Restoration!

Time passed quickly. A year had already gone by at the Ninja Academy, and Neji was now seven years old.

Neji wore a white robe, his straight hair flowing down his back, making him look like a little adult.

Yet the white blindfold over his eyes made anyone who saw him for the first time feel deeply regretful.

Even without his eyes, Neji of the Hyuga Clan performed at the Ninja Academy at a level ordinary people could never reach.

Neji had not truly trained all that hard, after all. As a normal transmigrator,

he understood why so many ninjas died young. It was not merely because of war.

More often, it was due to excessive training in childhood and refining Chakra too early and too intensely.

Even though the people of this world had relatively strong vitality, they still could not be pushed too hard.

Still, even with only moderate exercise, his strength was far beyond what ordinary civilian ninjas could keep up with.

His level had already reached Level 5, while the experience gained through training and sparring was simply far too little.

However, his Mind Net had grown exceptionally powerful, and he had completely mastered Life Return.

Outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

Today was Hizashi Hyuga's death anniversary. Neji selected several suitable flowers and paid for them.

"Thank you, Auntie Yamanaka, and thank you too, Ino."

Neji took the flowers from little Ino's hands with impeccable manners, leaving a favorable impression.

Even after walking some distance away, Neji could still hear Ino's mother praising him.

"Neji is such a polite child. It's just such a pity. If it hadn't been for back then... sigh!"

Matters involving great clans were never simple. Even their small clan had things that were difficult to speak of.

Meanwhile, Ino tilted her head as she watched Neji's departing figure, curious about this senior whom the adults so often mentioned.

When Neji arrived at the cemetery, he looked at the grave of this body's father and placed the flowers before the headstone.

He gently removed his blindfold, took out the fake eyes, and revealed his tightly shut, sunken eyelids.

He murmured, "Two years have already passed. I've been doing well."

"These false eyes have simulated the flow of meridians and Chakra for so long that they're enough to deal with the Byakugan's scrutiny. It's time to recover."

In truth, no one would use the Byakugan on him, since that would be highly impolite. Still, because of sparring and similar situations, he had made thorough preparations.

During this time, he had used Hiashi's guilt to learn Medical Ninjutsu.

He studied the meridians of the eyes and gradually filled the fake eyes with Chakra that simulated meridian flow, making them indistinguishable from the real thing.

What he told others was that he wanted to restore a normal person's vision and honor the promise he had made with his father.

After all, artificial eyes restoring vision was not entirely without precedent, so Hiashi had strongly supported him.

With every prerequisite in place, Neji no longer hesitated and began the restoration.

After all, he had mastered Life Return from the Pirate World. By pouring his consciousness into it, he could control any part of his body.

Restoring missing body parts might have been impossible for the original Life Return.

But now...

Neji whispered, "The unique nature of Chakra, combined with the Yang-attribute Chakra of Medical Ninjutsu, is finally enough for me to restore my eyes. If I delay any longer, it won't be good for my future development."

He crushed the fake eyes in his hand into powder. Chakra began to circulate, and sprouting flesh constantly formed inside his eye sockets, making Neji unbearably itchy.

He lowered his head and covered his eyes. Chakra was rapidly draining away, while a pair of Byakugan steadily regenerated within his eye sockets.

Being truly blind and pretending to be blind were two entirely different states of mind. Who would willingly give up the light?

As long as he did not have that dog chain called the Caged Bird Seal, which could decide life and death, it would be fine!

A low groan escaped Neji's throat. That indescribable itch was truly a form of torture.

But it soon passed, and a brand-new pair of Byakugan appeared in Neji's eye sockets.

His tightly shut eyes shed tears mixed with traces of congealed blood, forming bloody tears that Neji gently wiped away.

Only after putting his blindfold back on did Neji dare raise his head, no longer turning his back to the sunlight.

His newly regenerated eyes were delicate and could not endure overly intense light.

He lived within the Hyuga Compound, where restoring them would have been impossible.

So he had chosen the cemetery, chosen the grave of this body's father, as a form of remembrance.

Neji was not overly delighted after recovering his eyes, because it was only natural.

Moreover, although his eyes had recovered, he still could not use them. He would continue maintaining the image of a blind person.

Neji stood before Hizashi's grave for a long time, silent for a long time, and thought to himself, It's time to begin laying the groundwork. In everyone else's eyes, I'm still blind.

After cleaning away every trace, even the bloody tears, Neji left the cemetery.

After all, if he had the ability to recover and chose not to, he would be an idiot. Who liked that colorless world?

Besides, he had not trained his Observation Haki for long enough to reach the level where Usopp or Katakuri could see actual images.

He truly envied that little girl on Sky Island. She had been born with a Mind Net, and it was incredibly powerful.

Within the Hyuga Compound, at Hiashi's Home.

Inside a Martial Arts Hall-like Training Room, Neji sat facing Hiashi in a White Martial Arts Uniform, while Little Hinata peeked from outside the door.

"Clan Head, I wish to make use of Father's Inheritance," Neji said to Hiashi calmly and neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Hiashi frowned slightly and looked at Neji in confusion.

Although Neji had always been opinionated and mature for his age, Hiashi, as his uncle and guardian, still needed to ask about his reasons.

"Give me a reason."

"I need a Laboratory, as well as a stable Income Source."

Neji stated his purpose. He had spent the past year laying plenty of groundwork.

Medical Ninjutsu, restoring normal vision, and becoming stronger in accordance with his promise to his father.

Everything was linked together, leaving no cause for suspicion. As for being overly mature,

was that really rare in this world?

Were only the Uchiha Clan allowed to produce geniuses? Could the Hyuga Clan not produce one as well?

"So after receiving your father's inheritance, what do you intend to use it for?" Hiashi continued asking.

His reasons had clearly passed muster, but Hiashi still needed to review how and where the money would be used. He would never allow Neji to squander it.

"Purchase two properties. One will serve as my personal Laboratory, while the other will be used to open a shop."

"Open a shop?" Hiashi raised a brow and looked at Neji with a trace of displeasure.

He said earnestly, "Neji, opening a shop is not as easy as you imagine, so..."

Slap!

Neji placed a Proposal before him, interrupting his well-intentioned lecture.

"This is my plan, as well as the shop I intend to open. Please review it, Clan Head. At the same time, I welcome the clan to invest."

Hiashi looked at Neji. It seemed this was not a passing thought; he had prepared for it long ago.

He opened the Proposal, and the words "Hot Pot" came into view. The rather novel term piqued his interest.

Neji sat quietly. Hot Pot Restaurants had long been overused in all sorts of novels, yet most people still used them.

That proved one thing: they worked. It was that simple.

It did not matter if a formula was old, as long as people liked it, it was a good formula.

The same applied to Hot Pot Restaurants. They were simple, convenient, guaranteed in flavor, suitable for group meals, and could range from cheap to expensive.

No one could refuse hot pot. Its flavor was addictive without becoming tiresome. As long as there were enough varieties of ingredients, there was nothing hot pot could not accommodate.

There would always be several dishes you liked, along with a matching base flavor.

After all, the basic Hot Pot Base Recipe was hardly a secret in his previous life. It could easily be found anywhere.

That was already more than enough to deal with this place, since they did not yet have such novel flavors.

It had to be said that those who enforced the rules were not necessarily enemies. It merely reflected reality.

Setting aside whether the Caged Bird Seal had any hidden agendas added to it, its fundamental purpose was still to protect the clan members.

As for whether controlling life and death counted as a hidden agenda, Kishimoto had never explained it, so no one knew. Any interpretation was fine; there was no need to argue over it.