Chapter 194: The Branch House Heroes Argue Against Themselves
Neji left the village with two companions who had also "disappeared," slipping away into the deep mountains where no one would find them.
They chose a secluded location and set up a crude camp. Neji clapped his hands once, and White Zetsu emerged from the ground like a pale plant breaking through soil.
"I've prepared what you requested. Are you certain about this?" White Zetsu's voice carried an unusual note of curiosity.
"I've thought it through completely." Neji took a deep breath, his expression grave. "What we're about to do is something great—a righteous act to save all Branch House members from their enslaved fate."
"To achieve this goal, I'll sacrifice anything. My head can roll, my blood can spill. If necessary, I'll even kill fathers, sons, and brothers with my own hands."
"This may disturb the spirits of our ancestors, but I believe any Branch House member who knows the truth would agree with our choice."
"Well, they're your ancestors, not mine. Your decision." White Zetsu clapped his hands together, and a swarm of White Zetsu clones emerged from beneath the earth.
Neji pulled out the scroll Yasushi had left him. When he unrolled it, dozens of test tubes spilled out—each containing genetic samples from long-dead Hyuga clan members.
After raiding Root's facilities, Yasushi had acquired quite the collection of useful materials. A small portion of that stockpile was more than enough to solve many of Neji's problems.
The scroll also contained detailed instructions for the Reanimation jutsu. Neji had studied it extensively and knew the technique by heart.
After reviewing it one final time, Neji formed the hand seals and slammed his palm against the ground. Spiderweb patterns of dark symbols spread across the earth, and dozens of coffins rose slowly from below.
The coffin lids opened. White Zetsu clones stepped inside, and the lids slammed shut with an ominous finality.
When the coffins opened again, the figures that emerged were no longer blank white humanoids. They were Hyuga shinobi, Byakugan eyes and all.
The man at the front was someone Neji knew better than anyone—his father, Hizashi.
"Father. It's been a long time." Neji's gaze was complicated as he looked at the man who had died for the Main House's sake.
Hizashi first looked down at his own body in shock, immediately recognizing this forbidden technique created by the Second Hokage. Then he turned his confused gaze toward the summoner.
"You're... Neji?"
"You've grown so much!"
"How do you know this forbidden jutsu?"
"And what happened to your eyes?"
Neji didn't answer his father's questions directly. Instead, he turned to address all the reanimated shinobi.
"Honored predecessors of the Branch House, there's something I must tell you!"
"The Caged Bird seal carved into our foreheads—it's not what the Main House claims. They say it protects us from being targeted and killed for our Byakugan, but that's a lie. It exists purely to enslave us, to keep us chained like dogs."
Many of these Branch House members had been heroes of Konoha, shinobi who died fighting for the village and the clan. They were the ones who had trusted and supported the family most devotedly.
Now Neji stood before them, speaking ill of the Main House. Many bristled with immediate displeasure.
His words sparked an eruption of angry protests.
"Shut your mouth, boy!"
"I don't know who you are, and I don't want to hear your nonsense!"
"I only know that someone who desecrates the souls of the dead can't be anything good!"
"If you think you can use pretty words to drive a wedge between us and the Main House, you'd better give up now!"
"I won't believe a single word you say!"
Even Hizashi frowned deeply, his voice stern. "Neji, I don't know what grievances you've suffered, but the Caged Bird seal truly does protect us. It has for hundreds of years."
"Without this seal, do you have any idea how many enemies would kill us on the battlefield just to take our Byakugan?"
"There are many people and many things about the Main House that I find distasteful, but you can't completely deny their existence and purpose because of those flaws."
"If you do, you're being too extreme."
"Heh..." Being reprimanded by the father he respected stung, and Neji felt bitterness rise in his throat.
But he had long since forged himself into a hardened fighter. Facing his father's criticism and the group's condemnation, he didn't waver. Instead, he raised his voice and challenged them directly.
"The Main House always claims the Caged Bird seal protects our Byakugan from being stolen. Then let me ask you this—the Uchiha clan's eyes are also precious, so why don't they use a Caged Bird seal?"
"Furthermore, I've never seen Sharingan from the Uchiha clan end up in other villages. How do you explain that?"
"All of you fought on battlefields. You should know that once you're in combat, you're an enemy to be killed. Whether or not you have a Byakugan makes no difference—you're still a target."
"If enemies really spared us because of the Caged Bird seal on our foreheads, then please tell me—how did all of you die?"
After years of Main House indoctrination, the Branch House had accepted so many lies as truth. They had normalized every contradiction and absurdity that arose from those lies.
These questions were simple, but no one had ever stopped to think about them carefully. Now that Neji laid them out, many of the reanimated shinobi furrowed their brows, unable to answer.
But soon someone shouted back:
"The Caged Bird seal prevents us from being specifically targeted! It lowers the probability of us being killed. Without the Caged Bird's protection, we'd definitely die faster and in greater numbers."
"As for why the Uchiha don't use a Caged Bird seal—obviously because they don't know how!"
"This is a precious seal that our Hyuga ancestors spent countless generations developing through painstaking research."
"Do you think just any clan could create such a powerful seal?"
"Besides, the Sharingan is extremely invasive and unfriendly to non-Uchiha shinobi. It's not like our Byakugan, which can be activated and deactivated at will after transplantation, making it smooth and effortless to use."
The speaker's combination of deflection and counterargument explained away Neji's questions so thoroughly that even Neji himself couldn't find fault with the logic.
The man even had two examples to support his case.
One was Kakashi Hatake, who had transplanted an Uchiha Sharingan. His eye could never close, leaving him perpetually drained and sickly-looking.
The other, in stark contrast, was Ao from the Hidden Mist Village.
After stealing a Byakugan, Ao had risen to become one of the Water Country's most powerful jonin.
That Byakugan was hidden behind his eyepatch, and anyone without intelligence on him would never suspect that a precious Byakugan lay concealed there.
He could use the Byakugan's dojutsu abilities whenever he wanted, didn't even need to remove his eyepatch to see through objects, and had perfect control over it. Absolutely effortless.
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