"How could I possibly lose to a Branch Family member like you?!"
Hyuga Yamato's furious roar was full of humiliation. He suddenly raised his hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together.
The moment Yamato completed his hand seals, Hyuga Takashi, who was staggering away with his injured left arm, trembled violently.
"Ugh! Ah!"
A low, pained groan was squeezed from the depths of his throat.
He clutched his forehead and dropped to one knee, his body convulsing uncontrollably. His already ashen face instantly became drained of all color.
The agony in his mind made him clench his teeth, his veins bulging, as large beads of cold sweat immediately soaked his brow.
"Hmph!"
Yamato looked at Takashi's kneeling back, a cruel and twisted smirk appearing on his face. "This is the fate of your Branch Family!"
"Get down on your knees and accept your fate, you fool!"
With that, he took a step forward. However, the moment his foot landed and his words faded, his body froze instantly, and the cruel smirk on his face solidified.
The entire Third Training Ground fell into a state of near-perfect silence. In the dead quiet, one could clearly hear the frantic pounding of one's own heart.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the center of the field.
Three figures appeared almost simultaneously in front of and on either side of Yamato.
In front of Yamato, and between him and Takashi, Hinata Neji suddenly appeared. He shielded the painfully kneeling Takashi behind him, his eyes filled with fury as he stared at Yamato, adopting a standard Gentle Fist stance.
To Yamato's left, Hinata Iroha's face was devoid of expression, replaced by an icy coldness. His joined index and middle fingers were pressed against a fatal pressure point on Yamato's neck.
To Yamato's right, Hinata Aoi frowned, her slender, powerful hand gripping the wrist of his raised, sealed right hand with so much force it felt as if it could shatter his wrist bones.
Three pairs of pure Byakugan, three different gazes.
Like three nails, they held Yamato firmly in place from three different directions.
"Don't move."
Iroha's low, cold voice clearly reached Yamato's ears.
"Any further movement," he said, pressing his fingers a fraction of an inch deeper into the fatal pressure point on Yamato's neck, "and I will press down immediately. I will not hesitate."
The chilling killing intent contained in his fingertips and words made Yamato's body tremble, and a layer of goosebumps instantly appeared on his neck.
He could clearly feel the bone-chilling cold and the undisguised killing intent emanating from his neck.
He had no doubt that if he dared to channel any more chakra, the other person would genuinely cripple or even kill him without hesitation.
So, Yamato stiffly shifted his gaze to Hinata Aoi, who was holding his wrist on the right. His voice was dry and hoarse with fear and anger. "Hinata Aoi…"
"What is the meaning of this! Are you also helping these people and betraying the Main Family…"
"Have you had enough?!"
Without waiting for him to finish, Aoi cut him off.
"I remember Lord Hiashi himself said," Aoi's voice was cold, "that no one is allowed to use the Caged Bird Seal on Branch Family members at will anymore!"
"And now, you've lost to someone in front of so many people, and you still want to use the Caged Bird? Are you trying to embarrass the Main Family even more?"
Aoi's cold words were like a resounding slap across Yamato's face!
Yamato's expression was incredibly rigid. He heard the surrounding crowd's whispers and low chuckles.
"He's using a jutsu because he can't win…"
"Is this all the Main Family of the Hyuga clan is capable of?"
"Haha, that's so embarrassing."
"I heard that Lord Kawa is also from the Branch Family. Is he going to be suppressed by someone this weak with a seal?"
"No wonder the Branch Family is not convinced…"
These voices were like countless needles, piercing Yamato's ears.
His face gradually changed from pale to ashen, then from ashen to a liver-like purple.
His gaze swept over Neji, who was shielding Takashi, Aoi, who was holding his wrist, and Iroha, who had his fingers on his fatal pressure point.
His eyes were filled with malice, unwillingness, and a hint of crazed hatred.
"Good! Good! Good!" Yamato gritted his teeth, his voice a hiss. "You, all of you, are great!"
