Facing Yuzuru's gaze, Hyuga Hiashi fell silent for a long while before finally gritting his teeth and saying, "Lord Yuzuru… speaking for myself, I also want to abolish the Caged Bird system. It's just that…"
"The main family elders will never agree to it."
Memories surfaced in Hiashi's mind.
When he was still young, his relationship with his twin brother, Hyuga Hizashi, had been very close.
But one day, when he woke up as usual, he discovered a faint blue mark had appeared on his brother's forehead.
Only later did he learn that mark was called the "Caged Bird," the fate every branch family member was forced to accept.
Once the Caged Bird was engraved, one's life and death were completely controlled by a single thought of the main family.
Like a caged bird, there was no freedom left.
Their sole value in living was to obey every order of the main family, even at the cost of their lives.
After the Caged Bird was carved into his forehead, Hizashi grew taciturn.
He no longer called him "brother," no longer played with him. Even when they met face to face, he would only bow politely before turning away, the two of them becoming strangers overnight.
Later, Hiashi went to look for his brother. Yet his usually gentle sibling erupted like a madman, flipping the table and questioning him through tears.
Why were they twins, yet because of a difference of mere seconds at birth, their fates were worlds apart?
Just as Hiashi stood there at a loss, their father pushed the door open and walked in.
He watched with his own eyes as his father formed a simple hand sign—Hizashi instantly clutched his head, rolling on the floor in agony as he begged for mercy.
"This is the fate of the branch family. If it happens again, I'll kill you."
Even now, Hiashi could clearly recall the cold indifference on his father's face.
As time passed, he tried to mend his relationship with Hizashi, and eventually the two could sit together and talk calmly again.
Later, he became the clan head, while Hizashi became the head of the branch family.
When Neji was born, the two of them had once fantasized about overthrowing the Caged Bird system—but in the end, they failed.
In the entire main family, the only person willing to abolish the Caged Bird system was him alone.
That was why Hiashi knew all too well that the main family would never agree to Yuzuru's demand.
"Hiashi, this is not how a clan head leads."
Yuzuru let out a cold laugh, killing intent spilling from him without the slightest restraint.
"As long as you believe you can lead your people toward a better future, then you must persist in your convictions."
"As for those relics of the old era who can't keep up… just kill them."
Looking at Yuzuru, Hiashi found himself momentarily speechless.
No wonder the Uchiha clan had followed Yuzuru out of Konoha without a word back then. Those who opposed him… were probably already dead by his hand.
Still, despite being deeply tempted by Yuzuru's proposal, Hiashi hesitated.
"Those elders each have many branch family members protecting them. If conflict breaks out, it will likely alert Shimura Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the others."
Yuzuru casually picked up a pen and paper from the table and placed them in front of Hiashi.
"All you need to do is write down the names of those who need to die and mark their residences."
"I'll take care of it tonight." (T/N: A true Madman @-@)
Whether it was him or the Uchiha clan members, if they wanted to intermarry with the Hyuga, the Caged Bird system had to be eliminated.
And the Hyuga were notorious for their stubbornness.
From the very beginning, Yuzuru had never planned to let those main family elders live.
If Hiashi refused his demand, he would simply kill all of the Hyuga main family—including Hiashi himself.
The room fell into complete silence, broken only by the dim candlelight and the faint scratching sound of a pen against paper. (T/N: Think of it as the Death Note xD hihihihi)
After a long while, Yuzuru took the paper from Hiashi's hands and glanced over it briefly.
"Leave this matter to me. I'll come back in three days. Make sure to gather all Hyuga clan members in advance."
With that, Yuzuru's body twisted and vanished.
Hiashi knelt uneasily on the floor, his face flickering between light and shadow under the swaying candle flame.
———
———
Moonlight hung hazily in the air.
A figure flickered again and again within the Hyuga clan compound.
Inside a luxurious courtyard on the eastern side of the estate, Yuzuru gave a light squeeze, snapping the neck of the aged Hyuga elder in his grasp.
He smoothly transferred the corpse into the Kamui Space and burned the paper in his hand to ashes.
"The last one."
Yuzuru murmured softly, his figure disappearing once more.
After collecting so many Byakugan users, handing them over to Orochimaru should give that guy even more motivation.
———
———
The next day.
In response to the clan members' inquiries, Hiashi merely claimed that the "main family" was holding a routine meeting to decide Anbu candidates, brushing them off.
Once the others had left, Hizashi spoke in a low voice, "Brother, what is really going on?"
Hiashi's excuse was actually rather far-fetched, but branch family members didn't dare question the main family, so they had withdrawn silently.
Hizashi, however, knew about his brother's plan to rebel with the entire clan, and immediately sensed something was wrong.
His intuition told him that the disappearance of the main family had a great deal to do with his brother.
"Hizashi, there are still some things I need you to do."
Hiashi briefly recounted his conversation with Yuzuru from the previous night, leaving Hizashi standing there dumbfounded.
"Brother… you're saying Yuzuru demanded the abolition of the Caged Bird system, and then helped you kill those main family elders?"
Hiashi nodded. "I don't know why he did it, but it just happened to give us a helping hand."
"The branch family is leaderless now. This is the perfect opportunity to take full control of the clan."
"Yuzuru will return in three days. He may have a way to lead our people out of Konoha."
"During these three days, absolutely no one can find out. If any clan member doesn't understand the situation—kill them on the spot!"
Hiashi said harshly.
The main family members were already dead. Under the power of the Caged Bird, no one in the Hyuga clan could oppose him.
This was the chance to change the Hyuga clan's fate. He would not allow any mistakes.
Hizashi nodded excitedly. "I understand. Leave it to me."
Because of the Byakugan's formidable perceptive abilities, many shinobi clans viewed Hyuga ninja as prey.
The Caged Bird seal could destroy the Byakugan upon a ninja's death or if their eyes were removed, which did offer some protection by preventing Hyuga members from becoming targets during missions.
But as time passed, the gap in status between the main family and the branch family only grew wider.
Up until now, many in the main family no longer even regarded the branch family as kin.
In their eyes, the so-called branch family were nothing more than dogs that needed to wag their tails for favor.
Beatings and punishments over the slightest displeasure were common occurrences.
As the head of the branch family, Hizashi understood their thoughts better than anyone.
Though they dared not say it aloud, in their hearts they wished the entire main family would die out.
Now that there was a chance to eliminate the Caged Bird system, Hizashi believed no one would be foolish enough to resist on behalf of those dead main family members.
Three days were more than enough to convince everyone!