The bird in the cage

After that day, Baishi felt that the relationship between him and Ruri had become awkward.

Although on the surface it is still the same as always. I still greet her in class and we still practice as usual at night, but Ruri seems to have once again become what she was when I first saw him, silent and cold and rarely speaking.

And then she stayed like that for a few days.

Shiraishi went to school as usual, but when the first class was about to start, he found that Ayane hadn't arrived.

Shiraishi found this very strange.

As a member of the Hyuuga clan, she still maintains the rules of behavior that a wealthy family should have. It is impossible to skip classes and be late.

Until the first class was about to end, a footstep sounded outside the door.

Ayane stood alone at the door, not saying a word, biting her lip as if she was going to bleed, an atmosphere of sadness and despair enveloping her.

What's even stranger is that a white ribbon is tied around Ayane's forehead, but the sudden change feels a bit abrupt.

Before that, Ayane wouldn't have had big ribbon ornaments on her forehead.

Fujimura looked at Ayane. He originally wanted to scold Ayane, but when he noticed the deep despair and sadness in Ayane's body, he sighed softly, as if he knew something, and said bluntly, "Come in, remember not to be late next time."

Ayane nodded, walked over to her seat, and sat down under everyone's strange, puzzled eyes.

"Shiraishi, good morning."

Ayane tried to greet Shiraishi as usual, but her smile was reluctant and the tears in her eyes flowed as if she couldn't stop.

Then, without waiting for Shiraishi's answer, he buried his head in the table, as if it was a shame to be seen by others and would be mocked and despised by others.

And all this happened. The other students looked at her strangely, whispered, pointed, and seemed to know what had happened.

But the students who don't know the truth are just curious and worried about Ayane.

Baishi's face was full of question marks and he didn't ask any questions.

Ruri looked at Shiraishi, looked at Ayane, but didn't speak.

——Ruri, do you know what happened to Ayane?

I passed a note with this question to Ruri.

Ruri must know something.

——What else could be, of course, the "good" tradition of the Hyuuga clan.

The word "good" is in quotation marks. Ruri's sentence is full of sarcasm.

The 'refined' tradition of the Hyuuga clan?

Shiraishi didn't know what it was, but Ayane's change in him must be inseparable from the "good" tradition of the Hyuuga clan.

What exactly is this?

I really couldn't think of any reason, Shiraishi gave up.

At noon, Baishi and Ruri were having lunch together.

"Ruri, which Hyuuga clan tradition are you talking about?"

He still couldn't help but be curious.

Ruri was silent for a moment and replied, "This matter is no secret among the Ninja, among the Chunin and Jonin everyone has heard about it. The Hyuuga clan has always had a very interesting experience since ancient times. An unacceptable tradition. the distinction between clans."

"Is there a problem with the clan distinction?"

"The second family must take responsibility for protecting the clan."

"That's normal too."

Shiraishi couldn't understand.

Low and high-status protection, while not very fair, is a solid "social" structure.

Society is divided into classes and levels.

Therefore, in Shiraishi's eyes, it is a normal developmental tendency of people of the second family to protect people of the main family.

"If that's the case, it's not a rare thing. But allowing family separation to protect the clan with a heart and prevent the Hyuuga clan blood from spreading, there is a destiny for those born into the second family, they must be controlled"

"Controlled?"

Shiraishi was taken by surprise.

"Yes, control, control in the truest sense." Ruri looked at Baishi and said solemnly, "For the safety of the clan, the branch must take the initiative to carry a curse called 'bird in the cage', which means that the main family is in control of its life and death. family becomes unruly or fails to fulfill duties and responsibilities, the clan can use the Curse Seal to instantly execute the person from the division.

"..."

"In other words, Ayane's life and death were now controlled by an outsider. If Ayane is dissatisfied with the life of the clan, the clan members have the right to beat and scold Ayane, or even execute her."

Baishi thought of something and said, "The position of the curse seal..."

"Yes, the curse mark that was planted is on Ayane's forehead. That's why Ayane blocked it with a cloth ribbon. Whether justice or clan name protection. The curse mark, a genuine 'slave' mark." ."

Shiraishi was silent.

A voice told him that Konoha is a terrorist organization and that it is normal for this to happen in terrorist organizations.

Though very repulsive, Shiraishi found he couldn't do anything.

This is the helplessness called reality.

For Ayane, the slave's mark is engraved on her forehead, which is crueler than killing her outright.

Seriously, what terrible times these are!

If such a thing appeared in a dark corner, Shiraishi could still accept it, but the Hyuuga clan's rules became public.

Put your other half of the clan in captivity openly as "slaves" without covering up, what does that mean?

From here, Baishi looked at Konoha's Hokage Rock, and the three sculptures carved into them, symbolizing the triumphs of those three.

Especially the first generation Hokage and the second generation Hokage, they are called around the world as the ones who ended the hard times of the Warring States.

Then?

The war continues.

There is no difference from the Warring States period, children will still be sent to the battlefield.

Everything seems not to have changed.

Only the ninjas formed larger villages from the ninjas and established a single country, a village system.

Baishi suddenly felt that the village's existence was full of irony.

If the so-called family is only at this level, then the tradition of the Hyuuga clan from the beginning is incompatible with Konoha.

This ninja should not be allowed to join the Konoha ninja village ruled by the "Will of Fire".

The tradition of this family denies the best interpretation of the 'will of fire'.

Not even the people of your tribe can appreciate it. Do you believe that this family will believe that they will take care of the whole village?

Shiraishi put a big question mark on this question.

He finally sighed and said nothing.

Growing up with Ruri these days, he almost forgot that he would become a 'traitor' sooner or later.

But the quiet life almost made him forget his identity as a 'traitor' and he couldn't help but want to integrate himself into this village.

Thinking about it, Baishi was sweating in the back.

Ease makes people degenerate

From the beginning, he didn't obey Konoha.

He was very grateful for the knowledge of Konoha ninja, but he would leave the village when the time came.