The entire hospital room instantly fell into a dead silence.
The air seemed to freeze; even the hurried breathing vanished.
Sunlight filtered through the glass, reflecting off the deathly still Byakugan in the jar, emitting a chilling, bone-chilling luster!
"How is that possible?!" Neji Hyuga's voice escaped, trembling with uncontrollable fear and disbelief.
He stared fixedly at the floating, lifeless Byakugan in the glass jar, the color draining completely from his face at a visible rate.
A snake-like coldness slithered up his spine, instantly seizing the top of his head!
No one knew better than him who had killed those two Branch Family members.
The murderer was him!
That was why he had stayed by Hyūga Komon's side all night; he felt immense guilt toward Komon and the entire Branch Family.
In Neji's mind, if it weren't for him, Komon wouldn't have been deliberately targeted and harassed by Hyuga Yamato, and the conflict between the Main Family and Branch Family wouldn't have become so acute.
But those two pairs of Byakugan had clearly been sucked dry of their ocular power and turned to dust by him!
What in the world were these two Byakugan in Hyuga Tokuma's hand?
"The evidence is irrefutable!" Tokuma's voice was icy and sharp. "Hyūga Komon is the culprit who attacked Main Family members and gouged out their eyes!"
He tucked the glass jar into his robes, his gaze piercing the violently trembling Hyūga Komon on the hospital bed, who was shaking from pain and terror!
"Anyone who resists will be considered an accomplice, treated as a clan traitor, and killed without mercy!" His tone was filled with undeniable killing intent.
Killed without mercy!
These four words hammered into the hearts of all the surrounding guards!
Most of them were Branch Family members who, like Tokuma and Hyuga Kado, had sworn loyalty to the Main Family.
Even if they felt a sliver of reluctance toward Neji because of his father, Hyuga Hiashi, Tokuma's declaration left them no room for hesitation.
The guards' eyes instantly sharpened, their indecision and apprehension replaced by ferocity.
"Go!"
Several guards lunged forward again, their fists and feet wrapped in sharp chakra, unleashing fierce Gentle Fist strikes that relentlessly poured over Neji, who was blocking the bed!
Others skirted Neji's front, rushing from the sides and behind straight for Hyūga Komon on the bed, who was struggling to get up with a terrified expression!
Bang! Bang!
The sounds of punching, kicking, and chakra collisions rang out continuously. Neji gritted his teeth, his Byakugan's insight pushed to the extreme. His hands moved in a blur, constantly blocking, evading, and counter-attacking!
But he was only one person, and still too young.
Faced with the coordinated encirclement of several experienced ninja, and with his attention split to protect Komon behind him, he was quickly and decisively put at a disadvantage.
Thump!
A tricky Gentle Fist strike viciously slammed into Neji's left shoulder!
"Ugh!"
Neji let out a muffled groan. A searing pain shot through his shoulder, his chakra instantly became chaotic, and his body staggered back several steps. His legs gave out, and he crashed down hard onto one knee!
Seeing this, Komon gritted his teeth, attempting to raise his working left hand, while Hyuga Iroha, kneeling beside Tokuma, also recovered slightly and struggled to stand...
The two middle-aged men in Main Family robes, who had been standing behind Tokuma, showed an impatient look.
They exchanged glances, and both simultaneously raised their right hands, index and middle fingers aligned!
Ommm!!
A ripple of power swept out. Hyūga Komon on the bed and Hyuga Iroha, who was struggling to stand up from the floor, instantly stiffened.
An indescribable, agonizing pain, like a billion red-hot steel needles simultaneously stabbing deep into their minds and souls!
"Aaaargh!!"
Harrowing, inhuman screams erupted from the depths of their throats!
Komon and Iroha's bodies violently spasmed and convulsed. Their eyeballs bulged with pain, and blood vessels covered their eyes like spiderwebs!
"Ugh, ahhh!!"
On Komon's forehead, which did not wear a headband, the hideous Caged Bird Curse Mark was outlined by veins that bulged and crawled like living things, spreading from the center of the mark.
