The Plan Begins

Shisui Uchiha could tell that the subtle tension between the two did not seem particularly friendly.

"Then it's settled!" Shisui Uchiha gave Kakashi no chance to refuse and took the initiative to try to get him to stay.

He felt there might be some misunderstanding between them, and he wanted to see whether he could help them set aside their grievances and become friends.

For geniuses, the age gap did not affect whether they could become friends. Just look at Yuzuru Hyuga—what about him made him look like a child?

Kakashi did not want to disrupt Yuzuru Hyuga's birthday. Even if his impression of Yuzuru Hyuga was not particularly favorable, as a senior, it was not right for him to simply storm off now.

"Happy birthday." Kakashi hesitated for a moment and searched around, unable to find anything suitable as a birthday gift. In the end, he could only say softly, "I'll make up for the gift next time we meet."

"A simple happy birthday is already enough." Yuzuru Hyuga smiled at Teuchi.

Teuchi had heard their conversation as well and laughed heartily from the kitchen. "Happy birthday, Yuzuru. Today's ramen is on me."

"No, if you want to wish me a happy birthday, then please give me a few extra pieces of meat." Yuzuru Hyuga politely declined. After ordering ramen according to everyone's tastes, the group filled the ramen shop in a bustle.

While waiting for the ramen to arrive, Yuzuru Hyuga looked at Itachi Uchiha. "If I'm not mistaken, Aunt Mikoto is due soon, isn't she?"

"Yes. A Hyuga Clan ninja examined her. It's a boy." A faint smile appeared on Itachi Uchiha's face. For him lately, nothing was more wonderful than the impending birth of his younger brother.

"Congratulations." Yuzuru Hyuga smiled, but suddenly took something out.

It was another item wrapped in a gift box.

"Tomorrow is Itachi's birthday, right? As your older brother, I wouldn't forget. I was originally planning to have someone deliver it tonight." He teased as he handed the gift to Itachi.

Itachi Uchiha seemed not to have experienced being teased by Yuzuru Hyuga in a long time, and for a moment, he actually felt nostalgic. Still, he said, "Is it really appropriate to call yourself my older brother when you're only one day older?"

"Then we'll go by strength instead. Would that be easier for you to accept?" Yuzuru Hyuga's words left Itachi Uchiha silent.

He glared with puffed cheeks. "I'm not the same as I was before."

"Oh? I'm looking forward to it." Yuzuru Hyuga was not intimidated in the slightest. The Uchiha Clan's greatest advantage was still the Sharingan. Once awakened, every advancement of the Sharingan brought a leap in strength. But before that...

With you spending entire days brooding over 'life and death' and 'the village and the clan,' how could you possibly outwork me?

However, Yuzuru Hyuga quickly composed himself and said seriously, "As for the gift I gave you, please open it during your birthday dinner."

Though Yuzuru Hyuga's request was somewhat strange, Itachi still nodded listlessly. "Got it."

He had not yet recovered from Yuzuru Hyuga's blow.

Shisui Uchiha chuckled, rubbed Itachi's head, then asked curiously, "By the way, Yuzuru, I never got the chance to ask before—why did you enter the Ninja Academy so early?"

Without a special reason, even if he enrolled, he would probably have started from the first or second year.

Skipping straight to the fifth year was far too rare.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would advance to the sixth year this year and graduate directly next year. That meant six-year-old Yuzuru Hyuga would receive his Genin forehead protector. If it was only to become a Genin, was there really any need to go to such lengths?

"I want to become colleagues with Senior Shisui and Senior Kakashi." Yuzuru Hyuga spoke with a smile, putting on an appearance of overflowing enthusiasm. "Senior Kakashi became a Chunin at six. I still have a long way to go before I can catch up to you two."

Kakashi pulled down his mask and focused on his ramen. He had ordered earlier, so his bowl had arrived earlier too, but it would not have been proper for him to start eating before Yuzuru Hyuga. He could only pray that his noodles would not get soggy too quickly.

When he heard Yuzuru Hyuga's words, he did not believe a single syllable of them.

That brat might call him "Senior" with great affection, but who knew what he was really thinking?

Still, ever since Yuzuru Hyuga had said he would graduate next year and join the ANBU, Kakashi could not help putting in a little more effort behind the scenes. He could not let that annoying little brat surpass him so quickly, could he?

The group chatted and laughed, and time passed quickly.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Kakashi was the first to make an excuse and slip away, and the others soon parted ways as well.

