Konoha Notes.

Chapter 456 Awakening

Chapter 456 Awakening

This wasn't Neji's first time entering this medical research institute, but today his steps were different from before. His heart was beating very steadily in his chest, one beat after another, very clearly.

The lobby on the first floor was empty.

Although this place is usually quiet, with only a few researchers passing by occasionally, it was unusually deserted today. Even the lights were only on a few near the stairs, leaving the rest of the building in dim light, as if the entire building was holding its breath in anticipation.

"I'm currently preparing for a rather important experiment."

"I'm walking ahead," said Shuji. His voice was soft in the empty hall, almost swallowed by its own echo.

"They're all down there."

Neji simply listened without investigating what important the experiment was, nor was it something he should be investigating.

Shuji pushed open the door to a lounge. The room was small, with a few simple tables and chairs against the wall. He gestured for Neji to sit down, then took a kettle and cups from a cabinet and poured two glasses of water.

Shuji pushed one of the cups in front of Neji, then took the other cup and sat down in the chair opposite him.

"So, what do you want?"

What do you want?

Neji looked at the water in the cup in front of him, which was swaying slightly.

Unburden your caged bird?

This first, subconscious answer was the source of his anger, a thunderous roar of resentment, and the driving force that sustained his relentless training.

Neji had a premonition that if he said those words now, the person in front of him would give some kind of response. Not a perfunctory response, not a delaying tactic, but a genuine promise that could move things forward.

"I----"

The words caught in my throat.

Other sentences rolled in his throat and took shape: "It is unreasonable to determine the main family and branch family solely based on birth order."

"The current system of the Hyuga clan needs to be changed."

However, these words ultimately went unspoken.

Because he suddenly realized that he hadn't truly figured out his direction. For years, the fate of the Hyuga clan, and the fate he himself had firmly believed in, was unchangeable; the premise that had once supported him in accepting everything was now crumbling.

After the loosening, where to go next remains a blur in my vision.

Xiuji did not urge him.

He took out several loaves of bread wrapped in oil paper from a paper bag placed to the side, and unwrapped them one by one and placed them on the table.

Salted butter, red bean paste, honey-smoked —

Which one do you want?

Neji stared at the bread, momentarily motionless. His attention was still lingering on the unanswered question from earlier, making him somewhat slow to choose his food.

"You don't even know that?"

Shuji's voice was gentle, without any hint of blame, simply asking a question.

Neji reached out and picked up the bread with salted butter from among several loaves of bread.

He prefers a light salty taste, so this choice is almost unnecessary to consider.

"I----"

He said it again. But this time, something in his mind suddenly became clear.

It wasn't because of anger, nor because of resentment.

Hinata's cautious, head-down posture, Hanabi's eyes when she looked at her sister, the clan leader's always serious face, and the father in her memories.

And Kabuto's initial assessment of the caged bird.

They are birds in a cage, bound by the cursed seal. The main family, which uses the branch family as a cage, is also a bird.

The weight that the head of the clan acknowledges in the eyes of the person before him.

The branch family is like a bird in the hands of the main family. And the main family, perhaps, is just a bird in the palm of someone higher up.

Suddenly, my vision was elevated, looking towards a more expansive yet more complex horizon.

"I don't want to stop at just 'unlocking the bird from its cage.'"

The boy's voice was more resolute than before.

"What I want is to make changes within the Hyuga clan."

Shuji then asked, "Change it to what?"

Neji couldn't answer.

It's not that I don't have any ideas, but rather that I have too many ideas, too many different ideas, and they haven't been organized into a coherent form yet.

Shuji seemed to sense his distress.

"The rule of the caged bird," he said, "has indeed bound many people, especially someone like you, who is exceptionally talented but whose future is limited by the sequence of your bloodline."

"But on the other hand, it also protected a segment of the population, ensuring that the eyes of those who separated from the family would not become targets of spying."

"And for Konoha, or rather, for any entity,"

"A family that is well-organized, hierarchical, and even predictable and easy to influence due to the natural barriers and potential centrifugal forces between the main family and branch families is actually quite practical and quite safe."

