"Eighth Elder, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
Hyūga Hiashi stormed into the hospital room. His eyes scanned the space before finally locking onto Eighth Elder, who was trimming fruit at the bedside of his grandson. His tone was serious.
He had already warned them: the blame for this matter lay solely with Hyūga Neji.
No one was to harm his family.
But now, just as Hyūga Sōsuke had recovered a little, Eighth Elder had taken him to Neji's home and had even laid hands on Neji's mother!
This crossed the line—it was utterly unreasonable.
Damn it.
If Eighth Elder didn't give him a proper explanation, he wouldn't hold back.
"What explanation? I don't know what the clan leader wants to hear," Eighth Elder said coldly, looking straight at Hiashi without any fear.
"Why did you make things difficult for the wife of the branch family head? Neji has been gone for years. I warned you all not to trouble a woman!" Hiashi's voice was filled with suppressed rage as he stared at Eighth Elder.
"What? Me, make things difficult? She is Hyūga Neji's mother!" Eighth Elder retorted.
"Neji attacked members of the main family and ran away. Then his family must be punished. Otherwise, what if others also run off and never return? How will we control the branch families?"
"Setting aside whether Neji was at fault, what you said is wrong!" Hiashi continued. "The whole point of the 'caged bird' system is to protect the Byakugan of those sent on missions outside, so no one can take their Byakugan."
"Haha." Eighth Elder chuckled at Hiashi's words.
"What are you laughing at, Eighth Elder?" Hiashi frowned.
"I'm laughing at your naivety, clan leader," Eighth Elder said. "You're in charge of a clan, yet you're still deceiving yourself. The 'caged bird' system exists to control the branch families and strengthen the main family's power over them. And once the Byakugan is branded by the 'caged bird' mark, it's no longer a perfect Byakugan."
"If we don't punish his mother, other branches will run away and never return. Then who will the main family govern? The whole clan will fall apart!"
"Also... why do you think Hyuga Hizashi took your place and died back then?"
"You..." Hyuga Hiashi faltered, unsure of what to say.
"The clan head, please don't interfere in this matter. Hyuga Neji's situation must be handled this way, or more will follow his example!" Eighth Elder said coldly.
He actually knew the Hyuga clan well. The branch family hated the main family deeply. If it weren't for the control of the Caged Bird Seal, they would have already rebelled against the main house.
"Hmph. Let me tell you, it's not rebellion against the main family. They hate how you use the Caged Bird to bully the branch family!" Hyuga Hiashi looked at him, his eyes burning with anger.
He, Hyuga Hiashi, never used his position in the main family to oppress the branch.
Thinking this, Hiashi spoke, "And from today on, without my orders, none of you are allowed to harm Hizashi's wife!"
"Hiashi, you can't control it. The Caged Bird Seal's influence reaches a kilometer. If I want to deal with someone, you can't stop me!" Eighth Elder sneered, directly challenging Hiashi for the first time.
Before, he might have given Hiashi some face, but not anymore.
"You..." Hiashi didn't argue back and even felt powerless.
"Hyuga Hiashi, you'd better not interfere. The elders have already discussed this!" Eighth Elder continued firmly.
"Do you really want to do this?" Hiashi sighed helplessly, trying to buy time. "Give me some time. I'll handle it. I'll bring Neji back!"
Now Hiashi felt it was almost laughable. The great Hyuga clan had completely decayed—completely rotten!
All he wanted now was to buy some time for Hiashi's wife and get her out of Konoha, away from these people's interference.
"Fine. I'll give you five more days!" Eighth Elder said, looking at Hiashi. After all, he was the clan head and deserved some respect.
"No, I still don't know where Neji has escaped to. At least a month!" Hyuga Hiashi shook his head immediately, trying to buy some time for Neji.
"Clan Leader, don't push your luck. At most, ten days!" Eighth Elder said, looking at Hiashi.
Hiashi replied, "Twenty-five days!"
Eighth Elder shot back, "Twelve days!"
"Twenty-three days!" Hiashi insisted.
"Fifteen days!" the elder answered firmly.
The two kept negotiating until they finally settled on eighteen days.
For these eighteen days, Eighth Elder and the branch family members must not harm Neji's mother.
But if after eighteen days Hiashi hasn't found Neji, then Hiashi must not interfere in matters between the main family and the branch family concerning Neji!
"Eighth Elder, I hope you remember our promise!" Hiashi said, staring at the elder.
"Clan Leader, I hope you find Hyuga Neji," the elder responded.
After saying this, Hiashi left.
Eighth Elder watched Hiashi's back and said to someone nearby, "Have someone keep an eye on that courtyard. We absolutely cannot let Neji's mother leave Konoha!"
In the laboratory—
"Toshi-san, when do you think the Caged Bird Seal modification will be completely finished?" Neji asked impatiently. If possible, he wanted to bring his mother here to remove the Caged Bird seal.
"Of course, we need to wait until the Caged Bird Seal is perfected."
He didn't want his mother to take it in an imperfect state.
"Probably at least a month. But if things go smoothly, it might be finished in seven or eight days," Toshi estimated. "I'll work together with Hikari and some others to speed up the research."
Toshi understood Neji's urgency. This had been a heavy burden on him for years, and now he could finally find relief.
"I understand... uh—" Neji wasn't too anxious, but suddenly his right eye started twitching violently. He couldn't help but cover it with his hand.
"What's wrong?" Toshi frowned and stepped forward to check.
"My right eye is still twitching badly!" Hyūga Neji said.
"Huh?"
Toshi frowned but still sent his chakra through Neji's entire body.
He was worried there might be a conflict between the Shikotsumyaku and the Byakugan.
Fortunately, there was nothing unusual. Then he said, "It's probably a slight side effect from the Shikotsumyaku merging process affecting your Byakugan. But in about ten days, you should fully fuse with it. After that, there won't be any problems!"
"I understand."
Time passed bit by bit.
Genya, Hinata, and the others continued escorting Hideki. The journey was slow, but they were almost at the border of the Land of Lightning!
"The Land of Lightning is just ahead!" Genya looked at Hideki and said slowly.
****
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