Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 159 Or are you saying you want to take us all away as murderers?

"Hoo! Cough cough!"

Hyuga Neji leaned against the cold door, his body slightly hunched, suppressing his rapid and violent breathing.

Cold sweat had already soaked through his thin undershirt, clinging to his skin and bringing a chill.

Clearly, he was the one who killed Hinata Naosuke.

Just as Hyuga Higo had guessed, he had been injured in the previous battle with Hyuga Naosuke.

So when he heard that the Zong family had discovered a body and were planning to use the wounds on the body to find the murderer, he suppressed his fear and ran home.

Others could explain their injuries as being from missions they were on, but he, a mere genin, had no way to explain the knife wounds on his body.

Now, there's only one way to keep it a secret as much as possible.

Neji Hyuga did not turn on the lights, as any light could attract unnecessary attention.

He groped his way to the fireplace in the living room and gently tore open the bandage on his lower abdomen.

"Well!"

The wound was stuck to the bandage, and each time a layer was peeled off, there was a slight "ripping" sound as the cloth separated from the scab, as well as a muffled groan that Neji suppressed deep in his throat.

The excruciating pain shot through his body like an electric current, causing his forehead to be covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

A gruesome knife wound, about three inches long and deep enough to expose flesh, was exposed in the faint moonlight!

The skin around the wound was peeling back, and blood was still slowly seeping out. The skin around the wound had turned an unhealthy bluish-white due to blood loss and pain.

He gritted his teeth and endured the dizziness and excruciating pain as he heated a kunai in the stove until it was red-hot.

The orange-red flames flickered, dispelling a small patch of darkness and illuminating Neji's pale, taut face.

When cold metal is licked by high temperatures, its color gradually changes from dark to dark red, and then turns into the most scorching bright red.

Neji stared intently at the red-hot kunai, then suddenly pulled it out, a wave of scorching heat hitting him!

There was no hesitation in his eyes, only a frenzied ruthlessness. He didn't even give himself any time to think or back down, and pressed it directly onto the hideous knife wound!

It's sizzling!

The pungent stench of charred flesh and burning grease instantly filled the air, accompanied by a terrifying sound like meat being fried in hot oil!
"Ugh!!"

An unimaginable burning pain instantly swept through his body, causing Hyuga Neji's body to tense up like a fully drawn bowstring.

But he bit his lower lip so hard it almost bled, suppressing his cries of pain. Veins bulged on his forehead, his body trembled violently, and his vision blurred as he nearly fainted.

But he kept replaying it in his mind.

The painful, contorted face of Hyuga Hizashi, the father, when he was tormented by the Caged Bird Seal!
The look of resentment and sorrow in my father's eyes as he showed me the caged bird he had carved!
Those old guys from the main family, with their haughty and indifferent attitude towards the branch families, treating them like dirt!
Naosuke Hinata's ugly face, twisted with rage as he wantonly whipped the branch family members!

And those eyes in dreams and ancient books possess the power to change all destinies!

"We can't be discovered yet; we're still a long way off!"

"I will live! I will become stronger! I will destroy this damn fate!"

Driven by a terrible hatred and obsession, he pressed down hard on the red-hot kunai, enduring the excruciating pain that would have made an ordinary person faint instantly, and pressed it firmly against the wound without moving!

Time seems to have frozen.

Every second felt like a year.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time—perhaps a few breaths, perhaps a few minutes—the pain was completely replaced by numbness.

Bang!

The kunai, now cold in his hand, fell to the ground with a crisp thud.

Neji was soaking wet, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. He slumped against the cold wall, his body trembling slightly as he gasped for breath.

He dared not delay for the slightest, and with his strength, looked at the wound on his abdomen again.

There, the gruesome knife wounds were no longer visible.

Instead, a charred black brand covered the entire wound area!

The skin and flesh had been completely charred and carbonized by the high temperature, turning a lifeless color like withered wood. The rolled-up skin and flesh at the edges of the wound were forcibly sealed by the high temperature, and no more blood seeped out.

