Naruto: Pay-to-Win Ninja System

Neji kept his head lowered as he followed the Main House's head, Hiashi Hyuga, into the training hall.

"Begin sparring," Hiashi ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Neji respectfully replied, raised his hands in stance, and faced his cousin Hinata standing before him.

He suppressed the resentment in his heart as much as possible, concealing it from showing outwardly.

"Please go easy on me, Neji nii-san!"

Hinata awkwardly responded with polite humility from across the floor.

Soon enough, the two began their sparring match.

...

For over a thousand years, the Hyuga Clan had always followed primogeniture traditions.

Because Hizashi and Hiashi were twins but separated by just a slight birth time difference, Hizashi had been relegated to the Branch Family, never getting a chance to rise above that status.

But when it came to Hinata's generation,

Hiashi repeatedly attempted to break tradition—to bypass his eldest child—and instead wanted Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister, to inherit leadership of the Main House.

Why do you think he wanted to replace the elder with the younger? Why would he dare violate ancestral customs?

Certainly not because Hinata possessed outstanding talent?

Thus, it clearly demonstrated how poor Hinata's aptitude appeared in her father's eyes...

There's a popular meme going around:

It classifies the young ninjas in *Naruto* like this—

Sasuke: Great Fireball Jutsu! 

Fugaku: My son truly impresses me—he watched it once, practiced diligently, and mastered it.

Itachi: Great Fireball Jutsu! 

Fugaku: Truly my son! He watched it once and immediately figured it out.

Neji: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven! 

Hizashi: Hmm? Who taught him that?

Of course, this isn't suggesting Neji is necessarily more talented than Itachi.

It simply proves one thing:

As someone from the Branch Family, under Byakugan restrictions and basically left to self-train,

Neji independently mastered the [Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms] before even turning thirteen.

Meanwhile, Hinata, the Main House's eldest daughter, enjoying the finest resources and top-notch guidance, only managed to perform the 64 palms after multiple plot-driven stimuli—like Naruto's inspiration and Neji's dream visit—yet still couldn't take down a single mook.

This demonstrates precisely the gap between their natural talents.

Therefore,

throughout over ten sparring sessions, Neji defeated Hinata every single time—easily.

In fact, he deliberately held back most of his strength to avoid actually injuring the Main House's young lady.

Before long, an hour had passed.

Finally, Neji grew tired of it all.

He really didn't want to waste any more of his precious training time sparring with Lady Hinata in these pointless matches!

"Sigh—"

"Neji nii-san?"

"House Head! Surely there are others suitable for partner practice, right?"

"Please allow me to continue with my own training."

Ever since his father's death four years ago,

only intense training could slightly calm his heart and help suppress the deep hatred he bore against the distinction between Main House and Branch Family.

"No, we're not finished yet."

"Continue!"

Hiashi firmly refused, arms crossed, speaking coldly.

"Please, Neji nii-san!"

Hinata quickly pleaded.

Being kind-hearted, she didn't want to see Neji argue with their father any further.

"—*"

Neji silently snorted. The accumulated bitterness within him quietly surged again.

"I understand."

Next round.

Neji casually swatted away Hinata's attack and sent her retreating.

He couldn't help but sneer sarcastically:

"What's wrong, Lady Hinata? This isn't a game!"

At the same time, he launched his own attack.

With just a few effortless moves, he shattered Hinata's defense.

"You're clearly this weak, yet you bear the destiny of the Hyuga Main House."

"Can you really handle it?"

Fire blazing in his eyes, Neji unleashed a furious flurry of strikes.

Soon enough, he landed heavy blows on Hinata's shoulder and jaw, knocking her flat onto the ground.

Without missing a beat, he continued attacking relentlessly.

However,

just as Neji was about to deliver his final blow, Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Main House, intervened.

He instantly caught Neji's palm and effortlessly flipped him over, slamming him hard onto the ground.

Then without hesitation, he activated the [Caged Bird Cursed Seal]!

The next moment,

Neji on the ground immediately covered his head with both hands, eyes twitching, expression contorted in extreme agony as he writhed and screamed.

"Ahhh~~~"

"My head! My head hurts!"

In agony, Neji tore off the forehead protector from his head, revealing the glowing cursed seal tattoo beneath.

Under the invasion of the Caged Bird Curse,

it felt as though a thousand needles were piercing deep into his skull — an excruciating pain beyond imagination.

Such torment couldn't possibly be endured or resisted by any ordinary human willpower!

Otherwise, so many generations of Branch members wouldn't have remained under the Main House's control all this time.

