Fish

The wind was a bit noisy, Yuzuru Hyuga couldn't hear clearly, so he simply stopped his training movements, steadied his breathing, and pushed up his glasses.

"Kaoru Hyuga, if I remember correctly."

"What was it you wanted to ask me?"

He spoke, inquiring.

The girl lightly leaped, jumping down from the riverbank, sliding down the grassy slope with movements both gentle and agile, almost like skiing.

"Hey, hoo."

She let out a cute little breath of exertion, and as she slid to the river's edge, she landed successfully on the flat ground.

Brushing off her skirt, shaking away the grass clippings clinging to the hem, she looked up at Yuzuru Hyuga with a faint smile that seemed quite familiar to him. "What I was asking earlier was, what meaning is there in Young Master Yuzuru training so desperately, working so hard?"

"We're from the Branch Family. No matter how hard we try, we can't change that."

"No matter how outstanding Young Master Yuzuru becomes, in the end, your fate is just to become a stronger Lord Hizashi."

"A future like that..."

"Does effort really have any meaning?"

She asked with a smile. Up close, Yuzuru Hyuga noticed the girl was a head taller than him.

Well, barring any surprises, she was eight this year.

A girl a full three years older than him, technically still a child, but Yuzuru Hyuga didn't underestimate her for it—Uchiha Itachi joined the Anbu at eight. In this world, age wasn't a reason to look down on someone.

Besides.

Yuzuru Hyuga smiled faintly. "Isn't that just the fate of the Branch Family?"

Kaoru Hyuga shook her head, blinking at him playfully. "Young Master Yuzuru, that's not what I'm asking."

"Just because I'm in the Branch Family doesn't mean I'll completely lie flat." The term "lie flat" Yuzuru Hyuga used struck a chord with the girl.

Kaoru Hyuga pondered for a moment, then laughed. "Lie flat, that's a fun way to put it."

"By the way, Young Master Yuzuru really did memorize every single name in the Hyuga Family, huh." Kaoru Hyuga changed the subject, feigning admiration. "I thought you wouldn't remember me."

True, if I hadn't deliberately memorized everyone's names, I wouldn't know who you were.

Yuzuru Hyuga racked his brain for any impression of this girl, but could only recall that she was the daughter of a Branch Family jōnin—more precisely, an orphan.

Her father's name was on the casualty list of the Third Shinobi World War, and her mother seemed to have died in an accident when she was very young; the details escaped him.

"Any difficulties in life lately? If you're short on money or need help with anything, please tell me anytime." Yuzuru Hyuga's words caught the girl off guard.

Kaoru Hyuga stared at him quietly for a moment. Behind those black-rimmed glasses, his Byakugan held only gentleness and concern.

What a terrifying man.

Kaoru Hyuga didn't even want to use the word "boy" to describe the monster before her.

Yes, a monster.

She had never imagined a mere five-year-old could reach such a level.

Perhaps others would simply assume the boy was naturally gifted, born with a good memory and a kind heart, but Kaoru Hyuga had never thought that way.

Because she knew Yuzuru Hyuga's secret—a massive secret that should never have been discovered by her.

A secret she had treasured and protected from everyone for the past two years, perhaps the only secret in this world that belonged just to the two of them.

"Why do you hide the Cursed Seal on your forehead, Young Master Yuzuru? You never used to cover it. You did it to spur yourself on, right? But lately, why do you keep hiding it with a headband?" she suddenly asked.

The gentle smile in Yuzuru Hyuga's eyes gradually faded.

Something was wrong.

He lightly pushed up his black-rimmed glasses. "Ah..."

Yuzuru Hyuga's gaze dropped, thoughtful for a moment, and then, the instant he looked up, it was as if his entire soul had been swapped. His demeanor underwent a radical transformation as he stepped forward slowly.

Even though his height was still slightly shorter than Kaoru Hyuga's.

But when he raised his head again, those cold, pure eyes—crystalline as if formed from countless snowflakes—held only a dangerous glint and a terrifying pressure that left Kaoru Hyuga momentarily dazed.

"What exactly are you trying to hear from me?"

His tone still sounded gentle, but his face bore none of its usual easygoing smile.

Kaoru Hyuga looked at this version of Yuzuru Hyuga.

And then, suddenly, she broke into a genuinely sincere smile.

"Like this... isn't it right?" she said softly, her expression growing excited, a flush spreading across her cheeks.

Yuzuru Hyuga reached out, two fingers lightly pressing against her chest. Kaoru Hyuga didn't dodge or avoid, her face showing a hint of shyness at his gesture, making the scene seem somewhat intimate. But when the fingers of Yuzuru Hyuga flickered with a terrifying, deep blue Chakra, it no longer looked so pleasant.

"Even though I don't like doing this, I'm sorry."

"Can you tell me what exactly you're trying to say?"

Yuzuru Hyuga's eyes held apology—and killing intent!

What stunned him was the girl's subsequent action.

She stepped forward, cupping both hands around the hand brimming with terrifying Chakra as if offering up her own heart, pressing close to him with eyes full of desperate, sincere light: "Young Master Yuzuru, please take me with you! No matter where, no matter what you want me to do."

Yuzuru Hyuga was silent for a moment, and at that instant, he roughly guessed the girl's intent before him.

Could it be that she thought

all his relentless effort, even his recent—dare he say—active performance, meant he had found a way and a plan to break the Caged Bird, and was about to flee?

Rather than the girl's goal, Yuzuru Hyuga cared more about something else.

