Ever since Hiashi Hyuga retrieved information about Luomon from the Hokage's office and confirmed that he was an ordinary person incapable of cultivating chakra, he assumed that Hinata had lied. Her claim that she had some purpose in involving Luomon was dismissed as an excuse she was simply infatuated with his appearance.
After all, what secrets could an average person possibly hold that would be of interest to a ninja?
Step. Step.
At that moment, a flurry of footsteps echoed through the courtyard.
It was Hizashi Hyuga, accompanied by a group of branch family members.
They had all come to witness how the clan head, Hiashi, would deal with Hinata and Luomon.
Moments later, the Hyuga clan elders and even several main family members arrived. Their gazes silently pressured Hiashi, urging him to punish Hinata for her recent disappearance, which had cost the clan significant resources to track her down.
Their eyes also conveyed a second message: Luomon, a civilian without even the ability to manipulate chakra, had no place in the Hyuga clan and should be expelled immediately.
Under the weight of so many expectant stares, Hiashi drew a deep breath and turned to Hinata.
"Hinata, give up your absurd idea of keeping Luomon by your side. And tell your father where you disappeared to yesterday."
Hinata shook her head gently. "I refuse."
Hiashi paused in surprise. His eyes flicked back to Hizashi and the group of branch family members behind him. Then his expression grew solemn.
"Refuse? Hinata, you're still young. You don't yet understand the true nature of this world. There are things in life where personal will means nothing.
"Your uncle, Hizashi, is my twin brother. And yet, because he was born just moments later than me, he was branded with the Caged Bird Seal and made head of the branch family. Do you think he chose that fate?
"And those branch family members do you think they wanted to be marked with the Caged Bird Seal?
"Refusal? Sometimes, a person's will is meaningless. Powerless."
His voice grew sharper.
"Hinata, come to my side. Now."
The clan elders nodded in satisfaction at his words.
Hizashi and the other branch members, however, wore complex expressions.
Indeed, just as Hiashi had said, there were things in life you couldn't change, even if you resisted with all your heart. The Caged Bird Seal didn't ask for permission. It was forced upon them.
And once branded, the seal remained until death.
According to the clan elders, this practice was meant to prevent outsiders from stealing their Byakugan from corpses.
Hinata, as the daughter of the main family's head, was considered a prodigy, one with the potential to become a powerful figure within the clan. But even she was not exempt from the authority of the clan's traditions.
Not only the adults thought this. Even the boy standing silently in the crowd, Neji Hyuga who bore the cursed seal on his own forehead believed the same:
The fate of the branch family was sealed from birth.
Similarly, a main family heiress could never be with a commoner.
That was Hinata's fate.
…
But just when everyone assumed Hinata would obediently follow Hiashi's command, she gave a small shake of her head. Her short black hair swayed with the motion, a silent refusal.
Hiashi's expression darkened.
"If that's the case, don't blame me, Hinata."
He clapped twice.
From the crowd, Hinata's former bodyguard, Hyuga Fuyu, stepped forward.
"Fuyu," Hiashi said, "you've been Hinata's protector for years. Bring her back. By any means necessary."
"Yes, sir."
Fuyu knelt respectfully, then turned to Hinata with a faint, apologetic smile.
"Lady Hinata, I let you escape with Luomon once. But this time, I won't let it happen again."
In Fuyu's mind, she was a full-fledged chunin, having passed the exams. Hinata, though a prodigy, was still only five years old. Her chakra reserves were likely below that of an average genin.
Fuyu was confident she would win.
Step. Step.
She launched forward like an arrow, aiming to disable Hinata barehanded.
But at that moment, she noticed Hinata lowering her stance into a precise, unfamiliar form
The Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms.
Impossible!
With Hinata's chakra reserves, it should be impossible to perform that technique not even the prerequisite Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms should be viable.
Fuyu quickly formed a hand seal.
Clone Technique!
Poof! Two copies of Fuyu emerged, flanking Hinata from both sides.
Hinata's eyes sharpened.
"Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms."
Her chakra surged. A massive trigram spread out beneath her feet. Her small hands flashed like lightning, striking Fuyu's real body with pinpoint precision.
One strike.
The clone shattered.
Six strikes.
Fuyu's chakra points began shutting down.
Twelve.
Twenty-Eight.
Her chakra halted completely.
…
By the sixty-fourth strike, Fuyu's body had gone limp, all her chakra sealed. She collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, utterly defeated.
As she fell, she glimpsed Hinata preparing a sixty-fifth strike. The realization struck her like a lightning bolt:
Hinata had truly mastered the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms.
And Fuyu, with her current strength, couldn't endure even a fraction of it.
Across the courtyard, every pair of Byakugan eyes widened Hiashi, Hizashi, elders, and branch members alike.
Hinata had actually mastered the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms?!
Even if she had, how did she have the chakra to execute it?
Byakugan!
Veins bulged at the corners of every Hyuga's eyes.
They saw it clearly now: Hinata's chakra reserves were already on par with a typical chunin.
She wasn't just a prodigy for mastering their secret technique at such a young age she had chakra levels to match.
But this only made things more difficult to accept: how could a girl like this possibly fall for a civilian?
Hiashi turned to his brother.
"Hizashi. Your turn."
Hizashi hesitated as he looked at the five-year-old girl across the courtyard.
"Is this wise? I might hurt her."
Hiashi shook his head. "She's training to become a ninja. A little injury won't kill her. Maybe it's time she learned that there's always someone stronger out there."
With Hiashi's approval, Hizashi moved like a missile.
As he leapt forward, he tossed a barrage of kunai aimed at Hinata's non-lethal zones.
But just before contact, he saw Hinata drop into another familiar Hyuga stance
Eight Trigrams Rotation.