Naruto: The Information Broker from the Uchiha Clan

fate.

This word had never appeared in Neji's world before. From the time he could remember until he was four years old, he always believed that he was the same as everyone else and could grow up carefree.

However, when she was four years old, the eldest daughter of the main family was three years old. On that day, the entire Hyuga family gathered at the Hyuga clan's territory.

On that same day, after the curse mark called Bird in a Cage was imprinted on his forehead, he remained completely oblivious.

But when his father wailed in agony because of a hand seal his uncle made, he understood.

Just because they were born a few minutes apart, they were designated to be separated from their father, and their lives were placed in the control of the main family.

In my memory, there was my father, wailing and collapsing to the ground, and myself, bewildered and helpless, standing by.

These things... caused Hyuga Neji to clench his fists, his blue energy surging forth.

On what grounds?!

The same question keeps coming: Why should my family be treated this way?

Neji.

The sudden sound startled Neji, but when he turned around, he only saw a pair of Sharingan eyes before collapsing and fainting.

Yun casually twisted Neji's arm and glanced at the shadows of the tree beside them: "I'll bring him back in a bit. You can come along if you don't have to."

"Shh."

The operatives who had fallen from the tree walked over. Yun scratched his head, realizing he was unlucky; there just happened to be an operative nearby.

"Captain, when are you going back to the Anbu?"

Ok?

Yun looked at the guy with suspicion, and after a while asked, "It's you? I thought I'd run into someone who wanted to fight me."

The ANBU member wearing the fox mask waved his hands repeatedly: "How could that be? Fighting the captain would be suicide! But why would the captain attack this Hyuga kid?"

Yun scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. Was it just a sudden impulse?

I feel a bit uneasy about Neji's death in the original work.

If I had to pinpoint it, it would probably be a slightly wicked sense of humor regarding the twelve main characters.

"This kid's talent...is very strong. So...he needs to be taught a lesson. Anyway, I'll bring him back in a bit, don't you trust me?"

The fox-masked operative quickly took a half step back, shook his head, and replied, "How could that be? The captain is now a hero of the village. No matter what, the captain wouldn't lay a hand on the village children."

Uchiha Yun's eyes twitched. If I hadn't seen your hand behind your back, I would have almost believed it.

"Buzz!"

With a soft sound, a kaleidoscope pattern appeared in the eye socket.

"Alright, Noda, these eyes should be enough to prove me. You can make a note of it. See you later."

The next moment, Yun vanished from the spot.

Meanwhile, the fox-masked ANBU member awkwardly put the kunai back into his ninja tool bag.

That irrelevant answer just now almost made me not recognize him; if it weren't for the eye pattern behind it, I would have actually attacked him.

but……

The Uchiha clan taught the Hyuga clan a branch family? What kind of twisted logic is that?

……

Behind Konoha, in the forest.

Neji, who had been unconscious, had just woken up. After all, it was just an ordinary genjutsu, and he hadn't even used any of his eye powers.

"If you're awake, stop pretending to be asleep. I mean you no harm."

Neji sat up abruptly, and upon seeing Yun, exclaimed in surprise, "Uchiha Yun?!"

"Snapped!"

With a flick of his finger, he struck Neji's headband on the forehead.

"what!"

Neji let out a scream and looked at Yun defiantly. If it were Hinata, she would probably be crying her eyes out right now.

“Call me brother! Since you know me, your father must have taught you that.”

Neji, rubbing his forehead, wisely said, "Lord Yun, my father said you are a benefactor to our family."

My benefactor?

It seems that after the war ended, the Hyuga brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi, had figured out what had happened back then.

Yun nodded and accepted the title, then looked at Neji and asked, "Aren't you curious why I tied you up here?"

Neji shook his head: "Since it's you, I think you must have your reasons. Anyway... it shouldn't be to hurt me."

Yun smiled and continued, "I overheard you saying those things about fate at school, so I'm a little curious about your thoughts."

fate.

Neji looked at the setting sun in the distance; soon it would be dark.

Like their own fate, if necessary, life or death is entirely in the hands of the head of the family.

After a long pause, Yun exhaled and said, "If I were a ninja from another village, and you didn't have that Hyuga clan's Caged Bird tattoo on your forehead right now, do you know what would happen?"

"In fact, it's not just the branch family that's dissatisfied with the Hyuga clan rules. And if you want to change things, that kind of power alone isn't enough."

Neji remained silent.

If I were facing ninjas from an enemy village right now, I'd be facing eye-gouging, right?

And power...

Powerful enough to change this rule.

"It is not scarcity that is the problem, but inequality. Members of the branch family must be marked with a cursed seal called the Bird in a Cage. Once the seal is applied, the life and death of the branch family will be in the control of the main family. This is a deeply rooted clan rule of the Hyuga clan."

