Hiashi's expression was ice cold.
His face darkened, anger seething in his eyes.
Truth be told, when Aya had spoken earlier, he had already been prepared to let her go.
Just as Hizashi had thought—why risk everything with the Uchiha over a mere branch house girl?
The Uchiha were too strong now. The Hyuga clan couldn't afford to provoke them.
Bowing their heads? They were used to it.
They had done the same before the Hokage and the village elders. Now that the Uchiha stood tall, lowering their pride was nothing new.
Hiashi's silence just now had only him thinking—what excuse, what justification could he use?
After all…
Even after conceding, the Hyuga clan had to save face.
But before he could come up with anything, that fool Yū had charged in.
Damn it.
Hiashi didn't care about Yū's life or death.
The main house was filled with useless trash—he'd be glad if they all dropped dead.
But Aya killed one of them in broad daylight, in front of everyone… that left him cornered.
Fight the Uchiha? Impossible.
Concede openly? The Hyuga's dignity would be shredded.
What choice did he have?
His mind whirled, furious and trapped.
And worse still—
The Caged Bird Curse Seal!
He had seen it himself: Yotai had activated the seal, but Aya hadn't been affected at all.
That…
That meant the Uchiha had mastered a way to undo it.
The realization chilled him to the bone.
Yes. For the first time in years, Hyuga Hiashi felt genuine fear.
But Aya… Aya stood calm.
Even as the clan encircled her, her lips curved with a faint smile.
She folded her arms, her white kimono draping elegantly across her figure. With her delicate features and that serene smile, she looked every bit the graceful Yamato Nadeshiko.
She glanced lightly at Hiashi, her tone gentle.
"Overboard? Tell me, Clan Head… how?"
"Since the day I was born, I have given much to this clan."
"And in return?"
"I never fought for position, never sought glory. I stayed low, I stayed quiet. Yet after all I've done, the main house sought to chain me, to make me serve as a slave to their idiot heirs."
"Why?"
"Why should one who has bled for this clan be forced beneath such fools?"
"If I lacked the strength to resist the Caged Bird Curse Seal, then fine—I would die under your oppression. That would be my weakness."
"But things are different now."
"I have the power to resist. Which means I have the power to demand fairness."
"Overboard? You say that to me, Clan Head? Don't you feel ashamed?"
Her smile sharpened, her voice growing colder.
"Kai once told me—this world is full of rules, but in truth it bows only to strength."
"Spare me the Will of Fire nonsense. At the end of the day, fists do the talking."
"When Hashirama Senju lived, the entire shinobi world bowed in silence."
"When Madara Uchiha raged, none dared speak back."
"Because refusal meant death."
"And so it is now."
"I have strength. So why should I crawl beneath you?"
"Yū raised his hand against me. He paid with his life. You are no different."
"So stop wasting words. If you want me dead, then come and try."
Her voice rang like steel through the hall.
Aya's aura radiated unyielding dominance.
Her right hand twitched—she drew her kunai once more, the blade pointing directly at Hiashi.
A life lived in submission was over. She would kneel no more.
Her words struck the main house like a blade through the heart.
"You wretch, Aya!"
"The Caged Bird Curse Seal exists to protect the branch house!"
"Arrogant! Foolish! Traitor!"
"Kill her! Slay the one who dares betray the clan!"
Main house members shouted in fury, their faces twisted, bodies trembling with rage.
Aya's words had ripped away their mask, exposing their shame for all to see.
They were broken, and in their madness, they screamed only for her blood.
The hall roared with anger.
But not from everyone.
The branch house elders stayed silent, unmoving.
Their eyes, once dull and resigned, began to gleam.
Because they saw it.
Hope.
Aya's Caged Bird Curse Seal had been undone. Could theirs be as well?
And only one man could make that happen.
Uchiha Kai.
Their minds raced, already scheming: how to reach him? How to seize freedom?
For the first time, they imagined life without chains.
Hiashi's face grew darker still.
He knew. He knew Aya was right.
The Hyuga clan's traditions, its so-called "rules," were rotten at the root.
Once, the Hyuga had stood as equals to the Uchiha. Now, they were shadows of their former selves.
But he had no solution.
No way forward.
And with the Caged Bird Curse Seal's collapse looming, he could see it—the thoughts stirring in the branch house elders' eyes.
If he allowed this to spread, the Hyuga would crumble.
So he resolved himself.
Aya could not live.
Even if it meant war with the Uchiha, she had to die.
Because only by crushing hope could he preserve the clan's order.
Otherwise, everything would collapse.
He exhaled slowly, then spoke.
"Aya. You are right—this world bows to strength."
"But unfortunately…"
"Yours is not enough to overturn the Hyuga clan."
"And since you dare challenge our authority—"
"Then you will die here."
His tone was cold, merciless.
Yes. He knew Aya was not wrong.
But as clan head, the clan's survival came before all else.
Everything else was secondary.
He finished his words—and in the same instant, his Byakugan flared open.
With blinding speed, he lunged at Aya, Gentle Fist raised to strike.
This was no spoiled heir like Yū.
Hiashi had fought on battlefields, had killed and survived.
His Gentle Fist was swift, ruthless, and merciless. Under his Byakugan's gaze, Aya had no secrets.
Her chakra, her movements, her very tenketsu—laid bare.
Aya's skin prickled with dread.
A mortal threat.
Her body screamed to defend, to counter.
But against Hiashi, a peak Jounin in his prime—her strength was nothing.
His palm drove straight for her chest.
And Aya… smiled.
Even facing death, her lips curved.
But then—
In her eyes, a strange mark ignited.
A pattern bloomed in the air, intricate and otherworldly.
The form of a Mangekyō Sharingan.
Yes.
Rewriting Seal — Mangekyō Sharingan technique: Void Gate.
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