Neji's heart skipped a beat.

He understood.

Or rather, the realization had already taken root in his heart the day Hiashi apologized to him and uttered the word "value," but he never truly incorporated it into his considerations for change.

The value of the Hyuga lies in the structure of the branch family, which would never betray the main family due to absolute control, and the main family, which must rely on the village for checks and balances due to the resentment of the branch family members.

If the change he wants is to shake the very foundation of this structure.

Therefore, the opposition will not only come from within the clan.

Even the village itself could become an obstacle.

"Even so," Neji heard his own voice, "I still want to try."

"Hyuga can become a more important force for the village. Not as an easily controlled tool, but as—a true pillar."

Shuji looked at him and then nodded.

"From my personal perspective, your idea deserves support."

"However, I can't speak for everyone. You'll be facing not only opposition from the dominant side, but also from another group of people."

.

"As I just told you, the Hyuga clan members awakened their Byakugan because they didn't want to live under the covetous eyes of others."

"What you might not realize is that for a significant portion of the Hyuga clan, the main family, though lofty and distant, is not exactly tyrannical."

"The needs of these family members are simple: safety. Safety when they are out and about, and safety so that their family members are not targeted."

"Take these factors into consideration."

As he spoke, Shuji rewrapped the remaining bread.

"If you can reach a consensus on the division of the family, then the main family's opposition from Captain Hyuga will probably not be too strong."

As for the others—”

He didn't finish speaking; he simply stood up.

"Let's go down."

When Neji stood up, he still had half a loaf of bread left in his hand. He instinctively wanted to put it down, but Shuji shook his head.

"Take it."

The entrance to the underground laboratory is located at the deepest part of the research institute.

This is an area Neji has never been to before.

Neji followed Shuji downhill, still holding the half-eaten bread in his hand.

He quickly stuffed the rest of the food into his mouth, regardless of the occasion; it was never appropriate to go in with half-eaten food.

Upon arrival, Yakushi Kabuto was hunched over a table, writing and drawing on a scroll.

The current Hokage, Tsunade, stood beside him, one hand resting on the edge of the lab table, looking down at the contents of the scroll.

Another person stood with their back to the door in front of the control panel in the center of the room.

What stunned Neji the most was the figure in the center.

Silver hair, dark blue armor, and red facial markings.

The Second Hokage?! Wasn't he already—

"Too slow!"

Tsunade turned her head and her gaze fell on the paper bag in Shuuji's hand.

"Didn't you say you were just going to buy some bread and would be right back? It's been so long—"

'

She walked over and began rummaging through the paper bag without any hesitation. As she parted the oil paper with her fingers, her brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

"Where's my salted butter?"

"It was eaten," Shuuji said.

Neji, whose hands were originally hanging by his sides, quietly moved them behind his back, his fingertips unconsciously brushing against his pants.

Tsunade looked up at Shuuji suspiciously, sniffed closer, but didn't smell anything suspicious. Her gaze then drifted to Neji, who was standing a little behind her.

The boy stood ramrod straight, his face expressionless, but the tips of his ears were slightly red.

She gave up on pursuing the matter, took the last savory loaf of bread from the paper bag, and took a big bite. After chewing a few times, she turned to Tobira, who was standing in front of the control panel.

Tobirama Senju didn't like sweets either, but apart from this, all he could eat was sweet.

"Anyway, Second Grandfather, you don't need to eat. You don't need to eat after being resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation, right?"

After Shuji finished eating, he said, "The other one is for Kabuto."

"Go buy some more," Tsunade said, taking another bite of bread. "You're no use here anyway."

Hearing these words, Neji suddenly felt a little uncomfortable standing.

Tobirama Senju frowned, his red pupils sweeping over with obvious disapproval.

"Is now the time to talk about this?"

"The Impure World Reincarnation does not require eating, and the energy from eating cannot enter the real body."

Tobirama turned to the other person in the room—Yamano Inoichi. The head of the Yamanaka clan and captain of the Konoha Analysis Team stood quietly to the side, his expression serious.

