Konohagakure No SAto :
Konoha Stadium :
Infirmary Area :
While the massive stadium outside was still roaring, celebrating Hyuga Hinata's stunning victory with thunderous applause and gearing up for the next match, the atmosphere inside the infirmary was completely different.
Technically, the medical wing was practically empty. The first two matches hadn't resulted in any severe injuries—except for Dosu dying, which obviously wasn't the infirmary's problem anymore.
The medics had already performed basic healing on Neji's body. But the moment the Hyuga prodigy opened his eyes, he was met with the last person he wanted to see: Hyuga Hiashi. The Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan, a member of the Main Branch, and the 'uncle' that Neji deeply despised.
What followed, however, was a conversation Neji couldn't even begin to comprehend. which only left him confused.
It started when Hiashi silently reached into his robes, pulled out a sealed scroll, and offered it to the boy in the bed.
"The truth of that day....... is in here," Hiashi said quietly.
But Neji had absolutely zero trust in the Main Family, and even less in the Patriarch himself. He glared at the scroll and scoffed, refusing to take it.
".....They're probably just excuses. Fabrications made entirely for the convenience of the head family."
Hiashi watched his nephew with a deeply complicated expression. Instead of getting angry, he simply stepped forward and gently set the scroll down on the edge of the bed.
"The person you are now....... you should be able to understand."
Neji watched in tense silence as Hiashi stepped back, standing quietly in the corner of the room. Neji's eyes flickered down to the scroll. The moment he read his own name and recognized the familiar handwriting on the seal, his eyes widened in shock.
"....This handwriting."
Neji scrambled to open the scroll, hastily unfurling the parchment. It was a personal letter from his father, Hizashi, written right before the infamous 'Birthday Incident'. As Neji read through the pages, his father's true reasons for his actions—his choice to become the sacrifice—were finally laid bare.
Neji's breath hitched. His eyes widened as he locked onto a single, deeply personal line that struck right at the core of his heart.
[I want to die protecting him as 'my brother', not as the head family.]
Neji continued reading, his vision blurring as his father's voice seemed to ring clearly in his ears.
[Neji, I wasn't killed to protect the Head Family. I chose to die to protect my siblings, my family, and my land......... by my own will, I chose death.]
His trembling eyes scanned down to the very last line of the letter.
[ I wanted to choose my own fate.]
Tears finally spilled over Neji's eyelashes as he read his father's final, parting message to him.
[Overcome your own fate, Neji...... Fate is something you work out with your own two hands.]
"......Father," Neji choked out, his voice cracking.
"This is the truth."
Neji's chaotic thoughts were instantly broken by Hiashi's voice. When Neji looked over to the corner, he was completely stunned. The Patriarch of the Main Branch—his elder, his uncle—was kneeling on the cold floor, his clean forehead pressed firmly against the ground in a deep, formal bow of Forgiveness .
"I am sorry."
Neji stared at the prostrating man, his emotions a tangled mess.
".....Please leave," Neji finally managed to say, his voice thick with difficulty as he slowly closed his eyes.
Hiashi looked up at Neji, seeing how deeply lost the boy was in his own grief and realization. Suppressing a sigh, the Patriarch pushed himself up and moved toward the door.
But just as his hand touched the handle, Neji's voice drifted over.
"Hinata.... what will happen to her now?"
Neji suddenly thought of his younger cousin. The so-called 'trash' who had just violently overcome her own destiny through hard work. Because Neji had been defeated by Hinata's own hands today, his feelings toward her were incredibly complicated. In his eyes, what Hinata had just accomplished was exactly what his father had done, and what his father expected him to do.
Hearing Neji's sudden question, Hiashi paused. His stoic expression shifted into something 'unreadable' , but he ultimately decided to speak the harsh 'truth'
"....If nothing goes wrong....... then Hanabi shall be officially declared as the Clan Heir and the Main Branch successor in the following months."
"WHAT?!"
Neji's eyes snapped open, blazing with sudden, protective rage as he glared at the Patriarch.
