When he saw Ryoma Tie stand up without a hint of hesitation in his eyes, Ryoma Tokuma broke completely. He dropped to his knees, slamming his forehead into the ground with a dull thud. Pride meant nothing anymore.
"Please, spare me. I was wrong to serve the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family. I was just afraid. I did not want this." His teeth chattered as his body shook uncontrollably.
"Give me one more chance. I can help you. I know many things. I can even help you kill the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family." He begged over and over, smashing his head into the ground until blood and tears mixed on his face.
Ryoma Tie only looked down at him and slowly shook his head. "No," he said coldly. "You do not know you were wrong."
"You just know," he continued as he lifted his foot again and aimed it at Ryoma Tokuma's raised jaw. "That you are about to die."
The kick shot upward with all the gathered Chakra and killing intent behind it. A terrifying dull crack echoed, cutting off Ryoma Tokuma's final scream. His head snapped back at a twisted angle as his neck broke cleanly.
His head nearly separated from his neck, hanging by only a thin strip of flesh. The light vanished from his wide Pure Byakugan, freezing his last moment in regret and fear. Blood poured from his shattered neck and mouth, spreading quickly across the floor.
Ryoma Tie drew his foot back and did not spare the corpse another glance. Blood splashed across the mottled stone wall and slid downward in slow lines. In the corridor, only the steady drip of blood remained, marking the opening note of a long overdue reckoning.
"Ahh!"
Elder Riwugo's tearing screams echoed again and again in the sealed space. His body spasmed from the pain, and blood kept spraying from his severed wrist, soaking his Otsutsuki Clan Main Family robes in red.
"Iroha Hyuga! Do you even know what you are doing?!" Elder Riwugo shouted over his own screams, his voice sharp with pain and carrying the deep-rooted arrogance and rage of the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family. "Breaking prisoners out, attacking the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family, rebelling? You are courting death!"
Beside him, Ryoma had fallen into blind panic and confusion. His bandaged face turned wildly from side to side, and his hands clawed uselessly at the air as if trying to grab a lifeline that did not exist.
"Iroha Hyuga? How is that possible?" His voice shook with fear. "Where are the guards, the guards who came in with me? How could it be you?!"
pata… pata…
Hearing the approaching footsteps, Ryoma shuddered and scrambled backward with hands and feet until his back slammed into the cold stone wall. With nowhere left to retreat, he screamed, "You, do not come any closer!"
He desperately tried to form hand seals, attempting to activate the Caged Bird curse mark that controlled the life and death of every Branch Family Members. Yet no matter how hard he tried, no matter how he drove his Chakra, the Caged Bird Seal that once answered him so easily gave no response at all.
He could not feel the Caged Bird Seal on Iroha Hyuga's forehead anymore. How was that possible?
Seeing this, Iroha Hyuga, who had been quietly on guard, finally relaxed. "Just as I thought," he sneered. "Once you lose the Pure Byakugan, you cannot use the Caged Bird curse mark."
"Without the Pure Byakugan and without your hands, you are just two useless pieces of trash, nothing more than filthy worms." His words stabbed straight into what little pride and dignity Ryoma had left.
"F father! Where are you? Kill them, kill him now!" Ryoma cried without sense, completely losing control. Before he could finish, Elder Riwugo cut him off.
"Shut up!"
Elder Riwugo roared, forcibly suppressing his screams and fury to stop his son's foolish shouting. Ryoma was so startled that he froze, turning his bandaged face blankly toward his father.
Enduring the tearing pain, veins bulged on Elder Riwugo's forehead, and cold sweat streamed down his pale cheeks. In the next moment, he lowered his head and bit down hard on his own robe, ripping it apart.
With a harsh tear, he used this humiliating, animal-like method to wrap the cloth around his bleeding stump for the crudest bandage. It did not stop the blood, but it slowed it enough to buy him a little more time.
His face was pale as paper from blood loss, his lips colorless, but under pain and the threat of death, a trace of calm returned to his eyes. He even felt a flicker of regret for the threats he had blurted out earlier.
Those words had been meaningless and only angered the madman in front of him. He could not provoke Iroha Hyuga any further. He had to live.
No matter the cost, no matter the humiliation, as long as he could leave here alive, he would have countless ways to make these rebelling Branch Family Members suffer far worse than death. He would grind their flesh and bones down piece by piece.
"What do you want?"
Elder Riwugo raised his head, his voice hoarse from pain and blood-loss weakness, yet he tried to stay calm and even forced a twisted smile of goodwill. "As expected of Elder Riwugo, you calm down quickly," Iroha Hyuga said, narrowing his eyes with a cold smile.
"Whatever you want, whatever you plan to do, I can give it to you," Elder Riwugo said stiffly. "If you want Takao Hyuga, you can take him right now."
"Besides that, I can tell you a secret," he continued quickly. "The Caged Bird curse mark has a distance limit. As long as you leave Konoha and get beyond the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family's sensing range, you will be safe and free."
He spoke faster and faster, afraid the other side would lose patience. He was far smarter than his foolish son and struck directly at the greatest desire of the Branch Family Members. Freedom, freedom from the control of the Caged Bird Seal.
Of course, he did not tell the whole truth. The range of the Caged Bird curse mark also depended on the user's Chakra. In Elder Riwugo's view, this was more than enough to tempt Iroha Hyuga.
"Leave?" Iroha Hyuga repeated as the smile faded from his face, replaced by cold mockery. "Why should we leave?"
His voice rose sharply. "This is the Ryoma Clan that we Branch Family Members have protected with our lives. Why should we slink away like homeless dogs?"
Elder Riwugo's heart sank, a chill flooding through him. His worst expectation had come true. This was a planned, large-scale rebellion, and Iroha Hyuga was not acting alone.
These usually obedient Branch Family Members had dared to strike first, tearing their faces open before the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family even moved against them. "Fine, fine, it is yours, the Ryoma Clan is yours," Elder Riwugo said quickly, nodding and lowering his posture as much as possible.
"The Caged Bird curse mark cannot be removed, but I can teach you how to use the Caged Bird Seal. You can plant the Caged Bird curse mark on me, on Ryoma, on all the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family." He threw out a condition tempting enough to drive any Branch Family Members mad.
"At that point, you will be the true master of the Ryoma Clan. All its resources, secret arts, status will be yours. I only ask that you let me and Ryoma serve you."