Earth Release: Twin Lion Fists!
Dense chakra enveloped Hyūga Neji's fists, condensing into two vague yet ferocious lion heads.
They ripped through the air with a sharp, piercing shriek, carrying the terrifying momentum of a meteor strike as they slammed toward Hyūga Hiashi!
With this strike, Neji left himself no retreat.
He was betting his life: if Hiashi insisted on using the Caged Bird curse seal, then as Neji was killed by the seal, this blow would absolutely take Hiashi down with him!
Facing this mutual destruction attack, Hiashi was forced to interrupt his hand seals, instantly switching to a spinning defensive maneuver. His arms blurred, and vast amounts of chakra surged from within his body!
"Revolving Heaven!" Following Hiashi's roar, the rapidly spinning hemispherical shield of chakra instantly enveloped him!
Neji's palm, which seemed capable of shaking mountains, struck the Revolving Heaven defense with a terrible wail of air displacement.
BOOM!!
A terrifying sound erupted instantly. The entire secret room shrieked under the unbearable load and shook violently!
Centered on the point where Neji's palm landed, the ground beneath Hiashi was forcibly ripped up by the unimaginable force. Stone fragments flew everywhere, and dust filled the air!
With a sickening, teeth-grinding snap of bone breaking, Neji's face twisted in pain. His left arm fractured, unable to fully withstand the massive repulsive force!
But at the same time, Hiashi's Revolving Heaven was forcibly shattered by the blow, the chakra instantly bursting and scattering!
In the center of the cracked and collapsed floor, Hiashi stumbled, knelt on the ground, and violently spat out a mouthful of blood, having clearly suffered severe internal injuries.
"Die!!"
Neji endured the searing pain of his broken arm, gathered his remaining chakra, and, with a ferocious, unrelenting expression, slammed his palm toward Hiashi's undefended chest!
Hiashi, seemingly exerting his last ounce of strength, violently raised his head and thrust his palm out to meet Neji's!
Bang!
Neji's strike, imbued with all his power and fury, solidly imprinted itself on Hiashi's chest.
And Hiashi's counter-attack palm landed on Neji's heart simultaneously.
However, the fierce impact Neji anticipated never came.
What he felt was not the piercing, organ-destroying force of the Gentle Fist, but only a faint prickling pain, as if something sharp had merely grazed him.
Almost instantly, accompanied by a muffled thud and a burst of blood mist, Hiashi was fiercely thrown backward by the immense force contained in Neji's palm, slamming heavily into the distant wall.
Neji slowly lowered his head, looking at his chest.
There, an extremely fine, almost transparent needle was lodged.
The liquid inside the syringe had been completely injected into his body, and the empty needle reflected a faint light in the gloom.
"What is this?" Neji's expression changed. He pulled out the needle without hesitation.
But the next moment.
Thump! Thump!
Two heavy, drum-like thuds suddenly exploded from within his chest cavity!
"Ugh, aah!!"
A terrifying pain, impossible to describe, instantly swept over Neji like a tsunami!
The agony, seemingly originating from his soul and even his genes, far surpassed any injury he had ever endured, causing him to instantly let out a heartbreaking scream!
He uncontrollably collapsed to his knees, his body violently twitching.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart began to beat and contract violently with completely uncontrolled speed and force. The heavy, frantic heartbeat was audible outside his body, clearly ringing in the silent room.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
Neji's teeth were clenched together so hard that blood seeped from his gums. His pale face was twisted beyond human recognition, and his blood vessels bulged hideously.
What is it? Is it poison?!
He felt as if his body had been thrown into a furnace. An intensely scorching heat was transmitted throughout his limbs and bones by the frantically pumping blood.
It was as if not blood, but hot, sticky magma, was rushing through his veins!
Vast amounts of skeletal muscle began to dissolve and break down under the influence of the scorching blood, only to be violently torn and reshaped by an incomparably brutal force, winding and condensing beneath his skin!
It wasn't just his muscles; every tissue, every cell in his body, seemed to be undergoing a similar cruel and violent transformation!
Pain!
The pain of every inch of flesh being torn!
