I, Hizashi Hyuga, Will Avenge My Grudges!

"Time will tell?"

No, I, Hizashi Hyuga, don't need time to tell when it comes to taking revenge on my own son!?

Hizashi Hyuga kept glancing down at that unfilial brat who had robbed him of several nights' peaceful sleep, a 'kind' smile plastered on his face.

Watching Hizashi Hyuga, who hadn't spoken a word to him in days after getting a cold glare from his wife, now repeatedly flashing him 'smiles'...

Yuzuru Hyuga had to admit: it was pretty creepy, to be honest.

At this moment, Yuzuru Hyuga wore white robes, his hair neatly and smoothly brushed by his mother. On his youthful face, framed by black-rimmed glasses, he looked utterly harmless. Holding his father's hand, he walked with him along the path to the Hyuga clan's shrine. Along the way, no matter who they passed, he would politely call out their name and greet them.

"Father, if Lord Hiashi sees that smile, he might misunderstand." To make Hizashi act normal, Yuzuru Hyuga had to whisper a reminder from beside his thigh.

Hizashi Hyuga suppressed his smile but didn't reply.

The father and son soon arrived at the shrine.

By now, the vast majority of the Hyuga clan had already gathered, dressed in neat clothes, their faces tinged with sorrow.

This was destined to be a mournful moment. Many Hyuga clan members who had fallen in battle would now become cold, recorded names in the clan registry.

Hyuga Hiashi stood imposingly before the shrine, flanked by several elders of the Main House.

As the head of the Branch House, Hizashi was naturally qualified to stand beside him, with Yuzuru Hyuga following closely and taking his place at his side.

The tedious and drawn-out ceremony, in Yuzuru Hyuga's eyes, was nothing but a time-wasting performance. Hyuga Hiashi shed tears on the spot, delivering a passionate speech honoring the clan's sacrifices. Then, Hizashi Hyuga also spoke on behalf of the Branch House.

The gist of it was: the dead were good Hyuga, the living should take pride in them, and if another such opportunity arose in the future, dying was still the proper course.

Yuzuru Hyuga, of course, kept his composure on the surface, moving in lockstep with his father—grieving when appropriate, applauding when appropriate, and brimming with fervor when the moment called for it.

Among the list of fallen shinobi, Yuzuru Hyuga heard many familiar names. Many of them had once smiled and held him, respectfully calling him 'young master,' seeing him as the hope and future of the Branch House.

Grief?

Of course, there was some.

But more than that, he felt their sacrifices were not worth it.

How many Branch House members, blessed with extraordinary talent, were denied proper education because of their so-called Branch House status, never learning powerful taijutsu or ninjutsu, only to end up as cannon fodder?

If the Hyuga clan could treat everyone equally and meticulously teach every member, cutting this death list in half wouldn't be difficult, would it?

"Yuzuru." Hizashi Hyuga patted his head, scattering his chaotic thoughts. Yuzuru Hyuga instinctively looked up and saw Hyuga Hiashi smiling at him.

Hyuga Hiashi said softly, "Are you confident about the upcoming sparring?"

What sparring?

Yuzuru Hyuga quickly replayed Hiashi's long-winded speech in his mind and finally arrived at the answer. He smiled. "Yes, Clan Leader."

"Good. Your father says your strength already far exceeds that of ordinary eight- or nine-year-old children, so when we divided the groups, we didn't place you in the junior division." Hyuga Hiashi looked at him curiously.

"Please look forward to my performance." He smiled gently, the confidence in his words surprising Hiashi.

Hizashi Hyuga's odd, half-smiling expression made Hiashi thoughtful. After a moment's pause, he continued his lengthy address to the crowd below in a clear voice.

Yuzuru Hyuga merely responded to his father with a faint, 'heh' smile—So this is your method of revenge? Foolish father, the head of the Branch House, nothing more.

Clan sparring tournament.

Yuzuru Hyuga made a simple summary of what was about to happen.

To dilute the clan's grief over the dead, Hyuga Hiashi had decided to boost morale with a sparring match among the youth.

Nothing was more uplifting than witnessing the future hope of the Hyuga clan firsthand.

As long as the children showed promise during the sparring, and he followed up with another speech, today's event would end perfectly—memorializing the past while looking forward to the future.

The previous times had followed a similar pattern.

Of course, it was mostly a showcase for the Main House. Faced with techniques like the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, the Branch House children, who had only learned basic Gentle Fist, often couldn't hold out long. The sparring eventually became a stage for the Main House children to display their abilities, deepening the Branch House's reverence while boosting most clan members' confidence.

First up was the junior division match, limited to children aged six and under.

"First match: Hyuga Kou versus Hyuga Koumae." Having finished his formal remarks, Hyuga Hiashi finally ended his rambling.

The open space before the shrine had been cleared. The adult Hyuga clan members stood in two lines—one Branch House, one Main House—facing each other, with the open area in between left for the children to spar.

Hizashi Hyuga, Hyuga Hiashi, and several elders sat on chairs brought out before the shrine, acting as referees and overseers.

Hyuga Koumae was a Main House child, while Hyuga Kou was a Branch House child.