Yun sighed as she spoke: "But as far as I know, the landing of the curse seal is actually a form of protection for the weak."

Do you know what caused the war between Konoha and Kumogakure?

Neji shook his head.

Yun continued, "The Hidden Cloud Village used the alliance as bait, and their envoys sneaked into the Hyuga clan's territory in the middle of the night, intending to kidnap the three-year-old daughter of the Hyuga main family. You should be very familiar with that child, Hinata Hyuga."

"The entire ninja world knows that the Hyuga clan's Byakugan can only be obtained from the main branch. Many Hyuga clan members died in the war with Kumogakure, but Kumogakure did not obtain a pair of Byakugan."

Neji clenched his fists: "But those who died on the battlefield were all members of the branch family! Uncle Tokufumi, and..."

Yun nodded: "So... only by having power can we change everything that is unreasonable. It's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality. Why is it that only members of the branch family go to the battlefield, while the main family only has Hyuga Hiashi?"

"And why is it that the curse mark of the caged bird is only engraved on the foreheads of the branch family members, but not the main family members? This is an injustice!"

"And if you want to change all of this, then you need power, the power to break the rotten rules."

"But at the same time, you also need to come up with a better system. Otherwise, the entire Hyuga clan will become a hot commodity in the ninja world, since the Byakugan is very useful for reconnaissance in war."

After he finished speaking, Hyuga Neji remained silent for a long time.

The image of his father collapsing to the ground and wailing in pain flashed through his mind once again, and at that moment, he could only look helplessly at his uncle.

The head of the Hyuga clan's main family, Hyuga Hiashi.

"Lord Yun... I can't forget my father, the way he wailed on the ground after being provoked by Hyuga Hiashi's caged bird... I! Can't forget!"

Uchiha Yun sighed. At this moment, he understood why Hizashi hadn't died, and why Neji kept talking about fate.

The scene where Hiashi and Hinata sparred, and Hiashi revealed murderous intent, suggests that this had already occurred before the war.

No wonder, witnessing his father's wailing like that must have left such a young child with psychological trauma.

"Do you know... why Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the main branch of the Hyuga clan, would go to the battlefield?"

Neji looked at Yun: "Isn't it because of Hinata, and her father, Hiashi Hyuga..."

Yun shook her head slightly: "No, Rizu went to the battlefield and always took the lead because of your father."

"The Hidden Cloud Village's attempt to kidnap Hinata failed, and she was killed by Hiashi. The Hidden Cloud Village then threatened war, demanding that Konoha hand over Hiashi Hyuga, or they would start a war."

"Peace is hard-won. Back then, everyone in the Hyuga clan demanded that your father, Hizashi, Hiashi's twin brother, pay with his life!"

"In this way, the scorn will not fall into other hands, and war will not break out. Everything will be fine, and the only one who will suffer is you."

!!!

In an instant, Neji seemed to have been struck.

Everyone else was overjoyed, except for him, who lost his father.

With this comparison, even a fool would know which one to choose.

Neji, who was born into a family that separated from his father at a young age and witnessed his father's wailing when the caged bird was triggered, was already quite precocious.

Now seven years old, he looked at Yun with suspicion: "Is it... Uncle Ri?"

Uchiha Yun nodded: "Hyuga Hiashi was unwilling to have his brother take his place. At that time, he got into an argument with the elders of the Hyuga clan on the Hyuga clan grounds."

"But if it were just Hiashi, from the village's perspective, even he couldn't change anything. In the end, it was the united efforts of all the clans in Konoha, plus the Fourth Hokage's overruling of objections, that led to the war with Kumogakure."

Do you know... what this means?

Neji nodded: "It means that the Hyuga will owe favors to all the other clans in Konoha. Although that's not wrong, the cause of the war lies with the Hyuga."

Yun exclaimed in admiration. This kid truly lived up to his reputation as the first of the twelve Konoha 12 to become a Jonin in the original story. He was meticulous, precocious, and very talented.

"Since we owe this favor, Hyuga must lead from the front on the battlefield. Hiashi and your father Hizashi will repay it with their lives."

"So now, do you still think your uncle is heartless?"

Yun then looked at Neji and said, "Or rather, if you were the main branch of the family, and the cursed mark of the Caged Bird Seal were to be engraved on Hinata's forehead, would you... be willing?"

In an instant, Neji thought of Hinata.

That adorable girl who, upon their first meeting, hid behind her uncle and secretly watched him.

I remember asking my father back then: Who is this lovely little sister?

If Hinata's forehead were marked with the image of a caged bird, wouldn't I be unwilling to accept it?