If Hyūga Hizashi had wanted to live, he certainly could have.
Even with his current injuries, timely treatment by a medical ninja could have kept him alive.
But what would have been the point?
In what capacity should Neji have taken him for treatment, only for him to continue surviving?
As Hyūga Hizashi, who was already supposed to be dead?
That would only reveal that the Hizashi who was meant to die was still alive, alerting the Konoha elders that there were discrepancies in the original Cloud Village incident and tonight's events.
It would render every sacrifice made by him, Neji, and the Branch House members utterly meaningless.
Or should he have been treated as the supposedly deceased Hyūga Hiashi?
No. In the current Konoha, in the current Hyūga Clan, there was no longer a place for him to continue living.
Unless he fled Konoha with Hyūga Neji, living a hidden life in obscurity, and becoming a burden to his own child...
That was a choice Hyūga Hizashi could absolutely not accept.
"No! No! Why? Why must it be this way?!"
Neji let out a painful, hoarse scream: "If—if I had known you were alive, if I had known that these eyes would cost your life, I would never have..."
"Neji! Cough, cough, cough..."
Hyūga Hizashi cut him off with his last surge of strength. The violent coughing almost suffocated him, but he continued to stare fiercely at his son.
"Hyūga Hizashi has been dead for a long time! He died on the day the Main House pushed him out to be a scapegoat!" His gaze was profoundly calm and deep.
"The one who lived on after that was merely a father who wanted to ensure his child would no longer bear the miserable fate of the Caged Bird Seal... Cough, cough!"
Coughing up blood again, Hizashi's fading eyes fixed on Neji, as if to etch his final will into his son's soul.
"Your eyes..."
His voice was barely audible: "You are one step away from the true Tenseigan. I don't know how long that step will take, or what price it will demand..."
"But I hope you promise me this: no matter what, keep your true self."
Hizashi's tone was an almost pleading solemnity: "Do not be consumed by greed. Do not become the kind of person you hate. Do not harm the other innocent clan members..."
"Especially Hinata and Hanabi. They are just children, and they have done nothing wrong from the beginning. I killed their father and used them. I am the one who failed them..."
As he spoke, he found a final burst of strength from somewhere, slowly raising his hand, which was smeared with blood and dust. He gently used his fingertip to wipe away the tears on Neji's cheek.
But the cold touch felt like a scorching pain to Neji.
"My Caged Bird Seal has been temporarily suppressed," Hizashi's voice grew weaker, but became exceptionally clear. "Take out my eyes, and fuse them."
"Then, fly, Neji. Break free from this damned fate and fly toward a higher, more distant sky..."
"Use my eyes, take me to see the world outside. See for me what that higher, more distant sky truly looks like."
"This is my final wish, and my last meaning," he stared intently at Neji. "Do you understand, Neji?"
Hyūga Neji's expression was one of agony, and he instinctively shook his head repeatedly.
He had never, in any moment, felt such profound hatred and disgust for the blood that flowed through his veins, and for the so-called fate he was forced to bear!
Why?
Why me of all people?
Why was I born into the Hyūga Branch House?
Why was I branded with this accursed Caged Bird Seal from birth?
Why must the fight for my own freedom come at such a tragic cost?
Why, when I finally saw hope, was it paved with my father's life?
Why, why is Fate always so mocking toward me?! So cruel?!
If 'God' truly existed, was He watching this scene with amusement, gathering all misfortune and tragic destiny onto one person for entertainment?!
A torrent of negative emotions—like the most violent gale and the coldest downpour—surged fiercely into Neji's heart, threatening to drown his sanity.
Rage at the injustice of fate! Rage at the indifference of the Konoha elders! Rage at the cruel system of the Main House! Rage at his own powerlessness!
The sudden, chaotic, and overwhelming surge of fury was like a roaring, scorching lava, swirling, crashing, and agonizingly burning his internal organs, threatening to completely consume him from the inside out!
"Neji!"
Hyūga Hizashi used his last ounce of energy to grab Neji's trembling hand, forcefully pulling it to his own eyes!
"Do it!" he yelled. "Don't disappoint me! Don't disappoint everyone who believes in you!"
"Ha! Ha!"
Hyūga Neji gasped hysterically. Every intake of breath felt like swallowing glowing embers. The burning in his chest made his throat ache!
The blood in his veins seemed no longer blood, but molten, boiling iron. The flames seemed to surge in his throat even as he breathed!
He stared fixedly at his father's eyes, which were rapidly losing focus. His extended fingers trembled violently from the pain and struggle, almost impossible to control.
"AAAAHHH!!!"
A heart-wrenching shriek, filled with pain and violent rage, erupted from the depths of Hyūga Neji's throat, like the final wail of a wounded beast!
In that roar, which vented all his struggle, resentment, and anger, he suddenly closed his eyes. That trembling hand, with a cruel finality, abruptly drove forward!
His fingertips met a warm, soft touch, and the sticky resistance of flesh being forcefully torn away.
Pssh!!
With the sound of flesh being ripped away, Neji's outstretched arm recoiled sharply.
Almost simultaneously with the gouging.
Creak...
The door to the secret room, which Neji had left ajar, was gently—hesitantly and fearfully—pushed open from the outside.
A small, delicate figure appeared in the shadow outside the door, casting a long shadow into the room from the weak, flickering candlelight outside.
Those white eyes, always tinged with a degree of shyness and timidity, now looked into the secret room with a hint of unease and fear.
Then, those pure Byakugan eyes clearly reflected the bloody and terrifying scene before her.
Her pupils clearly reflected: Hyūga Neji's back, and the two Byakugan eyes still retaining body heat, complete with nerve endings and blood vessels, held high in his raised hand!
Blood seeped through his fingers, dripping onto the floor, blooming into alarming, dark red puddles.
And before him, the figure leaning against the wall, as the eyeballs were removed, slowly tilted forward, as if the last of his supporting strength had been drawn away...
Thud.
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