"Who's there?! Show yourself!"
The instant that voice reached his ears, Hyūga Hizashi activated his Byakugan without hesitation.
Yet what he perceived made his heart sink.
Aside from Neji, the surroundings were completely empty.
No chakra signatures.
No hidden figures.
Only the sound of wind through leaves, his own breathing, and the steady pounding of his heart.
It was so quiet that even insects seemed to have vanished.
Hizashi scanned the area repeatedly with his Byakugan, but there was nowhere the voice could have come from.
"Where are you looking?"
The voice spoke again.
This time, it was unmistakably clear.
Hizashi spun around sharply, eyes locking onto the space behind him—
Nothing.
Rows of trees stood silently, their dense foliage swaying in the wind. In the flickering shadows, it almost looked as though countless figures were hidden among the branches.
Then—
Soft, unhurried footsteps sounded.
Just from the sound alone, one could tell how relaxed their owner was.
Walking through the Hyūga compound—an area saturated with Byakugan users—yet moving as if strolling leisurely through a private garden.
Moments later, a figure emerged from the darkness.
Pitch-black—like ink spilled into the night—yet within Hizashi's Byakugan vision, that blackness spread and bled unnaturally.
The figure stopped directly in front of him.
Hizashi narrowed his gaze, trying to pierce through the hood, to discern every contour of the face beneath.
But beneath the hood was only dense, roiling shadow—like a living thing.
It swallowed his probing gaze whole, chewing it apart, leaving nothing behind.
A monster.
That word surfaced unbidden in his mind.
Cold sweat trickled down Hizashi's temple.
Someone who had infiltrated Konoha without a sound.
Ignored the village's sensory barriers.
Entered the Hyūga compound itself.
And completely bypassed the Byakugan.
The figure stood right in front of him—
yet was utterly undetectable.
If this person hadn't spoken, Hizashi wouldn't have noticed them at all.
If they had appeared behind him and slit his throat—
He would have died without ever realizing it.
What kind of technique is this?
A hidden jutsu? A kekkei genkai?
Even Invisibility Release couldn't do this…
"Who are you?"
Hizashi spoke while his mind raced, subtly reaching into his robe to trigger the alarm signaling an intruder.
"The moment you do that," the figure said calmly,
"I'll have enough time to cut your throat. Before reinforcements arrive, I could also kill that child."
Killing intent saturated his words.
Hizashi froze.
His hand stopped instantly.
The figure's eerie presence and unnervingly calm tone left no room to doubt the truth of that threat.
With this kind of ability to nullify perception, the figure could kill him, escape silently, and leave behind no trace whatsoever.
Did they possess that power?
"…."
Hizashi withdrew his hand and stared at the black-robed figure, his voice low.
"What do you want?"
He didn't dare gamble.
This being was too abnormal.
His own life didn't matter—but Neji was right behind him.
And since the intruder hadn't attacked immediately, it meant they might not be here solely to kill.
What Hizashi didn't know—
Was that the person he feared so deeply
was someone he had met only hours earlier.
The black-robed figure—Hyūga Gin—did not answer at once.
He simply watched Hizashi.
Silence fell again.
Only the rustle of leaves, Hizashi's increasingly heavy breathing, and the rapid thudding of his heart remained.
Just as the tension peaked—
just as Hizashi's fingers twitched, on the verge of striking—
"You said," the figure finally spoke,
"that everything that child suffers will become a treasure that makes him stronger."
Though the voice remained hoarse and unnatural, Hizashi let out a quiet breath of relief.
The figure was eye level with him—
yet it felt as though he were being looked down upon from above.
That unseen gaze swept over him slowly.
It felt as though invisible hands were gripping every inch of his skin, tightening, ready to crush him into pulp.
"What are you trying to say?" Hizashi demanded, his resistance ebbing away.
"You're lying to yourself," Gin replied calmly.
"Suffering is just suffering. It isn't noble. It isn't valuable."
"Suffering drains flesh and spirit. It makes people sensitive, warped, and extreme."
Then, with a faint trace of mockery:
"Just like what your parents once did to you."
Hizashi's expression darkened.
"They shattered your values," Gin continued.
"Stuffed their beliefs, their worldview, their sense of 'rightness' into your head."
"They demanded obedience. They belittled you. They told you this was correct—this was your fate."
"And when you struggled, when you resisted, they changed. They screamed at you. They broke you. They locked you in a cage."
"They beat you. Scolded you. Pleaded with you."
"They did everything except let you go."
"They said you were wrong. They were right. They said it was for your own good."
"So you surrendered. And in the end… you became one of them."
Gin's words grew sharper, crueler.
"Years later, you see your own child—just like you once were. You tell yourself he'll kneel the same way you did. Accept fate like a dog."
"So you—"
"Enough!"
Hizashi roared, unable to suppress it any longer.
Those words cut like knives, carving into his heart again and again.
Each sentence dragged out memories he had buried—
blurred faces, forgotten voices, words that had once defined his world.
"You don't understand!" Hizashi snarled, teeth clenched.
"I—I did it for—"
The words stuck in his throat.
For Neji's sake?
Wasn't that exactly what the man before him had just said?
"Kh—!"
Hizashi's face went pale. He clutched his mouth as nausea surged violently.
Disgusting.
Not others.
Himself.
He didn't want to admit it—but he truly could no longer understand Neji.
Couldn't understand why Neji hated the Main Family so deeply.
After all, he was the one who had shown killing intent toward Hinata.
He was the one at fault.
And yet—
At some point, he had lost all ability to understand the rebellious boy he once was.
He had been born just fifteen minutes after his brother, Hyūga Hiashi.
Just fifteen minutes.
And because of that—
He became Branch Family.
He received the Caged Bird Seal.
He lost freedom.
He lost himself.
He had resisted once. Questioned once.
But now, all he could think was—
Isn't this just fate?
When did this begin?
What had he become?
"Some birds," Gin said softly, stepping closer,
"can never be caged. Every feather on their wings shines with freedom. They are born for the sky."
He stopped beside Hizashi, his voice dripping with quiet temptation.
"Hyūga Hizashi."
"Tell me your choice."
"Will you be a ruthless executioner—
the one who snaps a bird's wings with his own hands?"
"Or…"
"Will you choose to be a father?"