At that moment, Hyūga Natsu stared at the Main House decree pushed before her.
The brilliant midday sun glinted off the festive calligraphy on the scroll, which represented nothing less than another seat within the Hyūga clan's Main House.
If she signed it, Natsu would technically be free from the constraints of the Caged Bird. She would become the wife of a Main House member. Although the seal itself could not be removed, no one in the clan would ever have a reason to activate it against her again. Her status would skyrocket, placing her among the elite of Konohagakure. She would no longer have to live the grueling life of a shinobi, constantly putting her life on the line. Even her future children would have a chance—at least one of them would become a member of the Main House, completely bypassing the shackles of the Caged Bird.
Without a doubt, this was an invitation to "freedom."
It was an honor envied by countless people within the clan, and precisely what Hyūga Natsu had dreamed of for years.
The price? Merely marrying a stranger from her own clan.
Women of the Hyūga Branch House had no right to choose their own marriages. To maintain the purity of the bloodline, the clan often arranged their unions, deciding who their future husbands would be while they were still young.
The women of the Main House would be paired with the most exceptional men of the Branch House, while the men of the Main House would marry the most outstanding women from the Branch House. At the clan's orphanage, the primary lesson Natsu had been taught was simple: if she wanted a better life, she had to become exceptional—so exceptional that the Main House couldn't help but notice her.
She had lived by that creed, demonstrating talent and effort that far surpassed her peers from a young age.
When she first agreed to the engagement with Hyūga Yu, it wasn't because he possessed some unique charm. Rather, it was because of an encounter during their enrollment year at the Academy. Elder Hyūga Sōhiro of the Main House had approached her personally, requesting that she accept the engagement to Yu.
At the time, Yu's poor aptitude was already famous within the clan. If not for his connection to Hyūga Sōhiro, he might not have even been allowed to attend the Ninja Academy.
However, even as a young girl, Natsu already possessed the ability to think for herself. She had asked Elder Sōhiro, "Will you allow Hyūga Yu to inherit your seat in the Main House? If the answer is yes, I will agree."
Hyūga Sōhiro had offered a mysterious smile. "That is not certain," he replied. "Perhaps as a member of the Branch House, that child can reach even greater heights..."
Natsu had immediately lifted her chin and countered, "Then it is also not certain that I will marry Hyūga Yu."
The old man had chuckled. "Then let us wait. If the time comes and you are still unwilling, I will choose someone else for you. Being the wife of a Main House member doesn't guarantee happiness, just as being a Branch House wife doesn't guarantee misery. But regardless, if one can choose their own path and follow it to the end... that would likely be a very romantic thing, wouldn't it?"
Natsu had simply shaken her head, her young face set with determination. "If Hyūga Yu cannot become a member of the Main House, I will absolutely not marry him!"
"Hyūga Natsu, why are you still hesitating?"
The impatient and stern voice of Hyūga Kazuhiko snapped Natsu back to reality. His cold, harsh face—always set in a permanent frown—loomed before her. "Is this not what you have always wanted?"
"Back at the orphanage, when you asked me for guidance on the Gentle Fist, or when I asked about your dreams, your answer never changed. Besides—is this really a difficult choice?"
Seeing Natsu's silence, Kazuhiko's brow furrowed deeper. "I took this mission for your sake, traveling all this way from the village and leaving my work at the Main House behind. I don't know what kind of spell that brat cast on you, but Hyūga Yu is dead. And even if he weren't, there was no guarantee Hyūga Sōhiro would have let him inherit his seat. There are plenty of second sons in the Main House who need a position; Yu wouldn't have even been in the running!"
"I know you might still have feelings for him," Kazuhiko continued, his tone softening slightly into a persuasive appeal. "That's why I came personally—to prevent you from showing this kind of weakness in front of the Main House and provoking their anger!"
"Listen to me," he urged. "Your life doesn't just revolve around Hyūga Yu. There are many people who care about you. I'm like a big brother to you, and there are many elders in our faction who have looked after you. You've been one of us for a long time. Right now, you are at the center of this storm. Everyone is watching you, waiting for your choice."
"But you know the truth—Hyūga Hizashi doesn't have the capability. He's just using the power of Konoha to gather a rabble. Now that he's trying to back out to avoid being purged by the Main House, this is the only path left for you."
Kazuhiko stared intently at Natsu, raising the scroll once more. "Take it! Hyūga Ko has already been branded with the Caged Bird and it cannot be removed. So, while he will technically be Main House in name, he actually stands with those of us in the Branch House. I met with him before I came and we discussed it. If you don't like him, he... he is willing to accept you having someone else in private."
"Anyone you want—except Hyūga Yu!"
Kazuhiko suddenly grabbed Hyūga Tetsu, who had been paralyzed by a Gentle Fist strike, and gritted his teeth. "This kid has always liked you, hasn't he? Do you really feel nothing for him? What about him? He's not quite worthy of my sister, but... Kid, you wouldn't refuse, would you?"
Kazuhiko glared coldly at Tetsu. Under that predatory, sinister gaze, Tetsu's body trembled. He wanted to refuse, but because his chakra points were blocked, he couldn't even make a sound.
The power gap between them was immense. As an elite who served the Main House in a high-ranking position, Hyūga Kazuhiko had been a Jōnin for years. In a battle where their techniques and abilities were identical, Tetsu stood no chance.
"Brother Kazuhiko."
Natsu spoke suddenly, cutting off Kazuhiko's increasingly erratic, almost hysterical behavior. She looked at him calmly. Her gaze, cold and clinical, saw right through his menacing exterior to the desperation underneath. She let a familiar, sweet smile touch her lips.
