The Plan Begins

Shisui Uchiha noticed the subtle, unfriendly gust of wind between the two of them.

"Then it's settled!" Shisui Uchiha didn't give Kakashi a chance to refuse, proactively trying to get Kakashi to stay.

He felt there might be some misunderstanding between the two and wanted to try and see if he could get them to put aside their differences and become friends.

For geniuses, the age gap didn't hinder them from becoming friends, just like Yuzuru Hyuga—in what way did he look like a child?

Kakashi Hatake didn't want to disrupt Yuzuru Hyuga's birthday. Even though his impression of Yuzuru Hyuga wasn't great, as a senior, leaving in a huff wasn't something he should do.

"Happy birthday." Kakashi Hatake hesitated for a moment, fumbling around, unable to find anything suitable as a birthday gift. He had no choice but to softly say, "I'll make up for the gift next time we meet."

"A simple 'Happy birthday' is more than enough," Yuzuru Hyuga said with a smile, looking at Teuchi.

Teuchi also overheard their conversation 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, please just add a few more slices of meat for me," Yuzuru Hyuga politely declined. He ordered ramen according to everyone's tastes, and then the group bustled into the ramen shop, filling it up.

While waiting for the ramen to be served, Yuzuru Hyuga looked at Itachi Uchiha. "If I'm not mistaken, Aunt Mikoto is about to give birth, isn't she?"

"Yes, a Hyuga ninja checked. It's a boy," Itachi Uchiha said with a faint smile. For him lately, nothing was better than the upcoming birth of his younger brother.

"Congratulations," Yuzuru Hyuga said with a smile, but he suddenly pulled out something from his hand.

It was an item also wrapped in a gift box.

"Tomorrow is your birthday, Itachi, isn't it? As your elder brother, I wouldn't forget. I was originally planning to have someone deliver it tonight," he said teasingly, handing the gift to Itachi.

It seemed like a long time since Itachi Uchiha had experienced being teased by Yuzuru Hyuga, and for a moment, he felt a sense of nostalgia. However, he still said, "If it's only a day older, isn't it a bit inappropriate to call yourself the older brother?"

"Then, let's go by strength. Does that make it more acceptable for you?" Yuzuru Hyuga's words made Itachi Uchiha fall silent.

He glared, puffing out his cheeks, "I'm not the same as I was before."

"Oh~ I'm looking forward to it," Yuzuru Hyuga wasn't intimidated by him at all. The Uchiha clan's greatest trump card was the Sharingan. Once awakened, every breakthrough of the Sharingan brought a leap in strength, but before that...

With you constantly contemplating 'life and death' and 'village versus clan' for an entire day, how could you possibly compete with me?

However, Yuzuru Hyuga quickly composed himself and said seriously, "The gift for you, please open it at your birthday banquet."

Even though Yuzuru Hyuga's request was a bit strange, Itachi nodded listlessly, "Got it."

He hadn't fully processed the blow Yuzuru Hyuga had dealt him.

Shisui Uchiha chuckled a few times, patted Itachi's head, and then asked curiously, "By the way, Yuzuru, I never had a chance to ask before—why did you join the Ninja Academy so early?"

Without a special reason, even if he enrolled, he would likely only start from the first or second grade.

Directly entering the fifth grade was rare.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would be promoted to the sixth grade this year and graduate directly next year—in that case, the six-year-old Yuzuru Hyuga would receive his Genin headband. Was it necessary to go through all this trouble just to become a Genin?

"I want to become colleagues with Senior Shisui and Senior Kakashi," Yuzuru Hyuga said with a beaming smile, putting on a motivated demeanor. "Senior Kakashi became a Chunin at the age of six. I still have a long way to go to catch up to you seniors."

Kakashi Hatake pulled down his mask and was now intently focused on his ramen. He had ordered earlier, so his ramen arrived sooner, but he couldn't bring himself to start eating before Yuzuru Hyuga. He could only pray that his ramen didn't get too mushy.

Upon hearing Yuzuru Hyuga's words, he didn't believe a single punctuation mark.

Even though the brat called him "senior" so affectionately, it was hard to say what he was truly thinking.

However, ever since Yuzuru Hyuga said he would graduate and join the Anbu next year, Kakashi Hatake couldn't help but try a little harder in secret—he couldn't possibly let this annoying little guy surpass him so quickly, could he?

They chatted and laughed, and time flew by quickly.

