After that day, Shiraishi felt that his relationship with Liuli had become very strange.
Although on the surface it was no different from usual, she still handed notes when she needed to do so in class, and she still trained as usual at night, Liuli seemed to be the same as when she first saw her, silent and cold, rarely speaking.
A few days passed like this.
Shiraishi went to school as usual that day, but when the first class was about to begin, Shiraishi discovered that Ayane on the left had not arrived.
Shiraishi found this very strange.
As a branch member of the wealthy Hyuga clan, Ayane's status is definitely not as good as that of the clan, but she still maintains the behavioral norms that a wealthy family should have, and it is impossible to skip classes and be late.
Until the first class was about to end, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door.
It was a girl with straight black hair that reached her waist.
Ayane stood alone at the door, without saying a word, biting her lip as if she was about to bite it open. An atmosphere of sadness and despair enveloped her.
What's even more strange is that there is a white ribbon tied on Ayane's forehead, which does not look ugly, but I always feel that the sudden change is a bit too abrupt.
Before this, Ayane would not wear such a sensational ribbon ornament on her forehead.
The head teacher, Mr. Fujimura, glanced at Ayane and originally wanted to scold Ayane, but when he noticed the deep despair and sadness in Ayane, he sighed softly, as if he knew something, and said calmly: "Come in, remember not to be late next time."
Ayane nodded, and walked to her seat to sit down amid everyone's strange and puzzled looks.
"Shiro, Shiraishi-kun, good morning."
Ayane tried to greet Shiraishi as usual, but the result was a forced smile and tears in her eyes that seemed unstoppable.
Then, without waiting for Shiraishi to respond, he buried his head on the table, as if it was a shame to be seen like this and he would be laughed at and despised.
And all this did happen. The other students looked at her with strange eyes, spoke in low voices, and pointed, as if they knew something.
But the students who don't know the truth are actually just curious and worried about Ayane.
Bai Shi's face was full of questions, but he didn't ask any questions.
Liuli looked past Shiraishi and glanced at Ayane without speaking.
——Liu Li, do you know what happened to Ayane?
Because the relationship was further advanced, the 'classmate' suffix was cancelled.
Pass the note with this question to Liuli.
Being from a wealthy family, Liuli must know something.
——What else could it be? Of course it is the 'excellent' tradition of the Hyuga clan.
The word "excellent" was put in quotation marks. It was obvious that Liuli's words were full of sarcasm.
The 'excellent' tradition of the Hyuga clan?
Shiraishi didn't know what this was, but Ayane's change must be related to the 'excellent' tradition of the Hyuga clan.
What exactly is it?
Really unable to think of any reason, Shiraishi gave up.
At noon, Shiraishi and Ruri were eating lunch together.
"Hey, Ruri, what is the tradition of the Hyuga clan you are talking about?"
Shiraishi, who still couldn't help his curiosity, asked this question.
Liuli was silent for a moment and replied: "This matter is not a secret among the ninja clan, and basically all the chuunin and jounin in the village have heard about it. The Hyuga clan has had a very interesting thing since ancient times. A tradition that is difficult to accept. That is the distinction between clan families and branch families."
"Is there a problem with the distinction between clan families and branch families?"
"The branch family must bear the responsibility and obligation to protect the clan family."
"This is normal."
Shiraishi couldn't understand.
Those with lower status protect those with higher status. Although it is not very fair, this is a stable 'social' structure.
Society is divided into classes and hierarchies.
Therefore, in Shiraishi's eyes, it is a normal development trend for people from the Hyuga branch to protect people from the Hyuga clan.
"If this is the case, it is indeed not a rare thing. But in order for the branch family to protect the clan wholeheartedly, and in order to prevent the blood of the Hyuga clan from spreading outside, there is a reason to control the branch family."
"control?"
Shiraishi was surprised.
"That's right, control, control in the true sense." Liuli glanced at Baishi and said seriously: "For the safety of the clan, the branch family must take the initiative to bear a curse seal called 'Caged Bird', which means that the clan has control over The power of life and death of the branch family. Once a member of the branch family has evil intentions, or fails to fulfill the obligations and responsibilities of the branch family, the clan can use the curse seal to instantly execute the member of the branch family who possesses the curse seal."
"..."
"In other words, Ayane's... life and death are now controlled by an outsider. If Ayane becomes dissatisfied and murderous towards a member of the clan, the clan members have the right to beat, scold, or even execute Ayane."
Baishi thought of something and said: "So, is the location of the curse seal at..."
"That's right, the curse mark that was planted is on Ayane's forehead. That's why Ayane blocked it with a cloth tape. Whether it's for righteousness or to protect the clan in name, it's said to be a branch of the clan. The meaning of existence, that curse mark, is a genuine 'slave' mark."
Shiraishi was silent.
There was a voice in his heart that kept telling him that Konoha was a terrorist organization and it was normal for such things to happen in terrorist organizations.
Although he was repelled, Shiraishi found that he could do nothing.
This is the helplessness and compromise called reality.
For Ayane, having the mark of 'slave' carved on her forehead would be more cruel than killing her directly.
Really, what a terrible era this is!
If this kind of thing happened in a dark corner, Shiraishi could reluctantly accept it, but the rules of the Hyuga clan were actually open to the public.
What does it mean to publicly keep the other half of your tribe as 'slaves' without any cover-up?
Shiraishi looked at Konoha's Shadow Rock from here. There were sculptures of Konoha's three Hokages carved on it, symbolizing the great achievements of those three.
Especially the brothers, the First Hokage and the Second Hokage, who are known by the world as the ones who ended the troubled times of the Warring States Period.
And after that?
The war still continues.
It is no different from the Warring States Period, children will still be sent to the battlefield.
Nothing seems to have changed.
The only thing that changed was that the ninjas formed larger villages from the ninja clan and established the one-country-one-village system.
Shiraishi suddenly felt that Shadow Rock's existence was full of irony.
If the so-called family is only this level, then the tradition of the Hyuga clan has been incompatible with Konoha from the very beginning.
Logically speaking, such a ninja should not be allowed to join the Konoha ninja village dominated by the 'Will of Fire'.
The tradition of this family is the best interpretation of denying the 'will of fire'.
Can you believe that a family that can't even care for its own people will have the belief to care for the entire village?
Shiraishi put a big question mark on this issue.
Finally he sighed and said nothing.
Growing up with Liuli these days, he had almost forgotten that he was a 'heretic' to this village. He would become a 'traitor' sooner or later.
But the peaceful life made him almost forget his identity as a 'traitor', and he couldn't help but want to integrate into the village.
Thinking of this, Shiraishi broke out in a cold sweat.
Comfort makes people corrupt.
From the beginning, he had no intention of surrendering to Konoha.
He was very grateful to Konoha for educating him about ninja knowledge, but it was just gratitude for the teaching.
