Yunchuan Hyuga truly could not feel any anger toward the sulking words of a child. Still, venting rage and hatred on something that could not speak back was indeed meaningless.
"Genius of the Hyuga Branch Family," he asked with a smile. "Do you dare make a bet with a useless person like me?"
Neji Hyuga did not answer right away and only stared at Yunchuan Hyuga in silence. Seeing this, Yunchuan Hyuga put his hands behind his back and nodded slightly at Neji Hyuga with a smile.
"I'll give you both hands, genius of the Hyuga."
The contempt and mockery finally struck a nerve, and anger appeared on Neji Hyuga's young and calm face. He truly looked down on Yunchuan Hyuga, since from that Lord Hiashi Hyuga and from his father, he could feel an ever-present pressure, yet from Yunchuan Hyuga he felt nothing at all.
And yet this famous clan failure dared to say he would let him use both hands. The thought alone made his blood boil.
"You bastard!"
As the words fell, Neji Hyuga rushed forward at Yunchuan Hyuga, his attack instinctively using Gentle Fist. Yunchuan Hyuga lightly hooked his toe into the snow, and when Neji Hyuga raised his palm, he kicked up a spray of snow into the boy's face.
For an instant, everything turned white. Neji Hyuga swung his left hand and scattered the blinding snow, only to find that Yunchuan Hyuga had vanished from sight.
Almost by reflex, he struck to his right.
Bang!
Neji Hyuga guessed correctly. His palm collided with Yunchuan Hyuga's raised shin, the force feeling like a wave crashing into an unmoving cliff.
The snow beneath their feet burst outward, and Neji Hyuga staggered back, dragged by the impact into two long trails in the snow. He barely managed to stay upright as his footing slid.
"What's wrong, genius?" Yunchuan Hyuga lowered his leg and narrowed his eyes with a cold smile. "Can't even handle this much force?"
What just happened? It felt like the strength had been sent back at him.
Looking at Yunchuan Hyuga, the contempt in Neji Hyuga's heart vanished at once, replaced by a quiet seriousness. Unfortunately, that seriousness did not last long, because the fight ended in the very next moment.
Neji Hyuga's right leg bent as if struck by an iron rod, and he dropped to one knee. Before he could even rise, a knee rapidly filled his vision.
Thump! kacha!
After stomping down and bending Neji Hyuga's right leg, Yunchuan Hyuga leapt up and drove a brutal knee into his face. Amid the sound of bone breaking, Neji Hyuga was sent flying, blood spraying through the air before he slammed into the ground.
The impact shook loose clumps of snow from the eaves above. A dull sound echoed as they slid down.
"Ugh."
With his vision blurred, he pressed his right hand to the ground and tried to get up, only for a merciless foot to stomp on his wrist. The pain shot through his arm, leaving him unable to move.
"Truly useless. You only know how to hurt yourself," Yunchuan Hyuga said coldly. "Looks like you don't even need this hand. Someone like you should stay in the cage and be a little bird for others to watch and tease."
"No!" Neji Hyuga cried out in shock, yet he could not pull his arm free at all.
"What's so bad about being a Caged Bird?" Yunchuan Hyuga pressed down slightly and continued in a low voice. "Who are you showing that angry, helpless look to? You just think that once you're branded with the 'Caged Bird Seal', your fate can never change, and you can only be controlled by those high and mighty Main Family."
Neji Hyuga's lips moved soundlessly, his dry mouth splitting as blood seeped out and froze in the cold air. He shook his head again and again, struggling weakly.
Bullying a child was, of course, immoral. Unfortunately, Yunchuan Hyuga had no morals and would not be bound by them.
He had no time to wait for Neji Hyuga to realize things on his own. He needed to stir the desire and reckless thoughts buried in the boy's heart once more.
Thump.
Yunchuan Hyuga suddenly lifted his foot, and Neji Hyuga failed to brace himself and fell face-first into the snow. His body sank into the cold ground as his breath was knocked out of him.
"Fate is a tool tyrants use to bind minds, and an excuse fools use to comfort themselves," Yunchuan Hyuga said calmly as he looked down at the battered Neji Hyuga. "If you really want to resist, then crush those arrogant people under your feet and trample them hard."
"Make them taste what it means to have their dignity and freedom toyed with," he continued. "Instead of wallowing here and venting useless rage."
Huff. Huff.
Neji Hyuga struggled to turn over, his cheek pressed against the freezing snow as he gasped for air. The white breath he exhaled was instantly torn away by the wind, and tears finally spilled from his eyes.
The greatest fear of death is not the one who leaves, but the one left behind, forced to face the world alone after it passes by.
Neji Hyuga was not a fool who could not tell right from wrong. At this moment, he already understood that Yunchuan Hyuga was trying to knock him awake. The pain and humiliation finally connected into something clear in his mind.
"Brother Yunchuan, please tell me." Neji Hyuga spoke with a hoarse voice, his tone steady. "What should I do?"
Yunchuan Hyuga did not answer directly. He lifted his head and looked into the distance, then spoke slowly about something else. "When we were handing over the bodies with Kumogakure, we met a monster."
"He was very strong, frighteningly strong." Yunchuan Hyuga continued without emotion. "He easily killed Magnet Release Troy, and slaughtered nearly a hundred Kumogakure ninja."
"Even with the Byakugan, you could not see his face." His voice stayed calm. "All you could see were those brilliant blue eyes."
The moment those words fell, Neji Hyuga froze. A figure from his dreams suddenly surfaced in his mind, and he blurted out, "What did you say?"
Brilliant blue eyes. How could that be real? Had that not been just an illusion in a dream?
"When you have time, go to the Hyuga Clan Ancestral Library within the clan." Yunchuan Hyuga lowered his gaze and looked at him deeply. "I247.5, L632. Go look at that book, and you will understand many things."
Neji Hyuga lay on the ground, staring blankly up at him. When Yunchuan Hyuga lowered his eyes and their gazes met, those pale eyes seemed to take on a faint glow.
For an instant, Neji Hyuga thought he saw blue rising within them, like white snow melting on a clear lake under sunlight. Yet when he focused again, the eyes were still nearly pure white, as if everything before had only been his imagination.
"Remember this," Yunchuan Hyuga said softly, with deeper meaning in his words. "Those who cannot command themselves will be commanded by others."
As his voice faded, Yunchuan Hyuga vanished from Neji Hyuga's sight. Only the echo of his words lingered faintly in the air.
Neji Hyuga lay on his back in the snow, silent and unmoving. The empty look in his white eyes slowly turned solid again.
Beneath those glacier-like calm Byakugan eyes hid something deeper, a stronger desire mixed with hatred. "The Hyuga Clan Ancestral Library?" he murmured to himself.