Bang!
Neji didn't even have time to react before he was struck back by the Grand Elder's blow.
Though he wasn't seriously injured, it only added fuel to the resentment smoldering in his heart.
"Neji! What on earth do you think you're doing? You laid hands on the clan's son-in-law without any provocation this is sheer nonsense!"
"..."
Ye Wudi frowned slightly at the scene, then stepped forward just as Neji was about to explode in anger.
He raised his hand and gently pressed it down on the Grand Elder's shoulder, stopping him from continuing his tirade.
"Grand Elder, Neji had his reasons. Let's not blame him."
"Wudi?"
Neji looked at Ye Wudi, stunned that he would speak up for him. The hatred in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by a complicated, unreadable emotion.
Of course it was always him. Only Ye Wudi ever truly saw him, truly stood on his side.
Unlike the clan's Main House, filled with hypocrisy, malice, and selfishness...
On the other side, the Grand Elder gladly accepted the step Ye Wudi had offered him to retreat gracefully.
After all, he was one of the ones who had ordered Neji to strike.
Now that this matter could be smoothed over, it was the best possible outcome.
"Well, since Wudi has spoken, let's just let today's matter…"
Slap!
Before the Grand Elder could finish his sentence, Ye Wudi disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique and reappeared right in front of Neji
and slapped him across the face without hesitation.
What?!
The Grand Elder stood there, dumbfounded. Even Hiashi, who had been watching silently in the shadows, had a giant question mark hanging over his mind.
Was Ye Wudi out of his mind?
Why would he deliberately make an enemy of Neji?
Weren't the two of them always on good terms?
Why this sudden…
Ding! Congratulations, Host. You've received 666 points of negative emotion from Neji!
Huh?
Only 666 points? I need a full 999!
C'mon, little bro where's the rage?
Clearly, I need to step it up a notch and really provoke him.
Without a second thought, Ye Wudi struck again.
"Wudi, you"
Slap!
"..."
Now Neji was completely stunned.
He hadn't done a thing. Why was he getting slapped left and right?
Ding! Congratulations, Host. You've received 666 points of negative emotion from Neji!
And yet, the points still didn't break 999. Ye Wudi let out a silent sigh.
Then he put on an angry face and bellowed
"What the hell do you care about what others are saying? I told you long ago you're my little brother!"
"As your big bro, when you're in a bad mood, just come to me and vent. Don't act all mopey like some delicate little lady!"
"Wait no, that's an insult to Hinata. You're even worse than a girl!"
"..."
Neji blinked in confusion, then let out a small, ironic smile.
So that's what this was.
This guy he was deliberately playing the bad guy to give him an outlet for all his bitterness toward the clan's Main House.
Of course. No one understood him better than Ye Wudi.
"You've been calling me your little brother since we were kids, but I don't remember ever agreeing to"
Slap!
Just as Neji's heart was warming, his face once again took a slap for no reason.
Ding! Congratulations, Host. You've received 666 points of negative emotion from Neji!
"The first slap was for being too timid to fight."
"The second was because you annoyed me."
"The third because you forgot you're my little brother!"
As he spoke, Ye Wudi suddenly released the Shui-Mizu version of his chakra. A peculiar, fluid energy wrapped around him.
In the next instant, he rocketed forward, face-to-face with Neji at barely a breath's distance.
"As your big bro, I'm giving you permission use your Byakugan and all your jutsu. Come at me!"
Then his voice dropped to a low, steady pitch.
"Don't let me look down on you. Bring all your rage against this cursed fate show it to me."
"If you prove yourself strong enough, I swear I'll find a way to break the Caged Bird Seal! I'll make sure what happened to Uncle Hizashi never happens again!"
"But…"
Even with those words, Neji hesitated.
He regretted telling Ye Wudi about his father and the Caged Bird Seal.
If he hadn't, Ye Wudi wouldn't be doing all this for him.
Seeing his hesitation, Ye Wudi gave a rueful shake of his head.
As he passed by Neji, he abruptly spun and kicked him back a dozen steps.
"You really think that activating your Byakugan and using jutsu would be enough to hurt me?"
Boom!
He released a surge of chakra again the Shui-Mizu variant pulsing around him like a living tide.
As both Hiashi and the Grand Elder turned to him in shock, Neji slowly closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
The Caged Bird…
Father…
If this man could truly change his fate then so what if he lost himself, if he gave in just this once?
So what if he really acknowledged Ye Wudi as his big brother?
Besides, Hiashi and the Grand Elder were both nearby. Wudi would be safe.
"In that case let's do this!"
At that moment, Neji's eyes snapped open.
His Byakugan activated in an instant, and the bulging veins spread across his temples like rippling flame.
Rage?
Oh, yes.
He was furious.
Furious to the core.
But that fury wasn't aimed at Ye Wudi
it was aimed at the Hyuga Main House!
And at that damned Caged Bird Seal!
If not for that cursed thing, his father would never have needed to die in Hiashi's place!
"Fight!"
In that instant, Neji lost all control. He charged forward with terrifying speed.
Ding! Congratulations, Host. You've received 999 points of negative emotion from Hyuga Neji!
Ding! Congratulations, Host. You've received more negative emotion from Hyuga Neji…
Ahh sweet!
Ye Wudi soaked in the incoming waves of 999-point negativity with deep satisfaction.
Looks like he could regularly schedule therapy sessions with this little brother of his.
A few thousand points per session if they went all night, it'd break ten thousand!
What's not to love?
This was gold!
"Not good!"
Compared to Ye Wudi's calm delight, the Grand Elder was downright panicked now.
He instinctively moved to intervene.
But before he could, Ye Wudi's lips curled up in a knowing smile.
Just then, Hiashi, who had remained in the shadows, appeared beside the Grand Elder and stopped him with a raised hand.
"Hold on."
"Hold on?! Hiashi, Neji's strength right now is at least that of a genin maybe even beyond that!"
"Wudi's speed may match a special jōnin's for a while, maybe enough to stall a chūnin before finishing him off with a sneak attack"
"But !"
The Grand Elder's voice grew louder and more anxious. He was one breath away from slapping Hiashi the way Ye Wudi had slapped Neji.
After all, Ye Wudi had learned Uchiha Shisui's Body Flicker Technique. If anything happened to him in the Hyuga compound…
And the Uchiha refused to pass down that technique to them afterward…
That loss would be catastrophic!
"If this turns into a real duel, there's no way that boy can beat Neji in his current state! He's being reckless! He's"
Ding! Congratulations, Host. You've received 999 points of negative emotion from the Hyuga Grand Elder!
And yet, Hiashi stood firm, unmoved by the elder's distress.
His tone remained calm as he responded with a simple question:
"Grand Elder, have you already forgotten that man "
" the one who also came from the commoners?"
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