"WHY?! Didn't she overcome her fate today?! Didn't she just prove to you and the entire clan that she is not trash?! Her hard work, her combat prowess—did it not move you or the Main Branch at all?!"
"........*Sigh*"
"TELL ME! .....Why the hell would Hinata be turned over to the Branch House and caged like a bird, even after overcoming all the odds and proving her strength today, right in front of the entire village and the clan?!.......... can your guys Byakugan failed to see sometin today ?? "
hearing Neji's outburst and questioning , Hiashi decided to speak
"........Hinata did overcome her fate, Neji."
"THEN WHY?! WHY?!"
Neji's emotions spiraled into total outrage. He felt deeply & personally insulted. It felt like a direct insult to his father's memory, too—the belief that one could overcome destiny through hard work.
Seeing someone actually put in the blood and sweat, achieve a flawless victory to prove everyone wrong, only to be met with the exact same miserable fate anyway? Neji couldn't accept it.
Seeing Neji spiraling, Hiashi felt a twinge of guilt, but he knew he had to force the boy to open his eyes to reality.
"Neji, you are mistaken about something."
".....What is it?" Neji spat.
"...Hinata's original fate was always to become the Main Branch family."
"WHAT?! ." Neji's eyes widened as he looked at HIashi in disbelief and spoke in low voice ".......But isn't she only being demoted because Hanabi is stronger and Hinata is weak?"
"The Caged Bird Seal does not care about Shinobi prowess, gender, or anything else," Hiashi explained flatly. "Regardless of circumstances, the secondary heir is sealed at three years of age. Combat prowess and talent hardly matter in that equation. ......Do not forget, your father and I were twins. ......The position of the Main Branch is never decided over a simple fight or a spar."
Hearing those words, Neji was completely bewildered, and then shocked. His eyes met Hiashi's in total disbelief.
"..BUT WHY?! Then why is she not still the Main Branch, and Hanabi the Side Branch?!"
".....Because this is the fate Hinata chose for herself."
"WHAT?!"
"At first, things were delayed purely because I, as a father, did not want to make either of my children a Side Branch member and cage them," Hiashi confessed quietly.
"...."
"But later on, I........ and all the Main Branch elders, noticed Hinata's extreme gentleness.... and..."
".....And what?"
"And her hesitation to ever use the Caged Bird Seal to punish any Branch House member," Hiashi finished grimly.
".........What does that have to do with anything?!" Neji demanded.
"The elders and I are all aware of the deep resentment boiling within the Branch House. That is exactly why we can never, ever accept a leader who does not........ no, a leader who cannot even bring herself to use the Caged Bird Seal to punish the Branch House when necessary........... especially when considering the overall stability and survival of the clan."
"....."
".....The consequences of allowing someone as gentle as Hinata to become the Matriarch... the risk of her actions leading to the clan burning itself to the ground from the inside out, exactly like Uchiha Itachi did to the Uchiha Clan ... those risks are simply too high to ignore."
"..."
"That is why the elders and I did absolutely everything in our power to make sure that Hinata's gentleness, her kindness... her foolishness... was Gently & violently curbed in the cradle."
"...."
"The clan...... and me. We all made sure that Hinata was constantly put into difficult, cruel circumstances, specifically hoping she would finally snap, fight back, or activate the Caged Bird Seal on her own."
".......You..." Neji's eyes widened in sheer horror and disbelief as the truth clicked.
"Hinata's severe bullying at the Academy, the constant toxic whispers throughout the clan compound, the harsh, unforgiving treatment from me and the instructors........ even explicitly allowing you, a Branch House member, to brutally bully and hurt her during training."
"......You guys actively planned it all. ..........You scums"
"Yes," Hiashi admitted without hesitation. "........I didn't expect you to understand my thoughts or my heavy considerations........ because what I did was ultimately just like your father."
"...SHUT UP!"
