Hyuga (Skip if You Don't Like)

"Goodbye, Naruto."

Hinata stood beneath the gates of the Hyuga compound, reluctantly waving farewell to Naruto. Her small frame somehow gave off a fragile impression.

He guessed it might have something to do with the Hyuga Main Family's secrets, but Naruto did not dwell on it. For him, what lay before his eyes was reality.

The warm, full-bodied Hinata was not simply a two-dimensional character. He could sense the tension and gloom hidden behind her smile, like a girl dancing in shackles.

"Goodbye, Hinata." Naruto waved.

Hinata nodded, took two steps into the darkness, then turned back and said to him.

"Thank you, Naruto. I had a wonderful time today."

"So did I."

Before dawn the next day, Naruto woke up in bed, opened his eyes, and brought up the system panel to update the God of Shinobi's diary. Yesterday's events had long been cast from his mind, and he felt utterly refreshed.

"August 16th. My desire to destroy the ninja world has grown a little stronger again. Another day without seeing long legs. The Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird is the most disgusting slave system I've ever seen, turning family members into slaves. After developing for a thousand years, shouldn't the seal have been improved? Its original purpose of protecting the weaker Branch Family has changed, hasn't it?"

After sending it, Naruto shook his head, his eyes still bleary, then fell back down and went back to sleep.

Above Konoha.

After several seconds of silence, screams erupted in unison!

The entire village of Konoha was thrown into complete chaos by the God of Shinobi's daily diary update. If yesterday's entry had merely made the higher-ups anxious, then now their composure had utterly shattered.

The bedside lamp lit up. The Konoha High Command's meeting had ended at two in the morning, and only three hours later, Inoichi Yamanaka had no choice but to rustle out of bed again.

"Inoichi, do you really have to go? I'm worried." On the dimly lit bed, the elegant Yamanaka Rino spoke with exhaustion on her face.

"It'll be fine." Inoichi Yamanaka got dressed and comforted his wife. "Normally, Shikaku alone would be enough to attend the High-level Meeting on behalf of Ino-Shika-Cho. He can represent the views of all three clans."

"But you know how strange those messages appearing in people's minds are. Our Yamanaka Clan is the only one in the village skilled in mental control ninjutsu. If you don't go, it'll only make people suspicious."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Inoichi," Yamanaka Rino said softly.

After a long silence, Yamanaka Rino spoke again. As she put on her clothes and got out of bed, she asked.

"Inoichi, is what that God of Shinobi said true?"

Inoichi Yamanaka did not know how to answer. He could only sigh and reply vaguely.

"Probably not. How could something like a God of Shinobi possibly exist? Someone must be doing this deliberately. In any case, the village will investigate it thoroughly and give everyone an explanation."

"Rino." Fully dressed and ready to leave, Inoichi Yamanaka held the door and turned back toward his wife.

"Go keep our daughter company. Ino must be terrified."

"Okay. Be careful on the way."

With a bang, the door shut.

As Inoichi Yamanaka walked down the street, the once-quiet village of Konoha had already descended into disorder. Villagers had taken to the streets, discussing the God of Shinobi's diary with terror written across their faces.

"Does the God of Shinobi really exist? It's already been two days. It doesn't seem fake, does it?" villager Jingdi Zuoa said anxiously.

"Who knows? The village hasn't given any explanation yet, but I don't think it's fake." The owner of a red bean dumpling shop stood in his doorway, dark circles under both eyes.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night because of this. How could anyone sleep peacefully?"

"Exactly. Who knows where Lord Hokage is? She still hasn't come out to say anything." Another villager, Shushang Liujiu, sighed.

"Then do you think the things the God of Shinobi said are true?" villager Tianjian Tanyou lowered his voice and asked. "About that person's secrets, and the Hyuga Clan's—"

Upon hearing this, Jingdi Zuoa, the first villager to speak, looked alarmed and said nervously.

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. If ANBU hears you, they'll take you away. You especially can't discuss the Hyuga Clan's affairs. Just keep those thoughts to yourself."

"Yeah, yeah. We shouldn't talk about things like that," Shushang Liujiu agreed.

Inoichi Yamanaka heard every word of the villagers' conversation as he passed by, and his expression grew even heavier. He had long heard of the Hyuga Clan's slave system. It truly was an unacceptable form of ninjutsu.

Turning one's own relatives into slaves was indeed an extremely taboo matter, to the point that those in Konoha who knew about it instinctively avoided discussing it.

Over time, most people in Konoha came to know nothing about it. But those who had survived the Third Shinobi World War knew it all too well.

It was a curse known as the Caged Bird. Once someone under the curse showed even the slightest disrespect toward the group that cast it, the caster could immediately punish or directly kill them.

That was the Hyuga Clan's current state. Only the Main Family's eldest legitimate son or eldest legitimate daughter could become part of the Main Family; all other clan members became Branch Family members.

The so-called Branch Family were the Main Family's slaves. This system was why the Hyuga Clan had endured for a thousand years, using the Caged Bird to secure the Branch Family's absolute loyalty.

Absolute loyalty meant no betrayal. With a single thought from the Main Family, any traitor would suffer brain death.

When faced with a life-or-death situation, Branch Family members would be forced to fight to the death to protect the Main Family's retreat. That was precisely why the Byakugan bloodline could survive and continue no matter what happened.

Yet strangely, in the generation of Hyuga Hiashi, the eldest legitimate daughter did not seem to have become part of the Main Family, nor had the second daughter been marked as a Branch Family member. It was simply being delayed.

As for why it was being delayed, Inoichi Yamanaka did not know. He had only heard bits and pieces, and he did not care about the Hyuga Clan's secrets.

All he could do was capture that person calling himself the God of Shinobi as quickly as possible and return the village to peace and tranquility.

At the very least, they had to restore the appearance of peace. What happened beneath the surface did not matter.

The atmosphere within the Hyuga Clan was oppressive. Inside and outside the compound, it was more silent than ever, as though everything had sunk into suffocating silence.

The moment the morning sunlight shone into the courtyard, Neji Hyuga sat before a mirror, calmly staring at the blue Caged Bird Cursed Seal on his forehead.

"Ah, I slept so well!" Naruto, dressed in bear pajamas, yawned in bed and stretched.

The evil God of Shinobi himself scratched his butt without the slightest decorum and sluggishly began to wash up. Looking at his bird's-nest hair in the mirror, he yawned again and muttered, "Fourteen D-rank Missions still haven't been completed. I should go pick one up today, so no one finds out I hired someone to grind for me."

Note: Dear readers, the next four chapters contain a Little Horn arc. If you don't like it, feel free to skim through it quickly. (Skipping it will affect the plot a tiny bit.) It's groundwork for later chapters.

You can also skip it directly.

See: One-Tail