After taking over the snake uncle's foundation, Sasuke came to surrender on his own initiative.

Chapter 266 Revenge

Outside the barrier of the Hyuga clan of the Land of Fire, the pale golden chakra barrier glowed with a cold light.

Neji stood in front of the barrier, his atavistic Byakugan flashing in his eyes, the golden veins appearing sharper than ever before - half an hour ago, Karin's sensory network received an urgent alarm. The elders of the Hyuga clan brought more than ten ninjas from the clan and besieged the chakra mines of the Sound Village under the pretext of "recovering the traitorous ninjas from the branch clan". They also detained Haku, who was in charge of transporting the ore, and threatened that "if Neji did not return to the clan on his own initiative, Haku's ice escape bloodline would be destroyed."

"Hyuga Neji, as a branch family, you dared to escape from the main family and even awakened the forbidden Byakugan!" A cold shout came from the Hyuga elder within the barrier. The Byakugan of the main family ninjas lit up at the same time, and golden chakra condensed into soft fists in their hands. "If you know what's good for you, come back and hand over the training method of the Byakugan. Maybe you can even spare the life of that ice escape brat."

Neji's fingertips suddenly tightened, chakra condensing into a golden ball in his palm. Memories flooded back like a tide: at six, his father had died protecting the main family, and he could only kneel on the ground and watch his father's body being carried away; at ten, the main family elders punished him with the Caged Bird Seal, saying, "The fate of the branch family is to live for the main family"; at fifteen, he shouted "I decide my own destiny" during the Chunin Exams, but the main family regarded him as a heretic. The shackles he had broken free from in Otogakure all those years ago, the Hyuga main family wanted to put him back on him, even implicating his companions.

"My destiny was decided by me the day I joined the Sound Village." Neji's voice penetrated the barrier, and his atavistic Byakugan suddenly burst into a dazzling light. Golden chakra spread along the ground, forming a huge Bagua formation outside the barrier. "As for Haku, if you touch him, I will dismantle the barrier of your Hyuga clan!"

"Arrogant!" As soon as the Hyuga elder roared, the barrier suddenly ripped apart by golden chakra. Neji darted in like a ghost, his Bagua Palm blast carrying the "power of true vision" of his Byakugan, a throw aimed precisely at the leading ninja from the main clan. His Byakugan could see every weak spot in a ninja's meridians, even predicting the trajectory of their next soft fist. As the palm struck, the ninja's chakra instantly scrambled, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Is this... the predictive power of the atavistic Byakugan?" The faces of the main clan ninjas suddenly changed. Their Byakugan could only see through meridians, but it couldn't "predict the future" like Neji could. Another powerful main clan member roared and charged forward, unleashing a torrential downpour of soft fists—sixty-four palm strikes. Golden chakra shadows enveloped Neji, yet he easily dodged them. Neji's footsteps punctuated the nodes of the Bagua formation, each step landing precisely between the palm shadows, like a pre-choreographed dance.

"Your soft fists are too weak." Neji's voice was cold, and his atavistic Byakugan suddenly locked onto Elder Hyuga's meridians. He clearly saw an old meridian injury near the elder's heart, a wound sustained during his battle with the ninjas of the Land of Lightning, and his fatal weakness. Without hesitation, Neji suddenly struck out with his Eight Trigrams Empty Palm, sending a wave of golden energy crashing directly into the elder's heart.

"Puff!" The elder spat out a mouthful of blood and stumbled back, his eyes filled with disbelief. "How did you know my weakness? Your atavistic eyes... can actually see through old injuries?"

"That's not all." The lavender caged bird seal on Neji's forehead suddenly lit up, no longer a shackle suppressing chakra, but now glowing with golden light. This was the "Defying Fate Seal" that Yinzhu had modified for him using the system. It could transform the constraints imposed by the main family into amplifying his own chakra. "The caged bird you are so proud of is no longer my shackle."

