Naruto: The Caged Bird Cannot Confine Me - Feng Hou Qi Men

Chapter 117. The Defected Sharingan and Byakugan: Sasuke and Hinata's Pursuit

117.

The full moon hung high, and countless stars twinkled. The cold moonlight shone down, enveloping the equally quiet and deserted streets of Konoha.

This was destined to be a night filled with farewells for the younger generation of Konoha.

In the former Hyuga clan compound, the Byakugan girl quietly stayed in her room.

Looking at the framed photos of Class 8 on the table, as well as the family portrait of Hinata with her father, mother, and sister Hanabi, Hinata was filled with mixed emotions.

The lowered eyes shone with a dimness that even the moonlight could not dispel.

Hinata's mind was filled with flashbacks of past events, which eventually settled on her conversation with Fuuki under the big tree at the village entrance on the day of her graduation.

After this period of fermentation and dissemination, the truth about what happened in the main clan's territory has long since come to light through the investigation by the village's ninjas.

The people who split up the family were not lying; the father and elders wanted to claim Feng Qi's special white eye for themselves!

This cruel truth, which she had long anticipated, tormented Hinata greatly. She couldn't understand why people from the Hyuga clan would fight each other over trivial power!

At the same time, she was also afraid.

Fearing that one day, the clan members, whose hearts were filled with hatred, would once again fight Feng Qi to the death.

To prevent such consequences, to put an end to the endless chain of hatred, and to give herself an explanation, Hinata knew she had to catch up with Fuuki and settle things with him face to face.

Even if it costs me my life!

This was something she had to do.

However, cruel reality dealt her an incredibly heavy blow.

Neji, the older brother known as a genius, and Hanabi, the younger sister who is gradually becoming stronger.

Even a random Sound Ninja could easily defeat him.

If I continue to stay in Konoha like this, the gap between me and these people will only widen until I can no longer even touch their backs...

Without power, nothing can be accomplished!

Having grasped this unchanging truth of the ninja world, Hinata took a deep breath and made her choice:

She raised her hand and pushed over the photo frame that represented many past ties, walked to the unconscious Hanabi, and gently stroked her young face with its furrowed brows.

Then, without hesitation, he pushed open the door, walked into the pitch-black courtyard, and disappeared into the boundless darkness.

Coincidentally, at the same time, in the Uchiha clan territory.

Wearing a dark blue trench coat, Sasuke Uchiha made the same decision as Hinata: to leave Konoha, a place he had come to loathe.

Here's what happened: Ever since I met Itachi Uchiha, I've been tormented by his Tsukuyomi for almost half a month.

Awakening from his coma, he was in a bad mood. He slapped away the apple that Sakura, who was waiting by his bedside, offered him and then got into a heated argument with Naruto.

The two sides agreed to settle their differences on the rooftop.

The result was similar to the original story: Kakashi appeared and interrupted the two of them as they were charging up their Chidori and Rasengan.

Through the shattered water tank, Sasuke realized the gap in strength between himself and Naruto.

This was a huge blow to him, who had been hailed as a genius since childhood, and he was furious!

Therefore, in order to obtain even greater power, enough to defeat Uchiha Itachi, he made up his mind to seek refuge with Hyuga Fuuki, the S-rank rogue ninja he once hated so much!

The reason for this idea, besides the demonic mark within his body that can enhance his power by several levels, is another very important one.

That was when Itachi Uchiha was engaged in a battle and casually mentioned Hyuga Fuuki. Sasuke clearly saw that Itachi, who was always indifferent to everything, had a fleeting look of surprise and panic in the depths of his eyes!

He was convinced that he had not misjudged the situation and knew his older brother very well.

Hyuga Fuuki has definitely fought Uchiha Itachi before, and left the latter with a very deep shock!

This discovery gave Sasuke hope—a hope that could not exist in Kakashi—to complete his revenge against Itachi Uchiha.

To achieve this goal, no matter what he has to give up or what price he has to pay, he must become Hinata Kazeki's disciple!

-

On the cold, gloomy street leading out of the village, a boy and a girl, determined to become stronger, unexpectedly meet.

A gentle breeze blows, stirring up fallen leaves all over the ground.

Sasuke and Hinata stopped at the same time, their Sharingan and Byakugan staring at each other in silence.

Under the moonlight, they both saw their own reflections in each other's pupils.

Without any verbal exchange, but with just a glance, the two understood each other's thoughts.

Hinata knew about Sasuke Uchiha, not because he was an incredibly brilliant Uchiha genius, but because he was Naruto Uzumaki's teammate.

For a long time, she harbored feelings of affection for Naruto and even secretly followed him, which also gave her a basic understanding of Sasuke.