"I desperately tried to protect the clan's future in my own dark ways...... all so that Hinata could eventually become a strong, capable Clan Leader. Even right now, I am trying my hardest to be both a good Clan Leader and a good father together. .......Whether it's Hanabi or Hinata, neither of them are caged right now simply because I refused to let them be caged. ...I am protecting them from all of the elders' political pressure completely alone."
"....."
".....But Hinata's core nature and personality...... as you have clearly seen today, forget about being a Clan Leader.... it even hinders her as a shinobi."
"..."
"In her twelve years of life, Hinata has never, not even once, activated the Caged Bird Seal. .......Even in Spars or fights in missions , she has always subconsciously held back her lethal strikes because of her overwhelming kindness and hesitation......"
"...."
".....You may not fully understand this yet, Neji. But just like you, Hinata also decided to defy her so-called fate...... and she has tried to achieve something entirely with her own two hands."
"........I still don't understand. .......Are you seriously telling me that Hinata fully knew that she would be branded with the Caged Bird Seal if she didn't change, but still consciously decided not to alter her ways?"
"...Yes. Hinata obviously knew the consequences. But regardless.... she decided to defy her 'fate'."
"....Why?! Why would anyone willingly want to make themselves a slave?!"
Hiashi visibly winced at the word 'slave', but he powered through.
"Because, just exactly like your father, she is doing all of this to protect her sibling, Hanabi, and her family, Neji. The family she has watched get hurt over the years because of this exact matter."
"....That's absurd."
"Hinata does not view being a Branch member as being a slave or a servant. ....She views it as a necessary position to protect her sister and the clan.... It is a burden she doesn't hate, nor is she averse to bearing it."
"....."
"And Hinata has fully succeeded. Today, she proved her unshakable determination to both me and the entire clan. She firmly established her stance."
"....What does any of this have to do with today's match?" Neji asked, his voice shaking.
"Because she proved that she is strong. ........Strong enough to utterly defeat the greatest genius of the clan, and strong enough to actively choose her own fate, despite her overwhelming prowess and accomplishments."
".....I don't get it...!!"
"You will understand in the following months. ....Because Hinata is still exactly the same. ....She will once again deliberately hold back when she fights Hanabi.... and she will once again completely refuse to use the Cursed Seal on any Branch member in the days to come."
"....."
"Something that neither I, nor any Main Branch elder, can ever accept."
"...."
"Hanabi ruthlessly used the Caged Seal at just four years old...... when a Branch member accidentally broke her favorite flower vase. ....Whether it's raw combat prowess, cutthroat nature, or mindset..... Hanabi has already proven she possesses the exact qualities needed to become the ruthless Clan Leader of the Hyuga Clan."
"..."
"....As for Hinata...... She is a wonderful daughter, a loving sister... a great clan member... and now, clearly a good shinobi too. .........But she can never, ever be a good Clan Leader."
Seeing Neji's jaw clench tight, Hiashi delivered his final words.
"This is the 'fate', the harsh path, that Hinata has willingly chosen for herself. ........Do not resent her because of it. ........After all, everyone's path is ultimately their own choice."
"......."
"And Hinata's definitive choice is to protect her sister and her family.... even if it means she must be caged herself. ......Exactly like how your father made his own definitive choice, despite fully knowing where the path led."
Seeing Neji standing completely frozen, his knuckles turning totally white from how hard he was gripping the bedsheets, Hiashi gave a subtle, inward nod. His calculated, manipulative choice of words had landed perfectly. It should have successfully shifted the perspective of the clan's greatest genius permanently in their favor.
(.....Well, Hinata is still incredibly stubborn & kind .... but with Uzumaki Naruto in the picture, everything can be managed and planned around.)
Hiashi looked at Neji one last time before turning to finally exit the room.
As for Hinata actually getting the Caged Bird Seal? Even if Neji asked about it later, Hiashi had plenty of foolproof methods to delay the branding indefinitely. Hell, even using a simple excuse like 'selling' Hinata in marriage to Naruto—the village's absolute strongest weapon—or citing a direct order from the Hokage would work perfectly to keep the elders at bay.
