With a heavy thud, the severed head hit the ground. The face was frozen mid-expression—fear, pleading, and confusion all locked in place.
When Hyuga Hiashi glanced over casually, he could still see that look in the eyes. That confusion.
It was like Hyuga Kenjiro, even at the moment of death, still couldn't wrap his head around it—why didn't Hiashi, the head of the clan, stand up for him?
Why hadn't he taken a harder stance? Why hadn't he defended a fellow Main House member?
Why had he let an Uchiha walk into the Hyuga compound and kill people like it was nothing?
Hiashi couldn't shake the guilt. It clawed at his chest.
And yet, he had no answer. No explanation. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind, but all that came out… was a silent sigh.
Under the tense stares of many clan members, Hiashi finally looked up and locked eyes with Uchiha Chizumi. But it only lasted a second.
Because Hiashi suddenly remembered those terrifying eyes—the Mangekyō Sharingan.
There was something eerie about them. Something inhuman.
Even Shimura Danzo, the infamous head of Root, had crumbled in front of them—no resistance, no escape.
And now... rumors said Chizumi had Wood Release too.
Wood Release. Sharingan. Lava Release.
Seriously, what kind of busted combination was that?
Hiashi suddenly had a ridiculous thought—If Chizumi blinked and suddenly had the Byakugan, I probably wouldn't even be surprised.
Shaken, Hiashi subtly averted his gaze. He couldn't maintain eye contact.
"Chizumi," he finally said, lowering his head. "The Hyuga clan has no objections to the... 'Absolute Justice' you've carried out today."
He sounded tired. Defeated.
"What Hyuga Jinsuke did years ago was undeniably unjust. And Kenjiro's drug dealings with Gato—yes, that violated the laws of the Land of Fire."
"They both deserved consequences. And as clan head, not catching them in time was my failure. I accept that. I'll reflect on it."
Neji stared in disbelief.
This was the great Main House?
The same Hiashi who could make my father scream in pain with a single hand sign?
Now, in front of Uchiha Chizumi's "Absolute Justice," the Main House looked like nothing special.
They acted untouchable within the clan, but outside of it? They backed down. They bowed.
That illusion of superiority Neji once believed in—it started to fracture.
Then Chizumi spoke.
"Oh? You're reflecting? That's rich. I almost laughed."
Hiashi and Neji both froze.
Neji was confused. Didn't Hiashi just admit fault? Isn't that what reflection is?
Chizumi's eyes were still locked onto Hiashi, and for some reason, that made Hiashi visibly uneasy.
"You admitted what Jinsuke did years ago was wrong," Chizumi said, his tone like ice. "But not what he did last night."
"That tells me everything."
"In your heart, you still believe that trying to break the Caged Bird Seal makes someone deserve to die."
"You think Jinsuke was right to torture Yokogari. That Yokogari died simply because he was unlucky."
"You think just like Jinsuke did."
"In your eyes, the Main House standing above the Branch House is perfectly natural. Nothing wrong with it at all."
"I'm right, aren't I, Hiashi?"
Hiashi didn't move. Neji stood frozen.
But then it hit Neji.
Yeah… that's right!
Hiashi had never once said that torturing Yokogari—causing his old illness to flare up and kill him—was wrong.
Hiashi wasn't reflecting on that at all.
He hadn't shown even a sliver of empathy for the Branch House.
And Neji—he'd actually believed him.
He'd wanted to believe Hiashi had changed. That maybe, just maybe, he understood how wrong it was to treat the Branch this way.
That maybe he'd admit Yokogari wasn't in the wrong.
Since when did I lower my expectations this much? Neji thought bitterly. Why the hell am I hoping for kindness from someone I should hate?
Hiashi exhaled. Then spoke again.
"Chizumi, you don't understand how things are in the Hyuga clan. What Jinsuke did—torturing Yokogari for half an hour—yes, it was excessive."
"But it was... an overreaction in the process of enforcing clan law."
"If you want to put it that way: punishing Yokogari was justified. The problem was how far Jinsuke took it. That part—I'll admit—was wrong."
"I don't think Yokogari deserved to die. And I do regret his passing. But that doesn't mean he didn't break the rules."
"The Caged Bird Seal is the foundation that's protected our bloodline for hundreds of years. Yokogari tried to destroy that."