Not a trace of a smile showed on his face. The girl's devout demeanor and sincere gaze did not sway his expression in the slightest, nor did the Chakra on his right hand, sunk into something soft, retract because of it.

"Answer my question."

Yuzuru Hyuga's words did not disappoint Kaoru Hyuga. She only gazed gently at Yuzuru Hyuga with those beautiful eyes: "Young Master Yuzuru. Do you know when we first met?"

Yuzuru Hyuga's mind rapidly sifted through memories of recent years. He was a 'reincarnation-style traveler' who had crawled out of the womb, so even his infant memories were not blurry. He painstakingly traced back from the beginning, yet still found nothing.

"Two years ago, when you were with your father?" That was the impression of their first meeting in Yuzuru Hyuga's mind.

Kaoru Hyuga shook her head. She spoke softly, recounting her first impression of Yuzuru Hyuga.

"The first time I saw Young Master Yuzuru was the day the Caged Bird was placed on you."

Yuzuru Hyuga's mind quickly recalled the memory of that day.

Then, he noticed a suspicious detail worth pondering in that memory.

"That night. What did you see?"

A glint of cold light flashed in Yuzuru Hyuga's eyes.

Kaoru Hyuga chuckled lightly and narrated unhurriedly: "That night, I couldn't sleep, so I snuck out alone to wander the Branch Family grounds, and by chance, I heard sounds coming from the Training Ground."

That was the darkest day in Yuzuru Hyuga's life since his transmigration.

Under the watch of Hizashi Hyuga, he was branded with the Caged Bird seal by the elders of the Hyuga Clan.

Even though he had appeared calm and obedient at the scene, never complaining to his father.

But that night, unable to fall asleep, he went alone to the Training Ground.

Crying?

He wasn't that weak.

Yet the anger, hatred, and other negative emotions born from the Caged Bird curse seal were utterly impossible to suppress.

So, he vented his fury uncontrollably in the training ground, silent yet raging, repeatedly slamming his fists into the innocent wooden posts until his hands bled freely. Then, he smashed his forehead hard against the post, and at that same moment, made up his mind.

He still remembered clearly, feeling the sting on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and swore an oath.

"I will tear this cage apart with my own hands."

Afterward, he treated his wounds and returned to his room.

At that time, Yuzuru Hyuga had only trained for half a year, his strength barely enough to qualify as a Genin, and he didn't notice.

A girl had quietly hidden behind the door of the Training Ground, witnessing through the crack the only time he had lost emotional control since his transmigration.

From then on, Kaoru Hyuga began subconsciously watching his every move.

"After that, I often secretly watched Young Master Yuzuru from the crowd."

"What surprised and puzzled me was that the Young Master Yuzuru from that night—sharp-edged and somewhat frightening—had disappeared."

Kaoru Hyuga narrated softly, recounting what followed.

Yuzuru Hyuga was somewhat dazed. The Chakra in his hand vanished, but Kaoru Hyuga still held his hand, maintaining the same posture.

"Young Master Yuzuru became gentler, more mature, more composed."

"He started remembering the names of every Branch Family member and deliberately built good relations with everyone."

"He also became more diligent."

"On the longest day, Young Master Yuzuru spent twelve hours alone in the Training Ground."

"Unfortunately, I couldn't get close to Lord Hizashi's Training Ground; I could only watch from afar as Young Master Yuzuru went in and came out, day after day."

"I also began to wonder what Young Master Yuzuru was thinking about, what the purpose of all this was."

A hint of longing and excitement appeared in Kaoru Hyuga's eyes: "Only now do I dare to be certain. What Young Master Yuzuru is thinking—you must share the same thoughts as me, right?"

Her white eyes held only expectation: "So, Young Master Yuzuru, please tell me."

"All this training you do so hard, all this effort to become the hope in the eyes of every Branch Family member, the genius recognized by all—what meaning does it truly have?"

What she asked about was meaning.

But Yuzuru Hyuga understood she was asking about purpose, even eagerly wanting to know if he had a plan now and how far it had progressed, devoutly wishing to join.

He stared coldly at her for a moment, then withdrew his right hand.

"What right do you have, and in what capacity, to question me?" he said.

Kaoru Hyuga only smiled.

She met the boy's eyes directly, without flinching, and gave the answer from her heart: "Grant me freedom!"

"No matter if what you desire is this twisted and sick soul of mine, or this powerless shell, I am willing to offer everything, as long as I can break free from this cage, even if only for a second."

Kaoru Hyuga's words ultimately received no direct reply.

Yuzuru Hyuga simply put back on his gentle smile and said softly, "Then keep quiet for now."

"Yes!" Kaoru Hyuga's voice brimmed with joy.

"Also, I think the longing for freedom is human nature. There's nothing twisted or sick about it."

Yuzuru Hyuga gave her a partial, positive response.

To this, she only smiled with a hint of shy tenderness, neither confirming nor denying it.

With no further conversation, the two fell into silence. Having lost his interest, Yuzuru Hyuga stopped his training, picked up the bucket holding the large fish and his fishing rod, and returned to the Hyuga Family with her, one behind the other.

That night, Yuzuru Hyuga asked Hizashi Hyuga to investigate all of Kaoru Hyuga's records overnight.

PS: Sometimes, just a sliver of hope, no matter how insignificant, can make someone give it their all.

Ah, where is my hope? Huh, collections and recommendation votes, right? Got it, got it! I'm off to write some backlog chapters now!