As he spoke, his gaze passed over the Main Family members behind Hizashi Hyuga, who avoided his eyes. His voice stayed low but steady. "Respect our equal status as members of the Hyuga Clan."
"Respect the sacrifices and loyalty we gave to protect the clan and the Byakugan." "We accepted the Caged Bird to live for protection, not to die as slaves."
Yunchuan Hyuga's words struck like heavy blows. They hit Hizashi Hyuga's face and also the hearts of the Branch Family members behind him. Eyes among the Branch Family members began to change, filling with anger and heat.
An unseen pressure pushed toward the people of the Main Family. Hands holding weapons grew slick with sweat, and some stepped back without meaning to. Hizashi Hyuga's expression changed at once.
He had never seen such a Branch Family. He had never seen the Branch Family so united. He had never seen so many who dared to stand against the Main Family.
Shock, anger, and a trace of fear tangled in Hizashi Hyuga's chest. Then humiliation and fury swallowed everything else.
"Rebellion! All of you are rebelling!" Hizashi Hyuga roared, his face red and twisted as he raised his hand with two fingers together. "Yunchuan Hyuga! You brought this on yourself!"
He was going to use the Caged Bird Seal. He wanted to use the mark that controlled the life and death of the Branch Family, and torture Yunchuan Hyuga in front of everyone.
He wanted to burn that broken, begging image into the minds of every rebel of the Branch Family. Only then could he restore his authority and crush their resistance.
But the moment his hand rose to form the sign, the eyes of the Branch Family locked onto him. Veins stood out around their eyes, sharp and clear. A crushing fear seized Hizashi Hyuga, and his fingers froze in midair.
Those gazes felt aimed at his chest, his throat, and the back of his head. Pain prickled as if needles were closing in on his eyes. A chill ran up his spine.
He saw it in some of their eyes behind Yunchuan Hyuga. He saw the will to die. He had no doubt that if he completed the sign or tried to take even one person away, the Hyuga Clan would begin to fall apart the very next second.
Years of anger and shame in the Branch Family would erupt at once. Someone would strike at him, and the result would be something he could not bear. He could not even be sure the people behind him could protect him from these desperate men.
So he did not dare.
Yet facing Yunchuan Hyuga and this Branch Family, Root had no plan to retreat. If he stepped back now, it would be like throwing his own face onto the ground to be trampled.
"Damn it. Damn it. These people." Hizashi Hyuga, who had controlled the lives of countless Branch Family members, felt a crushing weakness and shame for the first time. His body trembled.
The pressure climbed higher and higher, like a bowstring pulled to its limit and about to break its Lie. No one moved, and no one spoke.
"Enough!"
A furious shout tore through the air. Two figures strode in from the distance.
One was a figure who had grown skilled at playing the role of "Hiashi Hyuga." The other made Hizashi Hyuga's face turn ashen the moment he saw her.
It was his daughter, Hyuga Aoi. His body shook despite himself. There was no need to think about it, she must have gone to inform "Hiashi Hyuga."
When Hyuga Aoi saw that Yunchuan Hyuga was still standing there, she let out a breath of relief. Then her expression changed when she noticed the blood on his arm. Her steps quickened as she moved to his side.
"What are you doing this time?" she asked in a low voice. The wounds from the battlefield in the Land of Moon were not even healed yet, and now he had added another injury. She could not understand what he was thinking day after day.
Yunchuan Hyuga answered calmly, his voice soft. "That is not a question for me. You should ask your good father."
The cold distance in his words made Hyuga Aoi feel blocked inside. She pressed her dry lips together. She turned to look at Hizashi Hyuga, her always strict father, and a faint resentment rose in her heart.
She knew she should not feel this way, no matter what he was still her father. But she could not stop herself. She had finally softened Yunchuan Hyuga's attitude a little, and now it had returned to how it was before.
During his recovery at home, she had visited even more often than Takao Hyuga. She had used all kinds of excuses to come. And now, everything felt wasted.
At this moment, the man acting as Hiashi Hyuga stepped between Yunchuan Hyuga and Hizashi Hyuga. He frowned when he looked at Yunchuan Hyuga and the Branch Family. He was shocked by the wounds on their arms and uneasy about how far things had gone, especially when he saw Neji Hyuga among them.
In his view, if Hizashi Hyuga had been more ruthless, or if that old man did not care about the Hyuga Clan, Yunchuan Hyuga and Neji Hyuga would have been tortured badly. The thought made his chest tighten.
"What kind of scene is this, gathering here in the middle of the night?" he said in a low, stern voice. "Disperse at once."
He meant it for their own good, but the expected movement never came. All the Branch Family members stayed where they were, standing behind Yunchuan Hyuga like a silent and stubborn forest in the dark.
They ignored the clan head's order together. The man acting as Hiashi Hyuga stared at the figures, some blank, some sweating, all unmoving. His mouth opened, but no words came out, and his throat felt dry.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Then he turned sharply toward Hizashi Hyuga and the people behind him.
"Elder Riwugo!" his voice was not loud, but it was cold and severe. "Did I not say that before there is solid evidence, the Caged Bird Seal must not be used?"
"You hid this from me, and I can overlook that. If this were a normal questioning and investigation, I would say nothing. But what is this display supposed to mean?"
Without turning back, he pointed at the silent Branch Family. "Are you planning to take all Branch Family members away as suspects and torture them?"
"Do you still see me as the clan head? Do you still see the rules of the Hyuga Clan?"
Hizashi Hyuga had not expected "Hiashi Hyuga" to turn the spear on him. Being questioned so directly in front of everyone, the old man's face shifted between ashen gray and pale white.
He knew very well that his method was extreme and rough, but long years in power had carved arrogance into his bones. He was used to ignoring the dissatisfaction and anger of the Branch Family.
In his eyes, no matter how unhappy the Branch Family were, they could never truly cause trouble.
He had intended to use this chance to strike hard at Yunchuan Hyuga, whose reputation had been growing and who showed signs of becoming a leader among the Branch Family. He wanted that cursed thorn to understand that no matter how strong he was, and no matter how great his reputation outside, once back in the Hyuga Clan he was still Branch Family and still had to obey the Main Family.