Just as Hiashi was feeling happy and proud for Neji, Neji himself did not care about any of that. Right now, he only wanted to give it his all and keep trying to break through the limits of his current field of vision.
Starting from the edge of the training ground, he gradually pushed farther outward, continuously expanding his vision until, at last—
His gaze stopped on a tree at the edge of the training ground.
It was a large tree with a thick trunk and lush branches and leaves. Where the trunk connected to the branches, he could see an oval bird's nest, built from hundreds upon hundreds of tiny twigs woven together.
Several little sparrows inside the nest kept stretching their necks upward, their beaks opening and closing. Though he could not hear a sound, Neji knew the little ones had to be hungry.
Beside the nest, an adult sparrow fed worms into the chicks' mouths one by one. But there were not many worms left—only enough to fill two chicks. One chick continued to chirp.
The sparrow spread its wings and flew out of the tree.
Neji waited and waited. Only when the sparrow returned and he saw it feed the last chirping chick did Neji finally deactivate his Byakugan and look toward Hiashi, his uncle.
"Uncle, thank you."
As he spoke, Neji bowed his head to the ground.
This kneel was not because Hiashi was the head of the Hyuga clan. It was because Neji was grateful from the bottom of his heart, and because Hiashi, as his uncle, had cared for him all these years.
Hiashi hurriedly helped Neji up. Tears glimmered in his eyes, and the joy in his heart was no less than what he had felt when Hinata and Hanabi were born.