Chapter 108: The Sorrow of the Hyuga

Hyuga clan grounds, Main House inner residence.

Watching Konoha fall into the flames of war with their own eyes, the Elders, who possessed pure Byakugan, still sat together quietly, as if they did not care in the slightest about the life or death of Konoha.

"What about the Branch House?"

"All have been sent out to execute special missions. If Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't see people from the Hyuga clan, he will grow suspicious. Once it ends, the excuse of having special missions will serve as an explanation to him."

"Cloud Ninja, Rock Ninja, Sound Ninja, and the restless Mist Ninja—if it weren't for Orochimaru's plan being exposed, I fear Sand Ninja would have struck as well. Can Konoha survive?"

"Who knows? I have already made proper arrangements. If Konoha falls, we shall move the entire clan to the Frost Country."

"And the assets in the Land of Fire?"

"Cut off the wrist to save the arm."

The Main House Elders, who were not branded with the Caged Bird, held the supreme decision-making power of the Hyuga clan.

They spoke lightly, discussing whether to leave Konoha, even taking family assets into account, yet they had no words to spare for the Branch House members sent to their deaths.

At the very beginning,

they would feel grateful when protected by the Branch House, and would shed tears of emotion when the Branch House died in their stead, but then they gradually grew numb, until they viewed the Branch House as mere tools.

Not everyone possessed the spirit of Hyuga Tenin, capable of being completely selfless.

"Hyuga Neji, although not of the Main House, has exceptional talent. We can grant him the favor of leaving with us."

A Main House Elder recalled the young ninja known as the Hyuga Glory.

The clan still needed such talented Branch House members to branch out and spread leaves; the more such Branch House members there were, the safer the Main House would be.

As a weapon of war, the Byakugan

would be coveted by the vast majority of powers. The Land of Hot Water is not as strong as Konoha, and there might be those who, ignorant of the consequences, harbor greed; at such times, the protection of the Branch House would be needed.

"Who is it?"

A Main House Elder suddenly opened his eyes, veins bulging at the corners, his vision turning grayish-white, piercing through layers of walls.

Just as he clearly saw that figure, the entire wall exploded.

Shuriken wrapped in wire descended like a great net.

Eight Trigrams Mountain Breaker.

The starting stance of the Gentle Fist, a heavy, forceful punch that shattered the entire iron net.

The shuriken and kunai that followed were all caught by his modified Gentle Fist, causing not the slightest injury.

"I never expected that the Elders who hide in the inner residence all day would have such strong power."

Neji walked slowly out from within the shattered wall.

The aura that erupted when the Main House Elder attacked was no weaker than an average Jonin.

It is hard to imagine that these are Hyuga Elders who have always been protected by the Branch House and never participated in battle.

One of the Main House Elders' expressions changed, and he roared: "Without the Clan Head's order, a Branch House member trespassing in the inner residence and daring to attack a Main House Elder—you have committed an unforgivable crime."

Behind Neji, dozens of ninja followed closely.

Hearing the Main House Elder's words, they felt an instinctive tightening in their hearts, but once they reacted, it turned into suppressed rage; dozens of pairs of Byakugan activated, glaring fixedly at the speaking Main House Elder.

"Hyuga Neji, you have no idea of the clan's power. Do you really think that, as a great clan of Konoha, we could be stirred up by you defective Byakugan Branch House members?"

Until now,

the Main House Elders remained unperturbed, as if looking at weak birds locked in iron chains, making futile struggles.

"Defective, you say?"

The gaze of dozens of pairs of Byakugan suddenly turned grim.

"The Branch House branded with the Caged Bird has its Byakugan abilities restricted, and the Main House can destroy your brain nerves at any time—does that not count as defective?"

The Main House Elder raised his arm, fingers pressed together.

It was the posture to activate the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.

"Did you hear that?"

Neji was expressionless, not at all surprised to hear such words. He said: "The Main House, which the Branch House risks its life to protect, views the Branch House as defective. Such a rotten and twisted clan should be reshaped by us."

"You don't know when you're going to die!"