The excruciating pain continued to gnaw at his bones, but compared to the soul-wrenching agony of the caged bird, this persistent dull pain gave Neji a morbid sense of pleasure.

This is the limit of what he can do.

To turn the fatal "evidence" on one's body into a seemingly "accidental" burn, at the cost of a permanent, ugly scar.

But it was all worth it.

To survive.

To get revenge on those guys.

For those eyes that can overturn everything!

Thinking of this, as if remembering something, he struggled to support himself with trembling arms and walked to an inconspicuous tatami mat in the corner of the room.

He extended his equally trembling fingers and carefully pried open a wooden board.

Beneath the wooden board was a well-hidden little compartment containing a scroll no bigger than the palm of your hand.

Hyuga Neji took it out, unfolded it in front of him, and then raised his hand to form a hand seal.

Bang!
As the white smoke dissipated, two eyeballs appeared prominently on the scroll.

Pure and flawless, like white jade.

Clearly, this is Hinata Naosuke's Byakugan.

"call……"

Looking at those two white eyes, Hyuga Neji exhaled, a hint of fanaticism flashing in his eyes.

He recalled the scene he saw in his dream, pinched one of the white eyes in each hand, and pressed them onto his open white eyes.

Soon, an extremely faint yet incredibly clear warm current quietly flowed into the whites of his eyes.

At the same time, the two white eyes that originally radiated a warm glow began to undergo strange changes at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Like grapes that have lost their moisture, they begin to shrivel and shrink, with fine black cracks appearing on the surface of their once full eyeballs.

puff……

Finally, the two Byakugan in Neji's hands completely lost all their luster and vitality, and with a gentle pinch, they turned into fine powder that fell from between his fingers.

Hyuga Neji felt that the world in front of him had become clearer, and his perception of the outside world and himself had become much stronger, as if something missing from his eyes had been made up.

"This is the second pair!"

He looked at the full-length mirror in the living room, at the eyes reflected in it, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, a morbid excitement welling up inside him.

The eyes that were dug out from Hyuga Kurozuka last time had already had their eye power drained and turned into powder, which confirmed the authenticity of the dream and the ancient book.

Hyuga Neji believed that as long as he acquired enough Byakugan, sooner or later he would also be able to possess those powerful blue eyes.

At that time, all ties to lineage and destiny will be severed!
However, Neji Hyuga was unaware that the "completion" he was experiencing was actually increasing the purity of his Byakugan, which could at most bring him to the level of Hinata Hyuga.

That's just one of the necessary conditions for obtaining the Tenseigan.

Another necessary condition is the bloodline of the Otsutsuki clan, something he could never achieve on his own.

However, at least in his view, he was on the right track.

boom! boom! boom!
A loud knocking suddenly broke the silence of the night, and Hyuga Neji shuddered. But before he could feel any fear, he heard a familiar voice coming from outside the door.

"Neji! Brother Yunchuan is summoning all branch family members to gather at his place!"

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Neji recognized the voice as belonging to Hyuga Takashi, who was also from the branch family, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt puzzled.

Is Hinata Kumokawa gathering all the branch family members?
Is it because of Hinata Naosuke's death?

No matter what you're doing, you have to go.

With this in mind, Hyuga Neji quickly changed into clean clothes and carefully covered the burn marks on his abdomen with the hem of his clothes.

Then, he stepped out of his house, his trembling steps becoming steady.

Soon they arrived at the front of Hinata Kumokawa's house, and stood naturally among the branch family members, looking at the figure standing at the very front of the group.

When Hyuga Yunchuan's gaze swept over him, a chilling feeling, as if he had been seen through, surged up, causing Hyuga Neji to involuntarily lower his eyes.

But it was at this moment that Hinata Kumokawa spoke up.

"Gentlemen," someone said, "what are you afraid of?"

