The sun rose from below the horizon.
Morning light streamed through the window.
Hyuga Kiyoshi opened his eyes in bed, glanced at the now-empty sleeping spot beside him, and began his morning routine as if nothing had happened.
After tidying up and putting on fresh clothes—
Knock knock knock!
A sharp rapping sounded at the door.
Kiyoshi walked over and opened it to find three Hyuga clansmen clad in Konoha flak jackets standing outside. The leader peered past Kiyoshi, searching for something—
But found nothing.
"Where are the others who lived with you?" the leader demanded.
Kiyoshi shook his head, his response rehearsed: "They were here last night. I don't know where they went this morning."
The leader stared at Kiyoshi, trying to detect any tells, but Kiyoshi's face remained impassive, eerily calm, as if nothing could unsettle him.
The leader waved a hand.
"Restrain him!"
The two Hyuga clansmen beside him moved instantly, appearing at Kiyoshi's sides. One pressed a hand against the back of his head and slammed his face into the floor with a thud! The other twisted Kiyoshi's arms behind his back and bound them with rope.
The leader glared down at the subdued Kiyoshi. "Hyuga Kiyoshi, you'd better confess everything you know. Not even the head of the Research Division can protect you now."
Kiyoshi's expression didn't change. "Then could you at least tell me what's happening?"
The leader frowned. Seeing Kiyoshi's genuine-seeming confusion, he sighed and relented: "Those five assassinated an elder of the main family. They stole the Hyuga clan's treasure and fled."
Kiyoshi's face twisted into deliberate bewilderment.
"They're branch family members. How could they defy the main family elders? And what 'treasure' did they take?"
This gave the leader pause. It was baffling—branch family members rebelling against the main family? And as someone of relatively high standing, he couldn't think of any "treasure" worth such a risk.
Not to mention, elders aren't so easily assassinated—
No, now's not the time for this.
The leader's expression hardened.
"Hyuga Kiyoshi, you are suspected of conspiring to murder a Hyuga elder and steal clan property. You will be interrogated."
Kiyoshi pressed his face against the floor.
The main family still won't admit the truth. Their excuse is flimsy... but they acted faster than I expected.
Hyuga Clan Main Hall
Hyuga Yoshikata's face was stormy as he watched Kiyoshi, bound and kneeling in the center of the room. The rest of the Hyuga clan knelt in a semicircle around them, awaiting judgment.
Yoshikata studied Kiyoshi's calm demeanor—no resistance, no outbursts.
The incident had been discovered before dawn.
Every day at that hour, an elder would relieve the previous shift. But this time, when they arrived at the underground chamber, they found only corpses and a ruined vault.
All the Byakugan were gone.
Panic had gripped the main family. They'd swiftly identified the suspects and stormed Kiyoshi's dorm—
Only to find him alone. The other five had vanished.
Kiyoshi's unnatural composure made him the prime suspect.
But why would he stay behind?
Konoha was already searching for the fugitives, but by morning, no trace of them had been found.
The main family was furious about the stolen Byakugan—but Hyuga Sōkawa's death had terrified them.
The branch family had always been controlled through the Caged Bird Seal. Rebellion was unthinkable.
Yet that ironclad rule had been broken.
Yoshikata's gaze darkened. Of all people, Kiyoshi was the most suspicious.
And the only one in the entire shinobi world who could nullify the Caged Bird Seal... is Uchiha Kin.
"Will you still not confess?" Yoshikata roared. "Hyuga Kiyoshi!"
Kiyoshi's eyes, still as stagnant water, met Yoshikata's.
"What crime am I to confess, Clan Head?"
"Conspiring to murder a Hyuga elder and stealing the clan's treasure! Your accomplices have already betrayed you!"
At that moment—
Hyuga Hizashi rushed forward and knelt before Yoshikata, shielding Kiyoshi.
"Father! This must be a misunderstanding! Kiyoshi would never do such a thing!"
Yoshikata's brow twitched in irritation.
"Hizashi, the evidence is irrefutable. Do not defend him."
Though Yoshikata despised Hizashi's groveling, as the branch family head, he couldn't reprimand him too harshly in public.
"Kiyoshi! Just tell them who those people were! Clear up this misunderstanding, and you'll be fine!"
Hizashi pleaded desperately, unwilling to let a genius like Kiyoshi die for someone else's crimes.
Kiyoshi listened to Hizashi's frantic appeals, took in Yoshikata's murderous glare, and the indifferent faces of the surrounding branch family members.
This... is the Hyuga clan.
His gaze locked onto Hizashi's face.
"You disgust me."
"What?"
Hizashi froze, unsure if he'd heard correctly.
"I said people like you make me sick, Hyuga Hizashi."
"Me...?"
Hizashi stared in confusion. I'm trying to save him. Why is he insulting me?
Ignoring him, Kiyoshi turned to Yoshikata.
"Clan Head, may I ask: how could this Caged Bird Seal on my forehead kill an elder? And what 'treasure' does the Hyuga clan possess that's worth dying for?"
Yoshikata's face turned ashen.
"Who knows what method you used to assassinate the elder? And the clan's treasures are none of your concern!"
"If I don't even know what was stolen, how could I have taken it?"
Kiyoshi's retort left Yoshikata speechless.
"Hyuga Kiyoshi, you've crossed a line," Yoshikata hissed. "Who gave you the right to question the main family? You've already committed a grave offense."
He sensed Kiyoshi's defiance and decided to end this.
He activated the Caged Bird Seal.
But—
Kiyoshi didn't collapse.
Yoshikata's pupils shrank. The seal... failed.
Kiyoshi slowly surveyed the room before settling his gaze on Yoshikata's trembling hand.
Every eye followed.
"I didn't do it. But I do know how to nullify the Caged Bird Seal."
"Silence!!"
Yoshikata's face twisted in panic. He lunged at Kiyoshi, intent on killing him outright.
Just as his strike was about to land—
"Who permitted you... TO TOUCH MY PEOPLE!!!"
(End of Chapter)