Chapter 71 – The Night the Caged Bird Decided to Fly
The entire transaction had taken place right in front of Hinata and Neji.
Their reactions were polar opposites, yet both were equally stunned by the power Aike revealed.
Neji especially could barely contain his excitement.
He had just witnessed the key to his freedom.
The key to seizing his own fate!
But excitement quickly turned to bitterness.
Freedom required payment.
Probably a steep one.
Neji racked his brain and came up empty.
What did he even have that was worth anything?
His fists clenched so hard his knuckles went white.
Damn it!
Is my destiny truly unchangeable?!
He had seen exactly what Orochimaru paid: lives, forbidden knowledge, secrets of the Ryuchi Cave.
Freedom wasn't something you bought with money.
Then it hit him.
Byakugan!
One of the three great dojutsu.
That had to be worth something.
But losing the Byakugan would cripple his strength.
And without strength, what was the point of freedom?
He fell into a spiral: freedom or power?
Choose one and lose the other.
Aike watched the boy's face cycle between hope and despair and instantly knew what was going through his head.
'Speaking of which… the caged-bird seal does seem tied to the soul.'
Neji's only wish was to be free of that curse.
Aike remembered it vividly: even after Edo Tensei, Hizashi still bore the mark.
That meant the seal probably bound the soul itself.
Perfect. Right in his specialty.
Now it was just a matter of whether Neji would dare to ask.
Aike glanced at him once more, then stopped paying attention.
All the way until dusk, when they parted ways, Neji never spoke up.
But from the look on his face, Aike figured it wouldn't take more than a couple days.
"Twelve Guardians should be worth a few tens of thousands of points in total, right…"
Back at the inn after dinner, the moment the door closed,
Nami dropped her sweet-public persona and pouted.
"Guren and Doyu are girls too, aren't they?"
"You never stop recruiting the second you change worlds."
Two new sisters in the span of minutes.
At this rate there wouldn't be enough cabins on the Libra.
"Exactly! You said this trip was for Izumi's revenge, but I'm starting to think it was just an excuse to pick up girls!"
Carina piled on.
Yesterday she was "sweetie," today he's already importing new crew.
Scumbag!
Even gentle Kaya puffed her cheeks in tiny protest.
For once she wasn't taking Aike's side.
'I can't hesitate anymore… I want to become Aike-nii's real woman, just like Nami and the others!'
Kaya made her resolve.
Izumi, quiet since losing her clan, felt the same urgency.
She had already decided to take the same step.
What could Aike do against his girlfriends' jealousy?
Obviously pull them all close and prove exactly who they belonged to, with actions.
However,
deep into the night, after Nami and Carina finally fell asleep,
a petite shadow slipped into the room and dove straight under Aike's blanket at lightning speed.
"?"
"Kaya, you—"
Aike barely woke up before soft lips silenced him.
A new battle anthem began.
Only a frustrated silhouette outside the door stomped away, unwilling but defeated.
Meanwhile,
back in the Hyuga compound, Neji lay on his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Everything from the d
ay kept replaying.
Deals… freedom… power…
"Naruto… Sasuke… they got that strong because they made a deal too, didn't they?"
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