"Aaargh!!"
Hyuga Nagato's heart-wrenching screams echoed continuously in the confined space.
His body was convulsing and shaking from the pain, and blood was gushing incessantly from his severed wrist, staining his Main Family robes crimson.
"Hyuga Iroha! You—do you know what you are doing?!"
Nagato's roar tore through his own screams, his voice twisted and sharp with pain, yet instinctively carrying a deeply ingrained arrogance and shock.
"Jailbreak? Attacking the Main Family? Treason?! You are courting death!"
Hyuga Yato, nearby, was completely consumed by blind terror and confusion.
His bandaged face swivelled frantically, his hands grasping futilely at the air, seemingly trying to catch a non-existent lifeline.
"Hyuga Iroha? How is that possible?" His voice trembled with fear. "Where are the guards? Where are the guards who came in with me? How could... how could it be him?!"
Pat... pat...
Hearing the gradually approaching footsteps, Yato instantly shivered, scrambling backward on his hands and knees until his spine slammed hard against the cold stone wall, leaving him with nowhere to go!
"You! Don't come near me!" he shrieked, his hands frantically trying to form a seal, attempting to activate the Caged Bird Curse Mark that could control the life and death of all Branch Family members.
However, no matter how hard he tried, or how he manipulated the chakra within him, the curse mark, which had always been obedient, did not react in the slightest.
He couldn't sense the curse mark on Hyuga Iroha's forehead!
How was that possible??
Seeing this, Hyuga Iroha, who had been slightly tense and secretly on guard, completely relaxed.
"As expected..." He let out a contemptuous sneer. "Without the Byakugan, you can't activate the Caged Bird Curse Mark."
"Without your Byakugan and your hands, you are both useless trash, nothing more than two filthy maggots!"
His words were laced with venom, savagely tearing at Yato's already tattered pride and dignity.
"Father! Father! Where are you? Kill them! Kill him quickly..." Yato cried out incoherently, having completely lost his bearings.
But unexpectedly, before he could finish, Nagato cut him off.
"Silence!"
Nagato roared fiercely, forcibly suppressing his screams and rage, interrupting his son's foolish shouting!
Yato was instantly startled and choked, turning his bandaged face blankly toward his father.
Nagato endured the heartbreaking pain, veins bulging on his forehead, cold sweat pouring down his ashen cheeks.
The next moment, he suddenly bent down, using his teeth to bite down hard on his robe, and viciously tore it!
Tear!
In this extremely humiliating, dog-like manner, he managed to use his mouth to wrap a strip of cloth around his profusely bleeding stump, performing the crudest form of bandaging.
Though it couldn't fully stop the bleeding, it at least slowed the flow, buying him precious time to survive a little longer.
His face was paper-white from blood loss, his lips utterly colorless, but his eyes, under the duress of pain and the threat of death, were forcibly regaining a sliver of calmness.
A trace of regret even surfaced in his heart—regret for the threat he had blurted out in his shock and anger just now.
Saying those words now was pointless and would only further provoke the lunatic in front of him.
Right now, he absolutely could not provoke Hyuga Iroha!
Survive!
No matter the cost, no matter the humiliation, as long as he could leave this place alive—as long as he could get out!
He would have countless ways to make these traitorous Branch Family wretches pay a price a thousand times more agonizing than death, crushing their flesh and bones inch by inch!!
"You... what do you want?"
Nagato raised his head, his voice hoarse from pain and weakness, but he struggled to maintain his composure, even forcing out a twisted expression intended to show goodwill.
"True to your reputation, Elder Nagato. You calmed down quickly," Iroha said, narrowing his eyes, a cold smile on his face.
"Whatever you want, whatever you plan, I can give it to you!"
Nagato forced a stiff, yet flattering smile: "If you want Hyūga Komon, you can take him now."
"Beyond that, I can tell you a secret."
"The Caged Bird Curse Mark has a distance limit. As long as you leave Konoha and move outside the Main Family's range of perception, you'll be safe! You'll be free!"
Nagato spoke rapidly and urgently, terrified of losing the other party's patience.
He was indeed far smarter than his foolish son. He had accurately hit the Branch Family's greatest pain point and desire.
Freedom: to escape the control of the curse mark!
However, he wasn't telling the whole truth. In reality, the range of the Caged Bird Curse Mark also depended on the caster's chakra reserves.
In Nagato's view, this was already tempting enough to sway Iroha.
But in response to Nagato's proposal...
"Leave?"
The smile on Iroha's face gradually faded, replaced by cold mockery. "Why should we leave?"
His voice suddenly rose, chillingly: "This place is the Hyuga Clan that we Branch Family members have protected with our lives!"
"Why should we leave like stray dogs?"
Nagato's heart plummeted, and a wave of cold dread washed over him.
His worst fear had come true!
This was a premeditated, large-scale rebellion!
More than just Iroha was involved in this incident!
How could these soft-boned Branch Family members, who have always been submissive, how dare they?!
The Main Family hadn't even had a chance to strike yet, and they had already decided to break the truce!
"Good! Good! It's yours, the Hyuga Clan is yours!"
Nagato spoke almost without hesitation, nodding repeatedly, adopting an extremely subservient posture, terrified of provoking the other party.
"The Caged Bird Curse Mark cannot be removed, but I can give you the method to activate it! You can place the Caged Bird Curse Mark on me, on Yato, on all Main Family members!"
He threw out an incredibly tempting condition, one that would drive any Branch Family member insane with desire, and tempted: "At that point, you will be the true master of the Hyuga Clan."
"Everything belonging to the Hyuga Clan—the resources, the secret techniques, the status... it will all be yours. I only ask, I only ask that you allow me and Yato to serve you..."
Hearing this, the cowering Yato suddenly looked up, unable to believe his ears.
His usually proud and noble father was uttering such humble, humiliating words, even offering to serve this Hyuga Iroha?!
"Father! How can you say that to a Branch Family—" he blurted out in disbelief.
But before he could finish, Nagato's expression changed instantly.
"Shut up, you idiot!"
A mixture of anger and fear caused him to viciously kick Yato.
He kicked him so hard that he not only cut off Yato's words but also made Yato grunt and cough up a mouthful of blood.
But Nagato didn't spare a glance; the fury in his heart almost consumed him.
Was the point about serving?
The point was that you had to be alive to serve!
I'm desperately trying to appease this madman, and you're here making things worse! Why did I never realize my son was this stupid?!
After kicking Yato, Nagato immediately looked back at Iroha, bowing low, a flattering, even fawning smile plastered on his face: "Lord Iroha, how does my proposal sound?"
"If there's anything else you want, just ask! As long as, as long as you spare our wretched lives!"
Iroha lowered his eyes to look at him, his gaze like watching a venomous snake trying to play pitiful.
A moment later, a smile slowly spread across his expressionless face.
He reached out and, with ultimate humiliation, lightly patted Nagato's pale, yet eagerly smiling cheek.
Though Nagato felt immense degradation, his killing intent growing like wildfire, his smile became even brighter and more subservient.
There's hope!
This fool is interested after all.
"As long as I can survive, I can..."
But the next moment, the smile on Nagato's face froze.
Because Iroha withdrew his hand and pulled a kunai gleaming with cold, faint light from his ninja pouch, casually tossing it at Yato's feet.
Clang!
The sharp sound of metal hitting stone was jarring in the silent prison cell, causing the paralyzed Yato to shudder violently.
"What I want is simple."
The smile on Iroha's face turned cold and cruel, his gaze slowly sweeping between Nagato and Yato.
"Only one of you will live," he stated.
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