Release—the Bird in a Cage?
"Have you lost your mind!?"
Hyuga Hiashi jerked his head up, eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
He stared at the eerily calm youth before him, feeling his entire worldview collapse in that instant.
That was the Bird in a Cage—the absolute law that had bound every Hyuga branch family for generations, the very cornerstone of the Main House's authority. It wasn't merely a seal; it was the foundation upon which the clan's hierarchy rested.
And now this boy spoke of releasing it as if he were undoing a simple knot.
"Besides," Hiashi said hoarsely, forcing the words out, "only the head of the Main House knows how to undo the Bird in a Cage. Even the Third Hokage himself couldn't possibly know the method!"
"There's no way you could know it!"
"Then watch."
Hiroki cast him a cold, indifferent glance, too lazy to waste words on explanation. He turned slightly and spoke to Hyuga Itsuki, his tone still flat and emotionless.
"Go. Tell them someone is about to release the Bird in a Cage."
Hyuga Itsuki froze, mouth hanging open. His gaze darted between Hiroki and the unconscious clan head and elders sprawled across the floor.
Then, in the very next breath, hesitation vanished.
Fear, manners, and restraint were all forgotten. He scrambled to his feet and stumbled out of the Council Hall, nearly tripping over himself in his haste.
He would tell them.
He would tell everyone—every branch family member who had lived their entire lives beneath the shadow of that cursed seal—that today, their fate might finally change.
Whether Hiroki truly could release the Bird in a Cage no longer mattered to him.
The boy who had felled four Main House elders in an instant had already become a god in Hyuga Itsuki's heart.
Inside the Council Hall, silence returned.
Only Hiroki remained standing, the four Main House elders unconscious on the floor, and Hyuga Hiashi still kneeling, his mind utterly blank.
Ignoring Hiashi entirely, Hiroki strolled to the main seat and sat down without ceremony—precisely where the Hyuga Clan Head should sit. Strangely enough, he looked perfectly at ease there, as though the position had always belonged to him.
Hokage Office
Clack—
"What did you say!?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe slipped from his fingers and hit the floor, but he didn't even notice.
He stared at the Anbu before him, lips moving soundlessly, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Only minutes earlier, Shinshichi had appeared and reported what had occurred at the Hyuga compound.
"Yes," Shinshichi replied, head lowered.
"Where is Hiroki now!?" Hiruzen demanded.
"Reporting, Hokage-sama—Lord Hiroki has already left the Hyuga estate."
"And the Bird in a Cage seals?" Hiruzen asked sharply. "Are they…?"
"Affirmative. All released."
Disaster.
Hiruzen didn't spare his fallen pipe a glance. His hands flew through seals as he immediately activated the Telescope Technique.
The crystal ball cleared, revealing a sight that made his pupils contract violently.
Just as he feared.
The Hyuga compound had descended into complete chaos.
In the courtyard outside the Council Hall, hundreds of branch family ninja stood packed together. Their faces were blank—or twisted with emotions too tangled to decipher.
Several Main House elders, faces Hiruzen knew all too well, were being swallowed by the furious crowd. Fists fell like a torrential storm.
Those elders had no strength to resist.
Without the Bird in a Cage, how could a handful of Main House elites withstand dozens of Jonin and over a hundred Chunin and Genin driven by decades of resentment?
Before long, the figures stopped moving.
Beaten into shapeless, blood-soaked heaps.
Hyuga Hiashi fared no better.
Several branch youths pinned him to the ground. Though some spared his life out of lingering restraint, the barrage of fists and kicks still shattered bones and left him a broken, unconscious body tossed aside like refuse.
Hiruzen cut the jutsu and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Quick—dispatch the medical corps immediately!" he barked. "Save whoever can be saved. Every life counts!"
He rose, hands clasped behind his back, brows knitted tightly as he paced the office in long, rapid strides.
He had expected friction when he gave Hiroki freedom to act.
But not this fast.
Not this bloody.
