erupted with a dazzling gray-green light.

The Caged Bird Seal's ultimate backlash activated instantly!

It disregarded the senjutsu Cursed Seal covering it and forcibly broke through every restraint.

"Aah-!!!"

Agony exploded through Neji's head, and his veins bulged.

The excruciating pain nearly tore his nerves to shreds!

Watching his nephew struggle in agony, Hyuga Hiashi silently apologized to his dead younger brother.

Hizashi, I'm sorry.

For the clan, I have no other choice.

The next instant!

Splat-!!!

Two sprays of blood burst outward.

The Caged Bird Seal's backlash utterly destroyed Neji's eyes, bursting them apart!

Scarlet blood gushed out, staining the sand red.

Neji's body went limp. He fell facedown on the ground and lay motionless, as though he were dead.

Hyuga Hiashi stared fixedly in Neji's direction, two trails of tears running down his face.

But mere seconds later!

Rustle...

Covered in blood, Neji slowly, ever so slowly braced himself against the ground and struggled to rise.

"How!! How is this possible?"

Hyuga Hiashi watched in disbelief.

Blood kept dripping from Neji's empty eye sockets as he turned his contorted face toward Hyuga Hiashi.

Then-

Crack, crack-!

A thin, bloody fissure abruptly split open across his forehead, where the Caged Bird Seal and the Senjutsu Cursed Seal had covered it.

The fissure slowly opened, widening!

A white eyeball slowly emerged from the crack in his forehead and opened!

"Hahaha!! Hahaha!!"

"So this is how the Main Family operates? My father must have suffered this same pain back then.

I didn't understand why my father chose to leave me an orphan, but now I do."

Neji's hoarse voice rang across the battlefield.

"Hyuga Hiashi..."

"I'm not dead."

"I'll be back."

"To overthrow the Hyuga and settle every score."

With that, Kimimaro, who stood beside Neji, supported him, and everyone on Orochimaru's side left the battlefield.

Tsunade, too, gave Hyuga Hiashi a meaningful look before approaching Miki Yūya and silently pressing down his raised middle finger.