Not That Any elder is aversed to having connetion with Jinchuriki anyway .
(The village hidden in the leaves will never, ever allow the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's legal wife to be caged or controlled by a clan seal in any way...... so spouting all this dramatic rhetoric to Neji right now isn't a problem at all. .....Once Neji actually grows up and learns Naruto's true identity and status, he will instantly understand why Hinata was never actually caged, and why Hanabi officially became the Clan Leader instead.)
Hiashi walked slowly down the corridors of the stadium. For a brief second, his mind felt a heavy twinge of guilt for emotionally manipulating his grieving nephew. But almost instantly, his resolve hardened into iron.
(.......Regardless of the deception, with this narrative planted, Neji should admire Hinata just like he admires his father. It will completely change his toxic views toward the Branch Clan's position too ...........It is a vastly better solution than letting his hatred fester and potentially losing the greatest genius the Hyuga Clan has ever seen.)
And So The Clan Leader Of the Hyuga clan went on his way to attend the Finals . as Neji stood by the window and watched the Birds flying in the sky .
( I wonder If a person's destiny is only floating like a cloud in a fixed current ...or is a person able to ride on the current that he chooses )
Neji watched the blue sky as he thought
( whichever ....... the end point might still be the same )
Walking close to the window , Neji breathed out a little
( Just ......When the choice is latter ....People turn toward the goal of living and work hard toward it ....and those who hold that are really strong )
Neji soon heard the voices of the ground and thought of the fight against HInata
( I feel like , I finally understand through this battle ..........and Father .....I have only one goal now .......I want to become strong ......Just Like you .....just like My little sister )
( .....that's how I feel now )
Looking at the free birds in the sky , Neji thought
( Father .....I see many birds flying , and they seem to be enjoying themselves )
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Konoha Stadium :
Participant Waiting Area :
Up in the competitors' balcony, Naruto leaned against the railing, watching the next highly anticipated match that was already well underway. Despite the intense action below, his blue eyes flickered sideways for a brief second, glancing at Shino and Ino who were still standing quietly by his side.
(......To think Sasuke's match is actually happening before Shino and Ino's.)
Naruto's gaze drifted back down to the arena dirt, watching with a Sharp eyes as Sasuke was kicking Gaara's ass. The Uchiha was utilizing a perfectly copied version of Rock Lee's high-speed taijutsu style, but executing it with even greater, chakra-enhanced velocity & sharingan prowess .
(While Gaara's strength is the same as canon....... Sasuke definitely is not.)
It was an undeniable fact. Because of Naruto's constant, overbearing presence, Sasuke had worked significantly harder during their Academy days. That drive evolved into brutal weight training, and after their official team assignment, Kakashi had genuinely invested in pushing Sasuke's physical limits and ninjutsu arsenal to the brink.
Seeing all those factors violently coalesce on the battlefield, Naruto easily understood the reality of the situation. Despite all the timeline changes and the wild butterfly effects, Sasuke was still undeniably the strongest genin among the Konoha 12.
Only This time
Well, right after Naruto himself, of course.
While Sasuke hadn't been able to fully show off this terrifying prowess against monsters like Haku and Orochimaru, that was purely because of circumstantial bad luck and the sheer power gap of those specific enemies. It absolutely did not mean Sasuke was weak.
BOOM! BOOM!
Naruto watched intently as Sasuke aggressively chained explosive tags, Fire Release jutsu, and heavy shuriken volleys to bombard and systematically shatter Gaara's so-called 'Absolute Defense'.
(.....He must have taken some inspiration from watching Choji and Gaara's preliminary fight.)
Stones, broken branches, shuriken, kunai with attached explosive tags—Sasuke utilized absolutely everything scattered around the arena. He seamlessly combined his projectile assaults with Fire Release to injure Gaara again and again, simultaneously keeping up his relentless, high-speed taijutsu copied from Lee.
(Just like Hinata....... forcing that much raw speed with purely chakra reinforcement, without having a Good conditioned body, is heavily taxing on a person's chakra reserves.)
