Meanwhile, at the Konoha Ninja Academy.
After the emergency evacuation and the temporary closure from last night, classes had returned to normal.
The younger students might still have been feeling lingering fear from last night's alarm, but most had been comforted by their teachers and had returned to their studies and training.
On the training field, basic physical conditioning and shuriken throwing practice were underway.
When Hyuga Hanabi stepped forward for the physical fitness test, the supervising Chunin teacher couldn't help but look surprised.
The child looked even smaller than her peers, but her movements were impossibly standard; her endurance, explosive power, and flexibility were all far beyond the average level of children her age.
Her movements were powerful, and one could see that she was performing with ease.
"Hanabi, very well done!" the teacher couldn't help but praise.
"Your physical fitness is outstanding. Do you do any special training regularly?"
Hanabi stopped, her small face flushed from exercise, and she answered obediently upon hearing this.
"My sister taught me." She didn't say much more, but her eyes sparkled with adoration for her sister.
Next was shuriken throwing.
Most children were still struggling to hit the target with their shuriken, with their accuracy and strength being mediocre at best.
When it was Hanabi's turn, she picked up the shuriken. Instead of swinging her arm with all her might like the other children, she gave her wrist a light flick.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The three shuriken flew out in a triangular formation, embedding themselves almost simultaneously into the bullseye of the target ten meters away. They were deeply embedded, perfectly aligned, and the motion was fluid.
The training field fell silent, and the other children stared with wide eyes. Even the teacher was stunned for a moment, followed by an expression of pleasant surprise and admiration.
"Beautiful! Your throwing technique and method of generating force are unique and highly efficient! Did your sister teach you this too?"
"Mm!" Hanabi nodded vigorously, feeling a bit shy, but mostly happy.
Being able to receive the teacher's affirmation meant that what her sister taught her was truly amazing.
Under the shade of a tree not far away, Hyuga Neji, who had already graduated early but occasionally returned to the school to look around, also noticed the situation on the training field.
Watching Hanabi's outstanding performance, which was far beyond her age—especially that calmness and precision that faintly resembled Hinata's—a complex look flashed in his eyes.
He had once approached Hinata to express his thoughts, wanting her to teach him, but he had been rejected. Yet now...
Neji's fists clenched.
If it were just the teaching, that would be one thing, but the key point was that Hanabi had not been marked with the caged bird seal, which made him feel unbalanced.
...
Hanabi stood out at school, displaying talent and physical fitness far exceeding her peers, and this news quickly spread.
Rather than shock, most people were understanding; after all, her sister had already set the precedent.
...
Hinata's Divine Sense covered Konoha.
She naturally saw her younger sister Hanabi's outstanding performance in the Ninja Academy, which was far beyond her peers. She saw the teachers' admiring gazes and the envious looks of the other children, and she also felt Hanabi's happiness and pride.
Then, she "noticed" the young boy, Hyuga Neji, who was alone, lingering in the shade of a tree not far from the training field.
At this moment, he was watching Hanabi, and his emotions were captured by Hinata.
Neji's obsession with the caged bird seal and his dissatisfaction with the fate of the branch family had always been there, but because his father was still around, it hadn't become so extreme.
In her eyes, the caged bird seal—that curse mark which maintained the authority of the main branch through fear and control while stifling the potential of the branch family—was crude, cruel, and inefficient.
It might, to some extent, ensure the purity of the Byakugan was not lost, but it also simultaneously imprisoned the true possibilities of the Hyuga Clan.
If she could protect Hanabi from being eroded by this thing, then adding Neji wouldn't seem to make much difference.
Furthermore, Neji's talent and Heart-Nature truly deserved a broader future; it was a pity to be trapped as a caged bird.
...
Hyuga Neji leaned against the tree trunk, his gaze still cast toward the distant training field, but his focus had long since drifted.
Hanabi's nimble figure and the teacher's unsparing praise were like a tiny thorn, pricking a place deep in his heart that he didn't want to touch.
Both possessed the Hyuga Bloodline, both were exceptionally talented; he believed he was not inferior to any member of the main branch. Just because he was born later and was from the branch family, he had to bear the shackles of the "caged bird seal," forever being inferior, unable to even fully control his own will and destiny?
