Longing Is the Emotion Furthest from Understanding

"Old Man! My battles don't need you meddling! And I definitely don't need that shameful Cursed Seal!!"

Hearing Hinata call him Old Man outright and condemn the Caged Bird as a shameful Cursed Seal, Hiashi froze on the spot.

Even Neji, who had been rolling on the ground and howling in pain, fell silent, staring blankly at Hinata.

But Hinata merely shot him a glance and said coldly, "Get up. Is rolling around on the ground that comfortable?"

Then she kicked him directly.

"Ah!"

From that day onward, everything seemed to have changed, yet also seemed unchanged.

In everyday life, Hinata was still the soft and timid Younger Hinata, like a delicate flower bud.

But whenever she fought, she seemed like a completely different person. Her attacks were incomparably vicious, every move utterly merciless.

She had gone directly from a flower bud to a thorny rose.

And then, just like this...

"Why did you do that? Don't you know how dangerous that was?!"

Hiashi summoned Hinata before him and asked with an uneasy frown.

Yet she seemed to have turned back into that frail Hinata again.

Her eyes darted away as she mumbled, "I-I just wanted Father to acknowledge me..."

"You, I... sigh!"

Faced with Hinata like this, Hiashi had nothing to say.

He knew Hinata was definitely hiding some secret from him, but whenever the subject came up, she always evaded the question.

No matter how much Hiashi coaxed, pressured, or alternated between gentle and harsh tactics, Hinata, who had always been so timid, kept her secret surprisingly tight-lipped.

If he had not examined her repeatedly and confirmed otherwise, he would have suspected that someone had planted the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on her.

"Father, I..."

"Enough. You are strictly forbidden from training for the next few days."

Without waiting for Hinata to speak, Hiashi waved a hand to cut her off. "You'll be enrolling soon. From now on, go review your etiquette!"

He felt completely numb, his emotions complicated beyond measure.

He had once constantly worried that his daughter was too soft-natured to suppress those rebellious members of the Branch Family, and that she would struggle to bear the burden of becoming the Hyuga clan head.

But now, her combat talent had suddenly soared, and she trained as if she did not care for her life. That only made him even more uneasy.

It felt as though his little padded jacket had turned into a ninja flak vest.

His thoughts drifting, Hiashi sighed inwardly and prepared to leave the courtyard, hoping that out of sight would mean out of mind.

But after taking only a few steps, he suddenly stopped. Without turning around, he said, "Come to the Clan Meeting with me first!"

With that, without caring how Hinata reacted, he headed out of the courtyard without looking back.

"Father..."

Faced with her father's coldness, Hinata lowered her little head even further, but she still followed closely after him.

At the same time, a more mature voice rang out in her mind:

"There's no need to care. Even in another world, the Old Man is still all bark and no bite. He'll accept reality after a while."

Then the voice shifted tone. "Of course, if you don't want this, go find Menma and return my soul to him. I'm sure he won't mind."

Hinata kept her head lowered, a slight conflict showing on her face.

But in the end, she said nothing about it and instead asked, "Older Sister, why are you only a soul?"

At the very beginning, this Older Sister's voice had appeared in her mind.

But she had thought she was merely imagining things.

Then, during her previous spar with Brother Neji, her father's disappointed gaze had stirred her once again, filling her mind with thoughts of giving up.

That was when this Older Sister, who also called herself Hinata Hyuga, appeared again.

"Neji, that bastard! Younger Hinata, open your mind! Let me beat him up!!"

Hinata froze for a moment at the voice, then did as she was told and opened her mind.

Afterward, this Older Sister took control of her body, while she watched from a third-person perspective as "she" defeated Brother Neji.

At the same time, she saw the flash of surprise in Father's eyes.

For the first time, she had defeated her brother.

For the first time, her father had looked at her differently.

All of it left Younger Hinata feeling dazed, as though she were dreaming.

And when faced with Younger Hinata's question, Older Hinata did not mind her attempt to change the subject.

"I came from another world with Menma. That guy tried to sneak off behind my back, but I caught him red-handed."

She spoke with complete indifference. "But my strength is still far from enough to cross the boundary between worlds. I also can't understand the truth he spoke of, so I don't meet the conditions."

"He simply couldn't argue me out of it, so he had no choice but to bring my soul along with him. I'd just been asleep until now."

Younger Hinata hesitated for a moment before asking, "Then... Older Sister, are you going to take over my body?"

Realizing something, she hurriedly added, "Please don't misunderstand! I-I just..."

Before she could say anything else, Older Hinata gave a derisive laugh. "Little one, I have no interest in your flat body."

"If you don't think you need me, you can hand me over to Menma. He'll help me find a suitable body."

Fl-flat...

Younger Hinata instinctively lowered her head to look at her chest.

Once she realized what had happened, her face instantly turned bright red, and it seemed as though steam was hissing from the top of her head.

"Older Sister, could it be that you and Menma-nii are l-l-l..."

Younger Hinata stammered for a long while but still failed to say the word.

In the end, Older Hinata spoke in an amused tone. "A couple? Do you think we are?"

"You're so close. You must be, right?"

Older Hinata chuckled helplessly. "Then I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. Before he left, he still didn't accept my confession."

"Huh? Why?"

Younger Hinata felt that her emotions were incredibly complicated, though surprise outweighed everything else.

"That guy loves to overthink things. He kept saying that the Tsukuyomi World was fake and that he would definitely leave it someday."

Older Hinata spoke resentfully. "It's all bullshit. The next time I see him, I'm definitely going to beat him up good!"

Hearing that, Younger Hinata poked her two index fingers together, looking as though she wanted to say something but held herself back.

"You admire him?"

Older Hinata's sudden question instantly made Younger Hinata's mind go blank.

She even lost her composure and blurted out, "N-no! How could I..."

"Hmm?"

Hiashi, who had been walking ahead, stopped at the sound. He turned around with a deep frown and looked at Hinata.

"What did you just say?"

"N-nothing, Father."

Younger Hinata explained miserably, while Older Hinata's voice appeared in her mind once more.

"No matter what you think, I need to give you some advice."

Her tone grew more serious. "Admiration is the emotion farthest from understanding."

"That guy Menma longs to be understood, and admiration is the kind of feeling that disappoints him the most."

Given everyone's response to the previous chapter, if you have opinions about the matter involving Older Hinata and Younger Hinata, you can join the group and vote.

Although the outline has already been written, I'll take everyone's views into consideration as appropriate.

Let me recommend a friend's book. The author is a woman, by the way.

The bizarre invaded, and terror descended.

All kinds of bizarre creatures appeared across the globe—Evil Spirits, Fierce Birds, humanoids, and more.

Some survivors also evolved into miraculous professions such as Divine Generals, Judicators, and Prophets.

And during an ordinary blind date, Xu Sinian caught the eye of a female monster...