His gaze swept over the crowd, and he slowly said, "Afraid of the main family's thorough investigation? Afraid of being framed as the murderer? Afraid of being tormented by the cursed seal like those under Hyuga Naosuke?"

Every question was like a cold awl, piercing the hearts of the separated family members, making them even paler.

"Look at you all, do you even remember you're from the Hyuga clan?"

Hinata Kumokawa's voice was deep: "We willingly allow ourselves to be carved into these caged birds, to protect the Byakugan, to ensure the continuation of our clan, and to safeguard our families."

"But what has the clan used it for now?"

"What did it turn us into?"

"The clan has turned it into a dog chain that can strangle us at any time, and we have become dogs with the chain around our necks!"

At this point, Hinata Kumokawa let out a deep breath, and his words caused everyone present to tremble.

"Gentlemen," he said, "Lord Hizashi's blood is not yet completely cold!"

“I do not deny that there are some people in the main family who regard us as equal partners.”

"But many more people, when it was time for us to sacrifice, used blood ties and family bonds to send Lord Hizashi to his death! But what happens after the sacrifice? What happens when peace comes?"

Is it the care of treating someone as one's own child? Is it the support of sharing weal and woe?

"No! It's intensified suspicion, and even more blatant trampling! They come when summoned and leave when dismissed!"

"No evidence, no reason, just suspicion is enough for them to use the cursed seal to interrogate us!"

“We share the same blood! We bear the same surname! Why must we be treated like servants? Our only ‘mistake’ was being born into a separate family!”

Hinata Kumokawa's gaze was as tangible as a burning flame, searing the deepest wounds in the hearts of everyone present.

"Hyuga Naosuke is dead. That good-for-nothing who relied on his status as a member of the main family but wasn't even a Chunin, that guy who beat and scolded the branch family members who protected him and treated them like dirt, is dead."

Yun Chuan's tone carried a chilling sarcasm: "Tell me, in your hearts, is there even the slightest thought that he deserves to die?"

Some of the branch family members' eyes flickered. Although the fear remained, deep in their eyes, the resentment and unwillingness that had been suppressed for a long time surfaced.

Then, Hyuga Kumokawa looked at Hyuga Takashi in the crowd and said, "Takashi, come here."

With a somber expression, Hyuga Takashi walked over, and Hyuga Kumokawa unbuttoned his shirt.

Under the moonlight, his not-so-broad chest and back were covered with crisscrossing scars.

There were knife wounds, puncture wounds from kunai, and burn marks. These were all relatively recent injuries, made within the last year or two. The newest wound, of course, was the one on his arm.

Many people present subconsciously changed their expressions, but were quickly interrupted by Hinata Kumokawa's voice.

"Do you see these injuries?"

Hinata Kumokawa's voice was deep and powerful: "This is what he left behind on the battlefield, during missions, and during training! It's what he left behind after crawling back from the brink of death countless times!"

"These are what he earned time and time again by risking his life to protect Konoha and the honor of the Hyuga clan!"

“But now!” he said coldly, “the Zong family is coming. They actually want to check us for any new injuries, using that as evidence that we are ‘guilty’!”

"If they really want to investigate the murderer, I'll accept that, but are they really trying to find the murderer?"

"No! They're not investigating the murderer! They're investigating how much backbone we, the divided family, still have! How many bones they can break! How much dignity they can trample on!"

"They're establishing their authority! They want to tell us all that the branch family is just the main family's dog, and in their eyes, the injuries we suffered are just what we deserved."

"They just want to see us groveling and begging for mercy like dogs at their feet!"

“But I’m not a dog,” Hinata Kumokawa said softly. “Neither are you.”

"so……"

As he spoke, he raised his arm, grasped the kunai in his other hand, and slowly ran it across his arm. A scarlet line of blood slowly appeared, and blood flowed down from the wound.

This action sent a shiver down the spines of all the family members present.

