Returning to the Village and Family

A few days later, Yei and his group finally arrived at Konoha Village.

As the team's Jonin leader, Tsurubami Ii needed to report the mission at the Hokage Administration Building. The other three team members were free for the time being.

After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, the three went their separate ways and returned home.

Daisei and Nami were both born civilians. Their parents were ordinary people rather than ninja, so they had not needed to go to the battlefield and were still alive. That was a blessing amid misfortune.

Although Daisei and Nami had become ninja, becoming a ninja also meant taking on risks. For the two of them, it was hard to say whether that was good fortune or bad luck...

Of course, becoming a ninja had its benefits as well. Ninja were paid far more than ordinary people; the reward for a single mission could equal the money an ordinary person earned in a year or even longer.

But high returns meant high risks. The death rate among ninja was far higher than among ordinary people!

Among the students of their generation, many had already died on the battlefield!

Fortunately, they had made it through!

The large-scale war had already ended. Even if the various ninja villages continued to clash afterward, it would not be as dangerous as the Third Great Ninja War...

Within the Hyuga Clan compound stood a modest courtyard.

This was Yei's home, an inheritance left by his parents. When the original owner of this body had still been young, his parents had died, whether in war or on a mission, no one knew.

Hyuga Yei had no other siblings, and he had lived alone all these years.

Fortunately, Yei had not transmigrated into this body as a child. His understanding of this body's parents existed only in its memories.

Though he felt regret, he was not overwhelmed by grief.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar courtyard, Yei merely sighed to himself before stepping inside.

During the war, he had rarely returned to Konoha Village, but he had come back several times because of missions. This "home" was not entirely unfamiliar to him.

After simply cooking himself a bowl of noodles and eating it, Yei returned to his bedroom and fell straight asleep.

He was still exhausted. Earlier, he had not only forcibly used Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate his body's cells, worsening his already injured body, but had also used the special nature of his soul to alter the memories of Tsurubami Ii and the other two. Along with the hurried journey, both his body and mind were utterly drained.

Yei slept for two full days before slowly waking up.

After getting up and washing up, Yei was too lazy to cook for himself and left home.

He considered going to Ichiraku Ramen for a quick meal, but after thinking it over, he headed elsewhere instead.

After turning a street corner, Yei arrived before a courtyard about the same size as his own.

Apparently very familiar with the place, Yei did not knock. He pushed open the gate and walked in with practiced ease.

After taking a few steps and passing through the entryway, Yei saw a graceful, beautiful woman in a kimono cooking at the stove.

A smile appeared on Yei's face when he saw her. He quickly approached and greeted her, "Aunt Yami."

Hearing him, the woman named Yami stopped what she was doing and looked up. Seeing Yei, she was pleasantly surprised. "Little Yei! When did you get back? You weren't hurt, were you?"

"I just got back. I'm not hurt. This mission wasn't dangerous; we were only stationed at the border on guard duty. I came back once it was completed," Yei said with a smile. Then, glancing inside the house, he asked, "By the way, Auntie, is Yue up yet?"

Yami looked toward the interior of the house and smiled. "She should be waking soon. Go check on her. If she's not awake, call her up."

"Alright, I'll go take a look."

"By the way, Little Yei, have you eaten?"

"Not yet. I'll have to trouble you today, Aunt Yami."

"You silly child, how is that any trouble?"

"Hehe..."

After chatting with Aunt Yami for a few moments, Yei crossed a small training ground and soon arrived before the innermost room. He knocked on the door, and a girl's voice quickly came from inside. "Is that Yei? Come in."

Yei did not stand on ceremony and pushed open the door.

Inside was a cool-looking girl in white casual clothes, about the same age as Yei. She likewise possessed a pair of pale eyes. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail that hung down her back, her bangs cut evenly across her forehead, with two strands falling beside her cheeks. She looked delicate, yet carried a heroic air.

This girl was Hyuga Yue, Yei's childhood friend and fiancée...

The Hyuga Clan did not permit marriage with outsiders. They claimed it was to preserve the purity of their bloodline, but the real reason was that they did not want the Byakugan bloodline limit to fall into outside hands.

For that reason, many members of the Hyuga Branch Family had already been betrothed while they were still young...

At the latest, they had to marry by eighteen. Once they passed eighteen, the clan elders would forcibly choose a marriage partner for them...

Whether they liked that person or not, they had to comply.

Of course, if two Branch Family members were mutually in love, the clan elders would not forcibly stop them. In that regard, they were relatively humane.

Yei and Hyuga Yue's engagement had been arranged by their parents when they were children...

"Why were you sleeping in today? That doesn't seem like you," Yei teased as he looked at Hyuga Yue.

"I practiced the Gentle Fist too late last night," Hyuga Yue replied. Her pale eyes looked Yei over from head to toe after she activated her Byakugan. "When did you get back? Were you hurt?"

Yei stood where he was and let Hyuga Yue inspect him, spreading his hands as he said, "You can relax now. I'm not injured."

"It's good that you're alright." Only after seeing that Yei truly was fine did Hyuga Yue let out a slight breath of relief.

The Byakugan could not detect Yei's injuries. What had been damaged were his meridians, and with Chakra flowing through them, they looked no different from those of an ordinary person.

If this body had not belonged to Yei, even Yei's Byakugan would not have spotted anything unusual...

Yei smiled warmly. "I made you and Auntie worry."

Hyuga Yue pressed her lips together and reminded him anxiously, "Even though the war is over, you still need to be careful. Unlike me, who is only a medical ninja, you still have to travel around the front lines..."

"Don't worry. The large-scale war has ended, and after coming back this time, I probably won't need to return to the front lines. Besides, Lord Minato has recently taken office as the Fourth Hokage. The other ninja villages probably won't choose this time to start a conflict with Konoha either." Knowing Hyuga Yue's concern, Yei briefly reassured her before checking the time. "Auntie should have breakfast ready by now. Let's eat first."

"Mm, you go ahead. I'll come after I wash up." Hyuga Yue nodded and walked into the washroom.

"Hurry up. If you're too slow, Auntie and I won't wait for you." Though he said that, Yei did not leave and instead waited for Hyuga Yue where he was.

Hyuga Yue glanced at Yei and smiled helplessly as she quickened her movements.

Once Hyuga Yue had finished washing up, the two walked side by side, chatting and laughing as they headed to eat.

The three sat down, and breakfast ended amid a warm atmosphere.

With the war over, being able to share a meal with family was already an immense blessing. At least, Yei felt incomparably happy at that moment.

Perhaps it could be said that everyone who had survived the battlefield and could once again reunite with their family over a meal felt the same way as Yei!

Yei felt it especially deeply. In his previous life, he remembered that he had only been an orphan...

This was his first time experiencing the care of family and loved ones!

Moreover, many people who stepped onto the battlefield for the first time underwent more or less some changes in personality after leaving it...

For a time, Yei's personality had changed as well. He had become irritable, violent, hypersensitive, and unapproachable!

Yei had later reflected on this himself. The changes in his personality were very likely the aftereffects of war, or perhaps the aftereffects of the Hollow Mask...

And the ones who had soothed him at the time were none other than Hyuga Yue and Aunt Yami!

The warm atmosphere and the care and concern of family had eased Yei out of that irritable, short-tempered, hypersensitive state...