After eating their fill, Kakashi Hatake was the first to make an excuse and leave, and then everyone else parted ways.

Upon returning home, Kaoru Hyuga, who had remained quiet throughout the gathering, solemnly wished him a happy birthday again.

The evening was Yuzuru Hyuga's time with his family, so she naturally wouldn't disturb him.

With his mother's and father's blessings, Yuzuru Hyuga spent his fifth birthday, perhaps his last, so warm and reunited birthday.

Back in his room, Yuzuru Hyuga began to unwrap his gifts.

According to the local custom, gifts were perhaps meant to be opened in front of the giver and then expressed satisfaction, but Yuzuru Hyuga didn't like doing that, so he brought them home to look at when he was alone.

The gift from Itachi Uchiha was interesting: a biographical novel, chronicling the path of an ordinary person who defied fate before or during the early ninja era. From an unknown nobody to a great general of the clan, from a household slave to the chief samurai of the patriarch.

Although the samurai class was still a tool for the patriarch, from the perspective of a household slave, it was already a leap in social class.

Yuzuru Hyuga glanced at the book, which was filled with feudalistic characteristics, and put it down. Perhaps Itachi wanted to encourage him with it, but he didn't understand. Yuzuru Hyuga's ambition was far greater than Itachi had imagined.

As for the samurai sword gifted by Shisui, it was a product of the Uchiha clan. It looked quite old but was still sharp and sturdy, even an excellent ninja tool with the characteristic of conducting chakra. In terms of price alone, it could be considered extremely precious.

But in comparison, Yuzuru Hyuga liked the gifts from Kaoru Hyuga and Izumi the most.

Izumi gifted him a kunai, on which she had carved some crooked, small characters using unknown means.

[I hope Yuzuru can always be happy—Izumi.]

Yuzuru Hyuga solemnly put the kunai into the last compartment of his ninja tool pouch. A kunai was not a small sum for a civilian ninja, so it could be said that she had done her utmost.

Kaoru Hyuga's gift was also interesting: a diary.

Yuzuru Hyuga pondered for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist his curiosity. He picked up the diary and quietly began to flip through it.

The diary entries seemed to start from when Kaoru Hyuga was three years old and ended today.

While reading the diary, he sometimes pondered, sometimes smiled, and sometimes shook his head helplessly.

He carefully put the diary away, locking it in the drawer.

Looking out the window, Yuzuru Hyuga stood with his hands behind his back, lost in thought for a long time. Finally, he let out a soft sigh.

Kaoru Hyuga's tragic past and pitiable childhood needed no further description; within the Hyuga Branch Family, the pathetic reality she endured was still repeating itself endlessly.

She was fortunate to find a ray of hope to chase before she completely broke.

Yet, many more birds were silently dying in their dark cages.

It seemed it was about time to start preparing to execute the plan.

Furthermore, if his predictions were correct, from next year onwards, he wouldn't have much time to practice leisurely at home.

After the Fourth Hokage's death, the Cloud Village would seize this opportunity to begin probing, and then launch another war. Although perhaps only the Stone Village would have the capacity to get involved during this period, and the scale and intensity of the war would be far less than the Shinobi World Wars, a war was still a war. Yuzuru Hyuga, having decided to step onto the battlefield, could not possibly remain detached.

By the time that war ended.

Perhaps, that would be the day he should execute his plan.

Time waits for no man.

Yuzuru Hyuga sighed, but he was determined to preserve the vital strength of the Hyuga Clan with all his might during this war.

Hizashi would undoubtedly be unable to stay out of it, but Kaoru had a chance. Perhaps he should try to reveal part of his plan to her, allowing her to develop her network during the war when the clan's internal oversight was weakened.

With coordinated efforts from both inside and out, utilizing the respite during wartime to rally most of the Hyuga Branch Family to a common front was the foundation of the plan's execution.

To achieve this, he first had to provide Kaoru with a force to protect her. If there were any missteps in the plan, it would be manageable for a few Branch Family ninja to die during the war.

"Two months."

Yuzuru Hyuga set a deadline for the first step of his plan, determined to get it off to a good start before the Nine-Tails' Rampage erupted.

He had never been one to procrastinate; once he felt the time was right, he wouldn't hesitate.

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

Finally, after careful judgment and considering the needs, the number of people to receive the Flying Bird Seal in the first batch was set at six – a number that was neither too few nor too many.