In contrast, Sasuke's impression of Hinata was still based on that spectacular Byakugan sibling battle during the Chunin Exams.

That battle showed him the strength of the seemingly timid, white-eyed girl in front of him.

Besides that, the only thing that remained was the other person's experience of "genocide," which was similar to his own but far inferior.

After briefly sizing each other up, the two simultaneously looked away and quietly walked towards the village entrance.

Under normal circumstances, even at night, there is a guard team on duty at the village entrance to keep watch.

However, they were already under the influence of the Sound Four's genjutsu and lay unconscious on the ground.

Thanks to this, Sasuke and Hinata traveled almost unimpeded, except for...

"Sass here!"

The silence at the village entrance was suddenly broken by shouts coming from behind.

Sasuke, with his hands in his pockets, stopped and glanced sideways, quickly recognizing the person.

His teammate, Sakura Haruno, is also a member of Team 7.

Watching Sasuke's retreating figure, Sakura Haruno keenly sensed a certain possibility.

Besides her "Kotoamatsukura," which is known as the strongest genjutsu, she also has a strong sixth sense, which allowed her to guess that Sasuke might completely defect from Konoha.

Just as Sakura Haruno was about to plead, a palm strike came down from behind and hit her neck.

"I've wanted to do this for a long time: to find someone who looks down on Naruto and mocks him so blatantly."

Hinata slowly withdrew her arm, looking expressionlessly at Sakura Haruno, who had lost consciousness and was lying on the ground.

She used to be timid and cowardly, and at most she would just secretly hide in a corner and envy Sakura Haruno.

But now, having experienced countless trials, she is no longer the Hinata Hyuga she once was!

Seeing Sakura Haruno suddenly collapse, Sasuke remained outwardly calm, but his kindness compelled him to quickly turn back.

Seeing that Sakura had only fainted and that her vital acupoints had not been damaged in any way.

He breathed a sigh of relief and helped Sakura up, placing her on a long stone bench by the roadside.

The brief interlude passed just like that.

Just as they stepped out of the village, four figures emerged from the darkness.

The Sound Four glanced at Sasuke, the "vessel" abandoned by Orochimaru, with suspicion. Seeing that there was no obvious hostility from him, they immediately looked away and knelt down on one knee in front of Hinata.

"Welcome, Lady Hinata! From this day forward, you are our captain!"

He never imagined that the protagonist of the scene before him was his own Sasuke, and his brows furrowed tightly.

After a few seconds of contemplation, having already made up his mind, he didn't linger and vanished from the spot in a blur.

According to the information brought back by the new Hokage Jiraiya, Hyuga Kazeki is most likely staying in the Land of Demons!

He's going there to find him!

Following closely behind, surrounded by the Sound Four, Hinata officially embarked on her journey to find Orochimaru, the rogue ninja.

-

The next day, from Hanabi and Sakura's words after they woke up, the Hokage Building learned that Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Hinata had defected from Konoha.

Jiraiya, who had only recently taken office, immediately had two more incredibly troublesome things to deal with.

Konoha is now in dire need of rebuilding, and the area around its borders is fraught with danger, making it impossible to find a place where ninjas are needed.

Jiraiya had neither the time nor the manpower to devote to the mission of bringing the two back.

So he directly summoned Shikamaru, the most composed and calm among his fellow ninjas, and dumped this troublesome matter on him with an unyielding and forceful attitude.

After all, it was the Hokage's order, so even if Shikamaru hated trouble, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the mission.

Moreover, as a fellow young ninja, he truly didn't want to see his former comrades, who had fought alongside him against the Sound Ninja and Sand Ninja, leave for distant lands.

Compared to the relatively safe Konoha, the outside world is far too dangerous!

After leaving the Hokage Building, Shikamaru immediately began to think about how to bring Sasuke and Hinata back, and he was extremely troubled by this.

It would be easier to handle if it were just one person, but unfortunately, both of them left at the same time.

They had absolutely no clue about their innermost thoughts, their destination, or potential enemies!

After much deliberation, and considering the characteristics of his contemporaries, Shikamaru finally devised a plan that was barely adequate.

First and foremost is Hinata.

Based on the information provided by Hinata Hanabi, she should be with the four Sound Ninja, which means that more people will need to be involved.

As members of Team 8, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame are naturally the top choices for the search mission.

Moreover, he has a way to win over his teammates Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka, so that they can cooperate more effectively.

Considering the enemy's strength, the team also needs strong combat power.

On this point, as Hinata's older brother, it is believed that Hyuga Neji would agree to participate in the recovery operation.

From the perspective that the pure Byakugan of the Hyuga clan must never be taken by outsiders, he probably wouldn't refuse.

With this, the team tasked with rescuing Hinata was finalized.

Then there's Uchiha Sasuke.