With that, he yanked his hand out of Aoi's grasp, and Aoi let go in turn.
"You all!" he said, his gaze sweeping coldly over the three of them, his voice filled with resentment as he spoke each word. "You will regret this very soon!"
Then, he turned around almost shamefully and, under the contemptuous, mocking, or indifferent gazes of the entire crowd, ran out of the training ground like a stray dog without looking back.
As Yamato left, the oppressive atmosphere slightly eased.
Iroha slowly retracted his finger from the empty space and looked at Aoi, giving her a slight nod. His tone was gentle. "Lady Aoi, thank you."
Aoi's expression was still complicated. She glanced at the panting Takashi and finally shook her head, saying, "I just don't want to see the Hyuga clan fall apart."
With that, she said no more and also turned to leave the chaotic field.
Neji had now carefully helped up Takashi, who was still gasping in pain.
At this moment, Iroha also walked over quickly and used his Byakugan to check Takashi's injuries, his brows furrowed tightly.
"A cracked bone in his left arm, multiple damaged chakra pathways, chaotic chakra flow, and a strong impact from the Caged Bird Seal…"
He then looked up, first at Neji and then at the pale-faced but still stubborn-eyed Takashi. A deep worry flashed in his eyes.
"Neji, help me support him," Iroha said in a low voice. "We need to take him to get his injuries treated immediately."
He paused there, seeming to want to say something, but ultimately didn't.
Yamato's last words made him have a very bad feeling.
Were they just empty threats? Or was there more…
"Now that Lord Kawa is not here," Hinata Iroha frowned, thinking to himself, "I can only rely on my own judgment."
No matter what, he would never let anyone take away the rights and status that Lord Kawa had fought so hard to win for the Branch Family.
The last rays of the setting sun, like a smear of blood, painted the eaves of the ancient and solemn mansion, casting long and heavy shadows.
A man in a dark kimono stood under the eaves with his back to the room behind him, quietly looking at the rockery in the courtyard, which was dyed a dark red by the twilight.
Behind him, on the tatami mat in the room, Hyuga Yamato knelt with his head bowed. His clothes were dusty and wrinkled, and his face still bore the marks of bruises and humiliation.
"Are you saying…"
The man didn't turn his head. His voice was hoarse and low. "You challenged Hyuga Takashi to a duel, but you deliberately chose the Third Training Ground instead of the clan grounds…"
He slowly turned around, his sharp Byakugan looking at Yamato behind him. "And in front of everyone, you lost to him?"
"No! I didn't lose to him!"
Upon hearing this, Yamato, who had been bowing his head, suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with intense unwillingness and resentment. He said excitedly, "That guy used a dirty trick. He…"
Slap!!
Chapter 216: My Eyes! My Eyes! It Hurts So Much!
A crisp, resounding slap cut short Hyuga Yamato's defense.
The man's withered hand struck him directly across the face.
Thud!
Yamato didn't even have time to react before he fell face-first onto the tatami mat, a trickle of crimson blood spilling from his split lip.
"Idiot!"
The man looked down at his son on the floor, his voice trembling with fury and disappointment. "A complete idiot!"
"I told you again and again to be patient! To hold back! Don't create a conflict with the branch family at a time like this; someone will deal with them eventually! Did my words just go in one ear and out the other?!"
His chest heaved as he pointed at Yamato and cursed, "Look at you now! Because of your stupidity, the entire main family has become a laughingstock, a joke for all of Konoha!!"
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
In his agitation, the man was seized by a violent coughing fit. He took a few deep breaths, barely managing to suppress it, and then pointed at the door. "Get back to your room!
"You are forbidden from stepping out of your room for a while. If you dare to cause trouble again, I will break your legs!"
Yamato slowly sat up from the floor. His head was bowed, and his disheveled black hair hid his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression.
Only his tightly clenched fists, with knuckles turning white, and his slightly trembling shoulders revealed the inner resentment and hatred.
