The Hyūga main family ninjas surrounding Yuzuru belonged to three different generations—elderly, middle-aged, and young—fourteen people in total.
Excluding those whose age had already weakened them, at least half possessed strength on par with jōnin.
Generally speaking, the heirs of the main family almost always became jōnin. If one failed to show the talent necessary to reach that level, even the eldest son could be stripped of his right of succession.
These people, even though most of them lacked real combat experience, still represented a tremendous threat purely by virtue of their numbers.
Under such circumstances, anyone would have thought that the conditions offered by Hiashi were already extremely generous—and that Yuzuru should have accepted them.
Therefore, when Yuzuru voiced his refusal, the main family members revealed expressions of anger, as though he were shockingly ungrateful.
"You…" Hiashi took a deep breath. "Does the main family truly inspire that much resentment in you?"
"It seems you've misunderstood," Yuzuru sighed, shaking his head. "You're wrong. I don't harbor hatred, resentment, or any similar emotions toward the main family."
"Whether the main family treated me well or poorly, the outcome between us could only be this. And not just with the Hyūga clan—Konoha as well."
"If I had to explain why," he continued calmly, "it's probably because both the Hyūga clan and the Hidden Leaf Village are no longer of any use to me."
"What?!" The surrounding clan members widened their eyes in shock.
What outrageous words.
"So, if I'm not mistaken," Hiashi said solemnly, "you intend to defect from the village. Is that correct?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Yuzuru replied.
"I simply can't understand your decision," Hiashi sighed.
"People with different ways of living find it difficult to understand one another," Yuzuru said. "I am someone who pursues freedom. Moving from the branch family to the main family is nothing more than trading a small cage for a larger one."
"The world itself is a massive prison. Villages and clans are merely smaller prisons within it. The more identities one possesses, the more restrictions one bears. The more bonds one forms, the more weaknesses one gains."
"Many people swear great oaths from childhood, vowing to change the world. They are admirable. But I am not noble, nor do I have lofty ambitions. All I think about… is myself."
Perhaps for the first time since he had been born into this world, Yuzuru truly laid bare his heart. His voice was calm as he continued:
"What I seek is only three things: the freedom to act as I please, the power to sustain that freedom, and a lifespan long enough to continue living that way."
"Staying in Konoha would strip my life of countless possibilities. Therefore, between us, there can only be one ending—we go our separate ways."
After hearing those words, everyone present understood one thing clearly:
The way this boy thought was extremely dangerous.
"There is one point where I agree with you," Hiashi suddenly said. "The more identities one carries, the more restrictions one endures. At times, I envy you. You can express your emotions freely, make friends, and show joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness to your family without restraint."
"But I cannot. From the moment I was born, my fate was to become the head of the Hyūga clan. Hizashi… my younger brother. When we were children, we shared everything. But the day the Caged Bird Seal was carved into his forehead, he gradually drifted away from me."
"It broke my heart. Yet I could not show concern. I was the clan head. A leader cannot afford weakness. When he revealed his resentment toward me, I had to punish him using the Caged Bird Seal."
"I hate that technique," Hiashi continued heavily. "It stole my family bonds from me. Watching Hizashi writhing on the ground, all I felt was guilt and sorrow… yet I could not show even a trace of it. I had to maintain my authority. They said it was for my own good. And for his."
Beside Hiashi, his father wore an expression of utter shock.
"I will soon have a child," Hiashi said quietly. "But even when facing my own children, I believe I will be unable to express my emotions. According to the rules of the main family, I must have more than one heir. That means one of them will inevitably become part of the branch family… and receive the Caged Bird Seal."
"They will come to resent me because of it. And when that day arrives… must I use the Caged Bird Seal to punish them as well?"
"Severing family ties. Creating hatred. Turning brothers and fathers into enemies. This is the curse the Caged Bird Seal has brought upon the Hyūga clan!"
Hiashi took a deep breath and, ignoring the stunned expressions of the main family members around him, spoke without restraint:
"Do you know why I wanted you to become part of the main family? Because only someone who broke precedent could allow Hizashi to break free from it as well!"
Hearing this, Yuzuru finally let out a laugh.
"For someone in your position to say something like that… honestly, it doesn't earn even a shred of sympathy from me."
"I didn't say this to gain your sympathy," Hiashi replied. "I only wanted to tell you that I cherish family. I cherish the precious bonds between people—things I could never have, yet still resolved to protect."
"And you!" Hiashi's tone grew heavy. "Someone like you, who views bonds as burdens, as things to be discarded at any moment—if any bond stands in your way, you would trample over it without hesitation, wouldn't you?"
"Someone like you… I will never allow to leave this place!"
"So after all that, we're still going to fight," Yuzuru said, glancing toward the distant horizon. The massive silhouette of the Nine-Tails had already vanished.
"The time has come." He returned his gaze to Hiashi. "Let me say this again—I truly underestimated you before."
It must be stated clearly: when Yuzuru spoke of underestimating Hiashi, he referred to his character and mindset, not his strength.
On the contrary, he had never once underestimated the power of this clan head in his prime.
Whether judging from the feat of killing an elite Cloud Village jōnin with a single strike years later, or from enduring a direct blow from one of the Ten-Tails' tails during the Fourth Great Ninja War, this unassuming clan leader was never someone to be taken lightly.
"Even so, Clan Head Hiashi," Yuzuru continued, "not even someone like you can escape the stagnation of the Hyūga clan. Your thinking is forever trapped within a rigid framework. Let me show you how the power of the Hyūga clan should truly be used!"
Yuzuru formed a hand seal before his chest. A power long dormant seemed to awaken.
A vast surge of chakra erupted within his body, flowing wildly like a raging river.
"Wind Release: Kaiten!"
Under the Byakugan's vision, streams of blue chakra burst forth violently from every chakra point in Yuzuru's body, spinning at tremendous speed around him.
At first glance, this technique did not appear much different from the traditional Kaiten used by the main family—only with some steps simplified.
But in the next instant, the difference became overwhelmingly clear.
The transformation of wind nature had been added.
The Kaiten turned savage.
Countless microscopic wind blades formed within the rotation, spinning densely and violently. Under the Byakugan's sight, the scene was utterly terrifying.
A deafening roar swept across the Hyūga clan grounds.
Hiashi opened his mouth and shouted—but even he could not hear his own voice.
He watched as that anomalous Kaiten spun madly, driven outward by Yuzuru's chakra, its radius expanding endlessly, as if it were about to devour everything around it.
"Kaiten!"
The surrounding main family members activated their own Kaiten in desperation to defend themselves.
BOOOOM!
Just as Konoha was beginning to calm down after the Nine-Tails' disappearance, a massive explosion erupted from the direction of the Hyūga clan, drawing everyone's attention.
What happened now?
As people wondered this in shock, they saw a blazing light erupt within the Hyūga clan compound, rapidly expanding and swallowing everything around it.
"A… a Tailed Beast Ball?!" someone cried out in disbelief.
That shape was strikingly similar to the Tailed Beast Ball that the Fourth Hokage had just teleported away moments earlier.
It was as if a miniature Tailed Beast Ball had fallen directly onto the Hyūga clan.
What in the world had happened?
People could only sigh in despair, wondering just how much misfortune Konoha had accumulated that night.
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