Teizawa let out a cold laugh and straightened, meeting his gaze directly.
"You have your freedom now. Your clansmen don't."
His voice was not loud, but every word was like a knife, driving straight into Neji's heart.
"Are you really that selfish? You're going to let your people keep living in misery?"
Neji fell silent.
He knew Teizawa was right.
The Caged Bird had been removed. He was free.
But what about the clansmen still trapped in the cage?
They were still suffering.
Still bound.
Still forced to endure that humiliation, generation after generation.
What right did he have to enjoy freedom while watching them remain shackled?
Teizawa reached out and pulled Hinata from behind him to stand in front.
"Hinata will be mine from now on. As long as she's here, you don't need to worry about the branch family having a bad life in Sunagakure."
Hinata's face went red at once.
The flush spread from her cheeks to her ears, then all the way down her neck.
Her mind went completely blank.
Her mouth opened, closed, opened again.
Not a single word came out.
What did he mean… she would be his woman?
Since when had she…
Neji looked at Hinata's crimson face.
Then at her helpless, flustered expression.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
Of course he knew Hinata had feelings for Teizawa…
After spending several nights under the same blanket, how could she not?
But he had not expected Teizawa to say it so directly.
It was a threat.
It was also a promise.
"I don't actually need to care what you think."
Teizawa's voice turned cold, carrying a firmness that allowed no argument.
"All I have to do is spread the news that I can remove the Caged Bird, and the entire branch family will explode. Do you think I'm negotiating with you?"
Neji gave a bitter smile. His lips moved.
He wanted to say something.
But in the end, he swallowed it back down.
He knew Teizawa was right.
Teizawa did not need him at all.
Once that news got out, the branch family members who had been imprisoned for centuries would rush toward Sunagakure like madmen.
They would kneel and beg Teizawa to remove their curse marks.
The main family could not stop them. Konoha could not stop them.
Neji was only a bonus.
A useful addition, nothing more.
After a long silence, Neji took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them again.
"I agree."
His voice was soft, but every word landed with force.
Teizawa smiled and casually patted him on the shoulder.
"That's what a smart man does."
From that day on, Neji officially began taking orders from Teizawa.
He was no longer a passive pawn being dragged along by others.
He willingly, actively became one of Teizawa's people.
During the day, he trained with the ANBU.
At night, he carried out Teizawa's instructions…
Drawing maps, compiling lists, marking the addresses, personalities, strength levels, and weaknesses of branch family members.
Every file was as detailed as a genealogy record.
Teizawa looked at the growing stack of documents.
The smile at the corner of his mouth deepened.
He was playing a grand game.
And Neji was the first important piece he had placed on the board.
A few days later, Teizawa summoned Neji to his office.
"Start making contact."
Neji stood in front of the desk, clutching the list so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"What about Konoha…"
"You don't need to worry about Konoha."
Teizawa leaned back in his chair, his deep gaze turned toward the window.
"Tsunade can barely take care of herself right now, and Hiashi is busy searching for his daughter. He doesn't have time to worry about the branch family."
Neji was silent for a moment, then nodded.
Teizawa took a sealing scroll from the drawer and pushed it in front of him.
"Inside are encrypted contact scrolls and instructions for training messenger hawks. Start with the people you trust most…"
"Your father's old comrades. Those old men should be the most reliable."
Neji accepted the scroll and held it in his palm.
He did not open it.
He only nodded.
"One more thing…"
Teizawa's voice softened. "Tell them the door out of the Caged Bird is always open."
"Anyone who wants to come is welcome anytime. I'll remove the Caged Bird for them. But on one condition…"
He paused. "They have to obey."
Neji said nothing.
He knew what "obey" meant.
It meant the branch family in Sunagakure would no longer be Konoha's branch family.
They would become this man's private force.
He had no choice.
And the clansmen yearning for freedom had no choice either.
Neji sent the message himself.
He chose three of his father's former comrades.
All three were elite jōnin from the branch family.
All three had long carried deep resentment toward the main family.
On the encrypted scroll, he wrote only two sentences:
"The Caged Bird can be removed. Sunagakure welcomes you."
Several days later, Neji received a reply.
The three used a mission as cover and arranged to meet him at a certain location.
The instant they met, all three stared sharply at Neji.
They looked ready to draw their blades at the slightest disagreement.
"Neji, so you weren't attacked. You left Konoha on your own, didn't you?"
One of them asked.
Neji nodded.
"Yes. I left because my Caged Bird was removed."
At those words, all three froze.
The Caged Bird could be removed?
That was the dream of the branch family for hundreds of years.
Some had tried to rebel. Some had tried to escape. Some had tried to undo the curse mark…
But no one had ever succeeded.
And now Neji stood before them and told them…
It could be removed.
"Are you certain?"
The first man's voice was rough, as if his throat were full of sand.
Neji did not answer.
He simply removed his forehead protector, revealing a smooth forehead.
There was nothing there…
No Caged Bird. No curse mark.
All three stared at his forehead, frozen in place.
One of them reached out as if to touch it, then pulled his hand back.
One opened his mouth but could not say a word.
Another's eyes reddened, tears gathering in them.
"Come with me."
Neji tied his forehead protector back on, then turned and left.
The three exchanged a glance and followed him.
Over the next few days, the news seemed to grow wings.
It quietly spread through the branch family.
Neji's Caged Bird had been removed. Someone behind him could remove the Caged Bird.
Some said it was a trick. Some said it was a trap. Some said that as long as they went over…
But more people stayed silent and watched.
They waited…
Waited for a chance. Waited for hope. Waited for a door that could open their cage.
Preparations continued in Sunagakure.
Teizawa set aside a plot of land on the village's eastern side.
It would be used to settle the branch family members who were about to arrive.
He put Temari in charge of purchasing building materials and Kankurō in charge of designing the houses…
Money was not a problem.
Thirty billion ryō sat there, more than enough for him to spend as he pleased.
"You're sure they'll come?"
Temari stood beside him, looking at the land being leveled.
"They will."
"Why are you so sure?"
Teizawa smiled.
"Because freedom… is something everyone wants."
Temari did not ask anything else.
Half a month later, the first group from the branch family arrived.
Four people. Three jōnin and one chūnin.
They left Konoha under cover of darkness.
They avoided pursuit along the way.
After several days of moving from place to place, they finally reached Sunagakure at dawn.
Neji went to the village gate to receive them.
When the four saw Neji's smooth forehead, all their eyes reddened.
Teizawa met them in the Kazekage's office.
He did not waste words. He only said three sentences.
"I'll remove the Caged Bird for you. But from now on, you will serve Sunagakure."
The four fell silent.
Neji stood off to the side and said nothing.
He knew they needed time to think.
He also believed they would make the right choice.
"We…"
The first person spoke. "We agree."
Teizawa smiled.
From that day on, Sunagakure's branch family formally established a Byakugan unit that no longer belonged to Konoha.
Every member hid those pale eyes behind sunglasses.
Their origins became one of Sunagakure's highest secrets.
As for them, they took charge of reconnaissance, warning duty, and patrols.
With those eyes that could see through everything, they guarded the village that had taken them in.
And Neji became the captain of that unit.
He was no longer Konoha's Neji.
He was Sunagakure's Neji.
Teizawa's man.
And all of this had happened in only half a month.
That alone showed just how serious the problems inside the Hyūga clan truly were.
(End of Chapter)
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