In the courtyard of the Hyuga residence, the night was deep and still.
Hinata sat alone in her room, gazing at the moon outside the window and humming a light, cheerful tune.
Three days had already passed since she last used the simulator. The cooldown was about to end.
She pinched the corner of the notebook and took a deep breath.
The last simulation felt as if it were still right in front of her, but now the Cloud delegation had already left, Konoha had given a hard answer, and Uncle Hizashi had avoided the main-family elder.
So this time… in a new future, what would she see?
She opened the notebook to the title page and started the simulation.
[Life Simulator activating…]
[Year 54 of Konoha.]
[Under Father Hiashi's strict requirements, I continue training hard. Over this year, my progress is very noticeable, and Father grows more and more satisfied with my performance. I try to ask around about Kumogakure and the border, but I never manage to obtain any useful information.]
[Year 55 of Konoha.]
[Scattered news of minor clashes comes from the border. Kumogakure refuses to back down and also masses troops at the border. It's said they've had some small skirmishes with Tsunade-sama's forces, but overall the situation is still within control.]
[At year's end, the first group of branch-family members who went to the border return to the clan grounds. After the New Year, the second group departs little by little. This news doesn't cause much of a stir inside the Hyuga clan. Father only glances at the casualty statistics before setting them aside.]
[The next day, Father takes me to visit Uncle Hizashi, who has just returned to the village. During our brief time together, I faintly sense Uncle Hizashi has changed in some way. The way he looks at Neji, the way he looks at me, grows increasingly complicated.]
[Year 56 of Konoha.]
[Father tells me I will soon have a younger sister or brother. At the same time, next year I will enter the Ninja Academy to study.]
[At year's end, the second group of clan members stationed at the border also return, and the third group is about to depart. Unexpectedly, Uncle Hizashi—who wasn't on the list this time—volunteers to go to the border. Father refuses. The two argue fiercely and part on bad terms.]
[I notice more and more clan members are changing. Unease rises inside me. I can vaguely feel that something big is about to happen.]
[Now, I have three options.]
[1. Go find Kiyonari-kun and investigate in private.]
[2. Inform Father and launch an open, thorough investigation.]
[3. Go find Neji-nii and ask him face to face.]
Hinata looked up and blinked in confusion. "What… what happened?"
If these changes began after they returned from the border, then the first priority was to find out what had happened there.
[I decide to go find Neji-nii and ask him to take me to Uncle Hizashi, so I can ask him directly and get the truth.]
[Neji-nii is surprised by my sudden visit, but he doesn't refuse. Uncle Hizashi looks the same as always, as if nothing has happened. But I can clearly sense an unshakable weariness hanging between his brows.]
[I gather my courage and ask him—what happened at the border? Why is he so determined to go back, even to the point of arguing with Father?]
[He looks at me and stays silent for a long time. In his eyes, many complicated emotions flash: deep exhaustion, suppressed anger, and helplessness… until, in the end, they all become a long, heavy sigh.]
["A bird that has tasted the freedom of flight will never grow used to life inside a cage again."]
[He refuses to say more, leaving only those words.]
[Year 57 of Konoha.]
[My younger sister is born. Father names her Hyuga Hanabi. I also enter the Ninja Academy this year. Happily, Kiyonari-kun and I are placed in the same class.]
[At year's end, the third group of branch-family members returns from border duty. This time, the main family finally notices the obvious changes in the branch. They begin an investigation, and even directly question the Third Hokage, demanding to know what exactly happened at the border.]
[At the same time, the branch family is no longer as deferential to the main family as before. For the first time, they openly express dissatisfaction and raise voices of doubt toward the main family.]
[The main-family elders are furious. In their eyes, the main family decides the clan's continuation, while the branch protects the main family—this is the order the Hyuga have maintained for centuries. The branch's actions are, without question, a challenge to that order.]
[Father falls into an unprecedented dilemma. As clan head and as a brother, he understands the branch's anger, but he also carries the responsibility of maintaining the clan's stability and inheritance. He regrets that he noticed too late. For a time, he truly doesn't know what choice could calm this storm.]
[And the fuse that finally lights this conflict is the Hyuga clan's proud secret technique—Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.]
[The branch family strongly demands that the restrictions on learning Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven be lifted, allowing branch members to master this main-family secret art. As expected, the main family flatly refuses.]
[However, the branch's anger will no longer remain silent. Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven is hailed as the Hyuga clan's absolute defense, yet it is controlled by a group of main-family members who never go to the battlefield, who only use it to flaunt their status and prove they stand above others!]
["We are Hyuga too! We have the Byakugan too! Why must we suffer such unequal treatment?" The branch members' cries echo throughout the clan grounds.]
[Facing the branch's unprecedented hardline stance, the main family itself fractures. Some advocate using the punitive function of the Caged Bird curse seal to make the branch recognize their "place." Others begin to waver, believing the restrictions on Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven might be loosened—within limits.]
[I don't know what clashes and compromises happened in between. But in the end, Father withstands immense pressure and lifts the ban preventing the branch from learning Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.]
[The branch's protest temporarily subsides. But I know in my heart this is only the brief calm before the storm.]
[One day, their anger will erupt again. And when that happens—without the "main-family secret art" serving as a buffer—what will happen then?]
[This simulation ends here.]
[Evaluation: What killed the Hyuga clan's future?]
Hinata was drenched in cold sweat, her heart pounding violently. Those angry voices felt as if they had broken free of the paper itself and were now ringing in her ears.
"The Caged Bird…" she murmured, then shook her head hard. "No. It's the system—the system that forces Hyuga into two kinds of people, tearing them apart."
"Even without Kumogakure, even without Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, there will be another fuse. The Hyuga clan will still walk toward that ending!"
Even though the simulator didn't explicitly reveal the final outcome, the suffocating sense of a storm about to break was enough for her to glimpse what was coming.
"Branch family… Father… the border… Tsunade-sama…"
Her thoughts tangled like a mess of string—until they all pointed to the one figure who had guided her through countless moments of confusion, the one lifeline she most desperately wanted to seize right now, the only straw that could bring even a sliver of hope.
"Kiyonari… where are you?"
~~~
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