Like this, not even a minute passed.

The intense pain gradually consumed Neji's consciousness, causing him to lose consciousness.

Watching from behind her father, Hinata looked terrified and completely at a loss.

"Foolish!"

Hiashi Hyuga roared in anger.

Then he continued,

"Halt today's training."

"Hinata, go practice some more until you've mastered it."

"Yes!"

Hinata nodded timidly.

"But, Father, what about Neji-niisan…?"

"You don't need to concern yourself."

"Someone! Just take him back. He won't die from this."

Soon after, several clan members entered the training hall, carrying unconscious Neji out of the Hyuga Main House.

...

When Neji woke up, it was already ten o'clock at night.

The vast mansion was his alone now.

Four years ago, his father had been forced to sacrifice his life for Hiashi of the Hyuga Main House. Not long afterward, his mother also passed away from grief.

Leaving only Neji alone to inhabit the whole mansion.

That's why he trained relentlessly — using physical exhaustion to dull the pain in his heart.

Meanwhile, he tried very hard to conceal the resentment and discontent he held toward the Main House.

Never did he imagine that, just for losing his temper and hitting Hinata too hard, the Main House would punish him so severely!

Even now, his brain still throbbed painfully from the curse's effects.

"Damn it! I must be much more careful from now on."

Neji gritted his teeth, muttering to himself.

Wobbling as he stood, he forced himself toward the kitchen — if he didn't eat soon, his body would give out.

Before he could walk more than a few steps, a searing pain shot through his head, making him stumble and fall to the ground.

The cruelty of the [Caged Bird Cursed Seal]—that family curse—was plain to see!

Just then,

Behind Neji, a voice abruptly called out.

"What a mess!"

"Who's there?"

Startled, Neji quickly jumped up, forcing himself into a defensive stance.

"Surprised to see me, Neji? Don't you remember me anymore?"

A masked figure slowly emerged from the shadowy garden outside, stepping forward toward Neji.

"You're…Shinkawa brother?!!!"

Hearing that familiar tone, Neji immediately recognized who it must be.

Being both Branch members shackled by the Main House's Caged Bird Cursed Seal, they naturally felt a sense of shared suffering.

And during those first couple of years after his father passed away,

Shinkawa had looked after him several times.

However, after joining Anbu two years ago, Shinkawa had grown increasingly distant,

Sometimes passing many months without even returning once to the Hyuga estate.

To be honest, Neji couldn't hide his envy.

At least within Anbu, one could largely separate themselves from the clan,

No longer needing excessive worry about the cursed seal on their forehead.

Truthfully, if circumstances allowed, Neji had planned to try joining Anbu as well after passing the Chunin exam.

"Shinkawa brother, what are you doing here?"

"Hold on—You're still alive?!?!"

"I heard everyone say you died during the chaos the other night..."

Neji lowered his voice, expressing his shock.

Perceptive as he was, he already sensed something special about why Shinkawa would seek him out at this particular moment.

Shinkawa smiled slightly as he replied,

"Yes, I did die."

"At least in the eyes of the Hyuga clan. That Hyuga Shinkawa is truly gone..."

Neji: ???

Instead of answering directly, Shinkawa cut back sharply,

"Neji, how many times have you been punished by the Main House with the [Caged Bird Cursed Seal] now?"

"Fourth time."

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Looking at Shinkawa standing before him, Neji hesitated briefly before honestly admitting,

"Yes—it really does hurt!"

"You're filled with bitterness and resentment too, right?"

"Yes! Extremely bitter!"

"Would you like to change all this?"

Neji let out a bitter laugh, saying,

"Of course I want to! I dream about it constantly! But that's all it can ever be…"

"If an opportunity appeared to remove this cursed seal—Neji, how much would you be willing to give?"

Shinkawa continued persuading.

It seemed he had already mastered some of Lord Shimoku's persuasive skills.

"Everything! My entire life!"

Neji clenched his teeth.

His father's death, the shame of being a Branch member, and today's agony had all built up into deep resentment inside him.

If removing the [Caged Bird Cursed Seal] truly meant changing his fate,

He'd pay any price—no matter what!

Unfortunately...

He knew it was nothing more than a futile hope…

Hearing this, Shinkawa smiled faintly—he got exactly the answer he wanted.

"There is a way, Neji—see for yourself! Look at my forehead!"

Saying this, Shinkawa lifted off his mask, revealing a smooth, unblemished forehead.

Witnessing that sight,

Neji was stunned, his breath hitching, eyes wide with disbelief.

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