Witty Naruto Life

Chapter 281 The Inner World of a Caged Bird
"Why, why..."

Neji stared incredulously at the black tentacles that had appeared on his abdomen.

Before his eyes, the images of memory and reality began to blur, as if his own eyes were playing a cruel joke on him.

How would those empty, lifeless white eyes, those pupils without pupils, view themselves now, and how would they face their future destiny?
The question suddenly popped into Neji's mind, but it appeared so abruptly that Neji realized something was wrong.

No, I'm still fighting! Naruto and Sakura are in danger!

His thoughts swirled between fantasy and reality when suddenly he heard a series of loud shouts:

"Water Release·Water Breaking Wave!"

"Sakura, I'll hold them off! You go rescue Neji!"

"I'll be right back!"

"Take him with you to the memory space; we can't let him be exposed to the mastermind!"

"Okay, hang in there!"

"..."

"..."

"...Naruto, Sakura?"

Neji felt as if he had been thrown into a vast ocean; his limbs were soft and powerless, as if he had regressed to the state of a newborn baby.

A suffocating feeling, like drowning, washed over him. Neji struggled desperately, but to no avail, until…

"Wake up, Neji!"

"Crack! Crack!"

Neji's cheeks were patted twice by Sakura, which gradually brought him back to his senses.

He opened his eyes and saw that Sakura's sweaty face had relaxed, and her body was ice-cold, as if she had just been carried back from an ice cellar.

Strangely, the glaring sunlight was clearly a reminder that the temperature around him was comfortable.

"Get up first."

Sakura extends a hand, which Neji grasps, but he quickly realizes something is wrong with himself.

A dark liquid was continuously flowing from his abdomen!
It's like the seal on Naruto's stomach in the original story failing, causing ink to drip down continuously.

"What's going on?!" Neji exclaimed in surprise, then looked around, his eyes widening slightly. "Where...am I?"

“We’ve entered your inner world.” Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder:
"Cheer up, now we need to confront your inner demons and deal with them."

"Wait, what's going on?" Neji couldn't help but clutch his abdomen, but the black water couldn't be stopped and continued to flow down.

My body felt increasingly cold.

"You've been hit. This is an attack launched by 'Xiao' against your mind, successfully trapping you in your own psychological shadow."

Neji paused for a moment, processing the complex information, but soon figured out most of it.

Although he came from a branch family, Neji belonged to a prestigious clan and had a broad perspective. He understood so-called mental illnesses and psychological traumas.

Given that Hanabi was Naruto's student and had spoken with his cousin, combined with the black tentacles he had just seen, Neji quickly understood the situation.

“The Akatsuki actually set up an ambush against me… But why did they choose me? Do they know a lot about me?” Neji wondered.

Sakura: "Among them are skilled intelligence ninjas, so it's not surprising that they know about your situation."

"In short, we need to clear your inner demons as soon as possible so that you can step out of your inner world and return to normal."

Neji realized the source of his earlier abnormality and nodded.

The two began walking along the corridor into the inner room.

"This is the Hyuga clan's compound..." Neji said softly, touching the wooden door and pillars.

Sakura scanned her surroundings and found that Neji's memory space was much more realistic than those she had encountered before.

The details are incredibly rich, and the five senses are clearer than ever before; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as lifelike.

"This shows that Neji has a very deep memory of this compound," Sakura thought.

Suddenly, the two heard the sound of sparring.

"Drink! Ha!"

Judging from the somewhat childish voice, it seems that one of the participants was a girl.

Besides the girl's shouts, the sound of the two people's footsteps on the wooden floor and the sound of sweat dripping onto the ground were all clearly audible.

Neji's pupils contracted, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Hinata-sama?"

His face betrayed his surprise, and he immediately strode toward the room where they were sparring.

"Snapped!"

A hand pressed firmly on Neji's shoulder as he saw Sakura approaching from behind.

She said coldly, "Wait a minute. This is your inner world. We can't be sure if this is a trap for you."

Neji looked at Sakura, a renewed sense of impatience rising within him. The black fluid dripping from his abdomen seemed to have increased. He pulled his hand away from Sakura's and said in a deep voice:

“I’m just going to take a look… I think I should.”

Neji had a bad feeling; he felt that his dead memories were about to attack him.

Da da da……

The sound of their footsteps echoed on the ground, and the black liquid from Neji's abdomen dripped onto the ground, leaving a series of black footprints.

Sakura followed closely behind, but chakra had already gathered in her palms, ready to deal with any sudden crisis.

"right here!"

Neji stopped in front of a sliding door, his rationality returning somewhat, and he didn't break in. "Ha! Ha!"

Neji poked a hole in the sliding door with his finger and looked through the hole at the scene inside.

