As he spoke, he raised the "Box of Ultimate Bliss" in his hand, and a soul with pale glowing eyes was guided into Fugaku Uchiha's body. Without question, it was the soul of Toneri Otsutsuki's father. Shadow had kept it until today for this very moment.
"I once heard that there is a kind of bird in this world with no feet. It can only keep flying, and when it grows tired, it sleeps in the wind."
"That bird can land only once in its life, and that is at death."
Shadow laughed softly. "You pushed the chick under your wings off a cliff, watched it struggle and finally fly into the sky, breaking free from the prison of fate."
"But for the rest of his life, he will become a footless bird, flying endlessly with nowhere to stop, until the moment he falls to death."
"If you want to see his future with your own eyes," Shadow said in a low voice with a hint of amusement, "then keep struggling in pain."
As his words ended, something seemed to stir, and a cold aura surged from Fugaku Uchiha's body. Shadow no longer looked at him and slowly raised his head, his gaze seeming to pass through the walls to the four outside, to Neji Hyuga who looked as if he had matured overnight.
"Now you are worthy of that blade," he said quietly. "Let me add a little fire to tonight's Konoha."
He raised his hand toward the Hokage Building.
At the same moment, deep beneath the Hokage Building in the Forbidden Techniques Vault, one of the "Seven Deadly Sins Essence" began to tremble. That sword bore a single name.
"Wrath."
"Neji Hyuga! Have you lost your mind?!"
Faced with the shock and demands from Lady Aoi and Homura Mitokado, Neji Hyuga showed no change at all. His face was flat and cold, like still water without a ripple.
"You still came back," he said in a hoarse but steady voice, without any emotion. "Too bad, you are too late."
"What I wanted…" He slowly raised the hand stained with blood and looked down at his palm, his tone mixed and hard to read. "At this moment, I already have it."
"What did you do?"
Lady Aoi forced her thoughts down and frowned, her sharp gaze sweeping over Neji Hyuga. When her eyes reached his forehead, she suddenly froze and asked in alarm, "Your Caged Bird Seal…"
Something was wrong. The Caged Bird Seal that should have been as clear as a brand now looked blurred and dim.
Could it be that Neji Hyuga had found a way to use a Sealing Technique or even remove the Caged Bird Seal? Was that the reason he could injure or even kill Fugaku Uchiha instead of being executed by the Caged Bird Seal on the spot?
"Lady Aoi."
At that moment, Homura Mitokado's voice cut through her thoughts.
"Hold Neji Hyuga here for now," he said with an urgency she had never heard before. "I will go inside immediately to check on Lord Fugaku Uchiha!"
A few days earlier, Fugaku Uchiha had used a mission as an excuse to send him out of the village as Lady Aoi's escort. Homura Mitokado knew very well that this was because Fugaku Uchiha was preparing to move against the Branch Family Members and feared that Lady Aoi would interfere with the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family's actions.
But now, recalling what he had seen along the way, the corpses of the Branch Family Members guards and the silent, lifeless Otsutsuki Clan Main Family estates, a horrifying thought crept into his mind. Even so, the pride of a loyal hound of the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family and his fear of the Caged Bird Seal made it impossible for Homura Mitokado to accept this insane and terrifying guess.
He did not believe it and did not want to believe it. How could Neji Hyuga, a Branch Family Member bound by the Caged Bird Seal, possibly pose a threat to Lord Fugaku Uchiha or even to the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family?
Lady Aoi did not answer him right away, keeping all her attention on Neji Hyuga.
"Neji Hyuga," she said in a low voice while staring at him. "Stay here and do nothing dangerous. I guarantee you will not be harmed."
Earlier, she had been scolded by Fugaku Uchiha for helping Takao Hyuga block Ryoma, then sent away on a mission as an excuse. She knew nothing about the later attack on Ryoma or the moment when the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family stormed into the ward and took Takao Hyuga by force.
She also did not know how far the conflict between the Branch Family Members and the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family had escalated and still believed they were locked in a fragile balance. When she returned and saw the bodies of the Branch Family Members guards, her first thought was an external enemy, and she rushed to the clan head's residence to report.
Even with the worst expectations in mind, she had never imagined that all of this could be connected to Neji Hyuga. Even so, if she could avoid it, she still did not want to kill him.
She did not care about Neji Hyuga's life or death. What she cared about was Ryoma's feelings.
Everyone in both the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family and the Branch Family Members knew that although Ryoma was strict with Neji Hyuga during training, he truly cared about him. "If the clan head is still alive, and when Ryoma returns from outside, maybe… maybe there is still a chance to save Neji Hyuga's life," she thought.
Just as she was about to speak again to steady Neji Hyuga.
Whoosh!
Homura Mitokado's figure vanished from the spot as he pushed Body Flicker to its limit. Like an arrow released from the bow, he cut through the air with a sharp rush of wind, trying to slip past Neji Hyuga and charge straight for the entrance of the Secret Chamber behind him.
His speed was so fast that ordinary Root ninja would not have time to react or even catch an afterimage. But the instant he reached Neji Hyuga's side, everything changed.
Neji Hyuga did not even turn his eyes. He simply lifted his other free hand.
There were no hand seals and no sign of activating the Pure Byakugan. He just thrust his palm forward toward Homura Mitokado's charge.
Buzz!
A highly compressed mass of Chakra, so dense it was almost visible, burst from his palm like a heavy cannon shot. It slammed straight into Homura Mitokado's side.
"What?!"
Homura Mitokado's pupils shrank as his instincts as a Jonin screamed in warning. In a split second, relying on pure combat instinct, he twisted his momentum, turned his body, and raised his arm, pouring all his Chakra into his palm to strike back.
Bang!!
The two forces collided, but the expected stalemate never came. After the dull impact, what followed was not an explosion of Chakra, but a terrifying series of cracking sounds as bones failed under the load.
Crack crack, kacha kacha!
A rapid chain of sharp noises burst from the bones of Homura Mitokado's arm and spread through his shoulder blade, collarbone, and ribs. It sounded like dry leaves being crushed apart.
"Ugh!"
He only managed a short, twisted scream before realizing that what he had met was not a wave of Chakra, but a solid wall. His body was blown away like a kite with its string cut, joints twisting at unnatural angles in midair.
Boom!