But he said nothing, just stood up silently, stumbling, step by step, his heavy footsteps dragging as he left the room.
Looking at his son's retreating back, a hint of worry flashed in the man's eyes.
He sat down wearily and closed his eyes, leaning against the pillar of the engawa. The setting sun's afterglow fell on his face, making him look particularly desolate.
Just then.
"Ryuto."
A steady yet somewhat cold voice came from the garden entrance.
Ryuto Hyuga opened his eyes to see Nichigo Hyuga walking slowly toward him. He was also wearing a dark kimono, his face stiff and serious, but a glimmer of an unreadable light shone deep in his eyes.
"Nichigo," Ryuto's voice was hoarse, tinged with exhaustion and a complicated mix of emotions.
"I heard about what happened today."
Nichigo Hyuga stopped in front of the engawa, his gaze sweeping over Ryuto's slightly haggard face. He said in a deep voice, "Those branch family members are getting more and more out of control!
"Now, they don't even care about the clan rules. They dare to publicly steal, use, and even modify the main family's secret techniques without permission. They are simply lawless!"
Ryuto remained silent and didn't respond.
Seeing his silence, Nichigo decided to get straight to the point. He asked, "Have you thought about the proposal I made the other day?"
At his words, Ryuto's brows furrowed slightly.
Just a few days ago, Kawa Hyuga had led the branch family and given them a show of strength.
Later, Nichigo Hyuga secretly gathered several main family elders and proposed an extremely radical, even crazy, plan.
He wanted to take advantage of the fact that Kawa Hyuga was not in the village to purge the branch family's forces and put an end to the unhealthy trends.
They would win over a group of more moderate branch family members who were willing to rely on the main family and suppress a group of rebellious troublemakers like Taka Hyuga and Iroha Hyuga who openly challenged the main family's authority.
When Kawa Hyuga returned, they would use the Caged Bird seal to force him to kneel and beg for mercy in public, shattering the prestige he had built in the hearts of the branch family members and breaking the branch family's spine.
At that time, among the main family elders, only Ryuto Hyuga refused.
No, it should be said that he was the only one who hesitated.
This approach was too risky.
Kawa Hyuga was a madman who didn't care about his own life.
Besides...
"You can use the Caged Bird to make Kawa Hyuga kneel and beg for mercy," Ryuto said in a hoarse voice. "But you can't kill him, because he's useful to Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Furthermore, with his reputation and contributions, if we kill him, it will make the Hyuga clan's situation in the Leaf Village even more difficult."
Because of the incident that indirectly caused the war between the Leaf Village and the Cloud Village, the Hyuga clan's reputation in the Leaf Village was already very bad.
No, it shouldn't be said that the Hyuga clan's reputation was bad, but rather that the Hyuga main family's reputation was bad.
Because of the branch family's sacrifice, with Hizashi Hyuga's voluntary death and Kawa Hyuga's capture of a Jinchuriki on the battlefield, the main family and the branch family had long been completely separated.
Therefore, they couldn't just kill Kawa Hyuga for no reason. If they couldn't kill him and could only humiliate him...
"Aren't you afraid that the madman will kill you afterward?" Ryuto said in a deep voice.
"Hmph! Kill me?"
Hearing this, Nichigo Hyuga scoffed, a crazed glint in his eyes. "That guy likes to trade a life for a life, doesn't he? If he really dares to kill me..."
He paused here, his voice filled with an almost fanatical fervor. "Then you will have a good reason to kill him! To execute the family law, it will be justified!"
"Even that old man, Hiruzen Sarutobi, won't be able to find any reason to stop it. At most, he will express his dissatisfaction after the fact!"
Hearing this, Ryuto's expression changed slightly, and he blurted out, "Are you crazy?"
"He dares to gamble with his life against mine; why shouldn't I?" Nichigo Hyuga's voice suddenly rose, his face contorted. "I'll trade my old life for Kawa Hyuga's life!
"It's worth it! It's too worth it!"
