Hyuga Kirito, just as his name suggested, was a member of the prestigious Hyuga clan of Konohagakure. More specifically, he hailed from one of the branch families historically responsible for guarding the clan's Main House for generations.
As a member of the Hyuga branch family, Kirito's standing within the clan's hierarchy was relatively low. Yet ironically, in Konoha's noble circles, or even throughout the entire village, there were few who didn't know his name.
But his fame wasn't because of any exceptional talent. As the saying goes, "Good news rarely leaves the house, but bad news travels far and wide." That perfectly summed up Kirito's reputation.
Despite being a Hyuga by blood, Kirito was born with jet-black pupils, a striking anomaly. While black eyes were common among most ninja, within the Hyuga clan, they were nothing short of heresy.
The Hyuga's lineage stretched back to the mythic era of the Sage of Six Paths. Ever since the clan joined Konoha as one of its founding noble houses over sixty years ago, their defining trait, the dōjutsu known as the Byakugan, had been universally inherited. Every Hyuga child was born with pale silver-white eyes, without exception.
Historically, clan records did mention six individuals whose eyes weren't silver at birth. However, even in those rare cases, their eyes eventually turned to the standard pale silver hue around the age of four or five. Kirito, however, was the first in clan history to be born with pure black eyes, and now, at age twelve, his eye color still hadn't changed.
This abnormality led to him being shunned by both the Main House and the Branch Family alike. Imagine living among a family where everyone had pale silver eyes, only for one kid to show up with pitch-black pupils. It was like having a crow among a flock of doves, hard not to stand out.
Of course, had it been just a matter of appearance, Kirito wouldn't have earned such widespread notoriety. What truly sealed his reputation was the fact that, even now, he had failed to awaken the Hyuga's hereditary dōjutsu, the Byakugan.
In the Hyuga clan, the earlier one awakened the Byakugan, the more gifted they were considered. Even the slowest members typically manifested it by the age of eight or nine. Kirito, at twelve, remained without it.
The problem ran deeper. All of the Hyuga clan's secret techniques revolved around the Byakugan. To say their combat system "relied" on it would be an understatement. Without the Byakugan, a Hyuga was no different from an ordinary person.
There were even whispers questioning whether Kirito was truly of Hyuga blood. But the clan head personally confirmed his lineage through official means. Besides, Kirito had inherited another infamous trait of the Hyuga, an innate incompatibility with ninjutsu and genjutsu. This didn't mean Hyuga couldn't use such arts, but due to their long-standing use of internalized, unified taijutsu styles, their chakra pathways had evolved in unique ways, making them naturally unsuited for those techniques.
So here was Kirito, bereft of the clan's defining strength, yet cursed with its inherent weaknesses. He couldn't use the clan's secret techniques without the Byakugan, and his chakra network made him a hopeless case when it came to standard ninjutsu and genjutsu.
He became the laughingstock of the Hyuga family, and a disgrace in the eyes of outsiders. His reputation as a "failure" was known throughout the village.
And yet, Kirito's situation was different from that of a typical branch family member. His family line had served as close guards to the Main House for generations. In Kirito's case, he was originally designated as the personal guardian of the Hyuga heiress, Hinata.
From early childhood, he lived by Hinata's side. To the two of them, their bond went far beyond that of master and servant. They were like childhood companions, even closer than siblings.
But when Kirito turned seven and it came time to enroll in the Ninja Academy, his failure to awaken the Byakugan led to a grim verdict. With unanimous agreement from the clan elders, he was stripped of his title as Hinata's personal guard. Worse, there was a motion to expel him entirely from the Hyuga clan.
Fortunately, the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi, opposed this decision. Kirito's father had once served as the previous clan head's personal guard, sacrificing his life on a mission to protect him. Out of respect for that sacrifice, Hiashi did his best to shield Kirito.
Although he couldn't override the elders' decision to revoke Kirito's guard position, he at least managed to postpone the proposal to cast him out of the clan.
But now, with the Academy graduation exams approaching for Kirito's cohort, that shelved decision had resurfaced.
As the largest noble clan in modern Konoha, the Hyuga could not tolerate a boy who had failed to inherit the Byakugan, showed no talent in the ninja arts, and might not even graduate from the Academy. If Kirito failed the exam, he would undoubtedly be expelled from the clan.
As rumors swirled, some worrying, some jeering, some gleefully waiting for drama to unfold, Kirito himself remained entirely unbothered.
He went to school and returned home each day with a sunny smile on his face, showing no trace of worry, as if the trial looming over him had nothing to do with him at all.
Because he alone possessed something unique
<><>---------------------------------------
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters