Izumi Uchiha and Hyuga

Izumi's steps were light, a soft smile gracing her small face. A beauty mark beneath her left eye added charm to her already delicate features—even as a child not yet fully grown, she was clearly a stunning beauty in the making.

She trotted over to Yuzuru Hyuga's side, panting: "Long time no see!"

"Yeah, long time no see." Yuzuru Hyuga smiled warmly and gently. With his glasses, he looked more mature than other kids his age, more refined and mild-mannered. Paired with his handsome features and warm smile, he radiated approachability.

Izumi was captivated by his dazzling smile. For a moment, all she could do was huff and puff, catching her breath, forgetting to reply—until he helplessly reached out and lightly tapped her forehead, snapping her out of it: "Ah, right!"

Blushing, she straightened up, clasped her hands in front of her, stood properly at attention, then bowed deeply: "Thank you for walking me home last time."

"You just scraped your leg. Even without me, you could've made it back." Yuzuru watched her exaggerated bow, nearly losing her balance, and held back a laugh.

Izumi looked up, her small face serious: "But it really hurt."

The little girl's earnest expression as she insisted her leg had genuinely hurt back then struck Yuzuru as both cute and a little funny. He could only shake his head with a smile.

"It doesn't hurt now, right?" he said.

"Nope! Izumi's going to be a ninja someday—little injuries like that are nothing!" She lifted her chin.

"So, did it really hurt?"

"Yeah! It really hurt!"

Yuzuru Hyuga couldn't help it—he laughed out loud.

Izumi didn't quite understand, but she realized she'd made a fool of herself. She lowered her head, scuffing her toes: "It's true, though."

"I know, sorry." Yuzuru Hyuga paused after speaking, then added: "Hasn't your mom told you not to run around lately? You need to listen to her and behave."

"Mom and Dad are both out on missions. Auntie said I just have to be home before mealtime!"

Izumi said it with utter confidence, as if she didn't understand what it meant for her parents to be out on missions in the current situation.

Though Yuzuru had a vague impression of her, he only knew that this little girl would likely become part of the Uchiha clan someday, and also become Itachi Uchiha's first love.

He knew nothing about her parents. He wasn't some encyclopedia of Hokage trivia.

After a moment of silence, he still said nothing, only smiling gently: "Is that so? Then you can't run around too much either. There are a lot of bad people outside. Once your mom and dad come back, the bad people should be driven away. You can come out and play then."

"If there are bad people, then..." Izumi suddenly grew shy. She glanced at him sidelong, whispering: "Would you protect me?"

Yuzuru Hyuga honestly couldn't figure out the thought process of a four-year-old girl. Compared to her, the relatively precocious Itachi was more his speed. But still, he said gently: "Yeah."

Izumi's face instantly flushed bright red. She fidgeted, twiddling her fingers, staring at her pretty dress: "So, um, thank you!"

"Huh?" Yuzuru Hyuga gave a questioning look. Wasn't this just a hypothetical? Why were you acting like he'd already saved you from bad guys?

Izumi quickened her pace: "Anyway, anyway, that's how it is. I, I need to buy soy sauce for Auntie. Next time you come out, can you play with me?"

"My house is around the corner from the convenience store. Go in, third floor, door number two."

"The spare key to the front door—"

Yuzuru Hyuga reached out and blocked her face, signaling her to stop.

"I know. Third floor, door number two."

Izumi caught a faint scent of incense on his hand.

"Mm." She blushed and fell silent.

"Soy sauce?" Yuzuru reminded her.

Izumi snapped back to reality: "Ah, I need to buy soy sauce! Um, thank you!"

Watching her trot off and vanish around the corner like the wind.

Yuzuru Hyuga didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Had he just... stolen Itachi's thunder?

Faced with a little girl's innocent crush, he could only shake his head, feeling sorry for her. Soon enough, her parents would tell her the sad truth that Hyuga clan members only married within the clan. By then, she'd probably understand that some feelings were destined to fade away.

To ensure so-called bloodline purity, and to 'protect the Byakugan,' Hyuga clan members always chose marriage partners from within the clan.

Not to mention, she had Uchiha blood.

A Hyuga marrying an Uchiha? Just thinking about it would be enough to send the Third into a heart attack, trigger Danzo's mad dog mode, and have the entire Konoha Elder Council furiously writing eighteen letters of marital objection overnight.

Looking up, the First Hokage on the Hokage Rock smiled down at the village.

Is this the Konoha you wanted, Hashirama Senju?

But no matter what he wanted to do, the priority was still to go back and study sealing techniques.

You can't sweep the world if you can't sweep your own house. If he couldn't even deal with the Caged Bird on his forehead, thinking about anything else was pointless.

Quickening his pace, Yuzuru Hyuga returned to the estate. Just before entering, he paused, stood properly to the side, lowered his head, and waited respectfully.

A few boys older than him glanced briefly with their Byakugan at the blue-green markings on his forehead, then strode past with indifference, heads held high.

"Young Master Yuzuru."