At least Hinata possessed a highly trained, flexible physique thanks to her years of practicing the Gentle Fist. But for Sasuke to achieve and maintain that exact same blinding speed, the amount of chakra he had to actively burn was substantial.
( well Taijutsu was always second place in Sasuke's list anyway )
Down below, Sasuke launched dozens of projectiles while blurring across the field at absurd speeds thanks to his Sharingan's predictive/Visual tracking. Unsurprisingly, Gaara's automatic sand defense instantly surged up, intercepting every single piece of iron.
But that was exactly what Sasuke wanted.
Maintaining his blinding speed, Sasuke sharingan sharpened as he sneakily tossed a kunai wrapped in an explosive tag right at the thinned-out portion of the sand shield. The shield was currently busy intercepting a massive spread of random projectiles—some were lethal shuriken, but others were just harmless stones Sasuke had kicked up.
Because the shield was stretched thin, and Gaara was desperately trying to track Sasuke's blurring afterimages, the explosive kunai slipped right into the weakest part of the barrier.
BOOM!
(Once a defense is completely automatic, it inherently means you lose conscious control over it too....... The automatic defense couldn't differentiate the actual threat levels between a harmless stone, a standard shuriken, a kunai..... AND an explosion tag..... It just moved to intercept the closest objects first, and then got bypassed.) Naruto analytically deduced Sasuke's strategy as he watched Gaara's state rapidly deteriorate.
( There should be quite a sand in gourd , Why did he not use it though ?? )
Caught in the blast, Gaara was violently thrown across the dirt like a broken ragdoll. Despite his innate Sand Armor skin mitigating the worst of it, blood was already freely flowing from the Sand genin's body, and his fragile sanity was visibly beginning to snap.
(........Hm??)
Suddenly, Gaara scrambled to his feet and desperately wove a series of hand signs. All the remaining sand violently erupted from his massive gourd, swirling into the air before completely engulfing Gaara inside a massive, hardened sphere of densely packed sand.
Sasuke immediately blurred forward to intercept the jutsu before it fully closed, but—
*Splurt!*
"SASUKE-KUN!!" a pink-haired genin shrieked from the stands.
"Shut up or I will pee in your mouth!" a voice yelled right back.
( Wtf ??) Naruto
( eh ?? what did i hear ?? ) Ino
( .....Troublesome )
(.....) Audience and others
Ignoring the chaos in the audience, Sasuke violently twisted his body mid-air. lethal spikes of dense sand had suddenly erupted outward from the sphere's surface. Thanks to his spinning Sharingan, Sasuke barely managed to dodge the fatal blow at the very last microsecond, though the razor-sharp edge of the sand spike still managed to aggressively graze his cheek and scratch through his thigh.
(....So he used all of his remaining sand purely for protection,) Sasuke deduced. His Sharingan spun as he circled the sphere, looking for any structural openings. He glanced down at his own knuckles, which were slightly bloodied just from punching the reinforced shell.
(The density of the sand he used for this construct has increased... and so has its overall hardness.)
Suddenly, the sand shifted on the very top of the sphere, slowly gathering and condensing until it formed a floating, disconnected eyeball that locked onto Sasuke's movements.
(....watching me ?? )
The stadium crowd watched in tense silence as Sasuke aggressively maneuvered around the sphere. He threw shuriken, kunai, and even chained multiple explosion tags directly onto the shell. But regardless of what he used, the sand sphere remained entirely unbothered, acting as an absolute, mountain-like shield.
( such defense ......& .this coward trash from sand )
Realizing his standard arsenal was useless, Sasuke abruptly disengaged. He leaped backward, putting a massive amount of distance between himself and Gaara's bunker. Blurring across the arena floor, Sasuke sprinted straight up the high, vertical walls surrounding the battlefield and stopped near the top, planting his feet firmly against the concrete.
( ........very well ......since you set the stage then Let me perform )
The entire crowd watched in dead silence as Sasuke slowly began to weave a complex string of hand seals while standing entirely parallel to the ground.