And Hanabi, not only was she not marked with the curse, spared from this curse, but she was also free to absorb the teachings of that mysterious eldest sister and spread her wings to fly high.
This was unfair.
He chewed on this in his heart a thousand times, and each time it brought deeper bitterness and helplessness.
Just as his thoughts were churning and he prepared to turn and leave, a calm voice sounded beside him.
"Unwillingness in your heart, harboring such resentment, is of no benefit to your cultivation."
Neji stiffened all over and suddenly turned his head.
He saw that Hyuga Hinata had already quietly stood a few steps away from him at some point.
"Young Miss." Neji quickly straightened his body and bowed his head in salute, but his heart uncontrollably accelerated its beating.
Why was she here? Had his thoughts been seen through?
"Follow me."
Hinata didn't explain or ask anything. After she finished speaking, she turned and walked toward a more secluded small forest behind the clan grounds.
Neji was stunned for a moment, his inner confusion deepening, but watching Hinata's back, he followed silently.
Deep in the forest, in a clearing that almost no one stepped into, Hinata stopped and turned to face Neji.
"Your caged bird seal," she said, getting straight to the point, "do you want it removed?"
Boom—!
Neji felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in his mind! He looked up abruptly, his eyes widening in disbelief, staring intently at Hinata, almost suspecting he was having auditory hallucinations.
Remove the caged bird seal? How could this be possible?! That was the absolute imprisonment passed down through generations of the Hyuga branch family, deep into their Souls and flesh; it was the ultimate means for the main branch to control the branch family. He had never heard of the possibility of it being removed! Even thinking about it was a taboo!
"W...what!?" Neji was incoherent.
"I said, remove that curse mark on your forehead. If you don't want to, then forget it~"
The massive shock caused Neji to lose his ability to speak for a moment, and he could only stare blankly at Hinata.
Not want to? How could he not want to! That was the shackle he longed to break free from day and night.
But was this really possible? What about after it was removed? The main branch's rage? The sanctions of the clan rules? And...
"Why?" Neji's voice was filled with confusion.
"Removing the caged bird seal is against the clan rules! It will be seen as a betrayal of the main branch! You..."
He wanted to ask, "Aren't you afraid?" but swallowed the words as they reached his lips.
The person before him seemed to have never truly taken the clan rules seriously. She had stopped Hanabi from being marked with the caged bird seal; although it wasn't explicitly stated within the clan, everyone knew it clearly.
"If anything happens, I will take responsibility."
The understated words contained determination and confidence.
Neji was completely stunned; something cold and hard in his chest seemed to crack at this moment.
He looked at Hinata's calm face; there was no arrogance of a benefactor.
Wild joy, panic, gratitude, worry... countless emotions exploded and mixed in Neji's heart.
In the end, the longing for freedom overwhelmed everything else. He took a deep breath, bowed, and his voice was hoarse with excitement.
"Please help me, Young Miss!" He didn't say any vows of repayment, because any words at this moment seemed pale. This kindness was too heavy.
"Alright."
Hinata didn't say anything more, stepped forward, extended her right index finger, and a flash of spiritual light appeared.
"Do not resist, relax your mind."
Neji closed his eyes, trying his best to relax his body and mind.
The curse mark on his forehead vanished silently.
Neji shuddered!
In just a few breaths.
Neji felt an unprecedented sense of lightness and clarity, as if a giant rock that had been pressing down on him had been removed, and even his breathing felt much easier.
Hinata withdrew her finger, and the light at her fingertip faded. "It's done."
Neji raised his hand in disbelief, trembling as he touched his own forehead.
That mark, which had accompanied him since childhood and symbolized humiliation and imprisonment, was truly gone!
He looked up abruptly at Hinata, his eyes filled with extreme shock and unspeakable gratitude, and there was even a faint glimmer of tears.
"Hinata Young Miss... I..."
Hinata smiled, and her figure disappeared.
In the clearing, only Neji remained.
His fingers repeatedly brushed over his smooth forehead. He hurried to the riverbank, looking at his clean forehead through the reflection in the water, feeling that freedom.
He slowly stood up, looked in the direction where Hinata had disappeared, and bowed deeply.
The caged bird, today, escaped its cage.
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