"Hyūga Sōsuke?"
Neji repeated the name quietly. Slowly, he lifted his head and looked at the angry Hyūga Hiashi. Calmly, he answered, "Yes, I was the one who hurt him."
There was no denial.
For a moment, Hiashi was stunned. Just like that, Neji admitted it? Shouldn't he at least try to defend himself?
The courtyard fell silent for a moment, then Hiashi finally spoke, "Why? Why did you do this? You're all members of the Hyūga clan—why treat him so cruelly?"
"Do you even know that Sōsuke has been so tortured by you that he may not train for an entire year? He doesn't even know when he'll regain full consciousness!"
Even though Hiashi favored Neji somewhat—after all, Sōsuke was his brother's child—he still thought Neji's actions were too cruel. To treat a clan member like this was shameful.
"Heh, why cruel?" Neji scoffed when he heard Hiashi's words. His pale eyes fixed on him sharply. "Do you even know what I've been through?"
"Are we, the branch family, born just to be slaves for your main family? The main house bullies the branch without reason, and any slight resistance is crushed by the 'Caged Bird' seal!"
"Do you know how painful it is when the Caged Bird seal is activated? It hurts so much you want to pass out—but you can't. Do you understand that?"
"The pain Sōsuke endured isn't even a tenth of what I suffered."
Neji's words hit hard, each one filled with accusation. Yet by the end, he let out a bitter laugh. "But I guess that's how it is... How could you, the proud main family, ever care about the suffering of the branch?"
"Those from the Hyuga branch family are nothing but your slaves, disposable at any time. My father was, I am, and in the future, my children will be the same…"
Neji knew that if it weren't for the Spirit Transformation Technique he practiced—boosting his spiritual power and mental strength—he would have died from the intense pain when Hyuga Sōsuke activated the Caged Bird Curse Mark to its extreme!
At that moment, no one would dare cause trouble for Hyuga Sōsuke over their own death.
And his mother… she might also be struggling in unbearable agony, possibly even abused. Hyuga Hiashi probably wouldn't care.
Neji's words struck Hyuga Hiashi like a tolling bell, echoing loudly in his mind and heart.
Was he wrong?
He could clearly feel the anger radiating from Neji, especially when his father was mentioned.
After all, it was for the peace of Konoha that he had abandoned Neji's father back then.
Hiashi felt deeply guilty.
"But you should never have confronted them alone. You could have come to me!" Hiashi said, looking at Neji with a frustrated tone, as if angry at his own stubbornness. "I would never allow them to hurt you!"
"Heh, come to you?" Neji sneered coldly. "When my father took his own life, he told you the same thing. Did you follow through?"
Thinking of the deliberate targeting from the main family over recent years, Neji's contempt for Hiashi's words grew.
If Hiashi had truly kept his promises to Hyuga Hizashi, Neji wouldn't be in the situation he was in today.
"Neji..." Hearing Neji's mockery, Hiashi Hyuga was a bit annoyed, but he quickly suppressed his anger.
"But by doing this, you're only harming yourself. The elders of the clan won't let you off. They won't allow the prestige of the main family to be violated by the branch family!"
By the end, Hiashi sounded a bit helpless.
Although he was the leader of the Hyuga clan, even if he tried to force this issue down, those old elders would bypass him and deal with Neji directly!
"Hmph, those old men..." Neji snorted coldly.
"Neji, have you caused trouble again?"
Just as Neji was about to say something rebellious, a sharp female voice interrupted, and Neji's mother came out from inside the house!
At the scolding, Neji was instantly silenced. Watching his mother hurriedly approach, he said, "Mother, this isn't your business. You should just..."
He didn't want his mother to get involved.
"Shut up!" Neji's mother glared at him angrily, then looked at Hiashi Hyuga with a pleading expression.
"Brother, since Hizashi died early, no one has been there to guide Neji. If he gets into trouble, I hope you can protect him."
Her tone was full of desperation, almost as if she wanted to kneel.
But before she could, both Hiashi and Neji stopped her.
"Sister-in-law... don't worry. No matter what, I will protect Neji!" Hiashi looked at Neji's mother, whose hair was already streaked with white, feeling a pang in his heart.
Since Hizashi's death, she had never asked him for anything.
"Mother... I'll be fine!" Neji said, clenching his fists tightly as he looked at his pleading mother.
It was his own weakness that made her worry.
If... he wanted to survive, he would seek out Genya. Over the past few years, he had learned some of Genya's secrets. He knew that if Genya wanted to protect him, the Hyuga clan would be powerless to stop it.
But these things about Genya, he couldn't tell his mother.
"Don't worry... I'll hold off the elders for a while. Let Neji stay out for some time," Hyuga Hiashi said softly as he looked at Neji's mother. "After the elders calm down, I'll have Neji come back and apologize."
"Thank you..." Neji's mother finally smiled, then took Neji's hand. "Neji, quickly thank your uncle!"
In Neji's mother's heart, this time her child was safe.
"Apologize!" Neji clenched his fists, anger flashing in his eyes, but he still stood tall and stubbornly said, "I'm not wrong!"
Smack—
Before Neji could finish speaking, a slap landed.
But with that slap, tears also started to fall from Neji's mother's eyes. "It's your fault. It's your fault!"
Her son was too stubborn. But... since they, the branch family members, were marked like caged birds by the clan's brand, they were doomed to live under the main family's judgment.
If Neji kept this up, he'd only suffer.
"Mother..." Neji still remained silent, stubborn as ever.
"No need to say anything. For the next few days, the Eighth Elder will be taking care of Sosuke's injury and won't pay attention to you. After three days, you must leave Konoha!" Hyuga Hiashi said firmly to the stubborn boy.
Then, he turned and left.
At the door, Hiashi stopped and spoke softly, "This isn't just for yourself, but also so your mother won't be dragged into trouble."
After speaking, Hyuga Hiashi stepped away from the courtyard, leaving only the mother and child behind.
The mother wanted to gently touch her child's bruised cheek, but just as her hand reached out, she pulled it back.
She felt guilty... but there was nothing she could do.
One day passed, then two. Neji stood outside Hiashi's residence.
****
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