While the audience watched in awe, the Sand Village's genin team was completely panicking in the waiting area.
(That Gaara..... he completely messed up!) Temari thought, biting her lip so hard it almost bled.
(.....Does he not understand what the hell he is doing?! We haven't even received the official signal to attack yet, but he is already transforming..!!) Baki sweated bullets from the Jonin stands, his heart hammering in his chest.
(.......We should just run,) Kankuro thought, swallowing thickly.
CHIIIII!
CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP! x1000
Suddenly, the entire stadium's attention was violently drawn to Sasuke's right hand. A blindingly bright, violently unstable blue-white light began to gather in his palm, accompanied by the deafening, high-pitched screeching of a thousand birds.
Sasuke looked down at the violently sparking jutsu concentrated in his hand. His spinning Sharingan drifted up toward the waiting arena, locking eyes directly with Naruto.
(.....Just wait for your turn,) Sasuke thought, a totally manic, feral smirk stretching across his face.
Shifting his stance, Sasuke lowered his right arm, violently dragging the concentrated lightning along the concrete wall of the arena. The sheer, terrifying power of the jutsu easily tore through the stone like wet paper.
WHOOOSH!
Sasuke exploded off the wall like a literal bolt of lightning. The crowd gasped as they watched him drag the screeching jutsu behind him, rocketing toward the Sand genin like a terrifying blue streak. The stadium wall and the earth below were violently torn open in a massive, straight line as the Konoha genin accelerated to terminal velocity.
Sasuke's Sharingan locked onto the sand sphere in front of him—the very same sand that had become an absolute, impenetrable defense. Seeing his target, Sasuke roared, violently thrusting his lightning-clad hand straight forward in a devastating jab.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
[Chidori: One Thousand Birds]
BOOOM!
Sasuke felt his arm pierce straight through the hyper-dense sand, his lightning easily shredding the defense before sinking deeply into the flesh of his opponent hidden inside. But as his hand broke through, his Sharingan instantly caught sight of a massive, manic, completely inhuman eye staring back at him, accompanied by a suffocating wave of violent, sickly red chakra.
Sensing immediate danger, Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Instead of pulling back, he violently dug his arm even deeper into the wound.
( Dont glare at me .........you trash )
Biri! Biri! Biri! Biri!
Chirp! Chirp!
Sasuke aggressively flared the Chidori again, utilizing the raw, unshaped form of the lightning release specifically for its intense paralyzing effect, flooding the monster's nervous system with high-voltage electricity.
The result of that Savage decision was immediate.
"AHHHHHHHHHH! ....BLOOD! ....MY BLOODDD!!>..=.... AHHHHHH!"
The entire stadium echoed with the horrifying, completely unstable screams of the Sand genin. But while the civilians just heard pain, the experienced shinobi and sensors in the crowd felt something entirely different.
Standing just a few feet away, Shiranui Genma grimaced, the senbon in his mouth snapping in half.
(What is..... this sensation?)
Up in the stands, Naruto watched as deep fissures began to crack across Gaara's defensive sphere. Suddenly, pure white feathers began gently falling from the sky, drifting over the audience as a massive wave of artificial sleepiness washed over the stadium.
(.......Here we go,) Naruto thought
Simultaneously, feeling the massive-scale genjutsu drop over the crowd and seeing Gaara's monstrous form beginning to break out of the shattered sand sphere, the Third Hokage's eyes widened. Hiruzen slowly shifted his head, his gaze turning sharply toward the Kazekage sitting silently beside him.
The Kazekage slowly turned his head to meet the old man's gaze. His eyes were terrifyingly wide, completely filled with unrestrained madness as he slowly licked his lips.
"Shall WE begin...?!!"
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Author's notes :
No fight for Ino Vs Shino
well , In my defense ........I forgot
decided to advance things and also some changes from here on out
A little bad for Neji , but alaas
Sasuke is stronger than Canon , The prvious opponents were different so there was never time to explain it .
Naruto is ready for the Finals too
Sakura is also ready to be useless .
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