Thinking back on Hyūga Natsu, and considering how she clearly had the opportunity to stay behind with Hyūga Tetsu and wait for his reinforcements, yet chose instead to follow Hyūga Genko...
Based on Hyūga Yu's understanding of Natsu over the years, this young girl was absolutely not some flower vase placed on a desk for others to admire. On the contrary, hidden beneath that innocent, doll-like face was a kunoichi who was clever—perhaps a little too clever.
She definitely had an ulterior motive!
In fact, as Hyūga Yu looked back now, it felt as though throughout this entire incident, an invisible, slender hand had been pushing him relentlessly forward.
Starting from his failed attempt to join the Main House Guard and receiving Natsu's comfort, to his desperate gamble in contacting "Root" to obtain the transfer order to leave the village early, and finally arriving here.
And now, for Natsu's sake, he was forced to go gouge out and bring back a Main House Byakugan.
Was all of this planned by Natsu?
Where did she get so much intelligence?
And for what reason did she have to force him, step by step, to reach this current state?
However,
Just as Hyūga Yu thought this, he suddenly realized—
Had he really not noticed?
From the first time Natsu appeared before him and said the words, "I will protect you," he should have realized that this kunoichi, with whom he spent day and night, never did anything without meaning.
From that sentence onward, Hyūga Yu should have been on high alert.
But he wasn't.
Because everything that happened afterward was something Hyūga Yu had once planned, fantasized about, scouted, and confirmed.
Things he had thought about day and night but had simply never executed.
Thirteen years...
From a toddler to a child servant, from a child servant to a cannon-fodder Genin, and from cannon-fodder to a failure in the Chūnin Exams.
A ninja career that wasn't exactly long but was filled with frustration had, inch by inch, ground away the light that had once rekindled in Hyūga Yu's eyes.
He began to worry about personal gains and losses. He stopped taking risks. His plan to become a Chūnin shifted from the earth-shattering fantasies of a legendary ninja biography to simply finding a safe camp to work as a medical ninja and muddle through life.
He began to cling to everything before him, yet became increasingly silent and depressed.
Until this very moment—
The Kidaichū (Parasitic Giant Insects) squirming in his abdomen spat out life-threatening chakra in a rhythmic beat!
His heart pounded violently during his high-speed sprint, producing hot blood that made his veins swell!
His feet danced between tree branches suspended on the line between life and death, the wind cutting past his cheeks like a knife and sliding down to the hollow of his neck!
And yet,
Every hair on his body stretched and danced in this extreme environment, as if celebrating a rebirth, or perhaps looking forward with hope to a future that was unknown but destined to be magnificent to the extreme!
Hyūga Yu's calm, stern face suddenly twitched slightly.
Finally, the corners of his mouth hooked up into a nervous, uneasy, yet vivid and unbridled smile.
He stopped thinking about the various aspects of Hyūga Natsu, and stopped agonizing over her objectives.
Because the moment he realized the issue, he saw, beneath this woven story, a line of lover's prattle written without any words:
I love you, so I must push you into hell!
He just wanted to finish this farcical game of tag as quickly as possible, find that girl, and give her a hard flick on the forehead!
"So,"
"Are the opponents the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"
The smile on Hyūga Yu's face quickly evolved into something extremely ferocious.
"Then let me show you what it means to be a—Konoha Genin!"
He slung his longbow behind his back and waved his hand, retrieving a scroll marked with the character 'Medicine' (醫) from his storage pouch!
Unfurl,
Summon,
Equip!
Meanwhile, 10 kilometers to the east of the Nameless Forest.
BOOM!
Brilliant flames spiraled high into the air, and the recklessly sweeping shockwaves ravaged everything in sight.
The forest trees rustled and shook violently under the force of the explosive blast.
"Quick! Run!"
"Hiroya won't be able to stall those two guys for long!"
Hyūga Genko, dressed in an exquisite and expensive combat uniform, suddenly jerked his head back to stare at the massive commotion of battle behind him. His heart pounded like a drum, and his face was so pale he barely looked like a living person.
He leaped rapidly between the tree branches. His posture was slightly awkward; it seemed his proficiency in tree-climbing maneuvers wasn't very high.
However, thanks to the Hyūga Clan's mandatory training for Main House members, Hyūga Genko's speed wasn't slow. He was even faster than Hyūga Natsu, who was running beside him.
At this moment, Hyūga Genko turned his head and, with trembling white eyes, asked:
"Natsu, are you sure your route is correct?"
Hyūga Natsu, her Byakugan active with veins bulging around her eyes, nodded. "It is correct, Master Genko. I have observed the enemy's formation. We can only retreat to the left."
"That's good, that's good... phew..."
Hyūga Genko let out a sigh of relief. Soon, he looked at Hyūga Natsu with a slightly moved expression and said:
"Natsu, it's a good thing you're here... I mean, it's good that you didn't stay back there and followed me instead."
"When we return to the Hidden Leaf, I will reward you heavily!"
"Yes." Hyūga Natsu nodded to him with a smile. "Protecting you is my duty. You need not feel any pressure."
Hyūga Genko suddenly felt his mouth go dry.
He could hear from her tone that Hyūga Natsu's attitude toward him wasn't as respectful as her words suggested. At the same time, he guessed that the reason Natsu had followed him was mostly because she didn't want to be punished by the Main House after the mission concluded.
But now, only Hyūga Natsu remained by his side.
That crude Chūnin woman with the dog had slipped away the moment she realized the situation was bad.
The guy who controlled bugs had even less presence; Genko didn't even know when he had disappeared.
In the end, the only one he could trust was a Hyūga Branch House member whom he viewed as a servant.
But even Branch House members were living, breathing people, and people had their own emotions.
In the Hidden Leaf, under the pressure of status, power, clan teachings, and the Caged Bird Seal, these emotions would transform into awe and fear of the Main House. From this fear, it would gradually evolve into a twisted form of loyalty.
But in a life-and-death crisis,
Did she really have any loyalty to speak of toward him?
People of the Hyūga Main House were human too; in fact, they understood even better than normal people what a filthy creature 'man' could be.
The education Hyūga Genko received from a young age taught him not to be arrogant about his status as a Main House member, but to analyze the principles within it. Furthermore, he was taught to master a better method of manipulating hearts and gathering allies—
Using the natural fear of the Main House that the family instilled in Branch ninjas as a foundation, Hyūga Genko would lower his status to interact with the Branch members.
He would grant them benefits with money, encourage their progress with power, and bind them to his war chariot with beauty.
In the end, he would naturally gather a group of Branch subordinates who were fiercely loyal to him.
Hyūga Eiki, Hyūga Hiroya, and even that Hyūga Jōnin in the rear guard were all talents won over by the older generation of the Main House using such methods.
They were willing to die for the Main House naturally, even without the need for the Caged Bird.
But now,
Of his three loyal Jōnin guards, one was dead, one was about to die, and the whereabouts of the other were unknown.
The only one Hyūga Genko could rely on was Hyūga Natsu, whom he didn't know well.
He had no time to slowly unfold his conditioning of Natsu—to release 'goodwill,' create coincidences, and make her pledge allegiance to him step by step.
However, Hyūga Genko could not leave her at this moment. Even with the 'Caged Bird' seal, he was terrified that she would abandon him right here and now.
And so,
And so,
Hyūga Genko took a deep breath. With a look of pained reluctance yet solemnity, he spoke to Hyūga Natsu beside him:
"Natsu, when we get back to the village, let's get married!"
————
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