Neji raised his trembling face to Yuto, lips quivering. "Is everything on this scroll… true?"
"Don't believe him!"
Locked in combat with Ranmaru, Hiashi shouted back toward Neji.
His face was tight with urgency now, a mix of shock and fury boiling beneath it. Somehow, shinobi from Kirigakure had slipped into Konoha and were acting with brazen impunity—going so far as to set their sights on the Hyuga clan's head.
Still, the commotion from his fight with Ranmaru should have drawn Anbu by now.
Just a little longer. Hold out, and they would arrive.
Hiashi's eyes cut back to Ranmaru, wary. The boy who had transformed mid-fight was terrifyingly strong.
Worse, that kekkei genkai completely countered the Byakugan. Hiashi had already shut his Byakugan down—when your own eyes begin to lie to you, that is when you're in the greatest danger.
And that other young man… even through the haze Ranmaru cast, whenever Hiashi looked Yuto's way, dread crept up his spine.
The instant Hiashi glanced at Neji, Ranmaru stepped in—Explosive Blade: Shibuki already in hand—crossing one long stride to Hiashi's flank.
Not good!
Hiashi's chakra flooded through every tenketsu at once as his body spun like a top.
Jūken (Gentle Fist) — Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation)!
This was the true Kaiten of the clan, far beyond Neji's self-devised imitation.
Chakra burst out to form an invisible barrier—an "absolute defense"—holding Hiashi safe at its heart.
Ranmaru slammed into the whirling dome and was thrown back.
"So strong!"
He blinked once, then smiled, unfazed. Hands locked on Shibuki's hilt, he hauled the blade up and brought it down in a savage arc.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions hammered the Kaiten in rapid succession.
He wasn't so much cutting as he was pounding the shield with a living demolition charge. Each impact detonated like a sheaf of paper bombs.
The first blast jarred Hiashi inside the spinning dome.
The second shattered the Kaiten outright.
The third drove blood from Hiashi's mouth and flung him into darkness.
Neji's eye twitched. Shock ran deep.
The clan head… went down like that?
He stared, making sure the toppled body was truly Hiashi. For the first time, fear cracked his forced composure.
"For such an ancient clan, to have a head that weak… it's a kind of tragedy."
Yuto spared Hiashi a flat glance, then looked to Neji. "You wanted freedom, didn't you? I'll give you the real thing."
Neji's throat worked. When he spoke, his voice rasped. "What is your goal?"
"At your current level? You aren't worth a plan."
Disdain edged Yuto's tone. He lifted a finger toward the curse seal on Neji's forehead.
Neji tensed, instinct urging him to dodge—then stilled. If the man meant to kill him, it wouldn't take this.
Cold brushed his brow.
A spike of agony tore through his skull.
The curse seal… had been forced open.
The pain came fast and vanished just as quickly.
When Neji regained focus, Yuto's hand had already lifted away.
"Hiashi's life stays. Whether you kill him is up to you."
Yuto's voice was mild; his eyes, amused.
"The blasts from that little scuffle took this long to draw anyone? As expected—Hashirama, the village you built has rotted."
"In that case, I'll start the war myself."
The words slid into Neji's ears and made his whole body shake.
Yuto didn't spare his expression a look. Feeling Konoha shinobi rushing closer from all sides, he smiled faintly—
—and snapped his fingers.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five colossal detonations erupted at the village's edge in five directions at once, thunder rolling in from every quarter.
The shockwaves tore across Konoha.
Neji turned, stiff, to the window—towering fire and black smoke boiled up in the distance.
War.
He'd suspected as much in the back of his mind, but faced with it, the world wavered.
He looked back—only Hiashi lay there, unconscious. Yuto and Ranmaru were gone.
"Ahhh!!"
"Who are—"
"—gh—"
Screams knifed in from the corridor, snapping Neji alert.
When silence finally fell, Neji dragged his battered body to the doorway and peered out.
The reek of blood slammed into him.
Konoha shinobi lay strewn across the floor, crimson pooling beneath them. Among them were two from the Hyuga.
Neji sagged against the frame and slid down to sit.
Yuto's voice echoed again in the hollow of his chest: Kids raised in peace can't grasp what war really is.
As a Caged Bird, fighting or yielding had never mattered.
But now—with the cage torn away—Neji lifted his head. He looked out at the dead, then back at Hiashi.
Hatred still burned.
But all at once, it tasted like ash.
Too weak.
Compared to those who stood at the summit, the clan was weak. He was weak.
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