Inside a private room at the Konoha Hospital.
The soft afternoon sun streamed in, seeping through the gaps in the curtain and casting a diagonal light on the pristine white bed, illuminating the constantly furrowing brow and closed eyes of Hyūga Takashii.
His eyelids fluttered a few times before slowly opening, his consciousness seemingly rising from a deep sea.
Feeling a tingling discomfort in his right leg, Takashii looked down.
Hyūga Neji was slumped against his leg, fast asleep, his black hair catching the soft sunlight, his body gently rising and falling with his steady breathing.
Clearly, Neji had stayed up all night guarding him.
A wave of warmth, mixed with guilt, instantly swelled in Takashii's heart.
"You're awake?"
A low voice came from the window. Takashii's heart clenched, and he instinctively turned his head toward the sound.
Silhouetted against the light, a tall figure stood quietly by the window, his back to Takashii, gazing at the scenery outside.
Recognizing the person as Hyūga Iroha, Takashii's tense nerves immediately relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
"You fought them already. Are you still afraid of those guys retaliating?"
Hyūga Iroha turned around, a helpless and slightly amused expression on his face, looking at the startled Takashii on the hospital bed.
Undoubtedly, Takashii's reaction showed he had been having a nightmare.
After being subjected to the shadow of the Caged Bird Seal and the Main House for over a decade, eliminating the fear of the Main House in a short time was not simple.
"..."
Takashii pursed his dry lips and didn't answer. He used his functional left hand to prop himself up, trying to sit upright.
In the movement, he subconsciously tried to lift his dominant right hand to rub his throbbing temples.
However, the moment his right hand moved, a searing, agonizing pain instantly shot from the arm, which was secured by thick bandages and a splint. The pain traveled along the damaged pathways, surging frantically throughout his body.
"Hiss!"
Takashii gasped, his face instantly turning pale as paper. Veins on his forehead throbbed violently from the agony, and beads of cold sweat seeped from his brow and temples.
The movement immediately woke Neji, who was sleeping by the bedside.
"Takashii-nii?"
He suddenly looked up, startled to see Takashii trying to sit up. The lingering sleepiness instantly vanished from his face.
"Don't move! Just lie still!"
Neji quickly reached out and, with careful but irresistible force, gently pressed Takashii back onto the bed.
"The doctor said your arm injury is very serious!" he said urgently. "Multiple meridians are damaged, and there are cracks in the bone. You need a long period of rest before you regain full use of it."
The Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist is an inherently insidious technique targeting the meridians and internal organs.
Given that Hyūga Yōto hadn't held back at all, the fact that Takashii was able to keep his arm and it wasn't permanently crippled was a huge stroke of luck amid the misfortune!
"Hoo..."
Takashii gasped heavily, enduring the severe pain that felt like countless steel needles repeatedly piercing him. He didn't struggle, obediently lay back down, closed his eyes, and tried to regulate his breathing.
He didn't want to be crippled.
He still wanted to become a powerful ninja like Kawa-sama.
But...
"Iroha-nii."
He opened his eyes again, looking at Hyūga Iroha by the window, his voice husky and tinged with guilt. "Did I cause trouble for you guys?"
Hyūga Iroha didn't turn around, his gaze still fixed on the window.
"Hyūga Yōto was the one who went too far."
He remained silent for a moment, then gently shook his head. "You did very well. You had many chances to cripple him, but you chose to pull your punch and not completely break ties."
Despite his words, the faint unease in Iroha's heart refused to dissipate.
Yōto's final, venomous threat, and the look of madness and unwillingness in his eyes as he left, gave Iroha a strong premonition of disaster.
The matter won't end this easily. Hyūga Yōto might not let it go.
"Don't worry."
Though uneasy, Iroha's tone remained steady. "You saved face for the Main House. It was Yōto who was a sore loser and lost his own honor."
"Even though Kawa-sama isn't here, Hiashi-sama is. The Main House won't come directly after you."
"Hmph, I was too soft on him!" Takashii's voice was stubborn and husky. "That bastard actually dared to use the Caged Bird Seal on me. If he dares to come again... cough, cough!"
His agitated words strained his injuries, triggering another violent coughing fit.
"Don't push yourself!"
Neji poured a cup of warm water and held it to Takashii's lips. "You need rest now. Whatever the issue or grudge, wait until your injuries are healed."
"Cough, cough!" Takashii drank a few sips from Neji's hand, and his coughing finally subsided slightly.
Just as he was about to say something, a fierce commotion penetrated the soundproof walls of the hospital room, clearly reaching them.
"You can't go in!"
"The patient needs rest!"
"Please leave!"
"Get out of the way!"
A nurse's anxious, dissuading voice was mixed with rough shouts of reprimand.
Hyūga Iroha's eyes instantly narrowed. His body tensed, and he spun around, quickly moving toward the room door, intending to open it to see what was happening.
