Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Hyuga Neji's hands were still pressed against the floor in front of his knees, his forehead almost touching the ground as he pleaded in a standard deep prostration.

Uchiha Taiga's words made Hyuga Neji freeze. He subconsciously raised his head, looking at Taiga with his mouth slightly agape, and instinctively replied.

"It was my own decision."

Hearing this, Uchiha Taiga gave a slight nod. He gently rubbed the rim of his teacup with his finger before lifting it to take a sip.

The tea was hot. White steam rose from the cup, dissipating in front of his face.

"I see."

Uchiha Taiga set the teacup down with a soft clink.

"I thought the Hyuga Branch House was planning to rebel against the Main House. To think they only sent a child like you out."

He looked at Hyuga Neji, the corners of his lips curling into a distinct smile.

"They've truly lost their edge."

Hyuga Neji's expression stiffened at those words. Realizing something, his body went rigid, and he stared at Uchiha Taiga in disbelief.

"My Lord, are you saying that my escape was intentionally allowed by the clan?"

His voice was tight and somewhat dry, his hands gripping his knees slightly.

Uchiha Taiga looked at him. "Isn't it obvious?"

His tone was casual, as if he were stating a simple fact.

Hyuga Neji fell into deep thought.

His brows furrowed tightly, and his lips pressed together. His mind raced, digging up everything that had happened over the past two years, examining and recalling each event one by one.

He thought back to all the preparations he had made over those two years.

Ever since he was ten, he had been preparing to leave Konoha.

He secretly saved money, bought ninja tools, hoarded rations, and drew maps. He thought his actions were flawless, that no one had noticed, and that he had kept everyone in the dark.

But suddenly, his body trembled.

*That was it.*

How could his various preparations possibly escape the eyes of those who were truly observant? Especially the other Branch House members, whose hatred for the Caged Bird and the Main House was no less than his own.

They had been bound by the Caged Bird their entire lives. From birth to death, from the moment they opened their eyes to the moment they closed them, that green mark remained etched on their foreheads like a scar that would never heal.

They didn't rebel—not because they didn't want to, but because they didn't dare.

They knew the price of rebellion. They knew that with a single twitch of a finger from the Main House, their brains would be destroyed.

But they wouldn't stop others from rebelling. They wouldn't even inform on them. They would simply pretend not to know, pretend not to see, acting as if nothing was happening.

Because if the one rebelling succeeded, they would benefit too.

And if the rebellion failed, they lost nothing.

Hyuga Neji's hands trembled, his knuckles turning white from the force of his grip. It wasn't out of fear, but a complex mix of emotions from realizing he had been manipulated from the shadows.

He might have been able to deceive the Main House, but the Branch House members definitely had their suspicions.

They had watched him prepare, watched him plan, and seen his determination.

They hadn't told the Main House, nor had they stopped him. They might have even helped him in secret. The clues he thought he had found himself, the information he believed he had uncovered on his own—perhaps someone had been guiding him from behind the scenes all along.

The more he thought about it, the heavier Hyuga Neji's heart became.

Too many thoughts were clashing in his mind, too much information piling up, too many emotions surging. He sat on his knees, his body leaning slightly forward, hands resting on his thighs, his head bowed so low that his expression was hidden.

Seeing Hyuga Neji spiral into self-doubt, Uchiha Taiga couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright, don't overthink it."

His voice was soft, carrying a comforting tone.

"This kind of thing is perfectly normal."

Hyuga Neji's eyelids twitched slightly. He clenched his fingers into fists, his nails digging into his palms.

"No."

His voice was heavy.

"It shouldn't be like this."

Hyuga Neji raised his head and looked at Uchiha Taiga.

"Why would they do this?"

His tone carried an uncontrollable anger, along with an indescribable sense of grievance.

Uchiha Taiga looked at him and laughed in amusement. "I didn't realize you were such a stubborn little fool."

He picked up his teacup, took another sip, set it down, and then spoke.

"Think about it. The older members of the Branch House have long been disciplined into submission by the Main House. Only a half-grown kid like you would dare to risk everything on a burst of impulse. They wouldn't dare."

"If you actually succeed, they reap the benefits. If you fail, they lose nothing."

He spread his hands.

"That's why I said it's perfectly normal."

He paused.

"You can understand that, right?"

Hyuga Neji remained silent.

He found himself unable to refute it, because those words were true. He could understand it, and precisely because he understood, it hurt even more. He felt a profound sense of betrayal.