Seeing Ryuto's look of shock and disbelief, Nichigo continued to fan the flames. "Ryuto, don't you see?
"The branch family members are no longer obedient. The main family is getting more and more grievances from the branch family; they're acting like the slaves have become the masters."
"Now, they not only dare to trample on the clan rules, publicly steal, use, and modify the main family's secret techniques, but they've even started reducing the mission rewards they hand over!"
"With their increasingly arrogant attitude, if this continues, they won't just be satisfied with supporting and protecting the main family. Sooner or later, they won't even be satisfied with being on equal footing with the main family!"
As he spoke, Nichigo's voice became even colder and more piercing. "They will definitely force us to remove the Caged Bird seal and even try to put the Caged Bird seal on our heads!"
"At that time," he took a step closer and looked directly into Ryuto's eyes, "you and I, and the entire Hyuga clan, will be controlled by others and completely destroyed!"
Nichigo's words struck Ryuto's heart, and his mind flashed back to Yamato's humiliated and resentful eyes, and the branch family members' growing desire and ambition.
There were so few people in the main family, and their strength couldn't compare to the branch family's elites who had been honed in missions. Now, they were strictly forbidden from using the Caged Bird...
Ryuto's heart struggled violently, and his face became clouded.
Nichigo watched him remain silent for a long time, the feverish expectation in his eyes gradually cooling, turning into a subtle hint of malice.
"Still can't make a decision?" Nichigo sneered in his heart. "A cowardly and indecisive good-for-nothing!"
As the person with the second most say in the clan after himself and Hiashi, without Ryuto's cooperation, his plan against the branch family would be difficult to carry out.
So...
Just as this deathly silence set in.
"Ahhh!!"
A shrill, miserable scream suddenly came from deep within the compound.
The voice came from the direction of Yamato's room.
"What's going on?"
Ryuto's expression instantly changed. His hunched body erupted with astonishing speed, and he rushed toward the direction of the scream.
Nichigo followed closely behind him.
Bang!
Ryuto slammed open the door to Yamato's room, but the sight that greeted him instantly struck him like a bolt of lightning, his eyes widening in fury!
He saw Yamato curled up on the floor in the corner of the room.
His hands were tightly clamped over his face, but crimson blood was still gushing out between his fingers like a spring, staining a large part of his face and the front of his clothes!
"An enemy attack?!"
Ryuto's head snapped to the broken window. Veins popped out around his eyes, but he only saw a figure running out of his sensory range.
"Damn it! I..."
"Ryuto!"
Just as Ryuto was about to take off in pursuit, he was suddenly stopped by Nichigo. He subconsciously turned his head and looked over.
He saw Nichigo pry open Yamato's hands that were tightly covering his face. What came into view were two bloody, bottomless holes!
Yamato's eyes had been gouged out!
Not only that, but half of Yamato's ear had also been cut off, leaving a gash and a trail of blood on the wall.
"Ahhh!!" Yamato let out an even more miserable and painful howl. "Father! My eyes! My eyes! It hurts so much! I..."
Ryuto's whole body trembled violently as he looked at the two gruesome blood holes and the bloodstains on his son's face and ear. A bone-chilling coldness and a monstrous rage surged within him.
This attack was clearly meant to kill Yamato first before gouging out his eyes, but he managed to dodge it, and only half of his ear was cut off!
Gouging out eyes! Taking a life!
If, if they had been a moment later...
"Who is it!" A hoarse, icy voice squeezed out of Ryuto's gritted teeth, word by word. "Yamato! Who did this!"
"Taka Hyuga! It's Taka Hyuga!" Yamato howled in pain. "Wind Style! Only he! It must be him!"
"Father! Kill him! Kill him! My eyes... Ahhh!!"
Ryuto desperately hugged his wailing son. His body couldn't help but tremble, and veins bulged on his face.
Anger and doubt arose in his heart at the same time, but as he felt the warm blood soak into his sleeves, the subtle doubt was completely swallowed by his rage.
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