But just as his hand was about to touch the doorknob—
BANG!!
The door was violently shoved open from the outside!
The sheer force made the door slam against the wall, creating a deafening crash!
Several guards wearing the Hyūga Clan uniform and bearing cold expressions stood outside the door, making the already somewhat spacious hospital corridor and room feel cramped.
Leading the group was Hyūga Komon.
"Hyūga Komon! What are you..." Hyūga Iroha's face darkened, and he demanded fiercely.
However, Komon gave him no chance to finish.
Komon instantly closed the distance to Iroha, condensing Chakra into his right palm, and delivered a ruthless strike to Iroha's abdomen!
Chakra invaded Iroha's body like a venomous snake. Intense pain followed, and the Chakra that had been flowing smoothly inside him instantly became chaotic!
"Agh!"
Iroha's legs buckled. His body uncontrollably staggered backward, collapsing heavily onto the floor. Cold sweat instantly covered his forehead, and his face turned ashen.
For a moment, he didn't even have the strength to stand up.
"Iroha-nii!"
The faces of both Hyūga Neji and Hyūga Takashii instantly changed.
Hyūga Neji looked at Hyūga Komon, immediately stood up, and blocked the way to the hospital bed, shouting furiously at Komon, "What are you doing?!"
Hyūga Komon's gaze swept over the three people in the room, finally resting on the pale-faced Takashii on the bed, whose eyes held a mix of panic and anger.
"Hyūga Takashii!"
His voice was icy as he read out the accusations one by one. "Yesterday at Training Ground Three, you publicly violated clan rules by secretly learning, using, and unauthorizedly modifying the Main House's secret Gentle Fist!"
"Furthermore, late last night, you infiltrated the Main House compound and assaulted Main House member Hyūga Yōto, using extremely cruel methods!"
"Your assassination attempt failed when you were discovered in time, and as you fled, you directly gouged out his eyes! The method is consistent with several previous murder cases involving Main House members!"
"We now suspect you are the murderer!"
Hyūga Komon abruptly waved his hand and commanded coldly, "By order of the Main House Elders! Apprehend him!"
What?
Hyūga Yōto was assaulted?!
The pupils of Takashii, Neji, and the kneeling Iroha constricted.
How is that possible? How could this be such a coincidence?!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several poised Main House guards instantly fanned out to surround the bed. Two of them unhesitatingly leaped toward Hyūga Takashii on the hospital bed!
"Stop!"
Hyūga Neji roared. Veins on his forehead violently bulged as he assumed the starting stance of the Gentle Fist.
The moment the two charging guards reached the bed, his left and right hands shot out simultaneously. His index and middle fingers, condensed with Chakra, were held together!
Pfft! Pfft!
With two faint sounds, like air bubbles popping, Neji's hands precisely struck the chest and abdomen of the two guards, hitting two crucial Chakra points.
The two guards grunted, collapsing onto the floor like rags, drained of all strength.
Clean and decisive! One strike, one enemy subdued!
After the training from Hyūga Kawa and the increased purity of Neji's Byakugan, his perception had been greatly enhanced, allowing him to fully utilize his talent.
This sudden turn of events made the remaining guards freeze in their tracks. They subconsciously halted their advance, their eyes turning to the leader, Hyūga Komon, with hesitation and apprehension.
Clearly, they were wary of Neji's identity; after all, he was the son of the former Branch House Head, Hyūga Hizashi, and this guy's strength...
Hyūga Komon glared intently at Neji, a chilling coldness growing wildly in his heart.
This brat, at such a young age, has already mastered the Byakugan and Gentle Fist to this extent, striking with such ruthless precision?
These rebellious members of the Branch House, with their great ambitions, are indeed a serious threat to the Hyūga Clan! They must be eliminated as soon as possible!
"Hyūga Neji!" Komon suddenly stepped forward and declared sharply, "Are you trying to shield a murderer and defy the orders of the Main House?!"
"This is slander!"
Neji met Komon's cold gaze without fear, angrily refuting, "Takashii has been in the hospital all this time! We have doctors and nurses to testify! How could he possibly attack Hyūga Yōto?"
"Hmph! With his ability, slipping past the doctors and nurses' notice is simple!"
Hyūga Komon sneered. "The person who attacked Lord Yōto used a Wind Release Ninjutsu! Who else in the entire Hyūga Clan can use it besides him?"
"Furthermore, do you think we did nothing during the long time it took for us to come for Hyūga Takashii from last night until now?"
"We found this thing in the basement of Hyūga Takashii's house!"
As his voice fell, before Neji and the others could fully process the shock of that statement, Hyūga Komon reached into his robe and carefully pulled out a transparent glass jar.
The jar was small, filled with green nutrient fluid. Submerged in the liquid were a pair of Byakugan, completely devoid of life!
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