The pain of every bone being crushed!
The pain of every nerve being restructured!
"Aah!!"
He screamed, his fingers digging deeply into the ground, leaving ten bloody trails. Blue veins bulged on his forehead, and sweat poured out like streams, instantly soaking his robes.
The horrific, genetic-level pain felt like billions of ants gnawing and crawling in his blood vessels, making him feel he had to tear his body apart to release even a fraction of the agony.
Just as his consciousness was about to be completely swallowed by this torturous ordeal.
The container in his ninja pouch, used to store several pairs of Byakugan, suddenly released the pure dōjutsu chakra sealed within like a flood!
They didn't dissipate. Instead, as if drawn by a strong attraction, they turned into threads invisible to the naked eye, surging into his Byakugan, which were violently shaking from the pain!
Not only that, but threads of dōjutsu chakra from the distant, still-settling dust seemed to be drawn and converged into his eyes.
This sudden influx of massive dōjutsu chakra acted like a powerful sedative and a key, gradually achieving a balance with the wild power raging within him!
The extreme, genetic-level agony quickly receded, replaced by an indescribably strange sensation.
Hiss!
White mist rose from his entire body. The sweat that had poured out from the agony was instantly evaporated by the sudden rise in temperature, leaving behind a fine layer of white salt.
The blood in his veins was no longer like scorching magma; it became joyous, rushing spring water, circulating through his body at an unprecedented speed, bringing an indescribable feeling of exhilaration.
Every cell felt released from a heavy bondage, like a tender shoot pushing through frozen soil in early spring, breathing the air freely and uninhibitedly!
His mind felt as if a crack had opened. A cool, clear sensation poured in like a spring, branching into countless tiny streams, washing away the fatigue, gloom, and sluggishness in his brain.
Finally, Hyūga Neji violently opened his eyes.
A faint but dazzling azure glow flashed and then vanished in the depths of his pure white eyes.
But the world before him had changed completely.
Everything was clear—unprecedentedly clear!
Everything within his sight was minutely detailed!
"What's going on?"
Neji stared blankly at everything around him. Every minute crack on the wall, every speck of dust floating in the air, even the slightest tremor as the lamp wick burned...
Everything was presented in his vision with almost absolute clarity.
It was as if a person who had been sleepwalking since childhood with open eyes had truly awakened. The thin veil that had always covered his sight was suddenly ripped away, and the entire world became brilliantly bright.
His thoughts became incredibly sharp and clear. Many vague understandings about the Gentle Fist and chakra from the past instantly became sharp and lucid.
Neji subconsciously raised his hands. He could clearly feel the rush of his blood, feel an almost overflowing power, as if freed from some obscure, heavy shackles.
Light, lucid, exhilarating...
He was absolutely certain that his physical strength had leaped up more than one level, and his eyes had undergone a previously unknown qualitative change, not just the quantitative accumulation of dōjutsu chakra!
"Puff! Cough! Cough!"
Just then, a weak, painful coughing sound came from nearby.
The sound was extremely faint, but under Neji's current perception, it was as clear as if it were right next to his ear, interrupting his astonishment at his own sudden transformation.
He violently lifted his head. His azure-tinged eyes pierced through the dust that hadn't fully cleared, instantly locking onto the source of the sound.
Hyūga Hiashi was slumped against the wall, head weakly drooping to one side. Blood continuously flowed from his mouth, staining his tattered clothes with a large dark patch. His presence was extremely weak.
Neji's body blurred, and he instantly appeared in front of Hiashi, moving so fast it generated a faint gust of wind that blew away the remaining dust.
He bent down abruptly, lifted the other man's face, which was pale from blood loss, and looked into the pupils, which were dilated from the severe injury.
The distance between them was minimal. Neji could clearly see his own somewhat unfamiliar eyes reflected in the other man's pupils.
Not only that, but the look of release in Hiashi's eyes, which Neji had previously overlooked, was now clearly visible.
"Hyūga Hiashi!"
A strong, inexplicable fear and unease coiled around his heart like a poisonous snake. Neji's voice was desperate, trembling in a way he hadn't even noticed.
