"You... you are..."
Their gazes slowly focused on the girl who had suddenly appeared before them—more precisely, on her eyes. Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata almost simultaneously asked in stunned voices.
Perhaps they were too shocked, because neither of them could bring themselves to say the rest.
At that moment, the mysterious girl standing before them was wearing Hyuga Clan clothing. Not only that—even her eyes were the same pale Byakugan as those of the Hyuga Clan.
Yes, standing before them was a mysterious girl dressed in Hyuga Clan attire, possessing the same Byakugan as them.
The key was that while the Hyuga Clan was a major clan, that "major" did not refer to its population, but to its overall strength. In truth, the Hyuga Clan did not have many members. Because of the main and branch family system, its population had always been only moderately high among Konoha's clans.
Of course, the Hyuga Clan could still be considered prosperous, and its population was currently growing. After all, this was a time of peace. Following the baby boom after the Third Great Ninja War, the Hyuga Clan had naturally gained quite a few newborns. They were almost the generation after Neji and Hinata, and were currently growing up healthily.
Even so, the Hyuga Clan could not be considered a large clan in terms of population. During the Third Great Ninja War, the Hyuga Clan had paid a painful price. Even after all those babies grew up, their numbers would only reach ninety percent of what they had been before the Third Great Ninja War. Still, in the postwar era, as long as the population was increasing, it could already be considered thriving.
The Hyuga Clan's "greatness" lay entirely in the fighting strength of the entire clan despite its comparable population.