As the door shut, Hizashi turned to find his wife glaring at him. "You let him use the Byakugan on our son?" she said sharply.
"He is the clan head," Hizashi said quietly. "I had no choice."
Her voice trembled with fury. "Neji isn't a tool. He's our son."
"I know." Hizashi took her hand gently. "Believe me, I know."
But deep down, he understood exactly what Hiashi was doing. Assessing strength. Measuring the next generation. Determining whether the branch family's blood was growing too strong, too fast. Hiashi fears imbalance, Hizashi thought. He fears that power concentrated in the wrong hands might break the delicate structure our clan depends on.
What Hiashi failed to see... or perhaps refused to admit... was that Neji's strength was not just physical. There was something far deeper. Something invisible to the Byakugan. Hiashi hadn't noticed the faint ripple beneath the surface... the slumbering spark of the Shingan.
Later that evening, deep within the main estate, Hiashi met with the elder council of the Hyuga clan. They gathered beneath lantern light, kneeling on cushions, scrolls spread across a low lacquered table.
Hiashi's voice was quiet but firm. "Neji, son of Hizashi, exhibits unusually high physical tissues for a new born. His chakra network is clear and refined. His body shows signs of accelerated resilience."
One elder named Masaki Hyuga stroked his beard. "A prodigy?"
Another elder named Genryū Hyuga retored. "Just an early blommer, we seen a lot of them, right?"
"Too soon to say," Hiashi said. "But he is… promising. Possibly powerful."
Another elder spoke up. "This is good. The branch family must remain strong to protect the main line."
Hiashi's eyes narrowed. "Strength in the branch is good. But unchecked growth breeds ambition from branch."
A silence settled. The Hyuga clan thrived on rigid structure... main and branch, discipline and order. Ambition, in the wrong place, was a threat. Even blood ties couldn't erase that reality.
"We will continue observing him," Hiashi said. "Quietly. No interference. If he becomes… difficult to contain, I will take responsibility."
None dared oppose him. They just put Hizashi's son as a passing thought.
--
Neji stirred in his sleep. Dreams drifted through his newborn mind... flashes of fluorescent lights, the hum of an office printer, David's smug grin. And then: death. The weight of exhaustion. The final collapse. He blinked, the darkness behind his eyelids swirling.
In the weeks that followed, rumors began to trickle through the Hyuga compound. The midwives whispered about the "silent child" with the gaze of a sage. The guards noted the increased presence of main family elders near Hizashi's home.
And Neji's mother? She never forgot the sight of Hiashi peering into her son's soul. She grew cold toward the main house. Civil, but cool. And Hizashi noticed.
He walked a delicate line... loyal to his brother, but devoted to his family. As Neji grew, so too did the tension between obligation and affection. It wasn't just familial.
Among the elders, discussions deepened."Clan head is worrying for nothing." One said, "If Neji truly surpasses expectations," one whispered, "should he not be elevated?"
"Impossible," another replied. "He is branch. That would shatter the system."
"What if the system no longer fits?" came the daring reply.
Hiashi heard the murmurs. And though he dismissed them outwardly, he tightened his control. More surveillance. Stricter scroll access. Fewer private meetings among branch families. To most, it looked like prudence. But to Hizashi...it looked like fear.
A fear not just of Neji, but of change. Of possibility. And Neji, nestled in his cradle, continued to grow... quiet, observant, and unseen.