"What should we do with him?"
Neji lay on the hospital bed, his consciousness hazy and his vision dark. However, the conversation around him seeped clearly into his mind.
His thoughts were sluggish; the meanings of the words slipped past him. But his memory still worked. He recorded every sentence, intending to analyze them once his mind cleared.
"He's a victim too, just like the rest of you who hate Neiki. If we hadn't intervened, he would've been killed by Neiki."It was the voice of Nara Shikaku, head of the Nara clan.
"That beast… he even attacked his own brother."
"Neiki slaughtered the entire Hyuga clan. Why would he spare his brother?" Shikaku sighed.
The other person fell silent for a moment before replying:
"…We won't hold him accountable, but we need an explanation."
"The Hokage is considering that. The preliminary idea is to use the Hyuga clan's inheritance…" Shikaku lowered his voice as he continued.
"However, the Inuzuka clan might take the largest share… My Nara clan and the Yamanaka clan suffered the least in this incident. During the meeting, we'll voluntarily relinquish our portion, which can then be added to your clan's share…"
Their murmurs crawled through the dim ward like rats in a dark corner.
The dirty deal ended quickly, and the room fell silent again.
When Neji finally woke up, it was already noon the next day.
In June, life was in full bloom. Outside the hospital window stood a large tree blazing in the sunlight. Its branches cast deep, heavy shadows.
White doves flew across a sky so clear and blue it felt as if last night's turmoil had been nothing but a heart-wrenching dream.
Neji sat up in bed. The stitches in his abdomen tore slightly, sending a sharp wave of pain through him.
"Do you… want to eat?"
A soft voice came from beside him.
A small girl with one eye bandaged stood by the bed, holding a bowl of steaming red bean soup. She kept her gaze averted, looking hesitant.
And a little afraid.
Neji turned his head toward Hinata, to the pale blue curse mark on her forehead.
Because of his father's fate, Neji had harbored extreme hatred for everything related to the Hyuga Main House when he was younger. He hated Hiashi—and by extension, Hiashi's daughter, Hinata. His hatred for Hiashi had spilled over onto her as well.
During one of their sparring sessions, he had even considered killing Hinata before the guards could react.
"You killed my father, I'll kill your daughter."
In some twisted way, it had felt justified.
But in the Hyuga clan, the absolute rule of the Main House over the Branch House was "more justified" than blood-for-blood vengeance ever could be.
The system upheld by the Caged Bird Seal overshadowed human nature and any sense of justice, leaving Neji suffocated and desperate to rebel.
However…
When Neiki finally overthrew the Caged Bird Seal, toppled the Main House, killed Hiashi, and brought "freedom" to all Branch House members…
Neji realized something.
If freedom came at the cost of destroying himself and everyone else, maybe he didn't desire it as much as he thought.
Maybe he didn't hate Hiashi that much.
Maybe he didn't dislike the Hinata standing in front of him.
The goal he once believed worth any sacrifice, once achieved, didn't seem worthy of so many tears and so much blood.
The Hyuga clan in Konoha had been nearly annihilated, leaving only two survivors.
His brother Neiki had committed an unforgivable crime and chosen to defect from Konoha.
Was freedom truly so heavy?
Was it worth going this far?
Neji didn't understand. He couldn't understand.
He took the red bean soup from Hinata and took a sip.
Unfortunately, it was sweet.
"I'm sorry," Neji murmured.
He tossed the spoon aside and drank straight from the bowl.
Tears fell into the soup.
Finally, it tasted salty.
Hinata didn't understand why Neji apologized. Seeing him gulping down the soup, she relaxed a little, smiled, and urged:
"It's okay, Brother Neji. Take your time. There's more…"
…
The Hokage Rock had the highest concentration of explosive tags.
Since the explosion last night, the massive cliff bearing the Hokage Rock had completely collapsed. The tumbling debris crushed many nearby buildings. Some people had their legs broken, but fortunately, there were no deaths.
Naruto sat on the flattened ground above the cliff, staring blankly at the bustling reconstruction of Konoha below.
Repairing the Hokage Rock had been scheduled for some vague future date. Naruto had never cared about such "boring" matters before—but after being captured by the Uchiha and unleashing the Nine-Tails, he had grown uncharacteristically quiet and steady.
Because when he was about to be completely consumed by the Nine-Tails, he had met his father—the youngest Hokage who had given his life to stop the beast—the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
"When they start repairing the Hokage Rock, I'll make sure they carve Dad to look way cooler," Naruto muttered. In his mind, the previous carving of the Fourth Hokage didn't come close to the real thing. Neiki's explosion had been "perfect timing."
"I'm the Fourth Hokage's son…" Naruto whispered to himself, then suddenly grinned, cheeks flushing.
Even though the villagers, after yet another Nine-Tails rampage, had grown increasingly hostile toward him…
Even though the Konoha high-ups were discussing locking Naruto away, stripping his freedom as a Jinchuriki and assigning ninja to monitor him at all times…
None of that could extinguish the fierce flame burning in his heart.
I am the Fourth Hokage's son.
I can't disgrace him.
He died to protect the village.
I'm proud to have a father like that…
Simple thoughts rose in the young boy's heart.
At a certain moment, a sudden impulse made Naruto leap to his feet. He stretched his arms wide as if embracing the sky and shouted:
"I'll definitely become Hokage like him! I'll work hard to protect the village and earn everyone's acknowledgment!"
"I won't let today's disaster happen again!!"
…
Naruto's shout carried far.
"Did you hear that? This kid's ambition." In the temporary meeting room, Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his beard and smiled.
After a brief silence, Homura Mitokado spoke calmly:
"Confining him is also for his own good. His father won't be able to save him a second time."
"We won't allow such a thing to happen again!" Hiruzen snapped back, glaring. Having personally been saved by Minato during the second Nine-Tails rampage, his tone left no room for argument. "This matter is not up for discussion. Next topic!"
Sarutobi rarely used his authority so bluntly—unless someone truly disappointed him.
With the preliminaries over, they moved on to the real issue.
"Explain, Danzo." Hiruzen turned to the silent elder in the corner.
"What is going on with Neiki?"
"And what about these two Root ninja corpses?"
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789