"Inoichi, let's continue. The core difficulty in breaking the Reaper Death Seal lies in the sacrifice. As the caster, one must bear the price of cutting open the Grim Reaper's abdomen."

"Although in theory, death row inmates can be used as a substitute, the problem is that the spell itself requires a sacrifice to be performed."

Yamanaka Inoichi nodded silently, his expression serious.

Tobirama continued, "The Mind-Body Disorder Technique does not provide complete control over the target's body, and there is a risk of resistance and interference."

"The only way to completely take over the target's mind and body is through the Mind Transfer Technique, and then use this controlled body to perform the Unsealing Spell."

"Furthermore, when the controlled body, which serves as the vessel for the spell, inevitably suffers severe damage during the unsealing process, the main body of the Yamanaka clan's spellcaster will also suffer the same damage."

"The technique itself requires cutting open the abdomen. This is a fatal wound for the mountain tribe."

He looked at Tsunade.

"Be serious, Tsunade."

Tsunade stuffed the last bite of bread into her mouth and patted the crumbs off her hands: "I know, if the Palm Healing Technique can't be used, then there's the Regeneration Technique—if none of those work, there are other options."

"In short, as long as they don't die on the spot, they can be saved no matter what."

She nodded to the mountain dweller.

Tobirama Senju added, "I also have a soul-sealing technique here. It can ensure that your spirit will not leave your body temporarily during the casting of the technique, buying time for medical ninjutsu."

At this moment, Kabuto put down his pen and came out from behind the lab table.

"Under the above conditions, Mr. Hai can rest assured. We have recently made some new progress in biological tissue regeneration, which can serve as a final guarantee."

Hearing these words, Yamanaka Inoichi shook his head with a wry smile.

"I am very grateful to the Second Hokage, the Fifth Hokage, and Kabuto."

"But such words of comfort only make people feel more helpless."

"If we can bring the Fourth Hokage back, I'm willing to offer myself in exchange. So please stop talking. Let's focus on ensuring the success of the procedure."

Then Tobirama Senju's gaze fell on Neji, and he looked the boy up and down.

"When you brought him down, had things already been explained?" he asked Xiu Si.

"not yet."

Tobirama didn't say anything more, but just looked back at the console screen.

"Please let me do it, Second Generation Lord."

"Neji-kun, this way please."

Neji followed him to the monitor on the other side of the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Shuuji walked to the control panel and joined the discussion, Tsunade leaned back to look at the scroll, and Yamanaka Inoichi and Senju Tobirama were discussing the details of a certain technique.

"Regarding the origins of the Hyuga clan, and the true power you may encounter in the future—"

"There have been some very interesting discoveries in the village."

Everyone returned to their work.

It was as if his presence, his confusion, and his heavy thoughts about the future of his family were just an ordinary part of the room.

The pharmacist stopped in front of the display screen.

He pulled up a set of data; the spiral-shaped graphs slowly rotated on the screen, emitting a faint blue light.

"Do you know what the Byakugan's true power is, Neji-kun?"

Neji looked at the diagrams, but he couldn't understand them; his knowledge level wasn't at that level yet.

"The Hyuga clan at present is only using the basic abilities of the Byakugan."

"There was once a rumor in the ninja world that the Sharingan's abilities originated from the Byakugan."

"To some extent, this is not a rumor."

His finger tapped the console, and the image on the screen changed. A new atlas unfolded, with three spirals arranged side by side, each a different color.

"Based on the village's current research, the Senju, Hyuga, and Uchiha clans share a common origin."

"The Senju and Uchiha clans went to even more distant places for another reason."

"The Hyuga clan, however, is trapped by other things."

Neji stood there, looking at Kabuto Yakushi, waiting for him to continue.

Kabuto's voice was very gentle.

"Neji-kun, I can't say that what's coming next is completely safe, but I can confirm that if the experiment is successful, you have a good chance of breaking free from the constraints you've been under all this time."

"And at that time, you will also become one of the important forces supporting the village."

"7

The three spirals on the screen rotated silently, emitting a faint glow.

Neji looked at them, at the pale blue spiral that represented Hyuga, at how it stood side by side with the other two, yet seemed so different.

"What do I need to do?"