Because he had left a Thought Clone deep within Hinata's consciousness, the moment he heard her call, Wang Yan appeared before her in the blink of an eye.
"A new future..."
Wang Yan's gaze seemed to rest on Hinata, yet it also seemed to be fixed upon the void.
He saw through layers of mist and witnessed countless possibilities for Hinata's future.
Now, the timeline he favored had clearly grown somewhat thicker, and the likelihood of it occurring had increased accordingly. Evidently, during this time, Hinata had affirmed her convictions and desires, finding the pursuit that truly belonged to her.
The day her fate was completely rewritten, Wang Yan's Resource Points would increase as well.
"Um..."
Hinata pressed her index fingers together, as if talking to herself. "I... I've run into some trouble."
"Tell me about it."
Wang Yan did not urge her on, merely waiting quietly for her response.
Hinata was like a stay-at-home woman; her personality was simply far too introverted, making her unsuitable as a ninja.
After talking for a while, Hinata finally managed to sort the whole matter out.
"I see." Wang Yan nodded slightly.
It was not actually anything terrifying. With the Three Ninja about to return, Konoha was on the verge of turmoil. Genin like Hinata had almost all been ordered to rest at home and remain on standby, awaiting the Hokage's wartime summons.
With her reserved nature, Hinata simply stayed home and began pursuing the dream that had only recently taken shape—creating manga!
As a beginner, her artistic skill and fundamentals were far stronger than Wang Yan had expected. Whether it was the background settings or the character designs, she rendered them all with delicate strokes.
However, when she submitted the first draft she had painstakingly created to a publisher, it was rejected outright.
"I... I don't know what to do next. It seems like I have no talent."
Hinata's little face was filled with confusion.
She was the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan, but ever since her younger sister Hanabi had come along, she had become someone whose presence or absence made no difference to the family.
Neji, as a member of the branch family, currently harbored hatred for every person in the main family. There was no way he would comfort or help her.
At a time like this, Hinata could only seek help from Wang Yan, this "Ancestor."
"When you're at a loss, seek your Ancestor. Good child, you did nothing wrong."
Wang Yan spoke gently and patted Hinata's little head. "Let me see the story you've created first."
"Huh?"
Hinata blinked her eyes adorably, somewhat at a loss.
This was her dream. How was she supposed to take out her manuscript for her Ancestor to see?
Before she could think of an answer, Wang Yan had already reached a conclusion.
"I've read all of your work."
After reading Hinata's memories, Wang Yan smacked his lips and commented, "The story is good, and it has a deep literary foundation. But that is precisely your flaw!"
Hinata froze.
That counted as a flaw too?
Could it be that people who read less were better suited to becoming Manga Artists?
"Your story is too profound and obscure. No one will read it, because they simply won't understand it. Even if they can understand it, it will take too much effort and leave readers exhausted."
Wang Yan gave her a faintly amused look. "A story that is simple, easy to understand, and enjoyable is a good story."
"What does 'obscure' mean?" Hinata sincerely sought advice.
"Some people who create stories think they are very talented, so they deliberately flaunt their literary skill. They make their stories difficult to understand, full of twists and turns, so readers cannot understand them at all. That is roughly what it means."
After receiving Wang Yan's answer, Hinata's pure white, pupil-less eyes flashed faintly.
"A story readers enjoy is a good story. I understand. Thank you, Ancestor!"
A sweet smile showed on Hinata's little face.
"Then I'll be going."
With a thought, Wang Yan vanished from her dream.
Land of Wind, Sunagakure.
Wang Yan slowly opened his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
Before leaving, he had taken another look at Hinata and seen something he should not have seen.
"What kind of brain does this girl have? How could she come up with the idea of writing this kind of story?"
Clearly, Hinata's debut work had been a perfectly serious, literary piece. It was fresh and gentle in style, and its story value was quite good. Why had the second one suddenly changed styles?
"Wait... Could she have treated the new friends she made as her readers? Who knows what Sakura and Ino taught her..."
Wang Yan did not delve further into Hinata's other memories.
As a master of the mind, manipulating, altering, deleting, and twisting other people's memories was extremely simple. Reading memories, however, could easily alter one's own personality.
This was especially true for young people like Wang Yan, who was not even a hundred years old and lacked life experience. After reading too many other people's memories, he would be even more prone to negative effects.
Therefore, Wang Yan generally only read the surface thoughts of others.
From that final glance, Wang Yan saw that the opening Hinata had conceived for her new manga was precisely a forbidden lesbian romance between two Young Girls.
"It doesn't matter. In the end, it's only a small matter."
"The opposite sex is only for reproduction; true love exists only between the same sex. What is wrong with girls liking girls? It's perfectly normal..."
Wang Yan shook his head and told himself that.
"By my calculations, Rasa and Gaara still need to struggle for two more days in the game Shadow Breaking the Firmament. For the next two days, I'll give Naruto and the others a temporary break."
After a brief moment of thought, Wang Yan's Spiritual Power instantly enveloped the entirety of Sunagakure, issuing commands to every villager's subconscious to temporarily ignore any abnormal circumstances within the village.
With the Jinchuriki and the Kazekage missing at the same time, if he did not prepare in advance, things would likely become anything but peaceful.
Planning ahead was a good habit.
Hyuga Hiashi had recently been overwhelmed with work.
First, Naruto Uzumaki's true identity had suddenly been exposed, yet the upper ranks of the Hokage's faction had not given any response whatsoever.
Their behavior left people no choice but to think deeply—was this a trap?
As the leader of Konoha's foremost clan, he had to tread on thin ice with every decision.
How illustrious and untouchable had the Uchiha Clan been back then? Yet in the end, only one Rogue Ninja and an orphan barely ten years old remained.
Hiashi did not want to follow in the Uchiha Clan's footsteps.
Yet whenever he probed the Konoha higher-ups for their thoughts on the matter, those old men and women acted as though they could not hear him, each one playing deaf and mute.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu. Had these elite ninja, who had once dominated the battlefield, all developed dementia at the same time?
Hyuga Hiashi found the joke a little cold.
As for the possibility that someone had used a Genjutsu similar to Kotoamatsukami from back then to hypnotize them all at once, he believed that even less.
"No one can do such a thing."
As if helping himself reinforce his conviction, Hiashi muttered, "It must be their scheme!"
It was not that the Hyuga Clan head was overly suspicious. Konoha's higher-ups simply had too many prior offenses, had used too many dirty methods, and had long since squandered all credibility.
"The Three Ninja are about to return. Which side will they stand on?"
Hyuga Hiashi understood that the entire clan had reached the brink of life and death. One wrong step, even by half a pace, would bring destruction!
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