"So, the promise you made to those branch family members—to give them a place in the main house—was a lie, then?"
The elder of the Hyuga main family said nothing. He simply stared at Kawaki Aoba with his Byakugan. That penetrating gaze would make the hair on anyone's neck stand on end.
"Truly pitiful," Aoba said calmly. "You've endured all this torment and haven't spoken a single word. But your companion... he told us everything—what he was allowed to say and what he wasn't."
He held out a scroll. "Here. Read it yourself. This is his confession. See if it aligns with the truth. Did he leave anything out?"
Kawaki Aoba stepped forward, handing the scroll to the elder, who snatched it away with trembling hands.
As the elder read through the document, his expression grew increasingly contorted, shifting from rage to madness. His hands shook. His breath grew uneven.
The Hyuga branch members watching this live broadcast didn't need to hear his response. His reaction had already given them the answer.
"That wretched traitor... how dare he?" the elder roared, before violently coughing and spitting a mouthful of blood.
The moment the blood hit the ground, the years seemed to catch up with him all at once. His proud bearing crumbled. He looked decades older.
Yet Kawaki Aoba remained indifferent. He tilted his head slightly, as if studying a rare beast. "Don't die just yet," he said. "You still haven't answered my question. Was that promise to the branch families—about letting one of their own into the main family—ever real?"
The elder lifted his gaze slowly, fatigue and resignation etched into every wrinkle. His voice was raspy.
"It's true... and it's false."
Those words struck like lightning. The Hyuga branch family members, all watching from their respective screens, trembled. Though they'd long accepted their status as expendable, a sliver of hope had always remained. If one of their children could join the main family—even as a token gesture—it would have meant something.
Their expressions hardened as they leaned in, hanging onto his next words.
"The Third Elder's bloodline was expelled from the main house after it was discovered they leaked information about the Caged Bird Seal. That much is true. There was a plan to fill the vacancy with someone new... and a list of candidates was compiled, each of us submitting names we favored. But the truth is... the outcome was already predetermined."
A wave of unrest spread among the branch members watching. They realized then—they'd only ever been pawns. Most of them were never even considered. Just hopeful shadows dancing around a promise that had never been intended for them.
Eyes turned to Hyuga Hizashi, who sat quietly in the corner of the room. As the younger brother of Hyuga Hiashi, the clan head, if anyone from the branch family had a shot—it would be him.
But Hizashi said nothing. He opened his mouth, then closed his eyes. There were no more excuses left to make.
"It's fake. All of this is fake!" one branch member shouted, as if trying to hold onto some last thread of dignity. "That elder—he's not real! Kawaki Aoba must've used some transformation technique. There's no way a Hyuga elder would be captured like this. It's too absurd!"
But his protest was met only with silence—and cold, glaring Byakugan eyes.
Some may have still doubted the reality of what they were seeing, but no one wanted to be the fool who stood up for the main family now. Not after this.
Back in the projection, Kawaki Aoba gave a small nod. "Is that so? I must admit—it's both surprising and predictable."
"If I hadn't intervened, your plan might've worked. You Hyuga could've hidden yourselves away for decades, maybe even a century, and emerged stronger—ready to seize power again."
"But have you considered the flaw in your grand plan?"
He stepped forward, eyes sharp.
"The Caged Bird Seal. It will always be your curse."
"When your clan eventually tries to re-enter the shinobi world, it will still be there. That same seal. That same oppression. That same division. How long do you think your people will keep following you after that?"
The elder let out a bitter chuckle, his voice tinged with venom. "If it weren't for you... none of this would've happened."
Kawaki Aoba said nothing.
Even if the elder was under duress, those words rang with undeniable truth.
The elder looked up again. "As for the Caged Bird Seal... it was developed by the Hyuga to control our own bloodline. If we had a hundred years... do you not think we'd find a way to perfect it?"
As soon as those words were uttered, the Hyuga branch family elites watching the live broadcast could no longer remain seated. Gritting their teeth in hatred, they stared at the image of the main family elder on the screen.
The Caged Bird Seal—a mark of servitude and control—was an eternal scar in their hearts.
Many had once believed that after their deaths, the Caged Bird Seal would prevent the main family from using their corpses to claim their Byakugan. Some had even hoped that their children might escape the curse. But now, it was painfully clear: the main family never intended to let them go—not in life, nor in death.
And yet... some still harbored naive hopes. How foolish that seemed now.
