Noon.
Sho walked back from Konoha Hospital toward the Hyuga compound, glancing down at his hand wrapped in bandages.
Thanks to his increasingly powerful regenerative abilities, the injury had already fully healed on the way to the hospital. But to avoid drawing attention, he'd reopened the wound himself before arriving.
Even so, the med-nin on duty had marveled at his recovery speed, saying such regenerative capacity was rare.
Of course, there was another reason Sho had made that trip.
He soon arrived at the edge of one of the clan's training fields. Lifting his eyes, he saw the girl at the center of attention.
Hyuga Aoi, daughter of a Hyuga elder.
Her flowing black hair shimmered under the sunlight. Though her sixteen-year-old face still carried a hint of baby fat, her pale Byakugan eyes were sharp as blades.
"Get lost!"
With a swift, merciless kick, she sent a branch family member sprawling. The victim merely stifled a groan, not daring to show the slightest dissatisfaction or protest.
"Useless trash."
Aoi glared at the others. Her voice was laced with disgust.
"All of you are trash! Not a single one dares to fight back? Father really sent you to protect me?"
The branch members around her lowered their heads submissively, not a single one daring to retort.
She was the only daughter of her father, spoiled from birth. Her temper and arrogance were legendary.
That in itself wasn't unusual among the Hyuga main family.
But what made her particularly troublesome was her thirst for combat and her obsession with proving herself on the battlefield.
Today's tantrum was due to her father denying her request to leave the village again. Now she was venting that frustration on her attendants, demanding they go all-out in sparring with her.
Fighting back risked injuring her, and even a minor "offense" could trigger the cursed seal's agony.
A few slaps and kicks were easy compared to the soul-flaying pain of that seal. If Aoi ordered it, they'd even crawl on the ground like dogs.
"…Wait."
Aoi suddenly frowned. "Someone's missing."
The branch members exchanged glances. They all knew exactly who.
"Lady Aoi," said one, the same one who had tried to confront Sho earlier that morning. "It's, "
"Lady Aoi, I'm here."
Before he could finish, a familiar voice cut in. His whole body flinched, his bruised abdomen twinging painfully.
Aoi turned with a scowl and saw Hyuga Sho approaching.
"I figured it was you, you worthless failure."
Sho ignored the insult. He simply raised his bandaged hand and bowed slightly. "Forgive me, Lady Aoi. My hand is injured, so I may not be able to, "
Whoosh!
A sudden gust cut through the air. Sho instinctively tilted his head. A fist brushed past his ear, wind lifting the tail of his tied-up hair.
He slowly raised his eyes, meeting a pair of cold, emotionless Byakugan.
"Save the excuses," Aoi said flatly. "Let's see if you've improved at all."
She withdrew her fist and formed a palm strike, aimed straight for his chest.
But in the next second, Sho's body drifted like a falling leaf, light, fluid, avoiding the blow with effortless grace.
Surprise flickered across Aoi's face. Blue veins bulged around her eyes as she dropped into a proper Gentle Fist stance.
Her right hand flashed into motion, fingers forming a piercing strike aimed at his left shoulder.
"…Troublesome," Sho sighed inwardly.
He hadn't wanted to reveal himself so early, but there was no way he was going to kneel like a dog again.
He'd waited three years for this chance to rewrite his fate. If he kept crawling now, what had all that pain been for?
So… would he rather lie low, or start making "money"?
"I'll stand tall, and get paid doing it."
With that thought, Sho gently closed his eyes.
Once again, he entered that state of complete concentration.
Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, he severed them all, leaving only the stillness of spiritual perception.
Bang!
His body twisted, leaning back. Aoi's fingertips grazed his nose and struck a wooden pillar behind him, leaving a deep dent. The scent of crushed pine sap filled the air.
Aoi's fists and palms flew like a storm, but to Sho, each strike was sluggish and predictable.
His blood surged like molten lava, fueling his body to move in perfect sync with thought.
To him, time stretched thin. He became the only being moving in real speed inside a slow-motion world.
"What the hell…"
Aoi's strikes kept missing. Her eyes narrowed with disbelief, yet beneath it, excitement. But the more she attacked, the more flustered she became.
Sho could see every flaw in her technique, every opening left when she turned.
Then, in a fluid motion, he redirected her arm, seized her wrist, and locked her elbow.
Crack. Click.
In a blink, one dislocation, one reset. Quick. Precise. Not even time to cry out.
Before she could react, Sho shifted again.
His spine flexed, force traveling through his muscles into his arm. He lashed out like a whip.
Boom!
The sound rang sharp, like bamboo snapping under strain, followed by a haze of pale white mist.
Aoi caught the blow with her forearm, but the impact sent her staggering back several steps, nearly falling over.
That would be too messy.
Sho sighed and grabbed her collar, pulling her upright without grace.
"Had your fun, Lady Aoi?"
He opened his eyes and stared into hers. His voice was low, laced with edge.
"If you truly want to be on the battlefield, then at the very least…"
"…You should understand this: on this blood-soaked land, in this cruel clan, the only reason you're still alive is because others died for you."
"To live, you must be worthy of their sacrifice."
"And you… aren't."
He let go.
Aoi stumbled back as he turned and walked away without acknowledging the gasps, stares, or stunned silence from the others.
Behind her, Sho bowed politely once.
Then strode off.
His expression remained calm. His footsteps were steady.
And just as he stepped out of the training field,
[Ding!]
[Your lie has been judged as: [False Sincerity] + [Seducing Unintentionally]. Hyuga Aoi has experienced extreme emotional disturbance. Level: [Existential Doubt]. Gained 300 Reality Points…]
"…Tch. That's slander."
Sho's calm expression flickered into annoyance.
"Lying to women? That's beneath me."
He said it with a deadpan face.
As the words left his mouth, he caught movement from the corner of his eye.
A child, face still soft with youth, was running out of another residence, eyes filled with indignation.
That was… Hyuga Neji.
"Well well," Sho muttered, eyes narrowing into a grin. "The real protagonist has entered the stage."