"The Main House can't allow that kind of behavior."
Hiashi paused. His voice steadied a bit.
"Jinsuke was wrong. But so was Yokogari. That's where I stand."
…
Behind Chizumi, Naruto looked like he was getting a headache.
He leaned toward Sasuke and whispered, "Hey... do you have any idea what this guy's going on about?"
Sasuke gave him a look. "He's saying their clan rules are above everything else. Or at least on the same level as the country's laws, the village rules, and even Absolute Justice."
Naruto blinked. "How can you even understand this stuff?!"
Sasuke exhaled. "Because there are guys like him in the Uchiha too. Stubborn. Obsessed with tradition."
"People like that? If their clan rules contradict justice, they'll still follow the clan."
"And even if it contradicts Konoha's laws? Same story. They won't care."
He'd grown up around this kind of thinking. It wasn't rare.
The Uchiha were rigid, sure—but not this rigid. After all, the Sharingan thrived on rebellion and emotion.
The Hyuga, though?
Their entire clan seemed brainwashed by tradition.
Even the Branch House—especially the Branch House.
Then a weird, high-pitched voice broke the tension.
"What the hell are you mumbling about, meow?!"
Hiashi blinked.
It came from Jujiro, the orange tabby ninja cat sitting at Chizumi's feet.
The cat looked up at Hiashi, eyes full of contempt.
"Let me guess. Next, you're gonna say the Main House is the 'true heir' of the Hyuga clan, and the Branch House is just here to protect you?"
"That Branch members are supposed to shut up and know their place? That if they dare to step out of line, they deserve to suffer under the Caged Bird Seal?"
Hiashi stayed silent. The cat had said everything he was about to say.
But way more brutally.
And then the cat really went off.
"Gross! You're disgusting, Hiashi!"
"'Heirs of tradition'? Please. You guys just use the Caged Bird Seal to enslave your own people. You threaten them with pain and death just to keep yourselves on top."
"Having the seal or not—that's how you decide who's better and who's worse. Don't act like you're preserving the bloodline. Your whole Main House is so inbred you're starting to lose brain cells."
Then the cat turned to Neji.
Jumped onto his shoulder—he nearly fell over—and jabbed his cheek hard.
"And you! You've really been brainwashed, haven't you?"
"Hiashi says a few flowery words and you're ready to drop to your knees in gratitude? Even the Inuzuka clan's dogs don't get trained that easily!"
"At least Inuzuka dogs—when they act out—their handlers care. They ask what's wrong."
"You guys? You try to break a seal you never wanted and they torture you like you're not even a person. Not even a dog."
Neji's face turned red with shame.
"One thing," Jujiro said. "Your clan's so-called rules? They're not noble. They're just twisted, sick rules born from a broken world."
"And the Caged Bird Seal? It's the worst of them."
"Meow. Damn. I'm gonna blow a fuse."
The cat sat down, completely parched from yelling.
And the entire Hyuga compound?
Dead silent.
No one expected a talking cat to rip both Main and Branch House members to shreds.
Hiashi, trying to stay composed, realized: if he didn't speak up now, people would think he agreed with that damn cat.
And if word spread?
The Hyuga clan's reputation would be destroyed.
Worse, the Branch House would be emboldened. Hiashi could already feel their anger simmering.
This could spark a full-blown civil war.
Even if the Main House used the Seal to control them—it wouldn't be enough to stop bloodshed.
"The Caged Bird Seal wasn't meant to enslave the Branch," Hiashi finally said, voice low and heavy. "We created it to protect our people. Before it existed, enemies hunted us for our eyes."
"One of our ancestors developed the Seal to destroy the Byakugan if it were stolen. Over time, the world learned you can't steal a Hyuga's eye—and so we were safe."
"That's the reason. It's not oppression."
"Is that so?" Chizumi asked. "Then why don't Main House members have the seal?"
Hiashi answered without thinking. "Because the Branch is already there to protect us. The Main House doesn't need it."
And just like that—dead silence again.
The Branch members all turned to Hiashi in disbelief.
"…Why?"
The voice came from Neji.
He was staring straight at Hiashi, eyes full of confusion and frustration.
"Why is it the Branch's job to protect the Main House? Why do we have to die for you?"