As they looked at the face of the main family elder—twisted with arrogance and cruelty—some among them felt the uncontrollable urge to storm through the screen and tear him apart with their bare hands.
Then the opportunity presented itself.
In the video feed, Kawaki Aoba waved his hand, summoning a ninja and ordering calmly:
> "This old relic is useless now. Take him—lock him up with the others."
Inside the detention facility, the branch family elites stiffened.
The others?
Apart from them, who else could Aoba have meant?
Could it be… they would get to confront a main family elder themselves?
The possibility seemed unreal. But the truth was undeniable.
Soon, the elder of the main family was dragged into the prison, bruised and battered, his chakra sealed, just like theirs. He looked around with growing alarm.
There was a moment of recognition—then confusion, and finally, fear.
> "What is this? How are you all here?" the elder demanded, his voice trembling.
But no one replied with sympathy. Only cold, piercing gazes met him.
> "How are we here?" someone sneered. "Elder, isn't that the question we should be asking you? You and your kin made this world for us—branded, bound, disposable. Now you're asking questions?"
The crowd slowly gathered around him, forming a tight circle.
The elder's eyes darted around. He sensed danger and snapped sharply, "What do you think you're doing?"
> "What we're doing?" someone growled. "You people wanted us dead. You cursed our children with slavery through the Caged Bird Seal. You've never once treated us like humans. You call yourselves noble... but all I see is rot."
Though chakra was sealed for all of them, their anger gave them strength. They outnumbered him—and in truth, even one-on-one, most of them were hardened shinobi with far more combat experience than this pampered elder.
> "This is madness," the elder stammered. "Aoba... it's him, isn't it? He's filled your heads with lies. He's trying to tear the clan apart!"
But no one was listening anymore.
Outside, Kawaki Aoba heard the distant screams from within the prison. He didn't flinch.
The elder was finished.
Letting the branch family deal with him personally was a calculated move—and in their eyes, it gave Aoba legitimacy.
Smiling slightly, Aoba thought: A genuine Hyuga elder... that should be convincing enough.
In just a few months, Aoba had nearly uprooted the Hyuga clan's foundations.
Now came the final act.
After the prison fell silent once more, Aoba sent someone in to clean up. When the work was done, he collected what he truly came for—another pair of Byakugan.
He now held three pairs in his possession.
One had been taken from Hyuga Yōtai, a former main family figure. Another was an "apology" gift sent by the Hyuga in a failed attempt to appease him. The third—this latest pair—had belonged to the elder who was just executed.
But the Byakugan no longer held much allure for Kawaki Aoba. He had his sights set on something greater.
When he re-entered the prison, he was met with a somber sight: the Hyuga branch members sat in silence, their eyes hollow, their spirits broken.
After striking down a main family elder with their own hands, their rage had burned out, leaving only despair.
Aoba chuckled lightly.
> "What's this? You all look like you're waiting to die."
> "You're right," someone muttered. "We are waiting. Waiting for the Caged Bird Seal to be activated."
> "So, you've all accepted your fate?" Aoba asked.
> "What else can we do?" the man answered bitterly. "Even if you kill every last one of the main family, they'll activate the Caged Bird Seals before they fall. Our fate was sealed the moment we were branded."
Another added, "Please, if you really want to help us... finish off the main family. End this. This waiting—this fear—is unbearable."
Aoba's smile deepened.
He could see it in their eyes. They still wanted to live.
And that was the perfect leverage.
Raising his hand, his Tenseigan activated, releasing a pulse of divine chakra. The prison bars buckled and twisted before collapsing entirely.
With a surge of gravitational pull, he drew one of the branch members toward him and peeled off the Konoha forehead protector to reveal the Caged Bird Seal.
Before the man could react, a surge of Tenseigan chakra flooded his body, entering his mind.
To the others watching, it was unmistakable: the curse seal on his forehead glowed with a faint, bluish hue—and then slowly faded.
The mark vanished completely.
> "The Caged Bird... it's gone," someone gasped.
Even Hyuga Hizashi, long resigned to death, shot to his feet.
Aoba pulled out the Yuan Closing Needle—a device suppressing key chakra points—from the man's spine and said:
> "Try it. Activate the Byakugan. Let's see what's changed."
The man obeyed instantly. Chakra surged through him, and the signature veins around his temples bulged as the Byakugan activated—clean and unrestrained.
Free.
Visit patreon.com/Akeyno to get 30+ chapters