The main family is investigating the murderer of Hyuga Naosuke, based on the so-called "new wound," while Hyuga Kumokawa has inflicted a new wound on himself...

Everyone knew exactly what this meant.

Neji Hyuga stood in the crowd, his body trembling involuntarily.

He never expected this; he really never expected it.

"Those of you who are injured, don't be afraid, I will stay with you." Hinata Kumokawa chuckled. "Those of you who are not injured, you can leave now."

Under the moonlight, the scarlet blood line cut by the kunai was clearly visible, and warm blood meandered down his forearm, dripping onto the ground with a soft "plop" sound.

Dead silence.

Absolute silence.

The only sounds were the gradually increasing heaviness of breathing and the rustling of leaves in the night wind.

Everyone stood there silently.
Fear still lingered in their eyes, but deeper still, an inexplicable impulse surged forth like a tide!
Just then, a fierce shout filled with rage and coldness rang out.

"What are you guys doing gathered here?!"

The main family members have finally arrived!
The leader was none other than Higuchi Hyuga!

His face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water, and his white eyes were burning with raging anger.

Behind him were dozens of fully armed branch family members, exuding a chilling aura.

These people are loyal dogs who have been completely brainwashed and tamed by the main family.

"Hyuga Kumokawa!"

Upon seeing the figure at the head of the crowd, Hyuga Higo narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "You! And all of you! What are you doing? Trying to collude and hide the murderer?"

Hyuga Kumokawa turned to look at Hyuga Higo, his face expressionless as a deep pool, and said, "There is no murderer here, the one you speak of."

"Hmph." Hyuga Higo snorted coldly, glanced at his bleeding arm, and sneered, "Whether there's a culprit or not isn't up to you to decide. Take everyone with fresh injuries away!"

Upon hearing this, someone finally took out a kunai from their waist.

Not someone else.

That day, he approached Neji.

Driven by that intense impulse, he, the real murderer, who had been desperately trying to hide his wounds, actually slashed his arm with a kunai.

laugh!
The sharp edge of the kunai also cut a bloody gash on his left arm, and blood gushed out instantly!

"I……"

Neji wanted to confess that he was the murderer, but before his trembling voice could utter a word, he suddenly heard the sound of flesh being torn apart beside him.

Then, the third, the fourth, the fifth...

One after another, the branch family members silently drew their own kunai, and even borrowed shuriken from others.

laugh!laugh!laugh!
The sound of sharp blades slicing through flesh rang out one after another!
There was no sound, no hesitation.

Only suppressed groans and heavy breathing sounded particularly jarring in the silent night!
In the pale moonlight, streaks of crimson blood bloomed simultaneously on those arms, some thick and some thin.

"Didn't you want to check on people with fresh injuries?"

Hyuga Kumokawa faced the astonished gazes of Hyuga Higo and the other main family members, raising his still-bleeding arm, his voice clear and cold.

Behind him, dozens of arms were raised high, and dozens of scarlet wounds were exposed in the moonlight, blood flowing and quickly staining his sleeves red, dripping onto the ground.

“As you can see,” Hinata Kumokawa said calmly, “everyone here has fresh wounds.”

"Who are you taking?"

"Or……"

He looked at the speechless branch family members behind Hyuga Higo and said softly, "You want to take us, all of us from the branch family..."

"Treat them all as murderers and take them all away?"

　In case any readers who have followed the book all the way through missed the previous revisions, I'll mention them here.

　　The chapter where Black Zetsu mistook Uchiha Itachi for the reincarnation of Indra has been slightly altered.

　　Black Zetsu has already suspected that Sasuke Uchiha, who attacked at the same time as Madara Uchiha's death, might also be Indra. However, Sasuke is too young to do anything right now. In any case, regardless of which of the brothers is Indra, Itachi Uchiha needs to have the Mangekyou Sharingan. Once it is determined who Indra is, the eyes can be given to that person.

　　However, Black Zetsu did not tell Obito his suspicions, keeping something from him.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)