r18novel Chapter 267 The so-called fairness
Chapter 267 The so-called fairness
As the Hyuga clan's ancestral grounds were shrouded in blood, Neji's atavistic Byakugan gleamed with a cold golden light. Standing beneath the plaque of the clan's shrine, his feet resting on the shattered forehead protector of a Hyuga elder, golden chakra flowed through his meridians and coalesced within his palms. Each pulse carried the resentment suppressed for over a decade—this wasn't impulsive revenge, but a complete break from his "caged bird" fate. "Ningji! How dare you betray the Hyuga clan?!" The last few clan ninjas, kunai raised, their voices filled with fear. Their Byakugan could see the violent yet precise chakra flowing through Neji's body, an atavistic form they had never seen before. Golden meridians coated his body like a spiderweb, and even the caged bird seal glowed with a backlash. Neji said nothing, simply raising his hand and striking with the Eight Diagrams: Empty Palm. A golden blast, accompanied by a sharp, air-rending whistle, instantly shattered the shrine's wooden door, striking two ninjas in the vital points simultaneously. His Byakugan could see every weakness, even predicting their evasive movements, just as the main family had anticipated his "defiance" back then. Now, the roles of prey and hunter were completely reversed. Memories suddenly flooded back: at the age of six, his father, Neji's body, was brought back to the main family. The elders declared, "He sacrificed for the glory of Hyuga," yet refused to let him see his face one last time. At ten, he secretly practiced his father's soft fist technique. Upon being discovered by the elders, the Caged Bird Curse was applied to his forehead, burning him, causing him to writhe on the ground in pain. The elders, however, smiled and said, "A branch family should have its duties." At fifteen, during the Chunin Exams, he declared, "I determine my own destiny," only to be met with even stricter surveillance from the main family, with even his conversations with his companions monitored. "Duty?" Neji's voice was tinged with cold sarcasm. His atavistic Byakugan suddenly blazed brightly, and behind him emerged a complete Byakugan Susanoo—golden skeletons covered in chakra armor, the massive blade in his hand gleaming with a blinding light. "You used 'duty' to trap my father, my childhood, and the fate of all the branch families. Now, it's time to pay back." The Susanoo's massive blade slashed down, shattering the ancestral hall's beams and pillars. The shattering rubble drowned out the screams of the main family's ninjas. Neji's steps didn't pause, his Byakugan sweeping across every corner of the ancestral land, sparing no member of the main family—not out of cruelty, but because he knew that as long as the main family existed, there would be another "Ningji," another soul trapped in the cage. "Ningji! Stop!" The Hyuga clan leader rushed forward with his last few trusted followers, his soft fists brimming with concentrated chakra. "We can talk! I'll give you the power of the main clan, and we'll share the secret of the Atavistic Byakugan. Don't destroy the Hyuga clan!" "It wasn't me who destroyed the Hyuga clan, it was your 'fatalism.'" Neji swung his massive Susanoo blade again, its golden chakra colliding with the clan leader's soft fist, sending chakra waves surging through the air. The clan leader's meridians were instantly shattered, and he stared at Neji in disbelief. "How could it be possible...your chakra..." "This is the power to break free from shackles." Neji placed his fingertips on the clan leader's forehead, the light of his Atavistic Byakugan piercing his meridians. "If my father had such power, he wouldn't have died. If all the branch clans had such power, there wouldn't be a 'caged bird.' The Hyuga clan's demise is your own choice." With the final infusion of golden chakra, the clan leader's body collapsed. Neji stood on the ruins of his ancestral land, his Atavistic Byakugan slowly receding, and the bones of his Susanoo gradually dissipated. The blood-red sunset shone down on him, stretching his shadow long like a blade severing fate. Footsteps could be heard in the distance; Ototake, Sasuke, Kimimaro, and the others arrived. Karin gazed at the corpses scattered across the ground, her eyes filled with complexities, but she offered no dissuasion—she knew that Neji's choice today was a final farewell to all the pain of the past. "It's over," Neji's voice was soft, yet filled with unprecedented relief. He reached up and touched the caged bird seal on his forehead. The burning sensation had faded, and instead, a faint golden glow emanated—the power of the "Defying Fate Seal," the mark of his own control over his destiny. Ototake walked over to him and patted his shoulder. "You're not wrong. You've simply brought Hyuuga's 'fate' to a close." Neji nodded, gazing at the distant Otogakure Village. There lay his companions, his bonds, and a future free from the constraints of the "caged bird." He knew that from now on, there would no longer be "Hyuga main family and branch family" in the ninja world, only "Ningji" - a strong man who broke his fate by himself, a Sound Ninja who protected his companions.
