Chapter 31 Caged Bird

"Goodbye, Naruto-kun."

Hinata stood under the gate of the Hyuga Clan's compound, reluctantly waving goodbye to Naruto. Her small frame seemed almost fragile.

Naruto guessed that it might have something to do with the secrets of the Hyuga Clan's main family, but he didn't dwell on it. For him, the present moment was what mattered.

Hinata, full and warm, wasn't just a simple paper figure. He could feel the tension and gloom behind her smile, like a girl dancing with shackles on her feet.

"Goodbye, Hinata-chan." Naruto waved.

Hinata nodded, took a few steps into the darkness, then turned back to him and said, "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I am very happy today."

"Me too."

The next day, before dawn, Naruto woke up, opened the system panel, and started updating the Shinobi God's Diary. Yesterday's events were long forgotten, and he felt refreshed.

"August 16th, the desire to destroy the Shinobi World has grown stronger. Another day without seeing long legs. The Caged Bird of the Hyuga Clan is the most disgusting slave system I've ever seen, turning family members into slaves. After a thousand years, shouldn't the seal have been improved? The original intent to protect the weak branch family has changed, hasn't it?"

After posting it, Naruto shook his head, squinted his sleepy eyes, and went back to sleep.

Over Konoha.

After a few seconds of silence, screams erupted!

The entire Konoha village was completely shaken by this daily update of the Shinobi God's Diary. If yesterday's message made the high-level officials a bit panicked, now they were utterly overwhelmed.

The bedside lamp in the room was turned on. The meeting of Konoha's higher-ups ended at two o'clock in the morning. Only three hours later, Inoichi had to get up again.

"Inoichi, do you really have to go? I'm worried." Sitting on the dimly lit bed, the noble lady, Rino, spoke with a tired look on her face.

"It'll be fine." Inoichi comforted his wife while putting on his clothes. "Usually, only Shikaku needs to attend higher-ups meetings to represent the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans."

"But you also know that the message that can appear in our minds is really strange. Our Yamanaka Clan is the only one in the village who is good at Mind Reading Ninjutsu. If I don't go, it will only arouse suspicion."

"Then take care, Inoichi." Rino said softly.

After a moment of silence, Rino spoke again as she got dressed and got out of bed.

"Inoichi, are the things the Shinobi God said true?"

Inoichi didn't know how to answer, so he could only sigh and answer vaguely.

"Probably not. How could something like the Shinobi God exist? It's definitely someone's doing. The village will get to the bottom of it and give everyone an explanation."

"Rino." Inoichi was dressed neatly and prepared to go out. When his hand held the door, he turned around and looked back at his wife and said, "Go keep our daughter company. Ino must be terrified."

"Yes, be careful on the way."

With a bang, the door closed.

As Inoichi walked on the road, the originally quiet Konoha had already become chaotic. The villagers walked onto the streets, talking about the Shinobi God's Diary with horror on their faces.

"Does the Shinobi God really exist? It's been two days, it doesn't seem fake." A worried villager said with some fear.

"Who knows? The village hasn't given any explanation yet. But I don't think it's fake." The owner of the dango shop said as he stood at the door of his shop, there's dark circles under his eyes.

"I couldn't sleep a wink because of this. How can anyone sleep soundly?"

"That's right, we don't know where Hokage-sama is, and he hasn't appeared to say anything yet." Another villager said with a sigh.

"So, do you think what the Shinobi God said is true?" One of the villager asked in a low voice, "About that esteemed person and the Hyuga Clan..."

Upon hearing this, the first speaking villager looked terrified and nervously said, "You can eat recklessly, but you can't speak recklessly. If the Anbu hears you, you'll be taken away. We shouldn't discuss the Hyuga Clan's matters either. Just keep your thoughts to yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, we shouldn't talk about such things." The other villager echoed.

Inoichi, who was passing by, overheard the villagers' conversation and his expression grew even heavier. He had heard about the slavery system of the Hyuga Clan before, and it was indeed a truly unacceptable practice.

Turning one's relatives into slaves was a deeply taboo topic, so those in Konoha who knew about it instinctively avoided discussing it.

Over time, most people in Konoha were unaware of this, but those who survived the Third Shinobi World War were well aware of it.

It was a curse known as the Caged Bird. If the cursed person showed even a hint of disrespect to the group that casts the curse, the caster could punish or even kill them instantly.

This is the reality of the Hyuga Clan. Only the firstborn of the main family could remain in the main family, while all other clan members became part of the branch family..

The so-called branch family were essentially slaves to the main family, a system that allowed the Hyuga Clan to maintain their lineage for a thousand years by ensuring absolute loyalty through the Caged Bird.

Absolute loyalty meant no betrayal, as any traitor would be brain-dead with just a thought from the main family.

In life-and-death situations, branch family members were forced to protect the main family at all costs. It is precisely because of this that the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai can survive and continue no matter what happens.

Interestingly, the Hyuga Clan's main family under Hiashi had not followed tradition. The eldest daughter did not become the main family's leader, and the second daughter wasn't marked as branch family, instead, things were delayed.

As for why it was delayed, Inoichi didn't know. He had only heard about it and didn't care much about the Hyuga Clan's secrets.

His priority now was to capture the self-proclaimed Shinobi God and restore peace to the village.

At least restore the appearance of peace, as what happened beneath the surface was unimportant.

The atmosphere within the Hyuga Clan was extremely oppressive. The area inside and outside the clan was quieter than ever before, as if it had submerged in suffocating stillness.

As the morning sunlight entered the courtyard, Neji sat in front of the mirror, calmly gazing at the green Caged Bird Cursed Seal on his forehead.

"I slept so well!" Naruto, in his bear pajamas, yawned and stretched on his bed.

The evil Shinobi God himself, lacking any grace, scratched his butt and lazily began his morning routine. Looking at his bedhead in the mirror, he yawned again, muttering to himself.

"There are still fourteen D-Rank missions that have not been completed. I should go and get a mission today, so that people won't find out that I have hired a stand-in."