"Like Chizumi-sama said—if the Main House had the seal too, then maybe the Branch wouldn't need to be your bodyguards. Maybe we wouldn't have to be your scapegoats…"
Neji didn't even know where the courage came from. But the words wouldn't stop.
A raspy voice joined in. A Main House elder stepped forward.
"Neji," he said, "you're Hizashi's son. You should understand. The split between Main and Branch has lasted nearly a thousand years."
"Outsiders might misunderstand. But you?"
"Even Hiashi's own daughters will one day be separated into Main and Branch."
"If you carry Hyuga blood, you can't escape our laws. No one can defy ancestral rule."
"'Ancestral law is absolute'—that's the Hyuga way."
He looked at the two heads on the ground, his face calm.
Then turned to Chizumi.
"Your job is to bring justice to criminals. Our clan's traditions aren't your business."
"You've done your duty by killing two criminals. The rest? Stay out of it."
But Chizumi didn't even look at him.
Instead, he turned to Neji.
And calmly asked: "Hey, kid. What does 'justice' mean to you?"
Everyone froze.
Even Neji.
"…Justice?"
Suddenly, Neji remembered things Naruto and Sasuke had told him. Definitions of justice. Theories. Ideals.
But before he could answer, Chizumi spoke again.
"Order. Fairness. Morality. Punishing evil. Uplifting good. Is that what you think justice is?"
"Yes!" Neji answered quickly, afraid of being cut off again.
"Then tell me."
"Have you seen fairness in the Hyuga clan?"
"Do you think your clan's 'order' is really righteous?"
"Is the morality you've been taught truly right?"
Each question came sharper than the last.
Hiashi and the elder visibly tensed.
"I…"
Neji felt everyone watching him.
Hiashi. The elder. Dozens of Hyuga.
Was it fair? Was it just?
He touched his forehead, thinking of his father's sacrifice.
Of Yokogari's torture.
Of Jujiro's words.
No—it wasn't fair.
It wasn't just.
The Hyuga clan's so-called morality was wrong.
Maybe others in the clan couldn't see it. But when a ninja cat yells it in your face?
It becomes impossible to ignore.
The problem wasn't Neji's hesitation.
It wasn't fear of Chizumi.
It was something deeper.
The Hyuga clan's twisted values had become a prison for his mind.
If the Caged Bird Seal was the physical cage—
Then these beliefs?
They were the spiritual one.
The one that trapped both him and his father.
Forever.
Chizumi looked away. "I can already see your answer on your face."
Then he turned to the elder.
"Justice doesn't stop at punishing criminals. When it finds twisted thinking and broken rules, it has a duty to set them right."
"Because if it doesn't, those things will breed more evil."
"So tell me…"
"Are you going to stop justice from doing its job?"
….
"…Something's off here," Kakashi muttered in the shadows, sweat dripping from his brow.
He had expected Chizumi to kill the criminals and leave.
But the tension said otherwise.
Chizumi wasn't just here to punish. He was here to change everything.
He wanted to overturn Hyuga clan law.
He wanted to challenge their entire ideology.
Even the Hokage hadn't dared that.
Could he really do it?
With power alone?
With this "absolute justice"?
"The way those Main House guys are looking at Chizumi now… yeah, this is bad."
Kakashi stayed hidden, watching everything.
"They benefit from the tradition. There's no way they'll let someone carve the same seal into their own foreheads."
Everyone in Konoha could see the hypocrisy.
Just like they'd seen the Uchiha crisis coming.
The Main House was never popular. Why else would their heiress get bullied by commoners?
But even then… they never changed.
That stubbornness?
Was why everything was about to fall apart.
What would happen if the Branch House finally got the upper hand?
No one wanted to find out.
"Shit. I should've told Yamanaka Ryoshin to call the Hokage…"
…
"See, kid?" Jujiro said, still perched on Neji's shoulder. He poked Neji's cheek again.
"Even an outsider like Chizumi-sama cares more about you Branch folks than your own clan does."
"In his eyes, you don't have to kneel. The Main House doesn't deserve your submission—not after centuries."
"Meow—don't get brainwashed by 'evil' that only pretends to be rule."
"Wake up, Neji boy!"
And with those final words, both Chizumi's speech and Jujiro's brutal honesty echoed in Neji's ears—
—and hit like a thunderclap.
~~~
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