The guards at the gate were, naturally, ninjas of the Hyuga clan. Those tasked with protecting the estate had to be the most loyal and trustworthy 'good dogs.'

So, they were all Branch House ninjas.

Yuzuru Hyuga looked up with a smile, meeting the complex gazes of the Branch House ninjas, and said gently: "You've been working hard. There are fewer ninjas rotating through the estate lately, aren't there?"

"Yeah, back then it was three shifts a day, but now sometimes we can't even swap out once in a whole day." A blunt middle-aged ninja let his pent-up resentment slip.

Another Hyuga clansman shot him a glare, then smiled and said, "Young Master Yuzuru, it's fine. Times like these are exactly when we should strive to contribute to the clan."

Yuzuru Hyuga looked thoughtful, but his expression didn't change. He kept a gentle smile and replied, "Ah, I see. I understand."

He turned and entered the residence. The opulence of the Hyuga main house was everywhere—towering walls, beautiful tiles, shading the sky itself.

If Yuzuru Hyuga had to give his verdict—it was like a giant birdcage.

In name, the living quarters of the main and branch families were roughly the same size, after all, they had to maintain the pretense of being one family.

But the boundaries were clear. Once he stepped through the gate leading to the branch family's rear courtyard, he no longer had to worry about frequent encounters with the main family.

Spotting a familiar maid, Yuzuru Hyuga stopped. "Sister Riko, could I ask you for a favor?"

Hyuga Riko halted and quickly replied respectfully, "Young Master Yuzuru, please go ahead."

As women without talent for being ninjas, yet burdened with the Byakugan—eyes of immense tactical value—they could only serve as maids, dedicating themselves to the clan.

If they were lucky, they might become the wife of a talented ninja within the clan. If unlucky, they'd be paired off with some other Hyuga man lacking cultivation talent, hoping to bear a child who could become a ninja and change their fate.

So, even as the son of the branch family head, Yuzuru was a towering figure to them, as lofty as a mountain.

"No need to be so tense. These days, how are the clansmen on duty and guard duty managing with their meals?"

He asked with a smile.

Riko naturally told him everything she knew. "The shift changes usually don't line up with mealtimes, so they've mostly been getting by on soldier pills."

"Since they're on duty at home, how can they not even get a hot meal? Even if others don't care, we should look out for our own people." Yuzuru Hyuga spoke as if offhandedly, then added, "Have the kitchen prepare more food. Even if manpower is tight, they can always squeeze out time for one meal."

"It's getting hot, so make sure to refill their canteens with freshly drawn well water on schedule, or prepare some cool drinks."

"How have you been lately?"

Riko committed his earlier words to memory, but the final greeting caught her off guard.

"Me? Me?"

"Mm, didn't Sister Riko cut her hand a while back? Did you go see a doctor?"

"Ah! That was just a small injury! Young Master Yuzuru doesn't need to worry about me!"

As an eighteen-year-old young woman, Riko had never imagined she'd be cared for by a four-year-old child.

Yuzuru Hyuga chuckled softly. "Still, leaving a scar isn't pretty. Mother has some excellent ointment—I'll bring you some."

"No need, it's already scarred over, it's fine!" Riko repeatedly refused.

But Yuzuru Hyuga just waved at her and walked off toward the rear courtyard on his own.

She stood frozen in place, her emotions tangled yet warm. It was hard to believe that an adult could feel so honored and moved by a few words from a child.

"Young Master Yuzuru... he's truly a good person."

"If only he were from the main family."

She thought that if Yuzuru Hyuga were from the main family, perhaps the branch family would fare better.

Thinking this, she couldn't help but feel even more pity and sorrow for him. Such a gentle, exceptionally talented genius—yet simply because he was Lord Hizashi's son, he had been branded with the Caged Bird seal.

After all, the Caged Bird seal wasn't just a restraint. To maintain the curse mark, it constantly drained the user's chakra, especially impairing the Byakugan's abilities.

Not only that, once someone became part of the branch family, they were forever barred from learning techniques that could greatly enhance the Byakugan's combat power—like Rotation, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, and similar taijutsu.

These taijutsu and ninjutsu were passed down only within the main family; the branch family had no right to learn them.

One could imagine how tragic that was for a genius—even if their talent far surpassed the main family's, the inequality in resources and knowledge meant they would always be held back by the main family, gradually sinking into mediocrity.

Riko sighed and stopped dwelling on it.

Her situation was even worse than the average branch member's. Hard as it was to accept, what could she do?

The Caged Bird was on her forehead too!

Back in his room, Yuzuru Hyuga first went to his mother to get the ointment, then had another maid deliver it to Riko. He chatted briefly with his mother, who was always frail and soon grew tired and wanted to rest. He glanced at Neji, then returned to his own room.

Grabbing a random piece of paper, he steadied his breath and extended his finger.

"First, set a small goal."

"At all costs, focus on maxing out the Finger Seal's experience points!"

Then, break through the limit—see if his system could make the simple, useless Finger Seal transcend its boundaries and be reborn!