It instantly covered his entire forehead, creeping up his temples and cheeks!
His body rolled and twisted on the bed, his throat making guttural noises. Bandages were torn, his wounds burst open again, and blood instantly stained the pristine white sheets!
Iroha, meanwhile, writhed on the floor, screaming. He desperately clutched his head, his fingers digging deep into his scalp. He ripped off his headband and handfuls of hair.
The entire room was drowned out by the piercing screams and agony. The Main Family guards present stood rigidly, empathizing with the horrific pain and feeling a deep, rising fear.
Finally, Komon's body suddenly stiffened. The violent convulsions abruptly stopped, as if paused. The heartbreaking screams ceased.
His eyes rolled upward, foam appeared at his mouth and nose, and his body slumped limply onto the bed, clearly having succumbed to the pain and passed out.
Seeing this, the two middle-aged Main Family members simultaneously lowered their raised hands, the condensed chakra fluctuations at their fingertips quietly dissipating.
A dead silence descended upon the hospital room.
The only sounds were Komon's faint, nearly inaudible breathing and Iroha's painful, suppressed, and broken gasps as he curled up on the floor.
The two Main Family members scanned the guards in the room, who stood frozen in fear. Seeing the terror on their faces, the two men's mouths curled into a savage and twisted expression of satisfaction.
Joy!
It was utter joy!
They had been bottling up their resentment toward these damned Branch Family members for too long!
Ever since that despicable Hyuga Kawa appeared, using Hiruzen Sarutobi's support to force the Clan Head and Elders to order a ban on the Main Family arbitrarily using the Caged Bird Curse Mark on the Branch Family!
This forced them to stand by and watch as the Branch Family members—who once obeyed their every command and bowed obsequiously—gradually straightened their backs!
They dared to look at the Main Family with equal, or even condescending, eyes!
They dared to feign compliance while executing orders, listening to commands but not to jurisdiction!
And worst of all, like Hyūga Komon, they openly learned, used, and modified the Main Family's secret Gentle Fist, defeated a Main Family member, and slapped the Main Family's face hard in public!
Humiliation!
The frustration was suffocating!
It was like a rock lodged in their chest, making it impossible to breathe day and night!
Now, Elder Higo had resolved to restore order, and the other Elders, finally unable to tolerate the Branch Family's insolence, had allowed them to use the Caged Bird to control the Branch Family's lives once more.
Even the Clan Head, Hiashi Hyuga, seemed to have been persuaded, choosing to turn a blind eye.
They no longer had to endure! They could finally make these presumptuous Branch Family members taste what it meant to hold absolute power, to feel the authority of the Main Family!
This long-suppressed resentment had finally found an outlet!
The pleasure of regaining total control was intoxicating!
"You fools! What are you standing around for?" one of the Main Family members hissed coldly. "Hurry and take this one away!"
The two nearest guards violently flinched. Their faces still pale with fear, they looked at Hyūga Komon, who was passed out like a heap of mud on the bed.
Komon's face, contorted by pain, and the savage Caged Bird Curse Mark on his forehead, were once again deeply burned into their memories.
One of them rushed forward almost by instinct, roughly grabbing Komon's right arm, which was fixed with bandages and a splint due to the unhealed bone fracture!
"Ugh..."
Even unconscious, Komon's body twitched from the rough handling, and a faint whimper of pain escaped his throat.
The other guard quickly stepped forward and grabbed Komon's left arm. The two of them, treating Komon like a sack of trash, brutally dragged him away without regard for his gruesome injuries.
"Bastards!"
Neji's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled to rush forward, but two guards held down his shoulders firmly, their immense strength making him unable to move!
"Let go of me! Is this how you treat your own kin?! Are you even Branch Family members anymore?!"
Neji roared in anger, violently struggling, but the two guards' throats merely bobbed. They remained unmoved.
Only after everyone had left the room with Komon did the two guards look at Tokuma and, seeing his slight nod, release Neji.
The moment he was released, Neji charged at Tokuma with overwhelming fury.
Tokuma sneered, raising his right hand, chakra condensing in his palm.