Looking from the inside out, it looks like a grayish-white circle suddenly appearing at the entrance, which is a bit eerie.

Perhaps the whites of the eyes, when paired with facial features and face, are beautiful, but when they appear alone, they begin to look strange.

Sakura also dug a hole and looked inside.

Hinata, who is still a child, is sparring with her father, Hiashi Hyuga.

To bolster her courage, young Hinata tried to shout out, but she repeatedly dodged her father's outstretched hand.

In Sakura's opinion, it wasn't even a clever dodge; it was more like a random one.

Hinata was a bit too weak when she was little... Sakura thought, but Neji was focused on himself at that moment.

To be precise, it was his younger self kneeling beside him, and Hyuga Hizashi, who was still 'alive'.

Neji stared blankly at his father, watching his expression gradually turn ugly.

What was your father thinking at that time?
Neji pondered this question repeatedly on countless nights after his father's death.

His expression clearly revealed his resentment. Was he resentful about what he and his son had experienced?

If that's the case, why was he ultimately willing to sacrifice his life for his brother?

Neji felt this was too contradictory. He could either be completely resentful or live a good life, but his father insisted on making him live a life of conflict.

Suddenly,

Neji noticed that blue veins were gradually appearing around Hizashi's eye sockets, which was a sign that his Sharingan had been awakened.

By the way, that's why my father was punished!

not good!

Neji's heart clenched, and sure enough, he saw Hiashi realize something was wrong and shield Hinata behind him.

"Snapped!"

Sakura suddenly slapped Neji on the shoulder!

Even though she couldn't quite remember the details of the plot, she realized the crux of the problem.

Neji realized the tragic fate of a caged bird through this experience!

Hyuga Hizashi was very concerned about his son's mental health, so even after Neji was marked with the cursed seal, he continued to live happily for a while without noticing anything amiss.

It wasn't until this day, when Hiashi punished Hizashi in front of him, that the hypocritical mask of the main family was finally torn off.

All the brotherhood is fake; the real purpose is to use the cursed seal to enslave the branch family members and make them work for the main family.

Even if Hizashi willingly chose to die, does that prove that the two brothers were deeply in love and that the branch family and the main family could coexist harmoniously?

Hizashi and Neji later accepted their brother and sister respectively, but this was a subjective compromise, while the fact remains that the main family used the cursed seal to manipulate the branch family.

Subjective factors cannot distort objective reality, and the lack of Naruto's persuasive skills might explain why Neji is still unable to let go of his resentment.

"Hizashi, what do you want to do?!" Hiashi demanded sharply, then immediately formed a hand seal and activated the spell!
"Ahhhhh!!"

He collapsed in pain and began rolling around on the ground.

Neji could no longer contain his anger and pushed open the door, walking straight in.

"enough!"

He shouted at Hizashi, who stopped what he was doing. Neji, disregarding the potential danger, ran straight to Hizashi's side.

“Father…” Neji helped Hizashi up, clenching his teeth. His eyes twitched slightly.

Sakura didn't rush in; instead, she hid to the side, her hands still in a hand seal position.

From her perspective, Neji had almost lost all reason and forgotten the fact that he was in an illusion.

The next moment, Hiashi looked at Neji and said, "One day for the branch family, a lifetime for the branch family."

"This is the fate of you two, father and son, an inescapable destiny from the very beginning."

His tone was flat, completely ignoring the fact that Neji had already 'grown up'. Upon closer inspection, the young Neji kneeling beside him had also disappeared.

Sakura keenly noticed this detail and thought that this might be a dynamic adjustment made by the illusion in response to Neji's actions.

So the Hyuga Hiashi in front of us must be his inner demon.

Neji looked at his almost collapsed 'father', his white eyes flashing with anger, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Make your move, Neji, strike at your 'enemy'..."

Sakura didn't intervene; she wanted to leave the process of rebellion to Neji himself.

But Neji ultimately did nothing.

He simply carried his father on his back and walked outside.

Neji chose to submit to his fate, his belief that "heaven will prevail over man" was deeply ingrained in him.

At the same time, the black fluid in Neji's abdomen began to slowly recede back into his stomach...

Sakura didn't have time to notice this detail; she gritted her teeth and stopped Neji.

"Wait! Your inner demon is right in front of you, haven't you noticed?!" Sakura pointed at 'Hiashi' and shouted at Neji.

Neji turned to look at Hiashi, then back at Sakura, and shook his head.

“I know what you want me to do, and I’m perfectly clear-headed right now,” Neji said, as the black liquid in his abdomen continued to recede.

At the same time, a trace of evil black vapor gradually seeped from his body.

(End of this chapter)