When Iroha Hyuga heard those words, he suddenly realized something. His heart felt as if it were gripped by an icy hand.
"Neji Hyuga!" He stared at Neji Hyuga with wide eyes, his voice rising in shock. "You are the one."
"Yes." Neji Hyuga answered calmly. "The one who killed those two Otsutsuki Clan Main Family members was me. Only Ryoma was spared."
Iroha Hyuga's pale face flushed with a sickly red. His teeth clenched, and his body trembled with Wrath. It was him. It was really Neji Hyuga.
Neji Hyuga was the real murderer. He was the one who dug out the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family's Pure Byakugan.
"You!" Iroha Hyuga growled, wanting to leap forward and tear this mad executioner into pieces. Yet when his gaze met those cold, calm Pure Byakugan eyes, the fury inside him was doused at once.
What use was Wrath now? Even if he knew the truth, what could he do? At this point, it no longer mattered who the real culprit was.
As long as they were members of the Branch Family Members, they would become the excuse for the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family to strike. Understanding this, the sick flush faded from Iroha Hyuga's face, replaced by a dead gray emptiness.
"Neji Hyuga." He gave a bitter laugh, his voice exhausted. "What do you really want? Why tell me all this?"
"Cooperate with me." Neji Hyuga's voice was low and firm. "Help me kill all the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family who control the Caged Bird curse mark. You should understand that you have no choice."
Iroha Hyuga knew it was true. If he reported this to the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family now, even if Neji Hyuga were executed, the outcome would only be worse. The Otsutsuki Clan Main Family would never believe this was the madness of one person.
They would only grow more fearful and more wary. They would believe the Branch Family Members had already crossed from threats to real assassinations.
Neji Hyuga had already killed, taken eyes, and even planned to kill them all. Faced with such fear, the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family could do anything to remove future danger.
Iroha Hyuga did not dare think further. His duty was to protect the Branch Family Members. To report this would be to personally push them into ruin.
His choices were few. He could do nothing and pray for success or mercy. He could stop Neji Hyuga and imprison or kill him, yet that would not solve the crisis. Or there was the final choice.
"Help me." Neji Hyuga leaned down, his face close to Iroha Hyuga's, just as Ryoma once did. His young face was filled with cold killing intent. "Help me kill everyone who controls the Caged Bird curse mark."
"I told you," he said coldly. "You, me, and the Branch Family Members have no choice."
"Either you do nothing and watch everything Ryoma gave the Branch Family Members be destroyed by you and the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family. Or you gamble once with me."
"If we win, the Branch Family Members will break free from the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family and gain true freedom. If we lose, I will die, and your end will be no different from doing nothing."
Each word struck Iroha Hyuga's heart. His clenched fist loosened, and blood dripped from his palm as his strength gave out.
After a long silence, Iroha Hyuga slowly raised his head. He looked at Neji Hyuga up close and gave a hoarse, bitter smile.
"You are truly a madman."
"Yes." Neji Hyuga replied calmly. "Like Ryoma, I am a madman."
"Only madmen like us can make the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family feel fear of Ryoma. Only then can the Branch Family Members gain even a trace of freedom."
Hearing this, Iroha Hyuga fell silent again. He thought of everything Ryoma had done for the Branch Family Members. He remembered the figure standing before everyone and the words spoken before leaving.
At last, he let out a deep breath. His body trembled as he spoke.
"You are right. Ryoma should not have entrusted the Branch Family Members to me. I do not have his resolve to choose and bear all the consequences."
"But you have already made the choice for me. If I cannot even carry out that choice, then I truly am useless."
He staggered to his feet, coughing violently. He remembered how the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family had mocked the Branch Family Members, saying their wings were growing harder.
"The strength of the Branch Family Members's wings is not for them to judge," he said. "Only when we fly will we know."
When Neji Hyuga heard this, his tense body finally relaxed. He was afraid, of course. He was only a boy.
Even his earlier words were spoken by copying Ryoma's tone, forcing down his own fear. Yet he understood that fear had no meaning before the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family. It would only be used against them.
Only struggle, only madness, only Wrath. Only by turning fear into action could they make the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family feel it. Only then could he break that absurd so-called destiny.
In the night sky above Land of Demons, darkness stretched without end. A cloud of sand formed from golden grains drifted silently, with Third Kazekage standing atop it with arms crossed. Behind him, the two guards Maki and Yura watched the darkness below with alert eyes.
Close behind them flew a gigantic owl sculpted entirely from light-colored clay. Its heavy wings beat the air as Deidara, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Mei Terumi stood on its back. The owl let out a low rumble as it kept pace with the sand cloud.
"How much longer until we arrive?" Deidara complained impatiently while controlling the clay owl. "Five people are really heavy. My art is about to get squashed, hmm."
Floating beside the owl, Onoki frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "What is the situation in Kirigakure? We should be close, right?" His gaze stayed fixed on the darkness ahead.
The owl's claws tightly gripped the pale-faced Darui and Chakra. At the question, Chakra fought down the urge to vomit and forced himself to focus. He raised his hand to form seals, and veins bulged around his right eye socket.
"Pure Byakugan! Activate!" he shouted. Beneath the eye patch, Pure Byakugan opened, piercing through layers of mist and rock. His vision locked precisely onto the depths of the canyon below.
Moonlight spilled over jagged rock walls shaped like the fangs of a giant beast. Deep within the canyon, mist and darkness mingled, giving off a chilling stillness that pressed on the nerves. The silence felt heavy and unnatural.
"It's in the canyon below," Chakra said, his voice carrying a trace of gravity as he pointed downward. "Those Iwagakure Statue soldiers are coming from there…"
Before he could finish speaking, Deidara's eyes lit up with excitement. A grin spread across his face as he laughed. "Haha, we finally found it, hmm!"
Without hesitation, he drove the clay owl into a sharp dive. The owl screamed through the air as it plunged toward the direction Chakra had indicated.
"Ah!" The sudden acceleration and violent shaking sent Chakra and Darui screaming as they dangled from the owl's claws. Their cries stretched out in the rushing wind.
"Follow!" Third Kazekage exchanged a glance with Onoki. Both burst into motion, accelerating as they dove down from above the canyon.
The sand cloud and the diving clay owl turned into streaks of light. They plunged together into the thick darkness and mist at the canyon's depths.