At night, the moonlight was swallowed by heavy clouds.
Hyuga Hinata held her shoes in her hands and slipped out of her room barefoot, placing each step with extreme care. Her heart was pounding so fast it felt like it might burst—only after she climbed over the courtyard wall did the tension in her body ease a little.
She put her shoes back on, searched carefully through the clan grounds, and finally stopped in front of an ordinary wooden door.
Her hand hovered in midair. Afraid she'd found the wrong place, Hinata compared it again and again before finally knocking softly.
Knock, knock.
The sound was so light it was almost inaudible, but Hyuga Kiyonari happened to still be awake and caught it.
This late—who could it be?
He got up and went to the door, then slid it open without much thought.
Outside, the moon happened to peek out from behind the clouds, outlining the small figure standing there in a hazy silver edge.
Hinata kept her head lowered. Her bluish-purple hair fell down, covering most of her face, but Kiyonari still saw at a glance—her reddened eyes, her lips pressed tightly together.
In that moment, it was like… in a past life, when you were about to ride your electric scooter to work, and you suddenly noticed a tiny kitten curled up under the thick wind curtain, staring at you with watery eyes.
A flicker of delight quietly leapt into Kiyonari's gaze.
Feeling his eyes on her, Hinata gathered her courage and looked up, revealing a pair of eyes that made anyone want to protect her.
"Kiyonari-kun… I want to ask you to go eat barbecue with me… Is that okay?"
Kiyonari didn't ask any questions. He just looked into those eyes that seemed like they were about to shatter, and gently nodded.
"Okay. Give me a second."
He turned and went inside, quickly pulled on a warm outer layer, and when he came back out, he was already ready.
The two of them left the Hyuga compound without a sound. Konoha's streets were still brightly lit. The moment they stepped into Yakiniku Q, the lively warmth and smoky bustle wrapped around them, a sharp contrast to the cold quiet of the clan grounds.
As soon as they sat down, Kiyonari naturally took over ordering. After checking what Hinata wanted, he ordered a huge platter of the highest-grade wagyu all at once.
Before long, a broad-shouldered employee—clearly from the Akimichi clan—came over carrying a wooden tray. On it were neatly marbled, vivid red slices of meat piled up like a small mountain.
He set the tray down with a heavy thud and scratched his head, looking between the refined boy and the delicate girl in confusion.
"Um… are you expecting other guests to join you? Because this portion…"
Hinata's face instantly turned bright red. She lowered her head in embarrassment, her index fingers twisting anxiously around each other.
Before she could explain, Kiyonari calmly picked up the tongs and laid a thick, fatty slice of beef onto the sizzling grill. At once, the meat released an irresistible ssss.
"No, it's just me. I can eat a lot. Sorry for the trouble."
"Oh."
The employee answered and didn't ask further, turning away with a smile.
Hinata looked up, stunned, watching Kiyonari expertly flip the meat on the grill and place perfectly cooked slices into his own bowl.
"Eat up, milady."
From the moment she knocked on his door, everything Kiyonari did felt like a warm hand gently smoothing out the creases in Hinata's heart.
She stared at the piece of beef in her bowl—seared just right, edges lightly charred, still tender and juicy inside—and swallowed without realizing it.
"Mhm."
Hinata nodded slightly, picked up her chopsticks, and took a small bite. The warmth and rich aroma burst across her mouth instantly, and it felt like a wave of heat slid down her throat into her stomach, soothing the cold, anxious knot in her insides.
They ate quietly for a while. The grill kept making that pleasant sizzle, while the chatter of the other customers faded into distant background noise. Inside this small bubble built from the scent of grilled meat, Hinata's tightly wound nerves finally found room to breathe.
She set her chopsticks down, her other hand resting uneasily on her lap. After hesitating for a long time, she finally asked him in a voice that was almost drifting away.
"Kiyonari-kun… if… if there's a huge problem right in front of me. Something I can't solve at all, and even… even something I can't even understand… what should I do?"
Kiyonari lifted his head, eyes settling on Hinata's tense, uneasy face.
Of course he knew she wasn't talking about schoolwork or training. In a sense, that crushing burden—heavy enough to break anyone—was something he himself had brought into her life.
But she would never know the truth, and he wasn't going to reveal it. He simply moved the cooked meat to the plate beside them, then answered in a calm, certain voice.
"What's making you feel lost isn't the difficulty. It's that you don't have a goal."
Hinata looked at him, confused.
Meeting her puzzled gaze, Kiyonari asked, "When you practice Gentle Fist, what do you think counts as 'mastering' it?"
Hinata thought for a moment. "Mastering the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?"
Kiyonari continued, "Then you've changed it—from the vague idea of 'training Gentle Fist' into a concrete goal: mastering the Sixty-Four Palms."
"But you can't skip the process and jump straight to the finish line. So first you master the Two Palms, then Four Palms, Eight Palms, Sixteen Palms… and only then Sixty-Four. A huge, difficult training task gets slowly broken down into smaller goals—solve the most urgent problem first, start where you can actually begin. Do you understand?"
"…I do."
Hinata nodded firmly. There was still a trace of hesitation in her movement, but compared to before, she looked much steadier.
The meat continued to sizzle. Seeing her sink into thought, Kiyonari grabbed a freshly grilled piece, wrapped it in crisp lettuce, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mmm~"
So good!
He narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. Sure enough, truly good things have no flaws besides being expensive.
Kiyonari's words weren't profound, but they were like a key sliding into the messy lock in Hinata's heart—followed by a clear, satisfying click.
If she followed what he said and made the vague goal of "saving the Hyuga clan" more concrete, then it should become: "changing the system between the main family and the branch family."
But what exactly were the conflicts between the main and branch families, and where should she start? Hinata still couldn't figure that out. One thing was clear, though: simply abolishing the Caged Bird system was definitely not a good idea.
For now, the most urgent thing to solve was the coming Kumogakure delegation. She absolutely couldn't let them die in Konoha.
But what, exactly, should she do?
Just like how "master the Two Palms" was already a very detailed goal, yet she still needed someone to teach her—to guide her through the basics.
Ah… if only someone could help me—help me think of a way…
Hinata gripped her chopsticks in frustration. And at that moment, a freshly grilled slice of meat quietly landed in her bowl.
Her attention was instantly pulled to the chopsticks offering the meat… and the person holding them.
She'd found it.