After returning home, Kaoru Hyuga, who had remained quiet throughout the gathering, solemnly wished him a happy birthday once more.

Yuzuru Hyuga's evening belonged to his family, so she naturally would not disturb him.

With the blessings of his mother and father, Yuzuru Hyuga spent his fifth birthday—perhaps also his last birthday that would be so warm and complete with his family.

After returning to his room, Yuzuru Hyuga began opening his gifts.

By the customs here, gifts perhaps ought to be opened in front of the giver, followed by an expression of satisfaction. But Yuzuru Hyuga did not like doing that, so he preferred to bring them home and look at them when he was alone.

Itachi Uchiha's gift was quite interesting. It was a biographical novel that recorded the story of an ordinary person before—or perhaps during the early days of—the ninja era, who defied fate. He rose from an unknown nobody to a family general, from a household slave to the head of the family's chief samurai.

Although the samurai class was still merely a tool for the family head, for someone who had begun as a household slave, it was already a leap across social classes.

It was a book steeped in feudalism. Yuzuru Hyuga read a little before putting it down. Perhaps Itachi had wanted to encourage him through it, but he did not understand that Yuzuru Hyuga's ambitions were far greater than he imagined.

The Katana Shisui had given him, meanwhile, was an Uchiha Clan artifact. It looked somewhat old, yet it remained sharp and sturdy. It was even an excellent ninja tool capable of conducting chakra. In terms of price alone, it could be called exceptionally valuable.

Yet compared to those, Yuzuru Hyuga liked Kaoru Hyuga and Izumi's gifts the most.

Izumi had given him a Kunai, with a line of crooked little words carved into it by some unknown method.

May Yuzuru always be happy—Izumi.

Yuzuru Hyuga solemnly placed the Kunai into the last compartment of his ninja tool pouch. Even for a civilian ninja, the price of a Kunai was no small sum. It could be said that she had done everything she could.

Kaoru Hyuga's gift, on the other hand, was quite interesting. It was a diary.

Yuzuru Hyuga pondered for a moment, but in the end, he could not resist his curiosity. He picked up the diary and quietly began to read.

The diary's entries appeared to begin when Kaoru Hyuga was around three years old and continued until today.

As he read it, he sometimes fell into thought, sometimes smiled, and sometimes shook his head helplessly.

But in the end, he carefully put the diary away and locked it in a drawer.

Standing before the window with his hands behind his back, Yuzuru Hyuga thought for a long time. Finally, he merely let out a quiet sigh.

There was no need to dwell too much on Kaoru Hyuga's tragic past and pitiful childhood. Within the Hyuga Clan's Branch House, the same tragic reality was still repeating itself over and over.

She had been fortunate enough to find a light to pursue before she broke down.

Yet more birds still died soundlessly within those dark cages.

It seemed it was about time to prepare to put the plan into action.

And if nothing unexpected happened, starting next year, he probably would not have much time to practice leisurely at home.

After the Fourth Hokage's death, the Cloud Hidden Village would seize the opportunity to begin probing the situation, then launch another war. Although perhaps only Iwagakure would have the spare strength to get involved during this period, and the scale and intensity of the conflict would be far below that of a ninja world war, war was still war. Yuzuru Hyuga, having already resolved to step onto the battlefield, could not possibly remain uninvolved.

When the war ended.

Perhaps that would be the day he should carry out his plan.

Time waited for no one.

Yuzuru Hyuga sighed, but made up his mind to preserve the Hyuga Clan's living strength to the fullest during this war.

Hizashi would clearly be unable to stay out of it, but Kaoru still had a chance. Perhaps he should try revealing part of the plan to her, letting her develop recruits while the clan's internal supervision weakened during the war.

With cooperation from within and without, taking advantage of the gap created by wartime to bring most of the Hyuga Clan's Branch House onto the same side would be the foundation for carrying out the plan.

For that, he first had to provide Kaoru with a group of people to protect and support her. If there were flaws in the plan, then during wartime, arranging for a few Branch House ninjas to die was still possible.

"Two months."

Yuzuru Hyuga set a deadline for the first step of his plan, determined to make a good start before the Nine-Tails Incident erupted.

He had never been one to procrastinate. Once he felt the time was right, he no longer hesitated.

Thus, beginning the next day, with Hizashi Hyuga's cooperation, he began selecting the first group of candidates to receive the Flying Bird Seal.

In the end, after careful judgment and consideration of their needs, the number of people in the first group to receive the Flying Bird Seal was set at six—not too many, not too few.