"Come in." Naruto opened the door and led Neji inside.
The two sat down on the sofa.
Neji reached up and untied the forehead protector around his head. Beneath it, there was still another layer of bandages wrapped around his forehead.
Only beneath those bandages lay the mark of the seal.
Naruto could tell that Neji had hidden that mark—the one he regarded as a disgrace—very, very deeply.
Now that they were alone, Neji finally unwound the bandages layer by layer, revealing the mark.
"This is the seal."
Neji's Byakugan stared sincerely at Naruto, his low voice utterly candid.
Yet Naruto detected a deeply buried hatred in his tone.
He understood it too.
Who could remain as lively and cheerful as before after having something like this planted on them, with their life constantly in someone else's hands?
Still, this was Naruto's first time seeing the seal with his own eyes.
It looked like a jade-green "X," flanked by two jade-green hooked patterns curving in opposite directions, their tips pointing straight at the center of the "X."
After sensing it for a moment, Naruto clearly perceived the flow of Chakra within the seal.
"So this is the seal that keeps your Byakugan from being stolen by other villages?" Naruto pretended not to know much about the matter.
"Tch... It does far more than protect us!"
At Naruto's words, Neji curled his lips coldly in disdain.
He trusted Naruto deeply. Mainly because of their earlier battle, and because Naruto had later displayed strength far beyond this world, which left Neji deeply impressed.
More importantly, Naruto's appearance had overturned the fatalistic belief Neji had held firmly since childhood.
In his dark life, devoid of direction or future, Naruto had forcibly smashed open a skylight!
But although there was now light, Neji did