"Hyūga Neji! Are you insane?!"
Facing the shock and accusation of Hyūga Aoi and Hyūga Kado, Hyūga Neji's expression didn't waver, holding only the coldness of stagnant water.
"You've come back after all," his voice was hoarse and flat, devoid of emotion. "Unfortunately, you are too late."
"Everything I sought..." He slowly raised his blood-stained hand, his gaze fixed on his palm, and his tone was complex. "...has now been attained."
"What did you do?"
Aoi suppressed the turmoil in her heart, frowning deeply. Her sharp gaze swept over Neji, and when her eyes landed on his forehead, they suddenly narrowed in surprise. "Your Cursed Seal..."
What's wrong with it?
The Caged Bird Cursed Seal, which should have been as clear as a brand, was now extremely blurred and dim.
Did this Neji fellow find a way to seal or even release the Caged Bird Seal?
Is this why he was able to injure, or even kill, Elder Hiashi, instead of being executed immediately by the seal?
"Lady Aoi."
Just then, Kado's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"I'll leave Hyūga Neji to you for temporary containment. I must rush in immediately and check on Lord Hiashi's condition!" His tone carried an unprecedented urgency and solemnity.
Just days ago, Hiashi Hyūga had used a mission as an excuse to send Kado to escort Aoi out of the village.
Kado knew well that this was because Lord Hiashi intended to act against the Branch House and was worried Aoi would obstruct the Main House's actions.
But now, connecting this with the bodies of the Branch House guards he had seen along the way, and the deathly silence of the Main House residences...
An unbelievable, chilling thought was uncontrollably surfacing in his mind.
However, the arrogance born from his status as a loyal "dog" of the Main House, coupled with his fear of the Caged Bird Seal, made it utterly impossible for Kado to accept this insane and terrifying conjecture.
He refused to believe, and did not want to believe, that Hyūga Neji, a Branch House member bound by the Caged Bird Seal, could possibly pose a threat to Lord Hiashi or the Main House?!
Aoi didn't immediately reply to Kado, her focus entirely on Neji.
"Neji," she stared intently at him, speaking in a low voice. "Stay here quietly. Don't make any dangerous moves. I promise you won't be in any danger."
Aoi had been scolded by Hiashi Hyūga after helping Hyūga Komon stop Hyūga Yōto, and then sent out on a mission as an excuse.
She was unaware of the later events: Yōto's attack, the Main House forcibly entering the infirmary, and the violent abduction of Kō.
Naturally, she didn't know the extent to which the accumulated tension between the Branch House and Main House had escalated. She still thought the two sides were in a fragile equilibrium of mutual fear.
When she returned and saw the bodies of the Branch House guards, her first thought was a foreign invasion, and she rushed immediately to the Clan Head's residence to report.
Even with the worst premonitions, she hadn't imagined any of this had to do with Hyūga Neji.
Even so, if possible, she still didn't want to kill Neji.
She didn't care about Neji's life or death, but she cared about Hyuga Kawa's feelings.
Because of Kawa's attitude toward Neji—while strict during training, both Main House and Branch House knew he genuinely cared for him.
"If the Clan Head is still alive, and when Kawa returns from his mission, perhaps... perhaps there is a slim chance to save Hyūga Neji's life..." Aoi thought.
Just as she was about to speak again to stabilize Neji.
Swish!
Kado's figure suddenly vanished from his spot. Pushing the Body Flicker Technique to its limit, he shot forward like a released arrow, leaving a hurried rush of air in his wake.
He attempted to dart past Neji's side and rush straight toward the entrance of the secret room behind him.
His movements were extremely fast; ordinary ninja wouldn't have time to react, unable to even catch his afterimage.
But, the instant he reached Neji's side.
Hyūga Neji didn't even turn his gaze. He simply raised his other, free hand.
He performed no hand signs and showed no indication of activating the Byakugan.
He just pushed his palm forward, directed at Kado's rushing trajectory, and abruptly thrust his palm out.
Voom!
A highly compressed, dense burst of chakra, almost visible to the naked eye, instantly erupted from his palm. Like a heavy cannonball leaving its barrel, it blasted toward Kado at his side!
"What?!"
Kado's pupils shrank abruptly. His sharp Jōnin instincts and experience issued an unprecedented, frantic warning.
In a split second, relying on his extensive battle intuition, he forcibly twisted his forward momentum, turned, and raised his arm, pouring all his chakra into his palm, and struck out!
Boom!!
The two forces collided. However, the anticipated stalemate did not occur.
The dull impact was not followed by the crackle of colliding chakra, but by a chilling sound of dense bone shattering under overwhelming pressure!
Crack! Snap-snap-snap!
A series of crisp, fine noises, like dry leaves being crushed, erupted from Kado's arm bones, and the connecting scapula, clavicle, and ribs!
"Agh!!"
Kado only managed a short, distorted scream. He felt as if he hadn't met a chakra impact, but had slammed head-on into an immovable fortress wall!
He was blasted away like a snapped kite, utterly without resistance by the horrifying shockwave. His body contorted in mid-air with multiple unnaturally bent joints.
Crash!!
His back smashed heavily against the solid stone wall, issuing a heart-stopping thud. A spiderweb of cracks instantly spread across the wall's surface, centered on his point of impact!
"Pfft!"
A massive mouthful of thick blood mixed with pulverized internal tissue sprayed from Kado's mouth, showering the ground like blood rain. He slumped from the wall, collapsing onto the floor.
His limbs were bent at grotesque angles, clearly broken and shattered. Every weak, painful twitch was accompanied by more blood spilling from his mouth and nose.
He struggled to lift his head, his face a mask of pain and shock. He looked at Hyūga Neji, who still stood in his original spot, and squeezed out a broken, terrified sound from the depths of his throat:
"How... how is this possible?!"
When did Hyūga Neji become so strong?!
Aoi's pupils also narrowed. She instinctively pulled Hinata back, increasing the distance from Neji, shielding Hinata behind her, and assuming the Gentle Fist stance, her body tensed.
She could tell that Neji's palm strike was based on the same principle as the Eight Trigrams Air Palm: chakra compressed and delivered with ferocious force to strike through an enemy's vital points.
However, the power and speed were utterly unlike the Air Palm.
How could he instantly unleash such a sudden and terrifying shockwave without performing hand signs, activating the Byakugan, or even taking time to charge?
How could he mobilize such a massive amount of chakra so instantaneously, and with such precise control?
Neji raised his lowered eyes. Aoi, staring intently at him, met his gaze and involuntarily narrowed her Byakugan, her voice heavy with concern. "Your eyes, what happened to them?"
Seeing his eyes, which were distinctly different from the Byakugan, she sensed a latent power within them—a subtle, heavy sense of suppression and suffocation.
They'd only been gone for a few days; how could Hyūga Neji have changed so drastically?
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