The floorboards made a grating sound as Hyuga Neji pushed himself up with his hands. The alarm clock by his bed read 2:00 AM. The room Creak. The floorboards made a grating sound as Hyuga Neji pushed himself up with his hands. The alarm clock by his bed read 2:00 AM. The room was still dim and hazy.
He subconsciously turned his head to check the time outside the window, only to see a figure standing quietly before it, exuding a sense of loneliness.
Hyuga Neji, his emotions still in turmoil, was startled at first, but he soon recognized the face, full of melancholy in the moonlight.
"Father?"
Neji's puzzled voice reached his ears. Hyuga Hizashi, who had been staring blankly at the night sky outside the window, came back to his senses and turned his gaze to his son.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Hyuga Hizashi's eyes were complicated, but he still managed a gentle smile and raised his hand to stroke Neji's hair.
"I guess... it wasn't a nightmare."
Hyuga Neji's small face couldn't help but wrinkle slightly. He raised a hand to press his throbbing temples.
He tried to recall the details of the dream, but felt everything in it melting away like snow in the morning sun. The memory was like holding fine sand; it slipped uncontrollably through the cracks of his fingers and dissipated with the wind.
He unwillingly opened his palm to find only a few grains of sand remaining.
For instance, the eerie nursery rhyme at the dilapidated shrine, the fear and unwillingness of becoming a "scapegoat," those magnificent blue eyes, and finally, the golden light that split the night sky.
"Father."
Hyuga Neji clung tightly to those few 'grains of sand,' looked up at Hyuga Hizashi, and subconsciously asked, "Is it possible for the Hyuga Clan to possess eyes other than the Byakugan?"
Hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi was stunned for a moment. He gave him an uncomprehending look but still explained, "If one's bloodline is not pure enough, they may never be able to awaken the Byakugan their entire life and will have eyes like an ordinary person."
At this point, he paused, as if he had thought of something, and added, "Speaking of which, our Hyuga clan actually has a branch bloodline with the surname 'Kohinata.' Their bloodline has become so diluted that none of their members have awakened the Byakugan." (From Itachi Shinden)
Of course, if a member of the Kohinata clan were to actually awaken the Byakugan, they would be brought back to the Hyuga clan at once, branded with the Caged Bird Seal, and added to the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family.
"So," Hyuga Neji licked his somewhat dry lips and murmured, "it was just a dream?"
Everything was telling him that he had just had a dream, but the figure that walked out of the fire holding a severed head and those magnificent eyes seemed to be carved into his mind.
He could even recall the starlike rings of light in those eyes and the terrifying sight of that final golden beam breaking through the clouds and striking down.
"What happened before that?"
Hyuga Neji frowned as he tried to remember, but he couldn't recall anything, only vaguely feeling that it was very important.
The dream was too real, so real that it didn't feel like a dream at all, so real that it made his heart pound.
If I could also possess that terrifying power, could I also...
Hyuga Neji said no more, and Hyuga Hizashi didn't press him, a brief, dead silence falling between them.
It was clear that both of them were currently lost in their own complex thoughts.
The former developed a determination and a desire that he himself had not yet noticed, while the latter was constantly reliving that brief moment of freedom and craving it. What they had in common was a yearning for the figure in their hearts.
Yet neither of them knew that the thoughts of this father and son had, in fact, been planted by the same person.
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[Ding! Your lies have been judged as [Bluffing][Temptation][Luring One into a Trap]. Hyuga Hizashi has experienced a strong emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [Unquestioning Obedience]. 600 Manifestation Points obtained.]
[Ding! Your lie [The Death of Hyuga] has been judged as [Deception][An Ephemeral Dream]. Hyuga Neji has experienced a strong emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [Delusions of Grandeur]. 1600 Manifestation Points obtained.]
[Remaining Manifestation Points: 11193]
"Two achievements gave me a thousand more points than three achievements?"
In the room, the clone burst into a puff of smoke. The black cloak flowed like liquid into the shadow beneath another figure's feet, gradually revealing Hyuga Kumo's thoughtful face.
"As expected, only truly bizarre lies can yield more points." After manifesting the "Shadow Cloak," Hyuga Kumo had been left with 10,293 points. Releasing Hyuga Hizashi's Caged Bird Seal for ten seconds had only cost 300 points, but making Hyuga Neji fall into the dream he had personally fabricated had cost 1,000 points.
However, this time, Hyuga Kumo didn't complain about the system being a rip-off.
After all, only by truly manifesting a sliver of the Tenseigan's power could he firmly imprint that scene in Hyuga Neji's mind, making it easier for him to design even bigger lies later.
"Anyway, I've made it back. No loss, a huge gain."
Hyuga Kumo changed his clothes and sat at his desk, taking out his "diary" from the drawer.
While writing unrelated "diary" entries, he considered whether there were any flaws in his actions and what he should use these points for next.
His current strength was still not enough. Although Hyuga Hizashi was subservient before Hyuga Hiashi, his strength was actually among the best in the clan, and his combat experience far surpassed that of Hiashi, the Main Family head.
He was probably the only madman who would dare to appear so openly before Hyuga Hizashi, not only pushing him to the brink of an outburst but even daring to threaten and fool him.
If he hadn't deliberately chosen Hyuga Hizashi's residence as the location, if he hadn't deliberately put on an air of calm and powerful composure.
If he hadn't deliberately created an extremely oppressive atmosphere, if he hadn't deliberately chosen to appear on a desolate night.
If he hadn't exploited Hizashi's concern for Neji, if he hadn't known Hizashi so well...
All of these designs were indispensable.
It seemed effortless on the surface, but in reality, if even one small mistake had been made, Hyuga Hizashi would have noticed, and then even escape would have been impossible.
Even Hyuga Kumo, reviewing it now, couldn't help but marvel at his own audacity, yet at the same time, he felt a genuine pleasure from the thrill of it.
"I need to be more cautious in the future. I'll increase my strength first. I can't do this next time."
Hyuga Kumo nodded, secretly making up his mind.
Yeah, definitely next time.
[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [Self-Deception]. Hyuga Kumo has experienced a slight emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [Saying One Thing and Meaning Another]. 1 Manifestation Point obtained.]
"...I can't be bothered with you, you brainless thing."
Hearing the system prompt in his mind, several black lines appeared on Hyuga Kumo's forehead. He recited silently in his mind, "Manifest Ninjutsu - Lightning Release Armor."
[Cost: 1000 Manifestation Points. Manifest?]
"So expensive? Isn't that going to drop me below 10,000?" Hyuga Kumo ground his teeth.
He wasn't a penny-pincher, but he had a habit of hoarding things like a hamster.
Seeing his points about to drop below 10,000 always made him feel insecure.
So he was really reluctant to spend these points, hesitating on whether to try developing it himself.
But before he could respond in his mind, a faint cat's meow reached his ears.
"Meow."
This meow was just mixed in with the loud chirping of insects, and it wasn't particularly special during this season when animals were in heat.
But Hyuga Kumo's gaze paused for a moment, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Ha, the "points" had delivered themselves to his door.