"How could he dismantle the Bird in a Cage on a whim?" Hiruzen muttered. "And how did he even do it?"
No—he himself had underestimated the situation.
Given Hiroki's strength, suppressing those Main House Jonin would have taken mere moments. Add to that the Hyuga's notorious arrogance, and conflict had been inevitable.
And then there were Hiroki's abilities—mind reading, jutsu copying, memory extraction—techniques eerily similar to the Yamanaka clan's most secret arts.
Combine all of that, and the outcome was almost unavoidable.
No—this wasn't necessarily bad.
Hiruzen slowed, took a deep breath, and lifted his gaze toward the Hokage Rock outside the window.
This would force the Hyuga Clan to truly integrate into Konoha, instead of remaining a closed, conservative entity unto itself.
Without the division between Main and Branch families, the Hyuga would finally belong to the Village—not just exist within it.
Their secret techniques could be shared. Their loyalty to Konoha would deepen.
This was a good thing.
The dead could not be brought back, and with the Bird in a Cage already gone, there was no possibility of reinstating it.
What mattered now was managing the aftermath.
Hiruzen bent down, retrieved his pipe, and straightened slowly.
He simply hadn't expected the Hyuga Council of Elders to be beaten to death so decisively.
The moment his resolve settled, the office door slammed open.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado stormed in, faces dark with fury.
"Hiruzen!" Koharu slammed a fresh intelligence scroll onto the desk, her voice sharp with rage. "Look what you've done!"
"Is this how you govern the Village?" she continued. "Letting a ten-year-old child overturn one of Konoha's oldest clans? The Hyuga Council is dead—do you even understand what that means?"
"It shakes the very foundation of Konoha!" Homura added, trembling as he jabbed a finger toward Hiruzen.
"We warned you that the child's power was dangerous and needed restriction. You ignored us and handed him authority over Hyuga affairs. Now look at the result!"
"What will the other clans think?" Koharu pressed. "What will they think of Sawada Hiroki—and of Konoha itself?"
Facing their thunderous accusations, Hiruzen became unexpectedly calm.
He lifted his pipe, placed it between his lips, lit it, and drew in a long breath.
Thick smoke obscured his expression.
"I made no mistake," he said quietly. "And neither did Hiroki."
"What?" Both elders stared at him in disbelief.
"I said," Hiruzen repeated, his voice steady and iron-hard, "that Hiroki did nothing wrong. And neither did I."
He lifted his head, and for the first time in years, a sharp light flickered in his eyes.
"You know better than anyone what the Bird in a Cage truly is—a cancer within the Hyuga. A tumor the Second Hokage wanted removed, but never could, because the timing was never right."
"Now," he continued, "Hiroki has torn it out by the roots. The process was violent, yes—but the result is a Hyuga clan that truly belongs to Konoha."
"You're rationalizing!" Koharu snapped, lips trembling. "Today he abolishes the Bird in a Cage. Tomorrow will he abolish the Hokage?"
"We must arrest him immediately," Homura said coldly. "Put him on trial. Imprison him."
The two exchanged glances, reaching a silent agreement.
"Hiruzen," Koharu said sharply, "since you insist on this folly, we Advisors will handle the matter ourselves."
Without waiting for a response, they turned and strode out.
"Stop," Hiruzen said sharply, rising to his feet.
They didn't even look back.
Watching their retreating figures, helplessness—and deep worry—flickered through Hiruzen's eyes.
Not for Hiroki.
But for those two old fools who had no idea what they were walking into.
Neither had witnessed the Chunin Exams. Neither understood how terrifyingly fast Hiroki had grown.
Hiruzen rubbed his temples and released a long, weary sigh.
"Shinshichi," he said softly.
"Here."
"Go," Hiruzen ordered. "Warn Hiroki in advance. Tell him Advisors Koharu and Homura wish to 'talk.'"
He paused, then added the most important line.
"Tell him… to show restraint."
"And not to kill them."