"Tell me, what did you inject me with?" he asked tremblingly.
Hiashi's heavy eyelids lifted slightly, his unfocused gaze settling on Neji's face.
He raised a trembling hand and reached for Neji's forehead protector.
Seeing the Caged Bird curse seal, which had almost completely dissipated, the painful twist on his face slowly smoothed out.
But upon seeing the faint azure light in those pure white eyes, an indescribable look of regret and bitterness appeared on his face.
"Sure enough..." his voice was faint, every word seemingly exhausting his last strength, carrying the friction of bloody froth. "Still... not enough..."
Not enough dōjutsu chakra, or not enough emotional stimulus?
"Not enough? What isn't enough?!" Neji's voice shifted slightly with fear. His grip on Hiashi's hand tightened unconsciously.
"You..." Hiashi shook his head. "Take my eyes..."
"What are you even talking about?!" Neji's body trembled violently. He suddenly let go of Hiashi's collar, letting the other man slump softly back against the corner.
He raised his head. His Byakugan, with its unprecedented power of insight, frantically scanned the secret room, instantly locking onto the opposite wall.
There, a thicker, more complex Sealing Barrier covered the wall!
Because all his attention had been focused on the fight just now, he had completely ignored this other hidden space!
Without a moment's hesitation, Neji practically lunged toward it.
He didn't even try to find the barrier's node. The surging, newfound power within him, combined with an immense sense of panic, exploded and slammed against the barrier!
Boom! Bang!!
The barrier's light flickered violently, then broke and dissolved under the pressure!
A much thicker iron door was revealed. Neji kicked it open fiercely. The iron door struck the inner wall, emitting a huge roar.
The sight behind the door slammed into Neji's eyes, freezing his every movement.
Inside the smaller, almost lightless cell, a thin figure sat quietly on a stone chair.
As if hearing the huge crash of the door breaking, the figure slowly raised his head.
As he lifted his head, his face gradually came into Neji's violently trembling vision.
That face...
Though pale and gaunt, though the place where his eyes should have been were only two horrific, bloody sockets!
Nevertheless, those features, that contour...
Reflected in Hyūga Neji's eyes was another face, completely identical to the dying Hyūga Hiashi outside!
"Is it... over?"
The man looked at Neji with hollow eye sockets, a stiff, self-mocking smile stretching his lips.
"Truly a madman."
His voice was very soft, yet it struck Neji's heart like a heavy hammer.
"You, the Branch Family, your father..." his breath grew weaker with every word, but his tone carried a strange and complete sense of relief. "...All madmen..."
With that, he slowly raised one hand, a weak but condensed chakra emerging.
Then, under Neji's terrified, stunned gaze, he slammed the chakra-infused palm into his own heart!
Pfft!
A large mouthful of dark red blood poured from his mouth, splattering onto the cold floor.
"Finally... I can... be free..." his broken voice held a twisted sense of ease, as if a long-held constraint had been lifted.
"Unable to resist before death." he rasped. "I will surely become a 'Hollow.' All the Main Family members who died by your hands will turn into 'Hollows.'"
"You will all... pay the price for this..."
Before he could finish, his head dropped limply. His whole body slid from the stone chair and fell heavily onto the ground.
Thud!
The dull sound echoed in the small cell, slamming violently against Hyūga Neji's very soul!
Neji's body violently shook. He stumbled back several steps, his heel catching on the threshold, nearly making him fall.
With movements that were stiff, almost mechanical, he slowly, painstakingly turned his head to look behind him, at the equally dying "Hyūga Hiashi" leaning against the wall.
At this moment, that "Hyūga Hiashi" was also looking at him.
Their eyes met.
The eyes that had been lifeless now held a similarly complex mix of emotions: profound weariness, the relief of a successful plan, and a familiar sense of warmth.
Neji's mind was blank. All his thoughts, all his understanding of the world, were shattered, scrambled, and overturned by the scene before him.
He opened his mouth but could make no sound, only his body shaking uncontrollably.
"Father?"
Finally, he choked out those two words, his voice hoarse and dry: "How... is this possible?"
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