Although the Main House Elder felt it was a pity to kill such a talented Branch House member as Neji,

a Branch House member who dared to rebel against the Main House was like a dog that had tasted blood and might bite its master at any time; there was no need to keep such a Branch House member.

The Caged Bird activated.

Bang!

A hand gripped the Main House Elder's throat tightly, slamming him against the wall, the immense force causing spiderweb-like cracks to spread across the wall's surface.

The energy current erupting from his body sent out ripples of powerful air, blowing the well-maintained black hair of the other Main House Elders into a wild dance.

"How is this possible?"

"The Caged Bird Cursed Seal has no effect?"

"Audacious, Branch House member Hyuga Neji, you actually dare... you actually removed the Caged Bird Cursed Seal without permission!"

Although they stayed in the inner residence, their intelligence network was not weak; they knew of the Samsara Game that could exchange for anything.

It was just that they never expected a Branch House member to be so bold as to dare exchange for the Caged Bird's curse removal right under their noses.

Had he never considered,

that if the curse removal were discovered, the great clan of Konoha would kill the curse-remover without hesitation, with no possibility of compromise?

Especially,

that it takes a considerable amount of time to remove the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.

In other words, Hyuga Neji and this group of rebels behind him had already quietly removed the Caged Bird when they had no idea that turmoil would occur in Konoha.

Reckless.

The Main House Elders were thoroughly enraged, mixed with shock and a faint trace of fear.

These unstable elements that violated the Hyuga Clan rules had to be eradicated.

Eight Trigrams Empty Palm.

Several Main House Elders attacked in unison, chakra gathering in their palms, swinging their palms at high speed to fire vacuum cannonballs toward Neji's vitals.

The Hyuga Clan's fist techniques cannot be executed at all without sufficient chakra and physical constitution.

Once unleashed, they are fierce and ruthless lethal moves.

A single vacuum cannonball from the Eight Trigrams Empty Palm is enough to break the bones and tendons of an ordinary Jonin.

Surrounded by vacuum cannonballs, Neji's expression remained unchanged as he began to rapidly emit chakra from his arms, then rotated at high speed.

The vacuum cannonballs collided with the high-speed rotating chakra sphere, creating a violent explosion.

The luxurious inner residence tilted and collapsed, revealing the night sky after sunset.

Without the obstruction of buildings, one could clearly hear the sounds of slaughter continuously ringing out across the land of Konoha, along with the ear-piercing roars of Ninjutsu collisions.

"Rotation!"

The Main House Elder's face was gloomy as he angrily said, "Traitor, how dare you use the Rotation that only the Main House is qualified to learn; are you challenging the majesty of the Clan Head and the Elders?"

"Sorry, I am not bored enough to steal the secret techniques of the Main House; this is my own original Ninjutsu."

The messy, collapsed inner residence,

The Main House Elder who first activated the Caged Bird struggled to crawl up, but his injuries were so severe that even turning over was difficult.

All around, the remaining Elders had their eyes gouged out and had already become corpses that were still warm.

"Traitor, you are a sinner of the Hyuga Clan; it is you who personally destroyed the Hyuga Clan!"

With every word he spoke, blood flowed from his mouth; his internal organs were damaged, and only the top-tier Medical Ninja could save him.

"Just because no one has done certain things does not mean they are wrong; only by breaking the rotten and the twisted will the Hyuga Clan welcome true glory."

"Absurd, the Hyuga Clan has been able to pass down for a hundred years all because of the Caged Bird Cursed Seal; you will definitely be cursed for breaking the Caged Bird Cursed Seal..."

Pfft.

A prayer bead pierced through his neck, cutting off the rest of his words.

"The Hyuga Clan has been able to pass down for a hundred years by relying on shameful self-castration!"

"Even the Sarutobi clan, which lacks a Kekkei Genkai, is able to lead Konoha, yet the Hyuga Clan, which is as famous as the Uchiha, has never been seen to have a ninja capable of standing at the pinnacle of the sky..."

From this moment on, I will stand above the sky.

Brothers who like to chat can join the group.

(End of this chapter)