The instant the curse seal's light surged, Neji's chakra power tripled. Behind him, a half-form of chakra-condensed "Baiyan Susanoo" suddenly emerged. Its golden skeleton perfectly matched the markings of the Hyuga clan. In its right hand, it wielded a massive Baguazhang-shaped chakra blade, its every swing carrying a sharp, air-ripping whistle.

"Susanoo?! How could the Byakugan awaken such an ability?" The Hyuga elders panicked, and the main clan's ninja formation instantly collapsed. Neji's massive Susanoo blade slashed down, completely destroying the remaining barrier. A deep trench opened in the ground, and golden chakra still lingered at its bottom, like an insurmountable boundary.

At this moment, Karin's voice came from the direction of the mine: "Ningji! We rescued Shiro! The Hyuga people have been trapped by Kimimaro's bone blade!"

Neji paused, his atavistic Byakugan sweeping in the direction of the mineral vein. Haku's ice release chakra stabilized, Kimimaro's bone blades were encircling the remaining main clan ninjas, and Karin's sensory network was still alert to any movement. His tense body slowly relaxed, the bones of Susanoo gradually dissipated, but the atavistic Byakugan's light remained sharp.

"Hyuga clan, listen up." Neji walked up to the collapsed elder, golden chakra condensing at his fingertips, but not dropping it. "I didn't kill you today, not because I still care about the 'Hyuga' bloodline, but because my companions don't want me to be consumed by hatred." He swept his eyes over the ninjas of the main clan present, "But if you dare to touch the people of Sound Village again, and dare to use the 'branch family destiny' to oppress anyone again, I will make the Hyuga clan completely disappear from the ninja world."

The elder's lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a word. He looked at the golden curse seal on Neji's forehead, at the resolute determination in his eyes to control his destiny, and suddenly understood—this young man, once considered a "tool of the branch family," had grown into someone they could never reach. The era of the Hyuga main family's monopoly on the Byakugan was finally over.

Neji turned and walked towards the mineral vein. The light in his Byakugan gradually softened, and the Fate-Defying Seal on his forehead regained its composure. In the distance, Haku, Karin, and Kimimaro were waiting for him. The sunlight shone on them, stretching their figures like a strong bond.

"Ningji, are you okay?" Bai's ice chakra condensed around Neji, helping him calm his disordered chakra.

Neji shook his head, a faint smile on his face: "I'm fine. From now on, the Hyuga clan won't bother us anymore."

Karin's sensory network swept across the surroundings, and she smiled and said, "Not only that! Your Susanoo just now was seen by people from several nearby ninja villages. Now everyone knows that there is a powerful person in the Sound Village who can control the Byakugan Susanoo. No one dares to mess with us anymore!"

Kimimaro's bone blade twirled in his palm, his eyes filled with recognition, "Your power has surpassed the fate of the Hinata. The next time someone dares to challenge us, we'll attack them together."

Neji looked at his companions, his heart filled with warmth. He knew that the strength he had today, the ability to completely break his fate, was not only due to Yinzhu's guidance, but also because of the companionship of these companions. They made him understand that true strength is not revenge, but protection; true freedom is not about breaking away from the past, but having a future worth protecting.

As the sun sets, its golden afterglow casts a shadow over the ruins of the Hyuga clan, and also upon Neji and his companions. Neji's atavistic Byakugan occasionally gleams, no longer carrying the resentment of the past, but filled with a resolute sense of protection. He is no longer the caged bird of the Hyuga branch clan, but the Neji of Otogakure, a powerful figure who holds up the world for his companions, a "Byakugan Defiant" who truly controls his own destiny.

The lights of Otogakure Village in the distance gradually brightened. Ototake stood at the village entrance, watching the four returning people, a relieved smile on his face. On the system panel, the message "Ningji's Bond Value 100%, Fate Break Completed, Unlocked 'Byakugan Guardian Form'" shone with a golden light—this young man, once trapped by fate, finally blossomed into the most dazzling light on the path he had chosen.

Neji looked up in the direction of Sound Village and held the hands of his companions tightly.