Kaboom.
Light ripped across the horizon. Thunder rolled inside the leaden clouds.
In the damp hush of the Forest of Death, a boy stood soaked through, falling into the opening stance of the Gentle Fist. His Byakugan locked hard on the man who stood in the rain like a god.
"I do not speak with cowards who hide their faces."
"What do you want to know."
"Your identity, your purpose, and your real face."
Neji Hyuga's milk-white pupils tightened. His gaze pinned the man in front of him.
Through the Byakugan he saw only a body sheathed in deep blue chakra, the internal meridians and muscles blurred away.
A Transformation Technique, then.
It was one of the Byakugan's few weaknesses. Strongly layered chakra could block its sight. Certain restricted places in the village were ringed with small sealing barriers for the same purpose, to deny Hyuga eyes.
Transformation worked on a similar principle. Chakra wrapped the form to mimic another, and to the Byakugan it became a thick halo of light.
He could tell the man was transformed, but not what lay beneath.
Whoever this was had come prepared.
Neji filed the conclusion away and grew more cautious. Many knew sealing could restrain the Byakugan, but few knew Transformation could confound it as well. Anyone that familiar with Hyuga limits was either an elite from the ANBU or a Hyuga.
Neji's heart went heavy.
The branch line was permitted to train only to Thirty-Two Palms. Beyond that required the main family's approval. If they caught him practicing the rest in secret, the punishment would be severe.
The memory of a branch prodigy clutching his head and sobbing in the training grounds twisted his gut.
"Who are you."
"Only two kinds of people get to know who I am."
At last the man spoke, the rich voice carrying a dull weight.
"Which two."
Neji's question came fast.
"Friends, or the dead."
The man's gray irises met Neji's without blinking, empty as ash. "Which one do you want to be, Hyuga Neji."
Thunder rumbled and rumbled. The rain thickened to a roar.
Neji swallowed.
The meaning was plain. If he learned who this man was and refused his hand, he would not leave alive.
"Then please state your business first."
He looked straight into that malign halo of chakra, then down at himself, chakra half spent and muscles aching from drill after drill.
A rough measure of strength on both sides, and Neji quietly discarded his earlier vow about never speaking to a masked man.
Konome Taketori let a satisfied smile show. Talent, nerve, a sense for the weather of the moment. Luck aside, Neji had all the makings of success.
Hinata, by contrast, could barely memorize the plates, much less practice them. It was hard not to compare.
"I need you to gather information inside the Hyuga for me."
"You want me to be a spy."
"Yes."
That answer surprised him.
"Why me."
"You are not satisfied with the main family. Do not rush to deny it. I can see it."
Konome lifted a finger and cut off his protest. "I have an irreconcilable conflict with the Hyuga main house. Help me topple them and I will grant you one wish when it is done."
"A wish."
"Anything."
Silence. The rain was the only voice in the emptiness of the forest.
"Can you remove my Caged Bird."
"Not yet."
Konome shook her head. Only the clan head and the chief elder knew how to release the seal. Hinata could never get that for him.
The light in Neji's eyes dimmed.
"But in time, yes."
Konome studied his fine-boned face, speaking with an unfeigned confidence. Her sights were set on Otsutsuki Kaguya. The Hyuga did not even rate.
Shikotsumyaku, the Byakugan, the Eight Gates, tailed-beast chakra. Too many unusual pieces were already on her board. Dealing with the Hyuga was only a matter of when.
Truthfully she did not need Neji for intelligence. That was a pretext. As long as he kept her secret through her growth years and kept the main house blind to her, the rest would follow.
Light returned to Neji's eyes. He heard the certainty in her tone. The nightmare seal might be breakable. Even if the chance was tiny, he ached for it.
"Could you…"
He faltered. He wanted proof, yet could not form the demand. He feared the pale promise would burst like a pretty bubble and drop him back into the dark.
"Could you show me the future you speak of."
He hesitated, then let the plea out. In his voice Konome could hear it. The Caged Bird had driven this branch youth to the edge. A single stalk of straw at the cliff's lip.
She barely had to persuade him. His heart wanted freedom and leaned toward her of its own accord.
"Of course."
She raised her hand.
Three green-burning points within her chest flared open. The chakra core at her heart gulped down life force. Deep blue energy poured out of her body.
Thunder stitched the clouds. A net of silver snaked across the sky.
In the strobing light Neji stared up, Byakugan wide.
Every raindrop in sight froze where it hung.
Lightning flashed. Beads of water threw back the light. Each was sharp, separate. It was as if someone had hit pause on the world.
Through the Byakugan, eldritch blue chakra divided into a million motes, a night sky of stars.
"This…"
He stood numb with wonder. With a lift of the hand she had fixed the storm in place. With that mastery over Water Release she could be a flood god from old tales.
Chakra like that could do it. It could break the cage.
He said it in his head, over and over, hammering the hope into shape.
He forced his voice steady for one last question. "Will you truly free me."
Konome was already smiling inside. The longing burned off him like a fire. She could almost feel the heat.
Words were no longer needed.
Chakra smoke burst and peeled away. A silver-haired girl with a black band over her eyes stood with one hand holding up the rain and the other tugging loose the cloth.
Ash-pale eyes met the shocked Byakugan.
The swollen veins at their temples made a bridge of blood between them.
Konome stepped in, turned her hand palm up, pressed index and middle finger together, and touched them to the trembling seal beneath Neji's band.
Black cloth and white cloth brushed.
In his shaking pupils the girl holding up the sky burned bright.
"Do not be afraid, Neji. There is one wish we share in our hearts. Freedom."
Her clear voice rang between the trees and settled inside Neji.
Tears rose with a smile. For the first time since the Caged Bird was branded into him, he felt the light called hope, and it was dazzling.
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