The bloody question behind fate. When the door of the Hokage's office was blasted open by golden chakra, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was holding the scroll, his fingers trembling slightly. Neji stood at the door, his atavistic eyes flashing with a cold light, and golden chakra circulated around his body, each one carrying a question that had been suppressed for more than a decade - he didn't come to "beg for mercy", but to ask for an "explanation" for his father, Neji, who was more than a decade late. "Ningji... what do you want to do?" The Third Hokage put down the scroll, his old face full of complexity. He could feel the chakra in Neji's body - it was an "atavistic power" far beyond that of an ordinary Hyuga. The golden meridians pulsed as if alive, and even his "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation" might not be able to withstand it. "I want to know why it was my father back then." Neji's voice was soft, but it hit the Third Hokage's heart like a hammer. His eyes swept across every corner of the office and finally landed on the "Glory of Konoha" plaque hanging on the wall. "The Cloud Ninja kidnapped Hinata Hyuga and wanted the life of the main family. Why was it my father, a branch family, who died in the end? Why did you, as the Hokage, agree to use his life to 'pay off the debt'?" Memories came flooding back like a tide: when he was six years old, he was waiting for his father to come back at the door of his house, but only waited for a few Konoha Anbu. They said, "Your father sacrificed himself for the peace of Konoha"; later he secretly overheard the elders talking, and learned the truth - in order to prevent Konoha from going to war with the Cloud Ninja, the Third Hokage agreed to let his father "impersonate" the main family and be killed by the Cloud Ninja, calling it "sacrifice of the self". "That was for the overall situation of Konoha." The Third Hokage's voice was filled with fatigue. "At that time, the Kumogakure army was approaching, and Konoha had just experienced World War II and could not withstand another war. Your father...he volunteered." "Voluntary?" Neji's chakra suddenly surged, and the golden air wave overturned the tables and chairs in the office. "He volunteered to watch me grow up without a father? Voluntarily let me be tortured like a caged bird by the main family? Voluntarily let all the branch families live in fear of 'being sacrificed at any time'?" His atavistic white eyes suddenly locked onto the meridians of the Third Hokage. "What you call the 'overall situation' is to use the life of a branch family in exchange for Konoha's 'peace'? It is to make us 'marginal people' become 'victims' of the main family and the Hokage forever?" The Third Hokage's body shook. He looked at the hatred in Neci's eyes, and suddenly remembered the scene when Neci's father came to him-the gentle Hyuga branch family ninja just asked softly, "Can my child no longer live in fear in the future?" But in the end, he chose death for the "overall situation." "I know Konoha owes you this." The Third Hokage's hands trembled, yet he still gathered his chakra. "But I cannot let you harm Konoha. I am the Hokage, and I must protect the peace of the village." "Peace?" Neji's lips curled into an icy smile, and behind his atavistic Byakugan appeared a half-skeletal Susanoo. "Peace bought with sacrifice is not peace, it's cowardice. Today, I'm not here to destroy Konoha, but to demand 'fairness'—either you admit your mistakes before all Konoha and give my father justice, or I will tear down this Hokage's office and let everyone know that Konoha's 'peace' was built on the lives of countless people." The Susanoo's massive blade slowly rose, illuminating the entire office with golden light. The Third Hokage, observing Neji's resolute gaze, suddenly understood—this young man was no longer the child of the branch family who was once at the mercy of others. He had the strength to resist such "injustice" and reclaim what was rightfully his. "Okay, I admit it." The Third Hokage suddenly released his chakra, his aged face thick with guilt. "I was wrong back then. I shouldn't have sacrificed your father's life for the so-called 'greater good,' and shouldn't have let the branch family suffer so much injustice. I will apologize to your father and all the Hyuga branch families in front of the entire village." Neji's Susanoo slowly dissipated, the golden chakra gradually fading. He looked at the Third Hokage, the hatred in his eyes fading slightly, but still lingering. "I don't ask for an apology. I want no more 'branch family life', no more caged life. If Konoha can't do that, next time I come, it won't be as simple as just asking a question." With that, Neji turned and left. Sunlight streamed through the office window, falling on him, but it couldn't illuminate the shadow left in his heart by his father's death. He knew that an apology couldn't bring back his father's life, nor could it erase the pain of his childhood. But at least, he had let Konoha's higher-ups know that the branch families were no longer "tools" to be sacrificed at will. They too had the power to resist and the right to pursue justice. As he exited the Hokage building, Ototake was waiting for him in the distance. Seeing Neji, Ototake stepped forward and handed him a bottle of warm water. "Is it all over?" Neji nodded, taking the water but not drinking it. He looked out at the streets of Konoha, at the children playing and laughing, and suddenly remembered his own childhood. If his father hadn't died, would he have been like those children, free from fear? "From now on, no one will be like my father," Neji said with determination. "I will use my strength to protect all those like me, my friends in Sound Village, and never let the phrase 'self-sacrifice' become an excuse to hurt others." Ototake smiled and nodded, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's go, back to Sound Village. There are your friends, and there is a home that truly belongs to you." Neji looked up into the distance. The sun was shining brightly in the direction of Sound Village. He knew that the pain of the past could not be erased, but he could choose his own path in the future - choose to protect, choose fairness, and choose not to be a victim of "fate".