Both were four years old, the same age as Yuzuru Hyuga.

The two children walked to the center of the square, brimming with fighting spirit, while the clan members behind them generously offered words of encouragement.

"Kou, do your best!" Yuzuru Hyuga was no exception.

Standing at the front of the Branch House line, his voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough for young Hyuga Kou to hear. Hyuga Kou turned his head to look at him, clenching his fists. "Mm!"

Although Yuzuru Hyuga usually didn't play much with the other little brats of the clan, his status, strength, and mature personality had naturally made him the 'leader' among his Branch House peers, even without trying.

Hyuga Koumae, on the other hand, remained calm. Though he wasn't any outstanding genius in the Main House, he appeared composed and confident when facing a Branch House child of the same age.

"Begin!"

The sight of two rookies pecking at each other was almost too much for Yuzuru Hyuga to watch. Compared to his own fights with Itachi or Shisui, describing these children's scuffles as "fighting" felt generous—"brawling" was more accurate.

The two kids traded clumsy punches and kicks, grunting and shouting, their scattered Gentle Fist techniques sporadically flickering with chakra. After rolling around in the dust for ages, all they managed was to bloody Hyuga Kou's nose.

When Hyuga Kou sat on the ground crying, clutching his nose and unable to get up, the match was decided.

Hyuga Koumae hopped and cheered his victory on the field, drawing applause from the Main House.

The Branch House members, long accustomed to such scenes, clapped lightly for Hyuga Koumae with unchanged expressions.

"It's okay." Yuzuru Hyuga walked over and helped Hyuga Kou to his feet, ignoring his dirt-caked clothes and the comical mess of tears, snot, and blood on his face. He smiled gently at the slightly defiant Hyuga Koumae, unbothered.

Hyuga Kou winced in pain, sobbing as Yuzuru supported him. "It hurts."

"It's okay, it'll stop hurting soon." Yuzuru Hyuga took out a handkerchief, wiped his face, and guided him back to the Branch House line.

A medical ninja from the Hyuga Clan gave him a quick treatment, and the nosebleed stopped.

Hyuga Kou's spirits sank. "Sorry... I, I lost."

Yuzuru Hyuga encouraged him warmly. "It's okay. If you train hard, Kou, you'll definitely win next time."

"Yeah!" Hyuga Kou, about to be led away by his father, looked up at Yuzuru Hyuga with hopeful eyes. "Young Master Yuzuru, you'll win, right?"

Hyuga Kou's father quickly covered his son's mouth.

Even though Yuzuru Hyuga's "genius reputation" had long spread through the Branch House, honestly, everyone was just playing along because of his status and precociousness.

It was all mutual back-patting—if your own people didn't hype you up, who would?

And Yuzuru Hyuga had never shown his actual skill level.

So Hyuga Kou's father feared that if his child said that, and Yuzuru Hyuga ended up getting thrashed by a Main House kid, wouldn't that stir up trouble?

"Yeah, I'll definitely win." Yuzuru Hyuga smiled and gave a firm answer.

Hyuga Kou's father forced a bitter smile. "Then, Young Master Yuzuru, do your best!"

Yuzuru Hyuga nodded with a smile.

In the subsequent junior group matches, the Main House won six out of seven. The only loss was a boy fighting a girl—a gender imbalance among the kids meant a Branch House boy faced a Branch House girl, and he won by a slight weight advantage, making the little girl cry with Gentle Fist.

Yuzuru Hyuga softly encouraged and comforted every Branch House child who fought, drawing noticeable attention. Hyuga Hiashi saw this and couldn't help teasing Hyuga Hizashi, saying his son had the makings of the next Branch House head.

Hyuga Hizashi just smiled, but he grew wary of Yuzuru Hyuga's thoughtful expression—this kid seemed to be up to something again.

"The junior group matches are over."

When Hyuga Hiashi said this, both Branch House and Main House members were visibly taken aback.

What about Yuzuru Hyuga?

Their gazes all turned to Hyuga Hiashi, and the next moment, they heard a startling announcement.

"Due to the large gap in strength, Branch House's Yuzuru Hyuga will advance early to the youth group matches."

"First match: Yuzuru Hyuga versus Hyuga Katon."

When Yuzuru Hyuga stood before Hyuga Katon, a head taller than him, and smiled while forming the seal of confrontation—

Whispers spread uncontrollably through the Branch House.

'Isn't this unfair? Young Master Yuzuru is only four, but Katon has already graduated and is a Konoha genin.'

'Why? If Young Master Yuzuru fought his peers, he'd never lose, but against these older kids...'

Catching these murmurs, Yuzuru Hyuga spoke up, his voice clear and smiling. "Katon-kun, I proposed this rank-skip fight to my father myself. So, don't hold back against me. Treat me as an equal opponent and fight fair."

Hyuga Katon had been agonizing over whether beating up a little kid would be embarrassing. Hearing Yuzuru Hyuga's words, he relaxed and grinned. "No problem, Yuzuru."

He settled into his opening stance, smiling confidently at Yuzuru Hyuga. "Come on! Hit me with everything you've got!"

But soon, Hyuga Katon regretted it.