She reached out her hand and said softly, "Give it to me."
"Ha..." Kazuhiko let out a breath of relief and laughed, handing the scroll to Natsu. "I knew it. Natsu, you really are a smart—"
Riiiiiip!
The sound of tearing paper cut him off mid-sentence. His eyes widened, his pupils trembling.
Before the eyes of Tetsu, Kazuhiko, and the two other Hyūga present, Natsu took the scroll and, with a smile, tore it right down the middle.
Then, she folded the halves together and tore them again. She continued until the entire decree was reduced to scraps of paper. She raised her hand and opened her slender fingers, letting the Main House marriage contract flutter down like rain. The wooden roller of the scroll hit the ground with a dull thud.
Natsu acted as if she had done nothing at all, maintaining her usual smile. "Oh dear, how did the scroll get ruined?"
"My apologies, Brother Kazuhiko. I'll have to trouble you to make the trip again and ask the Main House for another contract."
"You—!"
Kazuhiko stared at her in disbelief, his voice suddenly shrill. "Hyūga Natsu, what do you think you're doing!?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Natsu tilted her head, looking at him with feigned confusion. "I'm refusing."
At those words, Kazuhiko's face turned deathly pale before darkening with rage. His body shook, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Natsu remained smiling, standing her ground. A flash of absolute resolve crossed her calm eyes. "I know exactly what I've done."
"Since you know, then you should understand—we are all waiting for you to become the wife of the Main House! With you as our figurehead, we could unite the strength of the Branch House! We could even overthrow Hyūga Hiashi and make Hyūga Ko the new head of the clan!"
Kazuhiko's gaze grew icy. "Hyūga Natsu—who do you think you are to refuse? What right do you have? You are playing with fire!"
Then, his expression shifted again. Forcing down his fury, he lowered his voice to a near-pleading tone. "Natsu, my dear sister, what is it that you want?"
Natsu shook her head, her voice flat and distant. "First of all, I am not related to you by blood, nor am I your sister."
"Secondly, I will marry no one but Hyūga Yu! Even if he is dead, even if he would have spent his whole life in the Branch House, that will never change."
"And finally... my goal has never changed!"
Natsu's smile vanished, replaced by a cold dismissal. "Out of respect for the 'small favors' you've done for me in the past, I will pretend I never saw you this time. Please leave."
Natsu's decisive words crushed Kazuhiko's last remaining hope. He fell silent. A moment later, he signaled to the two Branch House members beside him. Their faces hardened, and they nodded, shifting their positions slightly to block any path of escape for Natsu and Tetsu.
Kazuhiko snapped his head up, his eyes flashing with malice. His facial muscles twisted into a cruel sneer. "In that case... I can't let you live!"
The atmosphere in the silent camp shifted instantly!
"Tch. How stupid."
Natsu, however, looked amused. She looked at Kazuhiko and asked, "Do you really... want to try and make a move against me here?"
"Why don't you activate your Byakugan and take a look around?"
Kazuhiko's brow furrowed. He channeled his chakra, and the veins around his eyes bulged. A ring of invisible energy erupted from his white pupils as his vision expanded. In the next heartbeat, his breath hitched.
In the shadows of every building, tent, and tree, Konoha shinobi in Anbu uniforms were standing guard. These Anbu, radiating intense killing intent, were all staring directly at him, their cold gazes treating him like a corpse.
Further away, two figures in green jumpsuits—one large and one small—were running around the camp on their hands. Despite their training, their eyes drifted toward his position every few seconds.
A middle-aged female medical ninja in a white lab coat watched him with a frown, a Chakra Scalpel glowing in her hand with enough intensity to cut through the air.
An old man in a lab coat, looking somewhat senile, wandered by clutching two green glass bottles. The bubbling liquid inside emitted a white vapor that made the skin crawl just by looking at it.
Inside the tents surrounding the area, "patients" who appeared to be covered in bandages but lacked any real injuries sat up on their beds, narrowing their eyes at him.
Even further out, Uchiha Fugaku, the commander of the Eastern Front who had just returned from a walk with his eldest son, sensed the shift in the atmosphere. His expression changed instantly. His eyes closed and snapped open, revealing the crimson glow of the three-tomoe Sharingan!
These ninjas, who had seemed perfectly normal to Kazuhiko moments ago, were now all locked onto him.
If Hyūga Kazuhiko made a single "out of line" move, he and the two Jōnin he brought with him would vanish from this camp in less than five seconds.
Kazuhiko felt his throat go bone-dry. He swallowed hard as a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. The look he gave Natsu turned from anger to pure terror. He tried to speak, but he was too afraid to even utter a syllable.
Only now did he realize the terrifying power that the "mediocre husband" and "useless brat" Hyūga Yu had left behind for his "widow."
He finally understood. Compared to maggots like them, who could only squabble within the confines of the Hyūga clan, a bird with a steady heart had already escaped the cage and soared into the high heavens!
Natsu didn't mince words this time. She barked a single command: "Get out!"
The words hit Kazuhiko and his men like a divine decree. With expressions of sheer horror, they turned and bolted for the exit of the camp without looking back, running so fast that three of their shoes were left behind in the dirt.
Only then did Natsu turn toward the empty shadows of the camp and smile. "I'm sorry for the unsightly scene, everyone."
She turned slightly, a hint of excitement dancing in her eyes as she politely gestured toward the door of the Secretariat. "And you, the gentleman from Root—since you've come all this way, please, show yourself."
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