Not betrayed by enemies, but by his own people. Those people—the Branch House members who were bound by the Caged Bird just like him, who hated the Main House just like him—they hadn't stood up. They hadn't left with him, nor had they even told him the truth.

They merely hid in the background, watching him charge out alone, watching him take the risks alone, watching him face an unknown fate all by himself.

A visible gloom settled over Hyuga Neji.

Uchiha Sasuke sat nearby, having remained mostly silent. He watched Neji kneeling on the tatami mat, his body trembling slightly, his face growing paler by the second.

He wanted to offer a few words of comfort, but he had never done such a thing in his life. Not knowing what to say, he opened and closed his mouth a few times before ultimately remaining silent.

Seeing this, Uchiha Taiga chuckled and shook his head.

"Come, look at me."

Hyuga Neji instinctively raised his head and looked at Uchiha Taiga.

His vision was instantly consumed by those extraordinary Byakugan.

What kind of eyes were those? They were a pure white without a single trace of impurity, shining like two polished pieces of white jade. The light within them was bright yet soft, like moonlight reflecting on water. But when looking into them, one felt as though they were being sucked in. Nothing else existed in his line of sight, as if those eyes were the only things left in the entire world.

In that moment, Hyuga Neji's mind and soul were entirely captivated by those eyes.

The next second, in a daze, Hyuga Neji felt a finger tap against his forehead.

The touch was incredibly light, like a cool feather landing on his skin.

The moment the finger made contact, the bandages around Hyuga Neji's forehead unraveled on their own. They slipped off his head loop by loop, sliding down like a white snake, revealing the mark that had always been hidden beneath.

The Caged Bird curse mark.

It was a green seal with patterned edges and a diagonal cross in the center. It was carved into Hyuga Neji's forehead like a brand, having been etched there since he was very young.

This thing would accompany a member of the Hyuga Branch House for their entire life. From birth to death, from the moment they opened their eyes to the moment they closed them, it could never be erased.

But at this moment, the curse mark shifted.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, a faint glimmer of light appeared at the tip of Uchiha Taiga's extended finger.

The light was incredibly thin, like a strand of hair or a thread floating in the air.

That wisp of light shot out from his fingertip and landed on the green mark, piercing into the skin like a needle.

Hyuga Neji's expression was blank. His eyes were still open, but his pupils were unfocused and dilated.

His mouth hung slightly open, his lips trembling. He looked like an empty shell whose soul had been drained away.

Then, his eyes suddenly widened.

From the perspective of the onlookers, the irises of his eyes began to shift through various colors.

They shifted from white to red, the red burning in his eye sockets like flames. Then from red to black, the black spreading like ink. And from black, they returned to white.

White, red, black, white, red, black...

The colors alternated in Hyuga Neji's eyes. This process lasted for several breaths before finally settling back into a pure white.

Hyuga Neji's pupils were still white, just as before, but the quality of that white had changed.

The previous white had been dull, like an unpolished stone.

But now, the white was translucent and bright, like jade washed clean by water.

The next moment, Hyuga Neji's expression twisted in agony.

"Ah!!!"

He let out a bloodcurdling scream and clutched his eyes with both hands. He fell backward, his body hitting the tatami mat with a heavy thud. He curled up on the floor like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Tears and sweat seeped through the fingers covering his eyes.

Hyuga Neji felt an excruciating pain in his eyes, as if they were being seared by a branding iron. The agony radiated from his eyeballs to his temples, spreading throughout his entire skull. It felt like a fire was burning from the inside out, threatening to incinerate his eyes completely.

Uchiha Sasuke's foot twitched as he wanted to step forward, but he stopped himself.

Uchiha Itachi's expression remained calm, though his brows were slightly furrowed.

Uchiha Taiga sat there, his finger still raised, though the faint glimmer of light at its tip had vanished.

He looked at Hyuga Neji curled up on the floor, his expression completely unchanged.

"Relax. Just endure it for a moment."

Hyuga Neji's screams quieted down, turning into groans, and eventually fading into heavy pants.

To the onlookers, the Caged Bird mark on his forehead had already changed.

The green seal was fading bit by bit—from dark green to light green, from light green to pale green, from pale green to grayish-white, and finally from grayish-white to completely transparent.

Like a block of ice slowly melting, or a snowflake quietly vanishing.

The mark disappeared.

Where the mark used to be on Hyuga Neji's forehead, nothing remained but clean, unblemished skin.

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