Nearly every Hyūga clan branch member had some representative from the main family they worked for — they referred to it as being a "retainer," but everyone else was aware that what they actually meant was "servant."
Not all of the main family members were as nice as Hinata. If you were unlucky and got stuck with someone nasty, you weren't just a servant — you were also their personal training dummy.
Nael's master was just that type of person — a person who didn't regard the branch family's life as human life.
And the man who was standing in his way now was only that master's faithful dog.
Nael's smile was slightly dulled. He disregarded the man's efforts to incite him and continued walking towards the gate.
The guard was not anticipating this. Nael was a person who was always silent and endured insults without responding.
The expression on the man's face turned ugly as he snapped, "Nael! I'm addressing you!"
Nael didn't even look over his shoulder. He continued walking.
Guy merely shrugged and followed him, unruffled as usual.
"Worthless garbage! I said stop!"
The guard's angry shout echoed out — accompanied by the crisp whistle of air separating.
He was actually outstretched to grab Nael's shoulder, exerting enough force to hurt him.
Guy scowled and hesitated, ready to intervene.
But he was no sooner ready to take a step when that hand landed on Nael's shoulder—
Nael's muscles tightened like a pine tree shedding weighty snow. A burst of sudden energy coursed through his body and into the guard's arm. The guard's hand went dead in an instant.
Even before he could do anything, Nael was in motion.
Without moving his head, his right arm flexed slightly, his left foot lifted forward, and his entire body drew a tiny, flawless circle. The white hem of his robe flapped out as he spun, showing the tight, molded muscles of his torso. His palm flashed out.
To the guard, it was as if Nael had disappeared and reappeared before his eyes — his palm against the man's belly before the guard could so much as blink.
Then the blow.
Boom!
A battering ram force burst forth from that one touch, sufficient to shatter stone. The man doubled up in agony as if hit by a battering ram. Blood rushed up his gullet.
"Let's not make a mess," Nael said softly.
His right palm up, elbow down. He lightly rapped the man's chin.
There was a sharp crack. The blood in the guard's throat returned to its place rather than flowing out.
"Kh—! Khhk—!!"
The guard fell to his knees, his hands around his throat and belly, a grimace of pain on his face.
"You dare—" he gasped, veins bulging as his Byakugan burned. But when he looked into Nael's serene eyes, his words caught.
A chill ran down his spine — cold, creeping, like a snake sliding across his skin.
He was afraid.
Afraid of this man everyone called a useless failure.
Why?
Nael looked down at him, his smile returning — soft, but sharp.
"That strike was payback," he said. "Lady Aoi's extra training session is in the afternoon. Next time, don't act like a dog in front of me."
He patted the man's shoulder gently and walked past him with Guy.
Guy broke the silence with his usual brightness. "Didn't think you'd go that far!"
He didn't sound angry — just impressed. He'd heard rumors about Nael, but Nael was his friend. To Guy, he wasn't the weakling people made him out to be.
That technique a moment ago — a combination of hard and soft taijutsu — was new to Guy. Far beyond most Hyūga were capable of.
And yet, he didn't get it, as to why Nael typically disregarded all the rumors.
Nael flashed a tiny, formal smile.
"Sorry you had to witness that. He's still my clansman. I didn't want to be too extreme."
Guy shook his head, chuckling.
No need to apologize. Youth shouldn't be stained by shame."
Nael smiled weakly.
"Perhaps. Still… this sort of rubbish gets tiresome."
And then the voice in his head.
[Ding! Your lie has been deemed as "Casual Deception." Might Guy experienced slight emotional vacillation and attained the level of "Firm Belief." You earn 200 Truth Points.]
Of course, it was a lie.
Why hadn't he resisted earlier?
Partly because his scheme with Orochimaru wasn't yet complete — an innocent "failure" was a more convincing disguise.
But more than that—
"When one dog barks, the rest follow," Nael thought unemotionally. "They don't even know why they're barking."
"If I stopped to stone every yapping stray, I'd never finish anything."
He cared nothing for that guard — not anger, not sympathy.
That man was not worth it.
He had attacked solely to try out a new technique — and to set the stage for what followed.
A rat in a gutter would never be believed.
When Danzo Shimura made the same remark, they rolled their eyes.
But when Hiruzen Sarutobi made it, they called it wisdom.
Lies only ever become truth when uttered by the powerful.
Nael's body was still in transition — his Hyūga blood maturing from the inside out, defining his senses, his chakra, even his body strength.
Ordinarily, that would take time. But Nael was impatient.
He required additional Truth Points — and to acquire them, he needed to target higher-value assets.
To accomplish that, he'd have to demonstrate a glimmer of his full potential.
What he did today was just the beginning.
Soon, news would get around about him — one of Orochimaru's only surviving test subjects.
Both Hiruzen and Danzo would hear about it and attempt to utilize him.
Nael's eyes flickered as he considered his eyes.
"Manifest item — unpolluted Byakugan able to awaken the Tenseigan when combined," he breathed in his head.
[Cost: 10,000 Truth Points. Confirm manifestation?]
"Just enough?" he grumbled.
He paused, then tried another thought.
"Manifest item — how to blend clean Byakugan and clean Ōtsutsuki bloodline to activate the Tenseigan."
[Inadequate Points.]
Nael's expression grew stern.
"Of course. Still lacking something."
Glad he didn't get taken in by the system trick — wasting everything on a pair of eyes he couldn't even utilize.
"Appears the second approach safer," he thought.
The Hyūga's Byakugan was purer than the Ōtsutsuki's on the moon, but far fewer in number. He wondered if merging enough of them could create the Tenseigan.
Then he caught himself and coughed.
"Alright, alright — that's a bit too evil."
He wasn't Itachi Uchiha.
"I'll only take eyes from those who've awakened theirs. The rest are useless anyway."
Of course, he wouldn't do it himself.
He already had someone in mind who was better suited to the task.
"All that's left," Nael thought, "is to wait for those old fools to show their true faces."