Hyuga Kumokawa passed away peacefully.
He had already done everything he could for his grandson.
Soji had grown up. He was sensible, and his strength had long since surpassed his grandfather's. There was nothing left for the old man to worry about.
Yet Soji remained kneeling numbly beside the old man's body, staring motionlessly at his face as if he were merely asleep.
"So this is what it feels like to lose family," Soji murmured.
Whether in his previous life or this one, it was Soji's first time experiencing such pain.
In his previous life, both his parents had been alive, and his family had lived together happily.
When he had first transmigrated in this life, even though he had inherited all the original owner's memories, he had no information about his parents, so he had not felt much.
Hyuga Kumokawa was different.
He had spent nine years—nearly ten—with Soji himself. If the original owner's memories were included, they had been family for fourteen years.
The feelings built over those fourteen years were not something he could simply let go of.
He still remembered the scenes of grandfather and grandson training together, eating together, and talking together.
One New Year, Hyuga Kumokawa had even set off fireworks with Soji to make up for the regret of him not having parents.
Bit by bit, memories surfaced in Soji's heart.
At this moment, Soji hated himself.
These past few years, in his pursuit of greater strength, he had completely neglected every change in the old man.
If I had cared more about Grandpa, he wouldn't have suffered so much. Soji thought bitterly, filled with endless self-reproach.
By the time the injured Konoha Ninja returned to the village, it was already two or three in the afternoon.
After Soji made a trip to