Returning to the Village and Family

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

Tsurubami Ii, as the leading jonin, needed to report to the Hokage Administration Building, leaving the other three squad members free.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they each went home.

Daisei and Nami both came from civilian backgrounds. Their parents were ordinary people, not shinobi, and had never been sent to the battlefield. They were still alive, which was a silver lining in the midst of misfortune.

As for Daisei and Nami becoming shinobi, that meant taking on risks. Whether this was good luck or bad luck for them was hard to say...

Of course, becoming a shinobi had its benefits. The pay was far greater than what ordinary people earned—sometimes a single mission's reward equaled a year or more of a civilian's wages.

But high rewards meant high risks. The mortality rate among shinobi was far higher than among ordinary people!

Many of their peers from the same class had already died on the battlefield!

Fortunately, they had made it through!

The large-scale war was over. Even if skirmishes between the various ninja villages continued, they wouldn't be as brutal as the Third Great Ninja War...

In the Hyuga Clan compound stood a modest villa.

This was Yei's home, an inheritance left by his parents. When his predecessor was still young, his parents had died—whether in war or on a mission, no one knew.

Hyuga Yei had no siblings. All these years, he had lived alone.

Fortunately, Yei hadn't been reincarnated as a child. His awareness of this body's parents existed only in memories.

Though he felt regret, there was no overwhelming grief.

Looking at this familiar yet unfamiliar villa, Yei sighed briefly, then stepped inside.

During the war, he rarely returned to Konoha Village, but he had come back a few times for missions, so this "home" wasn't entirely foreign to him.

After quickly cooking himself a bowl of noodles and eating, Yei went to his bedroom and collapsed into sleep.

He was still exhausted. Not only had he forcibly used Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate his body's cells, aggravating his already injured body, but he had also used the peculiarity of his soul to alter the memories of Tsurubami Ii and the other two. On top of that, the relentless journey had left both his body and mind utterly drained.

This sleep lasted two full days before Yei slowly woke up.

He got out of bed, washed up briefly, and couldn't be bothered to cook for himself, so he left his home.

He considered grabbing a quick bite at Ichiraku Ramen, but after a moment's thought, he headed in a different direction.

Turning a corner, Yei arrived at a villa about the same size as his own.

As if he were very familiar with the place, Yei didn't knock. He pushed open the gate and walked in with practiced ease.

After a few steps through the entrance hall, Yei spotted a graceful woman in a kimono cooking at the stove.

Seeing her, Yei smiled, quickened his pace, and greeted her: "Aunt Yami."

Hearing the noise, the woman named Yami paused her cooking and looked up. When she saw it was Yei, she was pleasantly surprised: "Little Yei, when did you get back? Are you hurt?"

"Just got back. I'm not hurt. This mission wasn't dangerous—just border patrol. Once it was done, I came home." Yei smiled, then glanced inside the house and asked, "By the way, Auntie, has Yue woken up yet?"

Yami looked toward the interior and said with a smile, "She should be waking up soon. Go check on her. If she's not up, call her."

"Alright, I'll go see her."

"Oh, little Yei, have you eaten yet?"

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

"You child, what trouble is there?"

"Hehe..."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Aunt Yami, Yei passed through a small training ground and quickly arrived at the door of the innermost room. He knocked, and a female voice soon came from inside: "Is that Yei? Come in."

Yei didn't stand on ceremony. He pushed the door open and walked in.

Inside the room was a girl with a cool, clear expression. She wore white casual clothes and was about the same age as Yei. She also had a pair of pure white eyes, her long hair tied into a ponytail that hung down her back, with bangs cut straight across her forehead and two strands falling to her cheeks. She looked delicate yet spirited.

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

The Hyuga Clan did not allow marriage with outsiders, supposedly to maintain bloodline purity, but the fundamental reason was that they didn't want the Byakugan bloodline to fall into outside hands.

Because of this, many Branch Family members were already engaged from a young age...

The maximum age was eighteen. If someone passed eighteen, the clan elders would forcibly choose a marriage partner for them...

Whether you liked the person or not, you had to comply with this requirement.

Of course, if two Branch Family members loved each other, the elders wouldn't forcibly stop them. In that regard, they were relatively humane.

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

"Lazing in bed today? That's not like you." Yei teased Yue.

"I practiced Gentle Fist late into the night," Yue replied. Her white eyes turned to Yei, and she activated her Byakugan to scan him up and down. "When did you get back? Are you hurt?"

Yei stood still, letting her inspect him, and spread his hands. "See for yourself. I'm not hurt."

"That's good." Seeing that Yei was truly fine, Yue let out a small sigh of relief.

Yei's injuries couldn't be seen with the Byakugan. The damage was to his chakra pathways, and since chakra flowed through them, they appeared no different from a normal person's.

If the body weren't his own, even Yei's Byakugan wouldn't have spotted anything amiss...

Yei revealed a warm smile. "Sorry for making you and Aunt Yami worry."

Hyuga Yue pursed her lips, reminding him with some concern: "Even though the war is over, you still need to be careful. After all, I'm just a medical ninja, but you still have to rush to the front lines..."

"Don't worry, the large-scale war is over now. Coming back this time, I probably won't need to head to the front lines anymore. Plus, with Lord Minato taking office as the Fourth Hokage, it's unlikely any other ninja village would pick a fight with Konoha right now." Yei knew Hyuga Yue's worries and gave a brief reassurance, then checked the time and said: "Aunt Yami should have breakfast ready. Let's go eat first."

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

"Hurry up. If you're slow, Aunt Yami and I won't wait for you." Though he said that, Yei didn't leave, waiting right there for Hyuga Yue.

Hyuga Yue glanced at Yei, gave a helpless smile, and quickened her pace.

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

The three of them sat down, and breakfast ended in a warm atmosphere.

The war was over, and being able to eat with family—this was already an immense happiness. At least at this moment, Yei felt incredibly blessed.

Perhaps it could be said that everyone who survived the battlefield and could reunite with their families for a meal would feel the same as Yei!

Yei's feeling was especially profound. In his previous life, he remembered being just an orphan...

This was the first time he had ever experienced the care of family and loved ones!

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

For a period, Yei's personality had also changed—becoming irritable, violent, prone to overreaction, and unapproachable!

Yei later reflected on this himself. The change in his personality might have been due to the aftereffects of war, or perhaps the aftereffects of the Hollow Mask...

And the ones who soothed him back then were none other than Hyuga Yue and Aunt Yami!

It was the warm atmosphere and the care of family that helped Yei ease out of that state of irritability, anger, and hypervigilance...