CRASH!!
Tokuma's palm slammed into Neji's chest. A powerful force instantly erupted, sending him flying backward to crash heavily against the wall!
Tokuma looked down at Neji, who was slumped on the floor, a trickle of blood at his mouth, and then glanced at the painfully curled-up Iroha on the ground.
"Once Hyūga Komon has confessed everything, the Main Family will summon all members and publicly execute him."
His cold voice was clear, word for word, entering both their ears: "You had better pray that you were not involved in the deaths of the Main Family members."
"Otherwise, you won't escape either!"
With a cold snort, Tokuma turned and strode out of the room without looking back.
BANG!
He slammed the hospital room door shut from the outside, the heavy sound reverberating!
Separated from the light and sound outside, a dead silence settled in the room, broken only by the strong scent of blood left by Hyūga Komon.
Neji slumped against the wall, his chest heaving violently. He stared blankly at the closed door, at the glaring bloodstains on the floor.
Fear, rage, despair, helplessness...
A torrent of complex emotions drowned him.
"Cough! Cough!"
Iroha erupted in a violent fit of coughing, jolting Neji from his dazed state.
"Brother Iroha!"
He struggled to his feet, stumbled to Iroha, and helped him up, asking with uncontrollable trembling and panic, "What... what do we do?"
Iroha's face was ashen. The veins around the savage Caged Bird Curse Mark on his forehead were still bulging, and his entire body was shaking uncontrollably.
"Ne... Neji," he gasped with difficulty, his voice hoarse. "We have to get Komon back..."
"The Main Family using the Caged Bird on Komon and me means they've decided to completely break the peace. In Komon's heavily injured state, he won't last long under the Main Family's intense interrogation."
"He'll either die during the interrogation, or he'll have to confess that he was the one who killed them and gouged out the eyes... Cough! Cough!"
He inhaled sharply, as if gathering his last strength, his voice laced with terror: "Once Komon confesses, the Main Family will have the perfect reason to strike him down!"
"If the Main Family publicly executes him using the Caged Bird, the deep-seated fear of the Curse Mark, engraved in the memories of all Branch Family members, will be reawakened!"
"Lord Kawa worked so hard to get the Branch Family to stand tall. At that point, the Main Family will shatter our legs and force us to kneel again!"
"But..."
At this, Iroha's body suddenly went limp. He curled up again, clutching his throbbing head with both hands. "I... I don't know what to do."
"I can't think of a way."
"Even if we save Komon we can't clear his name, and the Main Family will retaliate against the entire Branch Family, even carrying out a purge!"
"At that point, we... all of us will..."
His words were like a dull knife, mercilessly sawing at Neji's nerves.
Neji lowered his head, his body beginning to tremble.
His gaze was fixed on the ugly Caged Bird Curse Mark on Iroha's forehead, and he inhaled the thick, suffocating smell of blood in the air.
The nightmarish, haunting images from the depths of his memory flashed before his eyes again!
He saw his father convulsed on the ground, the same Caged Bird Curse Mark, the same bulging veins, the same protruding eyes, the same blood-filled eyes, the same heart-rending screams!
The scenes spun and magnified wildly in Neji's mind!
Fear! Despair! Helplessness!
And the hatred that frantically grew, ultimately consuming everything...
Hatred!
Hatred for the Main Family! Hatred for the Caged Bird! Hatred for this unjust fate! Hatred for his own powerless weakness!
All emotions instantly breached the dam of his sanity!
"No!!"
Neji suddenly let out a low roar. His body swayed as he stood upright, his face contorted and savage with rage!
"No! There is a way!" He bit down hard, his teeth grinding audibly from the force. Blood seeped from his gums, staining the corner of his mouth.
"The solution..." he said in a hoarse voice. "Hyuga Kawa has already taught us how, hasn't he?!"
Hearing this, Iroha's body stiffened. He suddenly looked up, staring intently at Neji's face, twisted by hatred and fury.
His eyes, momentarily dull from pain, abruptly narrowed. The confusion and terror on his face were instantly replaced by a look of utter, shocking horror!
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