"You…"
The words, heavy with potent temptation, whispered into his ear. The dazed Hyūga Hizashi jolted, instinctively taking a step back, nearly stumbling.
"Just what are you?" Looking at the robed figure beside him, Hizashi felt a creeping dread, his voice trembling. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I am merely pruning away the pests, while anticipating what kind of flower might bloom."
When Hyūga Kumokawa spoke these words, even though Hizashi couldn't see the face hidden in shadow, he seemed to glimpse a pair of eyes. Eyes harboring a profound malice.
It was as if a fire burned within them—not a roaring, raging inferno, but a silent, flickering flame.
The other party cared not what their fire ignited or consumed. He, the branch family head, was merely fuel to feed the flames.
Hyūga Hizashi fell silent.
"The Hyūga Main Family is the root of the clan. As long as the root remains, it matters not whether the branches flourish or wither."
This was what his father, the clan head, had instilled in him since childhood.
But now, thinking once more of Hinata's sloppy, weak performance during training, dark thoughts began to surge uncontrollably within him.
'With Neji's talent… he could become a true powerhouse of the Hyūga clan. Yet, because of his branch status, he will be branded with the Caged Bird, stripped of his freedom forever, living his entire life under the Main Family's shadow…
While that timid, incapable Main Family girl… can simply reap the benefits, taking his protection for granted, expecting him to lay down his life…'
As a father, to personally strip his own child of his freedom… that was the height of incompetence.
For a fleeting taste of freedom himself, he could choose a humble death.
But he wanted Neji to live freely. To live a life of flesh and blood.
Not as anyone's subordinate. Not burdened by so-called fate.
"Believe me. Selling your soul to the devil is not shameful."
Hyūga Kumokawa's voice was soft. "Selling it for too low a price is."
"…What can you do?"
After a long silence, Hyūga Hizashi finally spoke. "What must I give?"
"I can grant you the power to break free from the cage." Hyūga Kumokawa's tone remained level. "You must give all that you possess. Your name. Your future. Your life. Your soul…"
"You…" Hizashi was taken aback, unable to stop himself from asking, "This… isn't a fair trade at all."
"Isn't that what devils do?" Hyūga Kumokawa's tone was remarkably frank. "So, what is your answer?"
Hyūga Hizashi's breathing grew ragged. Even so, even knowing the other's malice, he found he couldn't form a rebuttal.
The other had truly stripped him bare, dissected him like a devil who understood human desire, meticulously carving away his flesh and blood, weighing his desires ounce by ounce on the scales.
After a moment, he gritted his teeth and shook his head. "I don't believe you can free Neji and me from the cage. I don't believe anyone can."
As long as the Caged Bird seal existed for even a day, Neji could never truly escape.
And even the Main Family head only knew how to activate the seal, not how to remove it.
"Very well." Hyūga Kumokawa didn't mind the doubt. He nodded, extending an arm from the shadowy folds of his robe. "Then let you experience it once."
Simultaneously, he silently commanded in his mind: 'Manifest Item—Temporary Suppression of the Caged Bird Seal for Ten Seconds.'
[Cost: 300 Fulfillment Points. Manifest?]
'As expected. Not asking for a complete removal, just ten seconds of suppression, doesn't cost too much,' Hyūga Kumokawa's eyes gleamed as he mentally confirmed. "Manifest."
Hearing his words, Hyūga Hizashi was momentarily stunned. He watched as two fingers extended towards his forehead. For an instant, he felt as if his blood had stopped flowing, instinctively wanting to step back.
But the next moment, the two fingers stopped just before his brow. A sudden, powerful tremor surged through his heart.
It felt as if a crack had opened on his forehead. A clear spring poured in from outside, dividing into several slender streams, washing away every obstruction within his mind.
Hyūga Hizashi even seemed to hear the sound of invisible shackles shattering, feeling a veil slowly lifting from before his eyes.
The world had never been so clear.
Hyūga Hizashi's pupils trembled. His first reaction upon regaining his senses was to activate his Byakugan, veins bulging fiercely around his eyes.
"Byakugan! Activate!!"
'It's gone?
It's really gone!
The blind spots in his vision… they're truly gone!
How is this possible?!'
Hyūga Hizashi couldn't believe what he was experiencing. Yet, a wild, almost grotesque grin of ecstasy began to spread across his face.
"Hahaha!"
'Is this… the feeling of freedom?'
Lightness, clarity, joy…
These sensations flooded every limb and joint of his body, as if some hidden constraint had been removed. The entire world seemed to brighten in this moment.
Hyūga Hizashi completely abandoned the decorum he had always maintained. His laughter was utterly unrestrained, maniacal, even bringing tears to the corners of his eyes.
Others could never truly understand this feeling—of having once possessed something, only to have it cruelly snatched away; of having your life held perpetually in another's grasp, and then suddenly having it returned to you.
However, soon after, the Caged Bird seal on Hyūga Hizashi's forehead, which had faded considerably, began to restore itself.
The Byakugan, which had been a flawless, 360-degree sphere of jade-like vision, once again developed a blind spot spreading out from directly behind the first thoracic vertebra. The world grew dim once more.
"What happened?"
The joyous expression on Hyūga Hizashi's face froze instantly, replaced by a flicker of bewildered pain.
But he quickly remembered—this was only a "taste," an experience.
"You!" Hyūga Hizashi grabbed the arm of the figure beside him, his voice urgent. "What do you want me to do?"
Hyūga Kumokawa showed no surprise, nor did he rush to answer. Instead, he asked a question. "You and Hyūga Hiashi are identical twins in appearance, correct?"
"…Yes."
Seeing his reluctant nod, Hyūga Kumokawa continued calmly. "I need you to become Hyūga Hiashi. And Hyūga Hizashi… must die."
"What?" Hyūga Hizashi's pupils contracted. "Impossible!"
This person wanted him to fake his death, then replace his brother?
How could that possibly be done?
"You said you could," Hyūga Kumokawa looked at the hand gripping his arm, raised his own hand, and calmly but firmly pried the fingers loose. "You only need to follow orders."
Moonlight cast the shadows of the two men onto the ground, swaying amidst the flickering shadows of the surrounding trees.
"..."
Remembering the sensation from moments ago, an overwhelming tide of desire threatened to crush him. Hyūga Hizashi gritted his teeth. "Fine! I'll do it!"
Seeing him in this state of disarray, Hyūga Kumokawa chuckled inwardly.
A bird that had lost its freedom, granted a fleeting taste of it again, allowed to soar once more in the open sky…
How could it ever be content to return to its cramped cage?
However, Hyūga Hizashi was merely a supporting actor he had chosen.
The truly important piece…
Hyūga Kumokawa's gaze shifted slightly, settling on the silent, still residence in the distance.